CineTV Contest: Patriot

There have been few tragedies in televises history that bear as much weight and levity as the cancelling of Patriot from Amazon Prime. I have no clue as to why such a brilliantly written and shot show would not have been more popular and thus solidifying its immortal position in television Valhalla.

I am quick to give new shows a shot and when I stumbled upon Patriot in 2015 as part of new shows being released on Amazon Prime, I jumped in with both feet and was floored from the opening sequences and knew that this was, indeed, something special! The only thing that I can attribute to the possible demise of such an stellar show was that in that time period, Amazon was extremely slow in pushing out subsequent seasons of shows they were in the process of creating. For example, with regards to Patriot season one premiered in 2015 and season two wasn't even announced until the spring of 2017 a full year and a half after season one premiered and season two didn't premier until November 2018 which was a year and a half after the final episode of season one was released. I think it was just too long for people on the fence about the show to wait. And to this equation that the pilot episode was released in November 2015 and the second episode wasn't even available until February 2017! So anyone fully hooked by the pilot was completely lost by the time the rest of the season was released.

The main character of this dark comedy is John Tavner, played by Michael Doorman, who is an intelligence agent with the cover of an industrial engineer who is handled by his father, played by Terry O'Quinn. His father is a master manipulator and cares little of the fragile mental state of his burned out son as long as the mission elements are met. His brother is lackluster, underachieving politician who helps the pair when he can. John Tavner is not in the best mental state at the beginning of the show and he slowly and steadily sinks lower and lower into mental instability while still trying to accomplish the goals of his secret mission. This unique dynamic causes a severe amount of tension for the viewer and allows you to form an extremely compassionate bond with the main character.

One of my favorite scenes in the entire series is when his brother, played by Michael Chermus, has to run a considerable distance through city streets in order to help his brother and this entire sequence is set to Root Down by the Beastie Boys and with the character donning a bright yellow jumpsuit no less! They are also responsible for the title song of season two......Beastie Boys!!!!! How could you not fall instantly in love with this show!?!?!?!

For whatever reason, it was not picked back up for season three, but if you have some time to spare I highly recommend taking the time to check this hidden gem out. It is absolutely the most underrated television show in the history of television!

All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter,
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost
-Tolkien