Former CIA operative Robyn McCall sees a young girl who she suspects is in trouble…

When I first heard about this, and saw the trailer, I was desperate to watch. I’ve been a big fan of the franchise since the original Edward Woodward property and the outstanding Stewart Copeland music score; still one of my favourite themes ever committed to television.

I mention this one because this show is a reboot of the series and, from what I’ve seen so far, appears to have no direct relation to the Denzel Washington movies. I like the idea that the three work as characters as urban legends, something around when the odds are against you to help even them (paraphrasing the 80s trailers). After a long and successful series with a White male protagonist, the two Washington movies altered the background slightly and of course gave a leading role to a Black male with an updated character sharing the same name. The latest iteration sees Queen Latifah’s lead character, Robyn McCall, take a directly closer back story to Woodward’s Robert McCall rather than Washington’s.

We open the adventure with the young student, Jewel, who is destined to become McCall’s first ‘client’. After a phone call home, which foreshadows a comparative family story beat for McCall even here, the word, “Run!” comes from a fleeing imminent corpse by the name of Chance who she witnesses being shot dead whilst closing up at her part-time job. It reminded me a little of the video doing the rounds on social media of ‘when Black people see other Black people running’, which frames something in the next scene nicely too. But here, the bad guys are really not interested in there being witnesses at all. Of course it isn’t going to be that easy for them, otherwise we’d have no plot.

As the premise suggests, Jewel cannot go to the police for help. She tries, but an immediate complication surfaces, and provides the story beat that her enemy is far more dangerous than first thought.

Meanwhile McCall’s backstory is founded. We meet her daughter Delilah for an early comparative note; Woodward’s McCall had a son in the original show. Meanwhile, Viola ‘Vi’ Marsette, played by Lorraine Toussaint, who you’ve seen, or heard, a lot of previously, acts as a friendly support. The trouble is, neither of them have any idea what McCall is truly about at this stage.

A former CIA agent – ‘the best they had’, in fact – whose past haunts her, as clear as from the second minute of the show, wants to do some good in the world, in a way her former profession doesn’t allow. Her former handler and soon-to-be patron William Bishop, attempts to entice her into a role in his new private security venture. But she feels a higher calling. “Everybody’s playing chess, nobody thinks of the living, breathing pieces that we sacrifice along the way.”

Currently McCall has no occupation, having left the CIA disillusioned after a mission which still haunts her. They’d have her back in a heartbeat but she’s at a crossroads. but has plenty of options, including going back (do you ever really leave the Agency?) and Bishop’s offer. The clandestine meeting at Coney Island (I watched The Warriors many times, I know my Wonder Wheels when I see them) leads her to Jewel and from there, her calling, even if she hasn’t realised it yet. “…Who do you go to if you can’t go to the cops?” Jewel asks? Hmmm, I wonder…

Trouble is, as is often the case, this takes her away from the daughter she already clearly doesn’t see too much of, an ex-husband in the background plot and McCall clearly telling untruths about her career retirement. Charity work, don’t you know? That’s what her family thinks, anyway.

McCall has some existing allies though, who are naturally a team of allies she needs for all that comes next and the setup you’d expect. Melody, a former colleague connected fixer who’s a deadeye darts player, which of course connects to what she happens to be really good at and Melody’s husband, Harry, a smart hacker and former work colleague she’s still good friends with.

It isn’t a perfect series launch. The lines in the script are strong, though perhaps on the very edge of ‘original’. McCall is what I would call Batman levels of smart and so although it works, it does feel like the lead character is never under any true threat. Except for one time and even then – Batman smart. It’s fine for me, but won’t work for everyone in terms of plot resolution convenience. I’d hope for at least one two-parter to give time to explore that further. Detective Dante is clearly going to be a regular. He displays instinct and is well placed to either join the team, perhaps offer up a love interest, or even both.

There’s enough there for me to keep watching. Robyn McCall, even with the premise remaining ostensibly identical to Woodward’s Robert, has the opportunity to go to very different places, even more so than Washington’s did already. It has already started down that path, and I feel there is plenty more to explore, should they choose to. From the first few minutes, a very clearly framed ‘Black Lives Matter’ poster tells you exactly what you’re getting yourself into, so don’t expect anything different. Plus it is not without its nods to the first show. I spotted a few, but the only one I’m going to give away here is the Jag, all of which are done in evolution rather than just directly lifted. I just hope the theme music they rest on going forward is just as banging as the original.

Verdict: This isn’t one of those explosive episodes where it does anything you haven’t seen somewhere before, but it puts a fresh enough take on the original premise that I want to see how it evolves. I don’t yet love it, but the promise is all there enough for me to stick with it. It’s fun enough, and anyone after a 45 minute action thriller should give it a go. 7/10

Russell Smith