Warning: Spoiler Alert
Since we’ve started operations at “Not Just Another TV Site,” we’ve made it our policy to only cover shows that the staff wants to watch. Our mission statement’s always been to celebrate the best of Television, not to rake shows over the coals. Every once in a while, we find a show that seems to be perfect for our readers, until we actually watch the debut, of said series. Most times those results never see the light of day, however there are times when we preview a series, only to find it severely lacking. Unfortunately the new NBC series “American Odyssey,” which made it’s network debut on Sunday night, falls into the severely lacking category.
A severely disjointed story revolves around the ambush and killing of an American Special Forces Unit in Mali, Africa. Only one soldier survives the attack, Sgt. Odelle Ballard, a wife and mom, from Ayer, Massachusetts, Ballard’s well aware that her unit didn’t die at the hands of the terrorist group ANSAR DIINE. Instead her comrades got killed by an attack from a U.S. drone, the rest wiped out by a private American military contractor, now looking to find and kill her.
A former United States Attorney Peter Decker, now working as a lawyer for investment bankers Simons and Wachtel, realizes his employer’s involved in this massive cover up. Also an activist raised on New York City’s toney, Upper East Side, Harrison Wolcott, figures out the US government’s involved in this affair as well, after getting a tip from a slightly-crazed outcast named Bob, who believes conspiracies lie around every corner.
The writing’s incredibly simplistic, the cast filled with every stock stereotypical characters, you’ve encountered on the large and small screens. The cast seemingly endless, with very few standouts. Anna Friel’s talent shows through the terrible show she’s saddled with, hopefully she won’t need to play the character for much longer.
