A Cinemax/BBC espionage actioner starring Melissa George (“Alias”) as a spy for hire, “Hunted” is another British drama from American writer-producer Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files,” “Night Stalker,” “Strike Back”).
It co-stars “Oz”/”Lost” icon Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, a Britisher this time playing a small role and an American.
George’s character, Sam Hunter, is going to remind a lot of viewers of Sydney Bristow as she convincingly dispatches any number of burly men with extraordinary speed and efficiency.
And George remains easy on the eyes generally, especially when she’s stripped down to her undies; she’s 36 but looks 24.
While the series starts out like “Alias,” it quickly evolves into a not-so-impossible TV-MA “Mission: Impossible” with the mission spread out over multiple episodes.
At first the series looks like it’s going to be an “Alias”-esque globe-hopper, but it quickly confines itself to London.
The ruse by which Hunter infiltrates a businessman/gangster’s home is wildly implausible, and as other implausibles piled up, I found my interest in this series waning.
I’d be more forgiving of the clumsy plot mechanics were the series funnier, or the characters as engaging as Arvin Sloane, Will Tippin, Marshall Flinkman or the Bristows.
... As with the many conspiracies of "Alias," I'm not always 100 percent clear on what's happening in "Hunted," but the atmosphere and suspense are terrific, and the leading lady is compelling enough that I want to see her triumph over whoever it is she's ultimately supposed to be fighting. …
... it's quite enjoyable to see a character-driven, action-laced spy drama take full advantage of the serialization possibilities of pay cable. AMC's late, lamented "Rubicon" tried that kind of thing and though it was a wonderful show, it didn't work as a commercial entity. …
... slick but not especially riveting … ends up being a competent addition to the high-stakes-snooping genre but not a very surprising one.
... [George] is not terribly believable in any of them, forcing viewers to rely on the reactions of those around her to see that she is convincing as an uber agent. Fortunately, the other performances are strong enough to carry it off for the most part, and as the plot divides and subdivides, sending tendrils up through the vaunted British intelligence agency, recalling the Cold War and evoking more current international concerns, Hunted takes on a smart and disturbing personality of its own. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... Tonally, "Hunted" is most reminiscent of the great British import "MI-5." "Hunted" is a darker show, but it's still fun to see spy games in play and the assorted tools in a modern spy's arsenal. …
... isn't as extreme in its body count or its exposed bodies as Cinemax's guilty-pleasure breakout shoot-em-up Strike Back (just renewed for a third season of deranged derring-do), and it's also not as much fun. In its gloomy web of deceit and rabbit-hole conspiracies, this lies somewhere on the spectrum between the cerebral inertia of AMC's short-lived Rubicon and the giddy escapist antics of ABC's Alias …
... even with bursts of bloodshed, "Hunted" bogs down in the episodes previewed, which include extended stretches of cloak-and-dagger stuff set within the mansion where Sam's working, which start to become a tad claustrophobic. …
10 p.m. Friday. Cinemax.
