Arguably the best drama you're not watching, or haven't even discovered, Amazon's gem returns for more existential spy action, laughs and folk songs.
Not that it matters, but sometimes you're on a critical island because a series you love or loathe puts you there. But sometimes you're on that island because in the Peak TV era, others may have forgotten to swim out to it.
In 2017, Amazon's quirky and brilliant drama Patriot made its way to No. 6 (out of 46) on my list of best series of the year, and I fretted that I had put it too low. I have no idea if any other critics ended up watching the entire 10-episode run of Patriot. But I have a pretty good idea that I'm one of the only reviewers who put it on a best-of list for 2017 and routinely, passionately touted it during that year. The series suffered from Amazon's now-abandoned strategy under its old regime of posting pilots online for viewers to "vote" on, which means that the pilot for Patriot was available Nov. 5 of — wait for it — 2015, before eventually starting its real season Feb. 24 of — wait for it again — 2017.
Is that any way to launch a series? No. But Amazon was new to the TV business then, while it’s now under new management with Jennifer Salke and co. and is, not to put too fine a point on it, kicking a lot of ass.
On Friday, season two of Patriot kicks off and the delightfully creative series from writer, director and creator Steven Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) returns better than ever, a wholly original vision that has distant-cousin connections to the vibe of the Fargo television series and Wes Anderson films, while being its own weird thing. That thing is basically an existential look at the spy world, starring the wonderful Michael Dorman as John Tavner, a U.S. intelligence officer/assassin working off the books for his father, John (Terry O’Quinn, as fantastic as ever), who is the director of intelligence for the State Department.
When season one started, John was in Europe, suffering from PTSD and job burnout after killing the wrong target, which led him to smoking a lot of pot, riding his bike around and playing hilariously descriptive folk songs that detailed his secret missions — a kind of therapy for him and easily my favorite creative conceit in any drama I’ve seen in years. Thankfully, Patriot leans into those folk songs even more in season two, including one describing a mission as it unfolds on the screen, with John singing his plaintive, depressed hope-against-hope that it will all go well and he can at least have an hour afterward to drink a little wine and relax (it doesn’t go well, which is less spoiler than trend in John’s beleaguered service to his country).
Of the many little things that Patriot does so cleverly, tapping into John’s exhaustion and depression is one of them, with the immensely likable Dorman’s face wearing that weariness well as he goes on his missions, which suffer the whims of misfortune and unexpected twists almost every time, complicating his ability to do the job. Season two gets further into the weird dynamic that propels John — that early in life his father realized he could be an off-the-books asset with his sterling training and never-quit mental makeup, but that the sense of duty to both father and country and what the job often requires (killing people) would take their emotional toll. (Along with my podcast partner Jason Snell, another die-hard Patriot fan, we’ve taken to calling the series Sad Spies, which is not only a better and more accurate title but also an actual descriptor used by a character from the first season.)