Crossing the 'Rubicon': What did you think of AMC's sneak preview?
The conspiracy thriller with James Badge Dale will have its proper premiere in August.
Arliss Howard and James Badge Dale in "Rubicon."
After last night's incredible "Breaking Bad" finale (my review of that finale is here), AMC aired a sneak preview of the pilot of "Rubicon," the conspiracy thriller that will have its real debut (paired with a second episode of the show) on August 1. I'll be doing a proper review of the show then, but I'll say here that I enjoyed the pilot, both because I'm a fan of the slow-burning '70s films it's modeled itself on, because I liked the atmosphere it created around the think tank as a place that can drive you crazy under even the best of circumstances, and I really liked James Badge Dale's post-"Pacific" performance.
Did anybody stay up late to watch it (and/or DVR to see today)? If so, what did you think? Will you be back for more in six weeks?
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All through his childhood, Alan Sepinwall's relatives told his parents, "All that boy does is watch television! How's he going to make a living doing that?" His career as a TV critic has been 15 years and counting of his attempt to answer their concerns. "What's Alan Watching" is a blog whose title is self-explanatory: Alan watches TV shows, then writes about what he watched. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupHwat Hm, "Slow burn" sounds like Zzzzzzzzzzzz - haven't seen it yet though.
June 14, 2010 at 7:35AM EST Reply to Commentpdf I haven't seen "The Pacific," so I spent much of the episode trying to figure out if the lead actor was Ioan Gruffud (sp?), the guy who played Mr. Fantastic in the Fantastic Four movies. That should probably also tell you how exciting I found the actual show. Nice to see Arliss Howard, who I've liked since "Full Metal Jacket," but I don't think I'll be back. (BTW, my captcha words were "bugged met," funnily enough.)
June 14, 2010 at 7:37AM EST Reply to CommentJesseSP I thought the pilot was very good, but unfortunately, my mind was still on the Breaking Bad finale. I definitely need to see it again.
June 14, 2010 at 7:52AM EST Reply to CommentDarkMetal I think AMC made a mistake of putting a show like this after the white-knuckle, "edge of seat" finale of Breaking Bad. Rubicon might actually be quite good, but it's extremely slow pace was like trying to play chess after being chased by a Grizzly bear.
June 14, 2010 at 8:27AM EST Reply to CommentI have to say I watched it for awhile, and then switched the channel to something with a bit more "oomph".
sepinwall Flash back three years ago, and people were complaining that "Breaking Bad" moved too slowly, as well.
June 14, 2010 at 9:14AM ESTlztouchthedream I don't think the complaint is really how slow it was, just that anyone who was watching it was in such a higher gear after that particularly tense finale that it was hard to get in to something so deliberately paced. It'd be like watching the pilot for 'The Wire' right after the pilot for '24'.
June 14, 2010 at 12:00PM EST
I was in Breaking Bad mode well into the wee hours of the night. I can never watch Treme the same night as BB either. Most likely, I'll catch up tonight.
June 14, 2010 at 3:49PM ESThubbahubba I wasn't sure what to make of the crossword pattern thing the protag stumbled upon. It was obviously deliberately included by the crossword creators but what exactly was it and why would crosswords be used for communication. Beyond the initial time when he was solving the puzzles, the episode never showed the audience the crosswords again to see what everyone was staring at. I couldn't put it together. Also, it was never explained who the protag was working for, CIA, government, etc., even though we may know it to be an independent think tank from the official synopsis.
June 14, 2010 at 8:34AM EST Reply to Commentjan I stayed up to watch it, and I really liked it. I liked the atmosphere, and I thought it fit in with other AMC series in that there was quite a bit of "quiet time." Partly, I just liked the look of it: the scene in the cemetary, the train coming into the station, etc. I thought they used the setting really well. I also liked James Badge Dale post Pacific, and I liked how they didn't explain a whole lot, but kind of let the viewer figure it out as the episode went on--that the superstitious guy was the father-in-law for the James Badge Dale character, for example. I'll be back to see it again when it starts up.
