Counterpart (Starz) - First Impressions

Last night was the premiere of Counterpart, a new television series on Starz. There have been some decent alternate reality series that I have watched over the years. I used to be an avid fan of Sliders, awhich followed the exploits of a boy genius and his friends after he opens a portal into parallel universes. The friends slide from one reality to another trying to get home to their own reality. Sliders was on television from 1995-2000. Two years ago, Amazon dropped another alternate reality series called Man in the High Castle based on the book by Philip K. Dick. That series has two complete seasons with a third in the works. The potential for the latest iteration of this concept seems promising. Rather than viewers watching events that take place in an alternate universe, Counterpart takes place in two universes simultaneously.

Counterpart takes place in Berlin. Thirty years ago, during the cold war, scientists accidentally open a portal into an alternate universe. Up until that point, the two parallel universes progressed exactly the same. When the portal opened, the two universes began to diverge. The story centers on Howard Silk (JK Simmons), a low level bureaucrat who works at the building where information is exchanged between the two worlds through a formal protocol. While a cog in the bureaucratic wheel, Howard has no idea what it is he actually does. He enters a room from one side, a man enters from the other, they read to each other from a script, make some markings on their own documents and leave. Howard has been passed over for promotion. But his world is about to change.

In the divergence, it appears that alternate world Howard was a climber. He is a high level (Level 2) operative who controls much of the intelligence passing between worlds. When a killer escapes to the other side, Howard demands to speak to his counterpart, something that rarely happens. Our Howard is in danger because of the influence of his counterpart in the other world. He is "read in" on the situation and participates in an effort to protect his sick wife, who is believed to be the assassins target. Howard is told that his wife is in danger because of counterpart Howard. But the pilot leaves us thinking there is a lot more to the story.

While Counterpart is science fiction, it has a strong Cold War thriller feel to it. It is hard to pigeonhole a story like this. The potential is there. Based on the pilot, I believe the delivery will be there as well. Casting JK Simmons in the lead role was brilliant. I have liked Simmons going back to his days on Oz, long before he turned heads with his intense performance in Whiplash. He sells the dual role with authority. It is great seeing him in the dual role, one somewhat caring and submissive, the other, cold and calculating. I think this series will be a resounding success. Let's hope they don't jump the shark any time soon.

Highly recommended television. Counterpart airs on Starz on Sunday nights at 8:00 pm EST.