It's been a beautiful summer here in Chicago. People who've lived here all their lives say it's the best they can remember. Definitely too nice to spend your time watching TV.But if you were watching, did you catch the two episodes of "The Wanted" before it was pulled off the air? If not, too bad because it is brilliant.
The show was panned by some television critics (Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald) and faintly praised by others (Washington Post, New York Times) so the only place you'll likely see it is on the Web at Hulu.com
The show is a quasi-documentary with filmic production values and the story is all spy v. spy intrigue. Highly entertaining. It centers around a former international lawyer turned journalist working with a team of "special operatives" (think Soldier of Fortune with brains). They're on the trail of war criminals, Al-Qaeda terrorists and others who are quite shockingly living free and openly in Europe. At least that was the first two episodes.
The production emphasizes shaky camera technique, zooms and all, just like "Public Enemies" or "The Hurt Locker." The effect is supposed to mimic documentary work and to some extent this work is just that.
The producers for "The Wanted" have mixed in multi-camera scenes of obviously expository dialogue which is a fancy way of saying scripted dialogue that advances the plot of the film. So it's definitely not cinema verite.
While it would be easy to criticize the show for taking license with journalism, what redeems the show is that they are dealing with real bad people who have done real bad things. But above even that, I believe this is a great blend of entertainment and journalism which thankfully is not about some perverse suburban love-triangle-cum-homicide.
Links to reviews:
Baltimore Sun
Washington Post
Miami Herald
New York Times
