There are, of course, big questions raised regarding governments and their use of ex-intelligence types as contract consultants. Is this the inevitable outcome when the lines between private contractor and government are blurred? The priorities of the government and business are not the same, yet when contractors like API become (in a sense) our intelligence arm, whose priorities are we following? Has the military-industrial complex that President Dwight Eisenhower warned about been replaced by a military-consulting firm complex. Clearly it has, and taken as a cautionary tale, Rubicon has fictionally illustrated the frightening potential inherent in such couplings: a homegrown, hence invisible, jihadist, hired and used for corporate strategic interests—a tool not of Al Quaeda, but of greedy men.
On the other hand, there is yet one more episode to the season, so it’s not over ‘till it’s over. We’re being led to believe with the climactic and completely unexpected terrorist attack by Kateb that the season finale will be to tie up loose ends. But will the season finale really be the denouement? Or is there something bigger on the horizon?
I’ve said all along that the series seems almost novel-like, and with what seems to have been the “book’s” climax in last night’s episode. The next step would be the neat (or not-so-neat) tying up of the story.
There are certainly a lot of dangling questions. What is it in that Meet Me in St. Louis DVD that Thomas Rhumor wants his wife Katherine (Miranda Richardson) to find? What key (or what evidence) does it hold? Is Kateb still alive? Will Kale indeed be carried out of API—assassinated by Spangler (as the deeply sinister Spangler seems to imply)? Or will Spangler be arrested for treason and API go on with Kale at its head?
And, what about Maggie (Jessica Collins)? Who is she—and more importantly—who is she to Ingram? We still don’t understand her relationship with Kale. And then there’s the team: Miles (Dallas Roberts), Grant Test (Christopher Evan Welch), and Tanya (Lauren Hodges). Each one an interesting character, three-dimensional and very human despite their genius.
The entire series began with photographs. One of them is of an intel photo of clandestine meeting between foreign agents; the other is of a group of boys on the shore, innocent and playful. Who is in those pictures? Why are they together and why is it important? Each picture tells a story that has been unraveled these last weeks.
Article comments
1 - Lisa McKay
Nice write-up, Barbara, I can't imagine being left hanging if AMC chooses not to renew this.
I think Spangler is way scarier and way more dangerous than the CSM ever was -- there was something about the way he was able to order a hit on Will one day and then casually assign him to NJ the next that really chilled my blood. And I think Kale is the most interesting character in the show.
Yeah, they really do need to renew this.
2 - barbara barnett
To me, Spangler is truly sinister. Cold blooded. Like you, I think Kale is the most interesting character there. I've always liked Arliss Howard.
3 - handyguy
This series began promisingly, but it has been so attenuated, with so little narrative or dramatic substance, that it tries my patience.
For the first 8 or 9 episodes, there was plenty of spooky hinting; the plot barely moved an inch. And now those dots have been connected in the most unimaginative way possible.
The everyday work of Will's team is just laughably simplistic. The dialogue between the supposedly scary conspirators [the "group of old guys"] is plain ridiculous.
James Badge Dale and Arliss Howard are decent actors, but no one is given enough to do or say. There is very little nuance, no layers of complication and detail to peel back. The plot is all holes, the characters as cardboard as 24.
I wanted to like Rubicon, but I won't be sorry to see it end. Of course, being scheduled right before Mad Men, one of the best series in history, invites unflattering comparisons.
4 - barbara barnett
I would agree with you if last night is was the finale (sort of). I ask the question: is it really as simple as it seems? Because it has sort of played out very straightforwardly (with only a few small twists). Sort of like a Ludlum novel rather than say something by Graham Greene. I'm hoping more Greene than Ludlum (tho I like them both, Green is more textured). So we'll see next week.
5 - handyguy
The cleverest thing in the plot is having the two plot strands converge: the spooky old guys causing disasters for financial gain, and the attempt to stop Kateb before he acts. The greedy conspirators plotted to blow up the tanker; they are the real terrorists. But really, couldn't we have moved from there to here with a little more panache?