Counterpart | |
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Genre | Thriller Science fiction |
Created by | Justin Marks |
Starring | |
Composer | Jeff Russo |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 3 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Production locations | |
Cinematography | Martin Ruhe |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 56–60 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Starz |
Release | December 10, 2017 present | –
Counterpart is an American science fiction thriller television series created by Justin Marks, ordered to series by the premium cable network Starz.[1] The first episode was directed by Morten Tyldum.[1] Starz ordered two 10-episode seasons.[2] The premiere episode first aired on December 10, 2017. It stars Academy Award-winning actor J. K. Simmons in a dual role.
Howard Silk works for a bureaucratic UN agency based in Berlin for thirty years, his station too low for him to be told what his work really involves. In fact, the agency is a crossing point to a parallel Earth, one that diverged from his world during the Cold War. Silk's "other" self, his counterpart from the other side, is, among other things, a field agent who regularly makes crossings to retrieve "others" who have gone rogue. Factional in-fighting in the agency on the other side spills over on to this side, putting Silk and his comatose wife in danger.
No. | Title [7] | Directed by [8] | Written by [8] | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Crossing" | Morten Tyldum | Justin Marks | December 10, 2017[b] | 0.394[11] | |
Howard Silk, a low-level bureaucrat in a Berlin-based UN agency works as an "Interface", where he exchanges coded call-and-response messages with another agent; Howard has no idea what it is they're doing or why. In a meeting with his supervisor, director Peter Quayle, Howard asks for a promotion to the Strategy division, but he is denied it. After work, Howard visits his wife Emily who is in a coma after being struck by a car. The next day, Howard arrives to work and his access code is invalid; he is taken to a separate room. There, he is met with Quayle, and Aldrich, the director of operations. They bring in a hooded man, who is revealed to be identical-looking to Howard. Quayle explains to Howard that during the Cold War an experiment by the East Germans took place, which opened a portal to a parallel version of our world and that the doorway between the worlds is under the building they work at. An assassin named Baldwin has snuck over to this side with a kill list (which includes Howard's wife), and Howard Prime[a] knows how to stop her. Howard Prime pretends to be our Howard when he visits Emily at the hospital and a shootout occurs when Baldwin arrives. Baldwin barely escapes, but is wounded by Howard Prime. Howard Prime returns to his side (with walls covered with Soviet-related writings) where he meets his Emily, revealed to be alive, though he previously told our Howard that she had died. | ||||||
2 | "Birds of a Feather" | Stephen Williams | Justin Marks | January 28, 2018 | 0.506[12] | |
On the other side, Howard Prime's estranged wife tells him there's a rendition order against him. Two operatives take Prime out of the bar and into a car; inside the vehicle, Prime kills them and walks away. Prime meets with a man named Pope in a church to discuss whether the rendition order was official or a rogue assassination attempt. Pope gets him a 36-hour visa to "our" side. Howard Alpha has been promoted to the Analysis division, and later meets with Aldrich and Prime in a theater to discuss Baldwin. Prime tells them her real name is Nadia Fierro, and the other version of her is a virtuoso violinist. In an old house, Baldwin meets with her handler Clare, who tells her she needs to kill her other self. Emily Prime is revealed to be in a relationship with Ian Shaw, a fellow operative. Nadia's backstory is detailed through flashbacks, showing that she had an alcoholic father. When she was 10, Nadia was playing violin for tips on a subway station and her father slipped and fell drunkenly on the tracks. Instead of getting help, she watched coldly while a train ran over him. In the present, Baldwin goes to the theater to kill Nadia, but is unable to. Baldwin gets into a standoff with OI operatives, and in the process, Nadia is shot and killed while Baldwin is taken into custody. Back at Howard Alpha's apartment, he expresses his anger about Nadia's death and punches Aldrich. On the other side, Emily Prime meets with Pope, and she tells him she wants to keep the peace between both worlds. Pope tells her, "I wonder when we've ever had peace" and "if there will ever come a reckoning for what they did to us." | ||||||
3 | "The Lost Art of Diplomacy" | Jennifer Getzinger | Amy Berg | February 4, 2018 | 0.299[13] | |
4 | "Both Sides Now" | Alik Sakharov | Erin Levy | February 11, 2018 | N/A | |
5 | "Shaking the Tree" | Stephen Williams | Zak Schwartz | February 18, 2018 | N/A | |
6 | "Act Like You've Been Here Before" | Jennifer Getzinger | Unknown | February 25, 2018 | N/A | |
7 | "The Sincerest Form of Flattery" | Alik Sakharov | Unknown | March 4, 2018 | N/A | |
8 | "Love the Lie" | Alik Sakharov | Amy Berg & Gary Gilbert & Jordan Horowitz | March 11, 2018 | N/A | |
9 | "No Man's Land, Part One" | Stephen Williams | Unknown | March 18, 2018 | N/A | |
10 | "No Man's Land, Part Two" | Jennifer Getzinger | Unknown | March 25, 2018 | N/A |
The series was ordered in April 2015 with J. K. Simmons announced to star.[1] Production began in December 2016 in Los Angeles, and it was announced that the series would be filmed in additional locations across the U.S. and Europe in 2017,[5] including Berlin, where the series is set.[14]
Counterpart has been well-received by critics. The first season has an 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating 8.39 out of 10 based on 28 reviews, with a critical consensus of, "Tense and gripping, The Counterpart is an absorbing thrill-fest led by J.K. Simmons' multi-faceted dual lead performance."[15] On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 76 out of 100 based 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[16]
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