June 14, 2010 at 8:49AM EST Reply to Commentbrother84112 i actually gasped & jumped during the train scene. usually, i save THAT for Breaking Bad.
June 14, 2010 at 10:02AM ESTjohnsofats Write a comment...
June 14, 2010 at 9:36AM EST Reply to Commentjohnsofats I actually quite liked it too. I'm a little wary about a few of the casting choices but I think if they have a clear map of where this is going it has the potential to be outstanding.
June 14, 2010 at 9:37AM EST Reply to CommentDrewGW I enjoyed it. I'm sure i would have enjoyed it much more had it not aired right after Breaking Bad. I liked the pace of the show and think that it could have real potential but I suppose that I will have to wait until August to truly find out. I'll be back to it though.
June 14, 2010 at 9:45AM EST Reply to CommentCraigH I found it interesting that they somehow packaged Rubicon right after Breaking Bad on the DVR making it seem like Breaking Bad was 1:47, which was my understanding once I saw it come up on my DVR. Slick piece of marketing not to have it as two separate shows. Never saw that before.
June 14, 2010 at 10:29AM EST Reply to Commentstarchystarch I'll watch it, but I've seen all those movies it's cribbing from, so I'm wondering how they'll make it interesting. Will the brilliant hero be Magyvering sense out of random tidbits as a constant plot convenience? That's already irritating. However, I would definitely watch a sitcom set in the lunch room at the sinister super-secret government think tank. That's comedy gold.
June 14, 2010 at 10:43AM EST Reply to CommentKendra I knew AMC was showing this after Breaking Bad so I was not fooled by the extra long time slot, but I still think it was not cool for forcing people who DVR BB to also end up with Rubicon.
June 14, 2010 at 10:51AM EST Reply to CommentThat said, I think I might like Rubicon. I get the 70s feel. I also think it has the feel of many BBC crime/mystery productions I've seen over the years so it had that bit of unintentional nostalgia going for it.
It was somewhat slow but that's how I felt about Mad Men and even Breaking Bad to an extent, although I could see the latter had more potential for action. But I stuck with them and I was rewarded.
The premiere didn't do much to create an urgency that made me desperate to come back but it also didn't do anything that makes me want to run away. It was inoffensively intriguing. I will likely watch as AMC has built up a bit of goodwill.
starchystarch +1 on the BBC feel: I thought it looked just like Prime Suspect in the office scenes - serious, bleak.
June 14, 2010 at 10:55AM ESTKianna And the somber orchestral music throughout - another thing that lent it that British feel.
June 14, 2010 at 12:39PM ESTDre50 I'll give it a few episodes when it premiers, but following Breaking Bad and all the "Shifty-eyed Dog" moments kept me from actually getting fully into it.
June 14, 2010 at 11:12AM EST Reply to CommentNick I've been itching to see this for quite a while, hoping it would fill a role similar to what Damages played for me. But boy was I disappointed. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it directly followed the most tense hour on television but I found the episode excruciatingly slow. And keep in mind two people died in this one.
June 14, 2010 at 11:50AM EST Reply to CommentNow, the early episodes of Breaking Bad may also have been a bit slow moving but they had Bryan Cranston, who is incredibly compelling to watch. James Badge Dale, at least for me, is not. Of course, I'll grant that this could very well be a byproduct of his role here, which is that of a guy who doesn't really know exactly what's going on around him.
I was really irked by the crossword puzzle connections being made too, which seemed about as tenuous as humanly possible. Maybe I was just tired but did I miss something? What exactly made the character see something there and then think to search through other newspapers and bring it to his superior? Had he been previously obsessed with the possibility of a fourth branch of government or something?
In any case, I'll still probably be sticking around. The network's track record is outstanding and I'm a sucker for mysteries.
CaseyP I was thinking the same thing. from what I could gather he noticed the same word in two different papers, which is what striked his interest. but when he was explaining it to his superior, I found it very hard to follow. I know in reality that is exactly how he probably would've brought it up to his boss, but the writers should remember that the audience are not code breakers, and may need a little more explanation in regards to difficult codes and what they may mean.
