A Potpourri of Vestiges Review
By Murtaza Ali Khan
By Murtaza Ali Khan
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| J. K. Simmons in Counterpart |
In the duplicitous universe
of Counterpart
there are two worlds, not unlike ours. They are called Alpha world and Prime
world, respectively. At first, Prime world was created as exactly the mirror
image of Alpha world, back in the late 1980s, by East German scientists. But subsequently both started growing
independently leading to some minor changes initially which gradually made way
for much greater divergences. But the
catch is that people living in these worlds aren’t aware of the existence of
the other world. This is done to ensure order and sanity intact. Only a handful
of operatives on both the sides are aware of the passage that leads to the
other world.
Counterpart revolves around a
man named Howard Silk, essayed by J. K. Simmons,
who has been working for a United Nations agency for over thirty years in
Berlin. But given his low rank he is not told about the true nature of the
agency’s work which is to gather intelligence about Prime world. But his world
turns upside down when he encounters his other self from Prime world. Silk’s
counterpart from the other world is a field agent who regularly makes crossings
to Silk's world to retrieve those who have gone rogue. Apparently, there is a
lot of infighting going around in Prime world which gradually spills over to
Alpha world and Silk along with his comatose wife Emily finds himself caught in
a major mess.
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| A Still from Counterpart |
Needless to say, there is
more to Counterpart than meets the eye. One of the best things about it is its
fluidity in terms of genre. Counterpart doesn’t merely have interesting Sci-Fi
elements but it is ultimately espionage at its finest and it serves as a
perfect allegory to the Cold War. In other words, the spies certainly do come
in from the cold (pun intended). But at the same time it’s pretty much
contemporary and is easily one of the best spy series currently on offer. If
you like shows like The Americans and Homeland then you will certainly love
Counterpart.
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| Sara Serraiocco in Counterpart |
The show’s greatest USP is
J. K. Simmons. It’s a real icing on the cake that there isn’t one but two
versions of him on offer. And he plays them both brilliantly. The Oscar-winning
actor brings his a-game to the table and completely owns it. It’s really a
testament to Simmons’ remarkable transformation that just a glance is enough to
tell if it is Silk from Alpha world or his counterpart Prime world. Also, the
rest of the cast is superb. Here, Sara Serraiocco deserves a special mention.
She is absolutely brilliant in the role of a mysterious assassin.
Viewers in India can catch
Counterpart on Sony’s Video on demand service SonyLIV in the
English TV Shows section.
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
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