Bringing in the exes already. Not all that promising.

Harry, Helen, and company set off for Madrid to stop a terrorist attack with some very nasty weapons. Their cover is Helen attending one of the preeminent linguistic conferences in the world. Cue Helen’s ex. The key to breaking the code that will let them stop the attack is one of the world’s top cryptologists. Cue Harry’s ex. Needless to say, in addition to being brilliant, both are ultra sexy because… well, because of course they are.

Jealousy ensues. Tired cliché. Worse, juvenile jealousy ensues. Boring cliché.

Two installments is a small sampling, but so far, the show seems to be focusing on Helen and Harry instead of on the actual missions. That could work. It would be interesting to see her growing into her new job, and the two of them growing even closer. The contrived – very badly contrived – conflict between them is just plain dull and runs counter to a light, fun vibe.

The series seems to be vacillating between being a humorous romantic action-adventure and an adventurous rom-com. Here’s hoping it chooses the former, because the latter gets tedious when repeated ad nauseam. ‘Happily Ever After’ – the whole point of a rom-com – doesn’t work on endless repeat. So far they’ve visited Paris and Madrid. Here’s also hoping they have the budget to showcase various locations, as that could also be a ton of fun.

Every show needs time to find its footing and decide what direction to take. This one has an engaging cast and a potentially entertaining setup that can take them all over the world. If it pursues that avenue, it could do really well. That, and ease up on all the surveillance which no doubt is intended to be funny but is really just creepy.

Verdict: Not a promising second installment, but still too soon to tell overall. 5/10

Rigel Ailur

http://www.BluetrixBooks.com