The 2018 SXSW Film Festival was off to a great start this year in choosing CIA thriller Condor to be a part of their brilliant episodic programming.
SXSW is always pushing the envelope in debuting the best new TV series to show to their enthusiastic film audience. Some of which, like myself, have travelled from all corners of the globe to be amongst the first to watch some of the best new television series, sometimes months ahead of their small-screen release. In watching the first two episodes of Condor, I can honestly say that it’s a captivating new show that I’ll be adding to my watch-list once it debuts this summer on June 6th from AT&T Originals.
Although the teaser trailer doesn’t reveal too much at this point, let me set the scene for you a little bit.
Joe Turner, played by the devilishly handsome Brit newcomer Max Irons, works for a secret CIA agency that creates algorithms that help locate terrorists before they commit unspeakable crimes. Whilst struggling with his role in advising the CIA to potential terrorist threats, Joe also has a big conscious which often causes him to question the morality of the people and organisation he works for. Joe is also looking for a decent Tinder date too which brings a bit of humour to his ultra serious job that he can’t even elude to in the slightest on his first dates.
As seen in the first few episodes, the protagonist is played by the absent-of-late Brendan Fraser, who I will say has been perfectly cast as Nathan Fowler – a creepy evil genius who has his sights set on destroying the agency that Joe works for.
Nathan’s seductively dangerous partner-in-crime Gabrielle Joubert, played by Leem Lubany, is also brought into the mix to infiltrate the agency and cause havoc in Joe’s personal love life – a plot point, I for one, am excited to see more of as the sexual chemistry between Leem and Turner on-screen is super-hot to say the least.
If you like spy vs spy type thrillers, you’ll be intrigued by Condor. I for one will be setting my DVR for future episodes as I can’t wait to see how this show unfolds. The performances by Irons, Lebany and Fraser had me hooked in right from the opening scenes. I’ll also be looking out for the talented Mira Sorvino too in upcoming episodes to see where she fits in amongst this high-stakes television thrill ride.