Patriot
starring Michael Dorman, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus
Amazon Prime
The first season of Amazon’s Patriot was a great romp through the greasy world of US covert activities. A friend of mine, ex-military, called it the most realistic depiction of government operations he’s ever seen, but what we non-enlisted folks need to know is that this is the story of John Tavner, clandestine assassin, woolgathering folk musician, and fake sales engineer, and his ongoing attempts to fix an aggregating disaster, as futile as trying to put the smoke back into the log. While not a Coen Brothers project, it has loads of grim comedic spirit to be enjoyed by fans, and enough of its own neurotic approach to not feel like a ripoff.
It’s a complicated story, as we vaguely recall from rewatching the last episode of the previous season in preparation for the first episode of the new one. Season 1 ends on the requisite cliffhanger, and while we now know the challenge that must be resolved or transformed in the second season, I’m a bit vague on all the players. No matter, it will all be sorted out once we get into Season 2. It’s always a pleasure watching Michael Dorman calmy flow from situation to situation, in his peculiar disaffected fashion that is neither depressed nor hopped-up full of Xanax but some new, undescribed state of siddhartha, and I hope the new season has more of his off-the-cuff folksinging rambles.
