Sleeper Cell: Sleeper Hit
Showtime's fantastic* Sleeper Cell concluded last night with a bang. Several, actually. And I promise this revelation gives away nothing about the ending of the gripping shadowy Muslim terrorists who are planning something big in L.A. v. the FBI drama to those of you who've not yet seen the show.
And let's be real, here. You probably haven't seen it. (I didn't really catch on until about the fifth episode.)
While the ten-episode original series earned mainly rave reviews and just scored a Golden Globe nomination, the fact it's on Showtime likely didn't win it the viewership it deserves. Meanwhile, frequent comparisons to Fox's farcical 24 -- a waste of celluloid but for the high eye-candy quotient of stunning actress-turned-NHL blogger Elisha Cuthbert -- do nothing but demean Sleeper Cell's bubbling suspense and high-quality writing and acting.
Another strike against Sleeper Cell is that -- while talented and believable -- the cast is cobbled together mainly from the castoffs of duds like Barbershop and Van Wilder. (I believe James LeGros is the show's biggest name.) So they're not exactly bringing viewers with them.
Cell leader Oded Fehr (for what it's worth, he's a real-life Jew who on the show plays an Arab pretending to be a Jew) steals the show, but in an all-news-is-local nod star Michael Ealy (playing Darwyn, a Muslim FBI agent who infiltrates the cell) is from Silver Spring while Melissa Sagemiller, who plays Ealy's girlfriend Gayle on the show, is from DC. (Her dad reportedly played for the Redskins.)
Sleeper Cell also features the excellent Sonya Walger, thankfully re-surfacing for a happy ending from the living hell of playing the wife of Mike Binder in his creepy, mercifully cancelled HBO series The Mind of a Married Man.
All of which is to say that this is a show worth watching. Thankfully (mark your calendar) Showtime is re-airing the show beginning January 10. More here.
*Full Disclosure: A Washington lobbyist whose clients include Showtime paid me $1.37 to promote Sleeper Cell.
And let's be real, here. You probably haven't seen it. (I didn't really catch on until about the fifth episode.)
While the ten-episode original series earned mainly rave reviews and just scored a Golden Globe nomination, the fact it's on Showtime likely didn't win it the viewership it deserves. Meanwhile, frequent comparisons to Fox's farcical 24 -- a waste of celluloid but for the high eye-candy quotient of stunning actress-turned-NHL blogger Elisha Cuthbert -- do nothing but demean Sleeper Cell's bubbling suspense and high-quality writing and acting.
Another strike against Sleeper Cell is that -- while talented and believable -- the cast is cobbled together mainly from the castoffs of duds like Barbershop and Van Wilder. (I believe James LeGros is the show's biggest name.) So they're not exactly bringing viewers with them.
Cell leader Oded Fehr (for what it's worth, he's a real-life Jew who on the show plays an Arab pretending to be a Jew) steals the show, but in an all-news-is-local nod star Michael Ealy (playing Darwyn, a Muslim FBI agent who infiltrates the cell) is from Silver Spring while Melissa Sagemiller, who plays Ealy's girlfriend Gayle on the show, is from DC. (Her dad reportedly played for the Redskins.)
Sleeper Cell also features the excellent Sonya Walger, thankfully re-surfacing for a happy ending from the living hell of playing the wife of Mike Binder in his creepy, mercifully cancelled HBO series The Mind of a Married Man.
All of which is to say that this is a show worth watching. Thankfully (mark your calendar) Showtime is re-airing the show beginning January 10. More here.
*Full Disclosure: A Washington lobbyist whose clients include Showtime paid me $1.37 to promote Sleeper Cell.
posted by TtP Staff @ 12/19/2005
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