As soon as I saw the first commercial I groaned. "Dear God, not another television spin-off," I thought to myself as I watched the intense scenes of some guy named Bob Lee (a hick name if there ever was one) being set up for and dealing with the aftermath of an assassination attempt. Great, another conspiracy- as if we don't have enough of those in real life. But as more commercials came out and as I found that it was not a straight retelling of the book and film, I found myself more and more intrigued in the story of Bob Lee Swagger and this spiraling conspiracy. When I tuned into the first episode and Bob Lee says "A bullet can kill you in three ways..." I knew I found one of my favorite new dramas.
Like I said, the story revolves around veteran Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger (portrayed by Ryan Phillippe), who is asked by his former commander-turned-Secret-Service-agent Isaac Johnson (Omar Epps) to help thwart an assassination attempt against the American President while he visits Seattle. To anticipate how the will-be-assassin will pull it off, Bob Lee is provided with the same rifle the assassin is expected to use, buys plenty of ammunition, and scouts potential sniper-nests that could be used. Unbeknownst to Swagger, Johnson and other rogue government agents and other conspirators get video evidence and plant it on Bob Lee after the assassination goes down. Bob Lee is then captured by FBI agent Nadine Memphis (Cynthia Addai-Robertson), and taken into custody. From there, it becomes a cat and mouse game as Bob Lee struggles to evade law enforcement, find potential allies both inside and outside the government, and unravel this conspiracy to prove his innocence.
Overall, I loved this series. It was different from the Mark Wahlberg film because 1) I can look at Ryan Phillippe and say "That's Bob Lee Swagger!" as opposed to "Hey! Mark Wahlberg took a camping trip away from Boston!" and 2) in the show, Bob Lee has a wife and daughter which shows a much more emotional side to Bob Lee that we didn't see in the movie. Phillippe was able to take a role and make it his own, which is hard to do after an actor as notable as Mark Wahlberg has already had that role.
(Ryan Phillippe as Bob Lee Swagger)*
Another thing I loved was the diverse casting. I don't necessarily look for diversity in a show or movie, but it was awesome to see an unconventional FBI agent and badass in Cynthia Addai-Robertson's portrayal of Nadine Memphis. Memphis is that agent who is always in hot water because she'll do just about anything to see justice is done and hunts down all leads possible, which is a headache for her supervising agent.
Speaking of tough women, Shantel VanSanten as Julie Swagger (Bob Lee's wife) has some badassery-merit of her own. It even shows in the first episode: after Bob Lee goes out hunting and returns with Chinese takeout, Julie asks what happened. Bob Lee sighs "I had something, but I missed." Julie, not skipping a beat and staring Bob Lee straight in the eyes, says "Bullshit, you never miss, Bob Lee." Just... wow. Her courageous defense of her husband and their daughter only intensifies as the season continues, which is something I can only applaud.
There is also the story of former Marine Captain Isaac Johnson, who is now in the Secret Service and recruits Swagger to thwart the assassination. When I found out that Swagger was set up, I despised Johnson. But little by little, it's revealed that Johnson isn't acting alone... and he isn't even in charge. Omar Epps delivers a great performance that shows a man torn between loyalty to his country, his comrades, and himself and his wife. I knew from the first episode that it wasn't the purely testosterone-filled, only white guy fest that I had pictured when watching the trailer, but also a look at the intensity of the female characters and the emotional side of Bob Lee and Isaac Johnson.
There are some big actors in the series as well, such as Tom Sizemore as CIA Agent Meachum and William Fichtner as Swagger's old sniper instructor both giving great performances in both being kind of strange assholes who you don't know if you like them or not, and it was refreshing to see both of them give solid performances after a bit of a hiatus .
There were a couple of things that I wasn't a huge fan of. One of which was the amount of twists. Now, they have to stretch out the concept of a movie into a show so there are bound to be a lot (and granted I was always on the edge of my seat) but good God, there are a lot that seem unnecessary at times. Another thing that bothered me was how little the Marine Corps was involved- that was part of what sold me on 'Shooter' in the first place. It feels like the director and producers kept it on the back stove, using it to further the plot a few times throughout the season but otherwise it was just "Yep, Bob Lee's a sniper." I'm a bit conflicted to be honest, because it would have been cool if Bob Lee had some fellow Leathernecks come and help him out in the season finale, but at the same time it helps to have Swagger be mostly-isolated with the exception of his four allies.
Again, this series is great. The performances are good, the story is intriguing and keeps you hooked, and the new turn on an old story is so refreshing in a medium full of the same old same old stories.
* All courtesy of IMDb
God Bless and Semper Fi- DB
