The Brink (Season 1)

By: Robert Murphy 

If you wanted me to describe what The Brink was in only a few words then I would tell you that it's like House of Cards except it's being intentionally funny and not the sarcastic funny you get from Kevin Spacey's talking to the camera meta game. While it is often hard to pull of a political satire about a serious time in world history, if it is done well then it can prove to be quite funny but you walk a very dangerous line. This wasn't necessarily the issue with The Brink however as it just took some time for everyone to find their first steps into the tricky world of political intrigue. 

It's understandable that you would spend the first few episodes of a show to feel out your characters and have them establish who they are as characters and that's exactly what The Brink does but you don't get a true feel for them till later on. We are first introduced to Alex Talbot (Jack Black) who is a low ranking official in Pakistan that dreams of becoming a big name in U.S. politics but is not what you would look for in a strong leading body. The first episode points this out abundantly by showing off his crippling fear of the conflict around him while he goes out in search of some "herbal" remedies. His was a character that new nothing about the people around or the land he was currently living in and really only cared about himself. His relationship with an embassy driver, Rafiq (Aasif Mandvi), was the most interesting thing about him as they went through a very love hate relationship right from the start. Through a series of events during rioting over the United States in Pakistan, Talbot ends up being captured and almost tortured if it weren't for his flimsy relationship with our current Secretary of State.

Secretary of State Walter Larson (Tim Robbins) starts out on just as uneven a footing as Talbot as his role somehow seemed to be the joke of among the two. The Secretary is an alcohol guzzling womanizing potty mouth who throws insults around the White House rather than resorting to underhanded tactics that most politicians are use to. Larson doesn't seem like someone who really cares about his job as in the first few episodes we see him sitting in the presidents situation room with people talking about battle plans for Pakistan and acting super serious, he however was wondering what they all should get for dinner. 

As time goes on though the two quickly become the lead characters you would hope for in this situation, well, maybe not Jack Black but he still does a great job. It quickly becomes apparent that Larson is the only man in the president's cabinet that doesn't want full scale war and is aiming for a peaceful solution. This solution may involve bribery, deceit and a number of other questionable things but it was all done with a wonderful charm that Robbins brought to the role. Talbot also finds sure footing once the ball gets rolling, he is still a selfish and unbelievably huge jerk most of the time but he plays a key role in the Secretary's plans to save Pakistan and starting World War 3. 

The overall show was stolen from an unlikely source however with two knuckle headed pilots Zeke Tilson (Pablo Schreiber) and Glenn Taylor (Eric Ladin). The two have are not what you would think of when you want the best and brightest defending your country, then again none of these guys really are. Both of the characters have wonderful chemistry together and share a very brother like comradery that comes from years of working together on a ship but these guys had within the first episode. Zeke also suffers from Larson's womanizing gene and has more than a few issues come from it as well as his drug dealing uppers to help keep his fellow crewman awake. And while Taylor feels like he is just along for the ride most of the time, he stills has a lovable charm that works well with Tilson. The pinnacle of the twos relationship would have to be the episode they spend stuck in the dessert and are found by a wealthy but secretly crazy couple who has them do some very bizarre things in order to use their phone.  

The overall plot was something that kept the intriguing going as well through the early stumblings with our main cast of characters. Plenty of twists occurred throughout the entirety of the story, just when you think things are all wrapped up and all the problems will be solved peacefully, boom, something goes wrong. The "boom" was also quite literal. At one point Larson finally has General Zaman (Iqbal Theba), Pakistan's leader, out of power and under arrest when behind his back the president blows up his home and kills the new leader he had in place. There were also a huge number of political dealings for Larson to deal with as he tries to make every nation stop acting like children and behave to avoid global catastrophe. 

While The Brink did stumble out of the gate for it's main headliners, it quickly corrected itself as our characters found their roles to play in the story. The promise of a second season where an un-detonated nuke that was destined for Israel leads to some African soldiers finding it, leaves me to believe in a strong second showing for the series. Talbot and Larson know their strengths now and they can hopefully pull another victory for the good guys and world peace. But as this first season showed, there are plenty of twists in politics so you just never know what will end up happening. 

Good:

- Political intrigue kept the story going

- Taylor and Tilson as the pilots

- Plot twists with all of Larsons dealings

Bad:

- First few episodes met with some uneasy footing

Scully Rating: 8.0 out of 10