Patriot 

To prevent Iran from going nuclear, intelligence officer John Tavner must forgo all safety nets and assume a perilous "non-official cover" -- that of a mid-level employee at a Midwestern industrial piping firm.

Creator:

Steve Conrad

Stars:

Michael Dorman, Michael Chernus, Terry O'Quinn

Cast

Series cast summary:
Michael Dorman	...	John Tavner (10 episodes, 2015-2017)
Michael Chernus	...	Edward Tavner (10 episodes, 2015-2017)
Terry O'Quinn	...	Tom Tavner (10 episodes, 2015-2017)
Kathleen Munroe	...	Alice Tavner (10 episodes, 2015-2017)
Kurtwood Smith	...	Leslie Claret / ... (10 episodes, 2015-2017)
Aliette Opheim	...	Detective Agathe Albans (10 episodes, 2015-2017)
Chris Conrad	...	Dennis McClaren / ... (10 episodes, 2015-2017)
Julian Richings	...	Peter Icabod (10 episodes, 2015-2017)
Gil Bellows	...	Lawrence Lacroix (10 episodes, 2015-2017)
Marcus Toji	...	Stephen Tchoo (9 episodes, 2015-2017)
Tony Fitzpatrick	...	Jack Birdbath (8 episodes, 2015-2017)
Sylvie Sadarnac	...	Det. Lucie Prum-Waltzing / ... (8 episodes, 2017)
Charlotte Arnold	...	Ally O'Dhonaill (8 episodes, 2015-2017)
Sadieh Rifai	...	Mahtma El-Mashad (8 episodes, 2017)
Hana Mae Lee	...	Numi (8 episodes, 2017)
Zoe Schwartz	...	Sophie (8 episodes, 2017)
Kane Mahon	...	Mikham Candahar (6 episodes, 2015-2017)
Antoine McKay	...	Gregory Gordon (6 episodes, 2017)
Azhar Usman	...	Kkyman Candahar (6 episodes, 2017)
Sabina Zeynalova	...	Sandrine Gernsback (5 episodes, 2017)
Matthew Lunt	...	Det. Emile Mills / ... (5 episodes, 2017)
Norm Sousa	...	Edgar Barros / ... (5 episodes, 2015-2017)
Jaclyn Hennell	...	Lori (5 episodes, 2017)
Lizzy Leigh	...	Upscale Hotel Lobby guest / ... (5 episodes, 2017)

Storyline

John Tavner doesn't really fit in with his quirky colleagues at the industrial piping corporation where he works. They don't really know much about him, but what they don't realize is that his life has been anything but mundane. To prevent Iran from going nuclear, he has assumed a fake persona as an average businessman when in reality he is actually a highly skilled intelligence officer, who took the piping job because of the routine business trips to Luxembourg, and because the job is secluded and too dull to be noticed. Unfortunately for him a European cop is at his heels trying to discover who he is, his incessantly grim and nervous coworker Mr. Icabod has figured out that he isn't who he says, and Steven, a chubby employee with a recent brain injury, is starting to remember a horrible act which John may have inflicted.

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Plot Keywords:

undercover | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

5 November 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Patriot

Filming Locations:

Mitchell and Mackie Buildings, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amazon Studios, Picrow, Reunion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is no 'St. Swithins Road' in Jaywick, the nearest road of that name being at Whiststable in Kent or at Norwich in Norfolk, these both also being coastal towns. The postal code 'CM1 1NG' does not cover the Jaywick area of Essex, that being covered by the 'CO' Colchester postal district office. CM1 1NG is the post code for the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Company building in Chelmsford, Essex.

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Goofs

In the opening scene, the pipeline company executives grill the main character about his knowledge of pipelines. The head honcho mispronounces the type of weld he is asking about - a fillet weld - which is correctly pronounced "fill-it".

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Quotes

John Tavner: [angry] Look, I just wanted to talk to your dog on the phone, is there something fuckin' wrong with that?

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Soundtracks

If I Needed You
(uncredited)
Written by Townes van Zandt
Performed by Townes van Zandt

User Reviews

The Freshest Take on a Genre Since the Coen Brothers

Please order more of this show! I haven't seen such a fresh take on a genre--in this case, espionage--since I first saw "Raising Arizona" 35 years ago. My eyes and mouth opened wide at how unique and quirkily this show used the screen, characters, story, and imagery to toss James Bond into a Cuisinart every so often for a pulse.

The whole thing has the feeling, like the incredible camera/bull sequence, of being told as a narrative from the memories and imaginations of two goofy brothers lying out in a tent one summer night, taking turns killing off each other's characters and they hand off the narrative. The setup and pay off of the Asian gentleman and the security guard is brilliant!

I can't stop laughing to make breakfast.

I almost want to never see any more so as to preserve the mystery and perfection. This pilot is Rube Goldberg's Cleaning Closet with all the mops and brooms and buckets just barely kept from chaos by the door.

My one concern is the title, which is hopelessly dull and shares none of the grab bag charm of the script and acting. Even "NOC" is better because it conceals mystery but pays off. Nobody politically left of John McCain would give this a tumble with that name. It sounds like a Tom Clancy novel when it's a lot closer to Tom Robbins.

I'm sold on this writer/director and will now go look up his IMDb credits. Thanks for letting us review.