Scott Miller
I like action TV shows, I like throwback shows and I like Abrams, but Undercovers is dreadfully dull.The show has very high production values, but the recycled plots do nothing to cash in on them. Locales and set pieces are interchangeable as the by-the-numbers plots unfold. There's nary an original idea to be found.This might not be such a problem if we at least had good characters, but Undercovers is lacking there, too. We get only the most cursory back story for our leads. They seem to exist only in the moment. Even what we know about their past doesn't seem to jibe with what we see. First, they show no indication that they were ever highly trained operatives. They carry themselves like second-year agents, not the top spies who had to be reactivated because no one else could handle the job. Also, Samantha had a relationship with two characters on the show, but she has absolutely no chemistry with either of them.And that is the nail in the coffin for the show. All the other weaknesses of the show could be said about a similar cheesy mystery show from the 70s/80s: Hart to Hart. But the two leads in that show had chemistry, and it carried the entire series. The only thing that carries Undercovers is Gerald McRaney...but his appearances are too brief to do anything more than remind us of what this show could have been.
mamanoooooooo
I tried. I really did. A married couple who are retired spies trying to live a normal life is called back to active duty. This spy vs. spy type show has been done a hundred times before, but this is the worst version I have ever seen. The dialogue is pure dribble. Sexpionage? Boris and Gugu have no chemistry so that idea went straight out the window. I won't bother going into details about the pilot, mostly because the plot was dragging and not engaging and I was so bored with what was going on that my mind would drift off and I found myself having to rewind to catch up. Im a huge fan of J.J. Abrams and was sorely disappointed that this show was so bad. Maybe it will get better but I wont be watching.
IBrakeForTrees
(Note: this review is of the pilot episode only.)Zzzz. Was there anything in the pilot we hadn't seen dozens of times before? Has JJ Abrams been watching too many 1970s TV reruns? The plot is old, the main characters are more glitzy than interesting, the dialog is boring....I think we're supposed to give the show high marks because the main characters are a black married couple, which is on the original side. But that's not enough. They have no deeper motivation than they miss the excitement of being heroes. But a good hero has vulnerabilities and obstacles. He/she is not perfect. He has a back story, often involving the loss of a family member, that makes him sympathetic to the viewer. I can only hope that will show up in the episodes after the pilot, because, right now, the best thing that could happen to the show is if Boris gets killed and Gugu has to carry on without him.And what's with the characters names? Samantha Bloom was a character on VR.5,whose sister and star was named Sydney. JJ Abrams already had a series with a Sydney, so now...? Maybe halfway through the series, Abrams will reveal this is all happening in virtual reality or a parallel universe. Now that would be interesting. :-)
darkgraypony
Undercovers is a well written, well acted new series about a married couple that work for the CIA. I don't want to give away any details but that bit is commonly known. I loved the series and think you will too, it's great mix of action, comedy and drama. In this age of reality TV it's good to see a show that has a winning formula and J.J. Abrams has done it again. This show has a great cast and you can practically see the many directions in which they could take these characters. The chemistry between the two main characters, Steven and Samatha Bloom played by Boris Kojoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw respectively, is so electrifying that it leads you to believe there must be some off camera romance going on. The show is an hour long but the action scenes are tied in perfectly with the story telling and the result is a fast paced series that keeps even the most attention challenged person interested.