IR TV Review: THE ENDGAME (“Pilot”) [NBC]
The trigger point of "The End Game" is based on the lead character knowing the puzzle pieces before they are known to the rest of the board. Like Reddington on "The Blacklist" it is all about ego and intelligence but with a slight crack of vulnerability that eventually undoes some part of the break. Here it is a two hander but in a different way. The Queen is played by Morena Baccarin, known for her different steely roles but most famously on the reboot of "V". She exhibits a beautiful and icy coolness but she is not infallible yet her strategy is beautifully sound. The question becomes build. The set up of the "Pilot" involving different bank heists pointing to different possible security breaches is a good starting point but won't last long.
Ryan Michelle Bathe plays Detective Val Turner who has a history with Baccarin's Federova and yet there is some interesting respect and parallels. The key is finding a balance or creating a switch like "Blindspot" where the characters need to work together, trust each other to a point but are waiting to be double-crossed at some point just because of their nature. The production elements work well and again, take cues from "The Blacklist". If the slippery texture of both characters, where their weaknesses and principles line up, continue to build without becoming cliched and then are able to set into a nice groove, the series could have legs. Federova's tentacles spread out far and wide around the globe so like Remington, she has motive, motivation, ambition and a bit of a wicked streak. B+
By Tim Wassberg
