Undercovers: An Advance Review

Our advance reviews of NBC’s new fall shows continues with a look at the new Wednesday night series, Undercovers.

Meet the Blooms

Although the pilot episode doesn’t quite have the magic  or the jaw-dropping moments we’ve come to expect from J.J. Abrams, Undercovers has the potential to be a lighthearted spy romp with just enough drama to stay out of parody territory. Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe take on the lead roles as Samantha and Steven Bloom, married former CIA agents who are reactivated five years after they resigned. They may not be household names yet, but leave it to J.J. Abrams to launch a pair of relative unknowns. The two are engaging and eminently watchable here. They have an easy, believable chemistry as a married couple, with plenty of spice to keep life interesting.

When they became involved several years ago, Sam & Steve (I know!) agreed to keep their spy lives separate, which wasn’t so difficult after they left the Agency but does provide both some points of both conflict and humor now.

Although the pilot is mostly concerned with introducing us to Sam and Steven, we also meet a few characters who I hope will be part of the regular supporting cast. Sam’s sister Lizzie is a bit of a mess, but serves to ground Sam’s normal life. Leo reminded me a lot of Bryce from Chuck in the beginning; in fact, the entire opening sequence will remind you of the Chuck pilot. Leo sticks around longer and will, I hope, continue to interact with the Blooms. And finally there’s Hoyt, the CIA techy who hilariously worships the ground Steven Bloom walks on but sure would come in handy on future missions.

I found a lot of similarities in tone to my favorite spy show (Chuck), but Undercovers is definitely its own animal. Action, humor and romance intertwine, the leads are engaging, and the production values are lush, but somehow the sum is less than its parts in this instance. It’s lacking a little bit of soul, that oh-so-difficult to capture “it” factor, but has the potential to be great if that can be found.

Undercovers premieres Wednesday, September 22 at 8/7c on NBC.

Bottom line: a contender for your weekly viewing routine, but probably on the DVR instead of live.