Review of Asset: Episode 5
April 21, 2014
Episode 5 continues the fast-paced action from the previous episode. Within the first minute a report comes in, and the story takes an entirely new direction. Tom and Julia have different motives, but their objective remains the same. Take down Lazerev’s operation. Eric was the asset to take him down from the inside, but now he’s not cooperating.
Cue some comedic banter between Julia and Tom. The two have a good dynamic, and course still in disagreement about Eric. They call their superior in Langley, which gives us a fantastic sequence of the ‘home soil,’ and he tells Julia and Tom to go to Plan B.
Kill Lazerev’s wife.
I told you it was a packed first minute. But I’ll get back to the plot.
Cue some comedic banter between Julia and Tom. The two have a good dynamic, and course still in disagreement about Eric. They call their superior in Langley, which gives us a fantastic sequence of the ‘home soil,’ and he tells Julia and Tom to go to Plan B.
Kill Lazerev’s wife.
I told you it was a packed first minute. But I’ll get back to the plot.
The next scene obviously focuses on Nadja. We forget when we last saw her in Episode 3 Eric made some ridiculous statements. I couldn’t even take the man seriously, but somehow Nadja is thinking over what Eric said.
It makes me wonder if there’s more to Nadja than we think. She’s a character that needs more development and backstory, because Nadja is seemingly the least interesting character of the bunch. How did she end up marrying a Russian arms dealer? Nadja is this typical good wife, who’s also got a thing for a wanabe Canadian spy, and seemingly perfect. The fault to the perfect and beautiful woman stereotype is naivety, and because she knows nothing about her rich husband she remains innocent. I’ll be interested to see what becomes of Nadja once she figures out what’s really going on. She can’t simply be a plot device forever, and hopefully she’ll take charge of her story.
But let’s get back to a stronger female lead. Julia gets some well-deserved screen time in this episode, and she doesn’t waste it. Julia obviously has a conscience, which is a complete contrast to Tom who proves himself as the solider here.
Tom now takes a backseat in terms of his role in the episode, but he still makes good use of his screen time. Julia on the other hand takes an active role, and she pushes the events forward. It’s great to see her character develop more, as she seems to be one better female leads.
The episode in itself almost seemed too short. It felt like a narrative bridge between episodes, and it solves the plot hole. Eric didn’t volunteer to complete a dangerous spy mission, because Julia forced him into it. Now Eric is volunteering wholeheartedly, because he thinks he can protect Nadja. Whether he actually can do it is something we still have to find out.
It makes me wonder if there’s more to Nadja than we think. She’s a character that needs more development and backstory, because Nadja is seemingly the least interesting character of the bunch. How did she end up marrying a Russian arms dealer? Nadja is this typical good wife, who’s also got a thing for a wanabe Canadian spy, and seemingly perfect. The fault to the perfect and beautiful woman stereotype is naivety, and because she knows nothing about her rich husband she remains innocent. I’ll be interested to see what becomes of Nadja once she figures out what’s really going on. She can’t simply be a plot device forever, and hopefully she’ll take charge of her story.
But let’s get back to a stronger female lead. Julia gets some well-deserved screen time in this episode, and she doesn’t waste it. Julia obviously has a conscience, which is a complete contrast to Tom who proves himself as the solider here.
Tom now takes a backseat in terms of his role in the episode, but he still makes good use of his screen time. Julia on the other hand takes an active role, and she pushes the events forward. It’s great to see her character develop more, as she seems to be one better female leads.
The episode in itself almost seemed too short. It felt like a narrative bridge between episodes, and it solves the plot hole. Eric didn’t volunteer to complete a dangerous spy mission, because Julia forced him into it. Now Eric is volunteering wholeheartedly, because he thinks he can protect Nadja. Whether he actually can do it is something we still have to find out.
