I have finished watching the first season of Rubicon, and I am in love with the show. I am in love with the atmosphere, the tension, the amazing subtle and effective writing. Let's start from the beginning...
The Pilot of Rubicon is a very good opening, although flawed. You can immediately tell that this is a show more worried about telling a good story than action, which is all to good, yet is also backtracks on itself. The Pilot is the one that opens a mystery, and for the first few episodes it might seem like the show has nowhere to go, but keep in mind that it is a very carefully paced show. By episode 5 I was hooked. From then on, the show gets better and better, leading up to amazing story lines, and not just having to do with the overall mystery. The last four episodes of the season are masterful, as perfect as television can get. There might be a problem in that many viewers after 2 or 3 episodes might decide to give up on it simply because of the slow pace, and if that is the case then what a shame.
Another thing that has to be noted about Rubicon is the great cast. James Badge Dale is very effective and a great lead, and Miranda Richardon does great in her limited screen time. Lauren Hodges as Tanya is the best of the females, carefully portraying a confused and misguided analyst who is not sure what her life should be. Arliss Howard and Michael Cristofer are the best in the series, for the fact that they are two of the most interesting and intriguing characters in TV in years. They masterfully play their characters to the highest order.
Along with the great writing and acting, we have the great cinematography, which is the quality of the best films out there. It is on par with AMC'S other great series, Mad Men. Ultimately, Rubicon stands as one of the strongest shows I have seen in years, but it's slow pace, while completely refreshing to me, will give it a harder time to find a larger audience, which will then be the reason for it's demise. If that's the case, then we have a great mini-series, and the last scene plays perfectly for that, leaving viewers in a state of desperation.
