[SPOILER ALERT]
What were they smoking at TNT when someone decided to greenlight this laughably implausible yet creakily old-fashioned secret agent series? Created by The Bourne Identity director W. Blake Herron, Agent X posits that a secret codicil in the Constitution empowers the Vice-President (played by Sharon Stone!!) to employ a covert agent to protect the nation, removed from oversight by Congress or any other federal agency. If you can believe that, then get ready to swallow a Batcave-like headquarters buried beneath the vice-presidential residence, Gerald McRaney as the Veep's Alfred The Butler-like major domo, and 40-year old journeyman actor Jeff Hephner as the dashing, two-fisted superspy John Case.
Let's not even think about what Spiro Agnew would have done with this kind of power, let's just look at the series; can it rise above its patchwork mishmash of Batman and Bond with good storytelling, compelling characters, and well-directed action scenes? Not based on the two-part pilot, which starts with Case rescuing the FBI chief's daughter from terrorists and then defusing stolen atomic missiles stolen by Chechen rebels.
Sharon Stone plays the widowed vice-president (a storyline about her husband's death can't be too far off) like a combination of Hilary Clinton and sexy Cinnamon Carter from the original Mission: Impossible, who jumps at the idea of carrying on deep espionage behind the back of fictional President Eckhart (the usually reliable John Shea,) the CIA, and the FBI. McRaney comes across as stiff and phony as her butler and accomplice-in-espionage, while Hephner as Case lacks James Bond's gadgets, elan, and sense of humor. Hephner looks like a waiter in a tuxedo, and is barely more believable as an action hero.
The action scenes include the usual nonsense, with heavily armed terrorists spraying machine gun fire and hitting nothing while our heroes take out bad guys with a single shot. The big plot twist in the episode about the stolen missiles - it turns out the kidnapped scientist who can unlock the nuclear codes has doublecrossed the Chechen warlord and wants to auction the missiles to the highest bidder - is delivered so clumsily that it delivers no real surprise. Case and the beautiful Russian mercenary he's recruited infiltrate the auction and kick major terrorist butt so effortlessly, it makes The Man From UNCLE seem sophisticated in comparison. And when the evil warlord nobly sacrifices himself to save Case and help blow up the missiles, whatever small credibility the story might have had goes out the window.
Send Agent X to the shredder and look for thrills almost anywhere else.
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