The Veil

Elisabeth Moss is a spy specialized in undercover work to extract information from unsuspecting (or are they suspecting this time) bad guys. She is somewhat of a wild card, go with the flow, doing things her way to get things done.

This time there is a potential ISIS terror thing that might happen and she is on the case working with the French and Americans befriending and helping a woman suspected to be ISIS.

Intriguing plot, good acting, some humor, some action, plenty of tension.

The intelligence people are competent, cunning and dangerous, it all seems very realistic and not romanticized like usual.

Elizabeth Moss... She always seems to pull it off.

I liked the series enough to hope it wasn't just a mini-series and that it would continue with more seasons. It certainly has the potential to be captivating enough if the writers don't phone it in. The last line in the last episode left the door wide open for more...fingers crossed.

There were some great rivalry digs and if there is any reality to the competition between Intl agencies, it's easy to see how 9/11 happened. There were elements of human foibles tossed around throughout that added nicely to it, though I could have lived without the flashback stuff. I've always found flashbacks to be a lazy way of developing a character.

Anyhoo... it was a nice change of pace and I hope the writers/producers develop some more seasons...

I'll start by saying I think the majority of actors did the best with what they had, especially the guy who played the American CIA agent. His delivery was pretty good.

Elizabeth Moss was miscast though. The accent. Stupid almost manic grins and cheesy one liners and quips just felt cringe and awkward.

The story is just unbelievable and pointless. The 'terrorist plot' is brain dead and I struggle to believe they needed to get the 'Djinn' to devise it. It's not clever, complicated or intelligent.

The twist is not a twist thanks to the worst foreshadowing ever. The story just plays out by numbers.

The CIA and French intelligence being fooled not once but twice with a switch was ridiculous. Absolutely unbelievable. It really ruined the story... Although I don't think omitting those parts would have saved it either.

Also it dragged out for its 6 episodes. Could have been done in 4. The last episode is basically done at the halfway mark.

Direction was actually good. Locations and filming good. Acting mostly good (except for Moss) but man... The story is just rubbish. It's like it was generated by an AI.

A lot of money went into producing this series. Great locations and scenery, decent plot, good supporting cast. What's wrong you ask? It's Elisabeth Moss trying to play a seductive, athletic, super spy. She is not capable. Her action scenes: ridiculous. Her emotions: phony. Her seductiveness: zero. Her acting: forced. She just isn't cut out for a role like this and I think she knows it. At times, she actually appears embarrassed by herself. There's a scene in episode 3 where she's following her suspected terrorist onto a plane. Her facial expressions look like someone whose feet are on fire. There's a second scene where she has to lie her way out of a situation which, of course, she does. The problem is, no one in the world would have believed what she said and how she said it. It was bad script, poorly adapted. In conclusion, if you thought George Lazenby was the worst 007, try watching The Veil for comparison. He won't seem so bad. I still enjoyed watching but cringed whenever she was on camera. Watching her is painful.

I would like to love this show as it is one of the few shows that have women in leading roles and that is actually the only good thing about the show. The story starts all right but lacks credibility as it progresses. A chain smoker lead in this day and age? And why is she actively sabotaging all the spy agencies she is working with? She works for MI6 but reports to everyone except them. And what do you do when you find a very dangerous terrorist? Obviously help her escape and evade all the governments and agencies.

This is simply bonkers.

The other flaw is that she smiles too much for no reason.

Despite all these limitations, the show is watchable.

Just suspend your logic and don't expect too much.