June 14, 2010 at 12:44PM ESTeither way I'll keep watching until if/when it becomes unbearable. AMC has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to its original series.
Nathalie Yes I found the explanation of the crossword puzzle message, or clue or whatever, very confusing as well. Also, it kind of drove me crazy that he was talking excitedly to his boss about a fourth leaf on the clover, which was shadowy and different and the whole time right in front of him were four horseshoes (kind of like the leaves of a clover taken apart) three the same (equal) and one shinier (better?). It just seemed like such an obvious clue for someone who is supposedly a genius and noticing and cracking codes to have missed.
June 14, 2010 at 2:11PM ESTDaniel Dykstra I thought the crossword connections were pretty reasonable, but I'm familiar with conspiracy theories about global elite running the world, so I already had an idea of what the "fourth branch" of the government entailed. Knowing this, it seemed reasonable that a highly intelligent cryptologist/analyst at an elite think-tank would be equally aware of these ideas and make such a connection.
June 14, 2010 at 3:43PM ESTThis also rang with the title of the show (Rubicon being the point of no return, which the main character passes as he understands that the "fourth branch" is real and dangerous) after his boss's death/murder became clearer immediately after his discovery that he is now going on a series long pursuit of uncovering and exposing a conspiracy theory along the lines of the illuminati or new world order.
If you look these up the show may become more understandable/interesting.
Chrissy I got his explanation, but isn't the press the fourth estate (or "fourth branch") and wasn't he finding these clues in a newspaper? Isn't the mysterious secret organization generally thought of as fifth - in other words, a "fifth column"?
June 14, 2010 at 10:25PM ESTObviously I'm not as up on these things as a think tank genius, but as a moderately intelligent regular person I thought something was missing in the leap from the number four to something other than the press.
sharon We haven't watched Rubicon yet, but we'll probably watch the first episode tonight. I can say I will definitely be watching the show. An amazing actor from my college is in the show; we all support any effort he's in. So, even though we planned to catch it anyway, now it's a must-see since I discovered he's in it. :)
June 14, 2010 at 12:06PM EST Reply to Comment
Definitely started slowly, but there was enough there for me to at least give it a try in six weeks.
June 14, 2010 at 12:11PM EST Reply to CommentAlso, I don't know if you guys caught the trailer for the season that ran right after the episode, but it does feature Isaiah Whitlock Jr. Sheeeeeit, that's enough for me to come back in itself!
Kianna I like the cinematography, the mood, the feel, the music. One thing that bugged me - we're told it's Sept. 11th, Will's birthday and the anniversary of the deaths of his wife and daughter. Why is there snow on the ground in NYC / upstate New York? Evocative, but not realistic at all.
June 14, 2010 at 12:47PM EST Reply to CommentI'll watch this in August. I like the central conceit and the lead character is appealing (though maybe too young for the role; the grey in his hair changes from shot to shot).
starchystarch It was April 8, I thought: the birthday they were celebrating on 9/11 was the daughter's. >
June 14, 2010 at 1:04PM ESTNathalie The daughter's birthday was on 9/11. It was his birthday on the pilot.
June 14, 2010 at 2:13PM ESTdougs That said, constant snow in the air and on the ground in NY in mid April really bugged me.
June 16, 2010 at 8:50AM EST
I had it on as background while I digested last night's episodes of "Treme" and "Breaking Bad" with the intention of giving it a more proper viewing when the real premier occurs. Definitely wasn't the best way to watch it, but I'm still very intrigued by the series. AMC really isn't afraid to air shows that can require real patience though, are they? By the looks of it "Rubicon" will make them 3 for 3 with "shows that set their own pace, expectations be damned."
June 14, 2010 at 3:15PM EST Reply to CommentJames Kang Boring. The main character's discovery of conspiracy clues seems contrived. I don't understand why his mind would leap to certain suspicions, even if the pilot is indicating that he's right.
June 14, 2010 at 3:32PM EST Reply to CommentTwo things need to be noted. First, this is the first part of a two-hour pilot, so I'll watch the next episode. Second, the writer of the pilot Jason Horwitch is not the showrunner. Not that anyone here made that assumption, just FYI. That saying about pilots being an unreliable indicator goes double-time for Rubicon. The showrunner's name is Henry Bromell. He's written for Homicide, so I want to see what he can do with the show.
