Most things in this world have their good points and their not-so-good points, and this is certainly true in the case of “The Copenhagen Test,” a science fiction spy story about a man whose brain has been hacked. Unbeknownst to him, everything he sees and hears is uploaded to an unknown party, in an unknown place, as if it were living smart glasses. Created by Thomas Brandon and premiering Saturday on Peacock, its conceit is dramatically clever, though, of course, impossible. What do you look at when you discover that what you are seeing is being observed?
In a preamble, we meet our hero, Andrew Hale (Simu Liu, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), a first-generation Chinese-American Green Beret, who rescues hostages in Belarus. A voice in his headset tells him that there is enough room for one on a departing helicopter and that he should prioritize an American citizen. Instead, he chooses a foreign child. This, as we will learn, is the least preferred option.
Three years later, Hale works for the Orphanage, a shadowy American intelligence agency that spies on all but shadowy American intelligence agencies and monitors observers. (So much observation!) His proud boast is that, since his beginnings in the Bush I administration, he has never been compromised. (Until someone started looking through Hale's eyes, that is.) There is a secret entrance to their giant complex, accessed by locking eyes with a statue in a library; is thematically appropriate, but also very “Be smart!” That's a compliment, obviously.
The lower floor is where the analysts work; Entry to the upper floor, where the action takes place, is via a sort of fancy key that might have been used to open an executive bathroom in 1895. (The decor is better there, too, with some of the feel of an 1895 executive bathroom.) Hale, who has been listening to and translating Korean and Chinese conversations, dreams of going up the stairs, which will lead him to discover that his head is not entirely his own.
Meanwhile, he suffers from migraines, seizures and panic attacks. Ex-fiancee Rachel (Hannah Cruz), a doctor, has been giving him pills under the table. Other characters of continuing interest include Michelle (Melissa Barrera), a waitress who will spy on Hale from the point of view of a girlfriend, more or less; Parker (Sinclair Daniel), a newly promoted “predictive analyst” with a knack for reading people and situations; Victor (Saul Rubinek), a former spy who runs an upscale restaurant and has known Hale forever; Cobb (Mark O'Brien), a rival colleague whose Ivy League personality contrasts with Hale's; and Cobb's uncle Schiff (Adam Godley), who also has knowledge of espionage. Peter Moira (Brian d'Arcy James) runs the store and St. George (Kathleen Chalfant) floats over Moira.
While strangers look through Hale's eyes, the Orphanage watches Hale with their usual access to the world's security cameras. (That bit of cinematic espionage always seems far-fetched to me; however, a conversation in the privacy of my kitchen will somehow translate into ads on my social media, so who knows?) “The Copenhagen Test” doesn't sell a metaphor for the surveillance state, in any case; This is just one of those “Who can you trust?” stories, one that keeps changing characters to keep the show going, somewhat past the point of profitability.
Like most eight-hour dramas, it's too long – “Slow Horses,” the best of its kind, is limited to six – and over the course of the show, things get confusing with MacGuffins and subplots. While it's easy enough to enjoy what's happening in the moment, it can be easy to lose the plot and harder to know who's on which side, or even how many sides there are. (It doesn't help that almost everyone is out to kill Hale.) I can't go into details without crossing the dreaded spoiler line, but even accepting the impossible technology, much of “The Copenhagen Test” makes little practical sense, including the test of the same name. (Why “Copenhagen”? Det ved jeg ikke. In Danish it means “I don't know”). I spent so much time untwisting knots and keeping threads straight that, although I remained nonchalantly supportive of Hale, I completely stopped caring about the fate of the orphanage and the supposedly free world.
The show is well distributed. While the characters on paper are practically types, each actor projects the essence of the role, adding enough extra personality to suggest a real person. (And they're all nice to watch.) When he's not slumped over in pain, or involved in a gunfight or hand-to-hand combat, Liu is a calm and collected leading man, more in the vein of Keanu Reeves, and as a Chinese-Canadian actor, he remains a novelty among American television action heroes. He has a sort of chemistry with Barrera, who has on-screen chemistry of his own, although it is somewhat limited by the demands of the plot.
The ending, which includes a diminished chord turn, is fairly straightforward, though happier than one might imagine given the fuss that preceded it. Nice bows are tied, although at least one has been left loose in the hope, according to my own predictive analysis, of a second season. And while launching a series in the last week of the year doesn't exactly indicate confidence, I can predict with some confidence that there could be one.
