J.J. Abrams returns with a 21st-century, high-tech update of Hart to Hart, in which a charming couple toss off breezy, romantic banter while traveling around the world on spy missions.
The couple is Steven and Samantha Bloom (Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw). They met while both working for the CIA; they never worked as partners, but found that the stresses of the job made it difficult to maintain a romantic relationship. So they left the CIA and founded a catering company. Five years later, they're struggling a bit to make ends meet, and the marriage is starting to go a bit flat.
That's when Carlton Shaw (Gerald McRaney, who does annoyed frustration with underlings as well as anyone) shows up. He's a career CIA guy who wants Steven and Sam to go back into the field together to rescue agent Leo Nash (Carter MacIntyre), who went through training with Steven before becoming Sam's partner. The Blooms agree to take on this one case to rescue their friend, and are given an eager young partner (Ben Schwartz, quite funny as an obsequious suckup) to provide logistical support.
So we're off for a terrific globetrotting caper, with exciting fight scenes, nifty spy gadgets, and a fair amount of suspense. And in the process, Steven and Sam find that working together is rekindling their romance. "Watching you for the past couple of days," Steven says, "reminds me of you."
Now, for a moment of pure shallowness: Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are, in addition to being absolutely charming leads who are capable of handling the dramatic moments, the light banter, and the action scenes with equal grace, also happen to be two of the most spectacularly beautiful people on the planet. I mean, damn, this is a gorgeous couple. And if someone wanted to leave Boris Kodjoe under my Christmas tree this year, I would not object.
There are hints that some sort of Big Mystery story arc is in the works; the fact that MacIntyre is a regular member of the cast suggests that the Blooms' previous connections to Leo will be at the heart of that mystery. I hope they don't get carried away with that; this show will work perfectly well as a caper-of-the-week adventure, and doesn't need to be weighted down by massive mythology.
Best drama pilot of the year so far.
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