It was quite an interesting show -- very much unlike anything I'm used to
from American TV. Much time is spent discussing what can or can't be
done, planning how to do it, and fighting the bureaucracy to get
permission to do it; the actual missions are a relatively small part of
the series. The main character is someone you might respect, but he's
thoroughly unlikeable as a person. (In fact, the disagreeable characters
were as plentiful as the likeable ones.) And very few -- if any -- of the
episodes had a resolution that could be considered the least bit upbeat or
pleasing. In fact, two shows (the "Laura" episode and the series finale)
were downright chilling in their endings. I'm glad I finally got to see
it.
I did find some of the parts that dealt with the CIA to be a little over
the top. The episode that had the Sandbaggers go to the USA to protect a
Senator was a little wild with all the JFK assassination theorizing and
claims that the FBI and CIA bump off each other's agents (as well as the
occasional congressman), and the US Senator who was shown eulogizing an
assassinated fellow Senator quoted Robert Kennedy but attributed the words
to Martin Luther King!
A question for those in the know: Burnside's first secretary and the first
"C" left the series at the same time. Where these cast changes made by
the show's producers, or did the actors simply quit the show?
Regards,
- David