I'm sure there's a good drama to be made about the compromises of modern diplomacy, between means and ends, and conflicting ends as well; and also about the gung-ho nature of western foreign policy. But 'The State Within' is definitely not it, unless you want to immerse yourself in a world where good-looking heroes do battle with cartoon villains. This is a story where the British ambassador to Washington cares passionately about a random British citizen sentenced to death in the U.S for a crime he doesn't even deny committing; and personally pulls victims from the wreck of a burning airliner, brought down, incidentally, in the heart of the American capital by agents acting effectively on behalf of the U.S. government; and where the director of a multi-million dollar company rampages around executing people who get in his way. It's also a story of labyrinthine complexity, whose twists make little sense; even if we accept the motivations of the characters, there must be easier ways for them to achieve their desires than the plots they engage in here. One might almost say that there's a fundamental naiveté about the whole tale, in its belief that a government might be sufficiently ashamed at the idea of supporting and deposing tyrants, and enriching their friends in big business at the same time, to consider it worthwhile to go to such lengths in covering them up. Additionally, the series is not even well made. The acting is poor, most of the cast seem to be playing bad actors playing their characters: Neil Pearson and Nigel Bennett are particularly wooden, while Lennie James (as is his wont) goes the other way, and overdoses on giving an impression of ferocious intensity. While we get endless captions giving us the specific location of places, as if in a desperate attempt to convey authenticity, and pointless fast camera-zooms for no particular reason. Meanwhile, in the real world, dictators continue to enjoy our support, our governments fight wars when their interests are threatened, and the corporate sector grows fat on the proceeds. But surely not as is presented in this overcooked fantasy.
Review of The State Within