Breaking Mad Rubicons It's not the first part of a two-hour pilot; they're airing the first two episodes on August 1st. MORON.
June 15, 2010 at 12:33AM ESTMary I didn't watch it until today, so I didn't have a problem with it coming on right after BB. I found a video of it online, and I was just going to watch a few minutes, but it held my interest through the whole 47 minutes.
June 14, 2010 at 5:31PM EST Reply to CommentI'll only be able to watch the rest of the season if iTunes offers a season pass (no TV).
Did anyone notice the title of the book David gave Will? and is it a real book? I thought it was "Apple Pie for Breakfast," but Amazon doesn't list it.
heleneharris Road Food.
June 14, 2010 at 7:00PM ESTi think he was telling him to run. the key and the motorcycle and the note later that night.
Alex He said "Road Food" in response to getting the book but the title was definitely "Apple Pie for Breakfast" and amazon has no such title. I have to figure that out so if anyone knows please inform us.
June 20, 2010 at 3:08AM ESTWish Down The Road: http://www.mar-us.info/apple-pie-breakfast-down-road-alice-schertle
July 26, 2010 at 5:01PM ESTgarrettwins The full title of the book was "Apple Pie for Breakfast: The Best Road Food in America." It's either fictional, or no one has ever written about it online.
August 2, 2010 at 3:48AM ESTGarrett wins Full name of book - "Apple Pie for Breakfast: The Best Road Food in America." (seems to be fictional)
August 2, 2010 at 4:05AM ESTbelinda I definitely liked it enough to keep watching when it airs for real , but not sure I like the fact this was a sneak peek - seems like they should either have aired alongside BB or MM, but not have a sneak peak at BB's finale, and then air it 1.5 months later more or less with MM.
June 14, 2010 at 6:17PM EST Reply to CommentI like the feel of the show, and what I saw, I liked so far. Also the credits seem intriguing enough (Hm, it's not that I like all shows with good looking/fitting credits, but I don't recall really liking a show with bad looking credits. Perhaps there is something to this?). But it does feel like one of those ambitious projects that could either be great or end up being kind of horrible. I sure hope it's the former.
I have one question though - sure, there wouldn't have been a show otherwise, but I'm not sure I understood the motivations behind Will's sudden change of heart to remain working at the think tank, especially after that guy in the office said "Do it for David" when we already saw what David's wishes was.
Chris Conway I'm pretty sure he's trying to "work the case from the inside." But the way he's going about it... let's just say it's a bit Bill Henrickson-esque.
June 15, 2010 at 11:22AM ESTJoan H. I thought it was strangely anachronistic, showing Will (another curly-haired Will, I longed for Sue Sylvester to show up and make a snarky comment and lighten the atmosphere) down in a library basement somewhere, paging through actual newsprint. AFAIK, all those puzzles are online now, dude, and with all your resources, you could probably search across papers back through the previous days and weeks to see when this particular nonsense started.
June 14, 2010 at 6:23PM EST Reply to CommentAlso: I figured out in a nanosecond that David parking in space 13 was a message to Will that he knew he was about to be killed, but in this episode anyway, David hadn't figured that out yet. Maybe that's not fair, but he's supposed to be the brilliant pattern-recognizing one.
Last, I would never tell anyone how or how long to mourn, but eight and a half years is a long time, especially given that the character is only in his late 30s, at most, right? That means more time has passed since his family was killed than he actually spent with them. I don't mean to sound heartless, and I probably do, but having his wife & daughter killed on 9/11 seemed like too much of a gimmick. Or somebody could tell me this is actually set in 2003 or something, then it would make more sense.
Chrissy Watched it on Hulu and was sufficiently intrigued. I'm a sucker for conspiracy/spy stuff, though. Can anyone tell me the name of the actress who played the assistant/potential love interest? She was incredibly familiar, but the IMDB for this show is not fully fleshed out, yet.
