Rewatch sessions #52:

• Title: Patriot
• Network: Amazon Prime Video
• Released: 2017
• Genre: Black-comedy; Political-drama; Spy-drama
• Stream: Amazon Prime Video

Warning!! Mild spoilers below!

Patriot is quite the beloved darling for avid TV fans. It's a series well-known amongst us hardcore TV viewers, but never really broke through into the mainstream audience, thus it's often acclaimed as one of the most underrated shows of all time. It is espionage dramedy that centers around John Lakeman Tavner, a consultant with a governmental department that collects intelligence and implements processes that are paid for and directed outside the prescribed structure of oversight... as so stated by the character himself. Basically, John is a secret intelligence officer, a concerningly depressed field agent at that, and when his previous assignment went south which led him to hideout in Amsterdam for a bit, he is immediately sent on a new one, one with the main objective of preventing Iran from going nuclear. Achieving this objective require the U.S. government buying out the 2012 Iranian election, which in turn requires a bag full of money to go from point A to point B. Point B is Luxembourg, the only European country Iran does financial transactions with (as so stated in the series). So to get to Luxembourg, John goes undercover as an industrial engineer to work for a company that does business in the country. But the issue is, John knows jack shit about industrial engineering, and that becomes the ignition of a series of unbridled chaos.

Patriot takes its sweet time to find its stride, with a pacing that's just as cool and easygoing as the main character himself. I've already mentioned his severe depression, but what I haven't yet mention is that in his spare time (or any other time really) John is folk singer, who plays guitar and make up songs on the spot. Usually the topics of said songs are the grueling and sad details of the mission he's had and cruel things he's had to do, and these musical bits fit right in with the overall calm tone of the series, and are also a great source of humor. In fact, it's a funny show overall, filled with numerous awkward situations, and incredibly dark and dry humor. Patriot is also masterful at building tension toward ludicrous outcomes, another source of the show's comedy. Given its dry nature however, and that a lot of its jokes are very memorable, the series might only be drop dead funny the first time around, but you could come to appreciate the more depressing side of the series like I did as a result. The calm tone of the series is sporadically met with bursts of violence, mainly from John's obligately taking action to fulfill his objections regardless of repercussions. And said repercussions are severe often for anyone who's involved or simply around him, from mental disabilities, to lost fingers, to addiction relapse etc. Though he's the protagonist, from no one's perspective is John the hero of this story, no even his. The series is coated in complete honesty.

With all the elements put together, Patriot is an hypnotic oddball of a series. One that is surprisingly cinematic, at least compared to most shows, especially in the 2nd season which carries a much more stylistic cinematography which favors wide shots and moody atmosphere. Another change made in the 2nd season that works in its favor is using those original folksongs as background music as opposed to standalone musical bits, fittingly scoring some of the most outrageous scenes of the season. Plot-wise though, the second season is more scattered and less convincing, relying on plot convenience a bit too much, but hitting the same high points the 1st season did despite that. There's also an ensemble of compelling supporting characters, each with their own intriguing backstories and motives which all eventually interfered with by the the main character's. By all means, Patriot should be a despondent piece of television, but what its more gloomy parts provide, is a surface to perfectly bounce its dry humor off of. The end result is still a very dark TV show where people are constantly hurt for a greater cause, one that I wouldn't blame anyone for feeling a bit guilty to laughing at.

rating: 
       season 1: 9.3 out of 10
       season 2: 9.3 out of 10