June 14, 2010 at 10:20PM EST Reply to CommentI did think the same crossword clue in so many different papers seemed rather obvious, though (and such a weird one - nothing like "Ulee's Gold"!) I would imagine there are any number of people inside and outside the spy community who do more than one crossword in the major papers, so that seems like the kind of thing that would be caught (if not fully deciphered) pretty quickly. Maybe there's a good reason for that.
Oz P Jessica Collins, who played Lizzie Miller on "The Nine"
June 14, 2010 at 10:40PM ESTChrissy I figured it out in the wee hours - she was the weird doll-making serial killer on CSI.
June 15, 2010 at 8:24AM ESTToby O'B "Three Days of the Condor" is a movie I'll watch over and over again, and this had that same feel. I watched it Monday night on Hulu.com, so I didn't have any problems with emotional investment bleed into the next show.
June 15, 2010 at 8:02AM EST Reply to CommentI was sorry to see Peter Gereghty lost so soon - he's become one of my favorite character actors since I first saw him on 'Homicide: Life on the Street'. But I've come to expect there'll always be that actor brought into a pilot to be a hook, to get invested in, but then gets sacrificed and that aura surrounded David. Reed Diamond in the pilot for 'The Shield' was like that.
I was surprised and impressed that Harris Yulin was brought in for such a short scene with no dialogue. I hope that was more for the impact from his recognizability factor on the producers' part rather than Yulin's need for a job. And seeing Arliss Howard in that Mickey-like cap made me think that Burgess Meredith would have played that role back in the early 70s.
I'll be back in August to rejoin the show; I just hope I won't forget any details in the next month and a half.
Chrissy They're re-airing the pilot before the next episode, so forget away.
June 15, 2010 at 8:25AM ESTToby O'B I'm watching the episode again on its AMC repeat (want to see the train crash again), and it occurred to me that there was one moment that was dumbed down. Will comes up with these esoteric answers to the crossword puzzles, wouldn't he supply the same type of example for the connections to the branches of government? Because he used for the judicial the example of Thurgood Marshall; that'd be the norm for the rest of us, but I would have thought he'd have instead used John Marshall, the Chief Justice when Jefferson was President.
June 15, 2010 at 10:23PM ESTOne last thing - just saw that train crash scene - I originally thought that was Peter Gereghty who sat in that seat at the front of the train just before the crash. But we never fully see the man's face. Maybe Will wasn't too far off with the suggestion that his character was on the train. If he really is dead, maybe his body was added in later or slipped into the mix at the morgue....?
Jeff W Exactly my kind of show. I appreciated the absence of the hand-holding that would have been required if this was on a network. Dale gives a very interesting performance. I'd be in anyway, since AMC has a perfect performance with its original series so far.
June 15, 2010 at 8:06PM EST Reply to CommentBill For once I understand some plot hide-n-seek. Our Hero sees a pattern in some crossword puzzles and takes it to his boss, Mr Thirteen, I'll call him. His treatment of it, from first pretending to dismiss it, then digging into it and taking it to The Creepy Boss, is at first made to look like a low-down dirty trick - Mr Thirteen is stealing from Our Hero the credit for a big discovery. Then he dies (and, even though we knew it was coming based on the camera lingering there, that was a heart-stopping moment when the other train switched tracks!), and I realized he may have been killed for what he "discovered". So, given his affection for Our Hero, Mr Thirteen may have taken the credit for it knowing it could get him killed - he gave his live for Our Hero, told him to run, and that he would explain things in the morning. Apparently Mr Thirteen didn't realize the Powers That Be would kill him so soon.
June 16, 2010 at 1:17PM EST Reply to CommentWhen Asperger Boy told Our Hero in the cafeteria to stay for the sake of Mr Thirteen, perhaps that gave him the resolution he needed to find out what's going on rather than run.
I will most definitely be back for more on August 1st. Glad I didn't watch it right after the Breaking Bad finale though. I like that Rubicon will be airing before Mad Men during the regular season. I think AMC should have scheduled the sneak preview of Rubicon to run before Breaking Bad, rather than after.
June 16, 2010 at 11:03PM EST