A brilliant young mathematician on the verge of a world-changing discovery unleashes a global conspiracy that kills to protect its secret agenda inPrime Target. The eight-episodeApple TV+ serieshas an intriguing premise but never comes close to achieving its potential.The series is plagued by baffling logic gaps, unlikable leads that lack chemistry, and a molasses-drip spigot of reveals that take way too long to develop.The mysterious puppet masters pulling the strings aren’t that difficult to sniff out after a few episodes. Then you have to wait for ostensibly smart characters to figure out something that’s painfully obvious.
An Improbable Beginning
Prime Target
Prime Target follows Edward Brooks, a brilliant mathematician, in his pursuit of a prime number breakthrough that could blow open the door to international cybersecurity. Teamed with NSA agent Taylah Sanders, he confronts a hidden conspiracy threatening his discovery and life.
The premiere, “A New Pattern,” opens with a literal bang on a bustling street in Baghdad, Iraq. What’s uncovered triggers a series of events that lead to Cambridge math postgraduate, Edward Brooks (Leo Woodall). He’s upset that the head of his department, Professor Robert Mallinder (David Morrissey), won’t let him pursue his thesis on prime numbers. Mallinder calls Ed’s work a foolish pursuit of theory when he could be doing practical studies.
Malinder’s wife, Professor Andrea Lavin (Sidse Babett Knudsen), a Cambridge historian, is made aware of the Baghdad incident and its potential archaeological importance. Pure chance and circumstance has Mallinder inviting Ed to dinner in an effort to smooth out their working relationship. Ed sees Andrea’s Baghdad pics and instantly recognizes a mathematical sequence. The trio huddle together in amazement, but don’t realize that their every move is being monitored and recorded.
Prime Targethits its first stumbling block with the pivotal premiere dinner. You literally wouldn’t have a TV show if Ed decided to rebuff Mallinder’s peace offering. He’d never meet Andrea, see the Baghdad site, and deduce the narrative’s central element off the cuff. The chance of this encounter is mathematically improbable, but this happens repeatedly in a series that depends on characters being in the right place at the right time. That’s difficult to accept with crucial plot exposition happening in different places all over the world.
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Clashing Moral Perspectives
Ed’s eventual accomplice in the globetrotting fracas is revealed in “Syracuse,” the second episode. Quintessa Swindell co-stars as Taylah Sanders, an American NSA (National Security Agency) operative and computer hacker that can use her keyboard to work technological miracles with a few strokes. Woodall and Swindall are purposely framed to be an unlikely pair thrust into a life-or-death situation.Their partnership is a necessity in the story’s context, but their oil and water personalities don’t mix to the series' detriment.
The leads are meant to be antagonistic towards each other because of differing philosophical viewpoints on the nature of Ed’s work. He believes in the purity of mathematics. Ed’s researching an academic problem that could transform humanity. Taylah looks at the body count and sees a potential for mass destruction that cannot be allowed to fruition. Ed, despite running from killers and also observing the death toll, considers any tool to be a weapon in the wrong hands. Knowledge shouldn’t be shackled to morality.
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This highbrow discourse rings hollow and foolish as carnage runs amok. You’d think self-preservation would kick in and Ed’s ethical dilemmas would be easily solved. It’s not because showrunner Steve Thompson — who also wroteSherlock,Leonardo,andVienna Blood— constructs Ed as intrinsically cold and remote. Math suits a rigid personality that’s borderline sociopathic. A subplot that develops throughout explores his queer romance with a hunky stud bartender (Fra Fee). Ed embraces lust but doesn’t stick around for post-coital cuddles.It’s hard for the audience to root for a protagonist with no compelling traits. This is done to a fault, because there’s never a point where you actually care for Ed.He and Taylah aren’t a dynamic duo in any sense and that lack of cohesion gets old quickly.
Smart People Acting Stupidly in Manufactured Scenarios
Prime Target’smost vexing problem is that the geniuses act foolishly when they shouldn’t. Ed’s not a computer nerd. He’s a notepad and chalkboard guy. This doesn’t mean he should be utterly clueless about how technology works, especially after joining forces with IT guru Taylah. The unseen baddies are tech lords that can control all networked electronics. This means that any camera and mic can be used against them.The protagonists make mistakes that aren’t realistic given their intelligence, expertise, and clear acknowledgment of adversarial abilities.Their simple mistakes toss the willing suspension of disbelief out the window and makes the tension manufactured.
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Prime Targetis by no means unwatchable. The production value and supporting players prevent complete failure. Veteran stalwarts Knudsen, Morrissey, and Martha Plimpton, who appears in the third episode and plays a key role, are amiable and provide at least a semblance of emotional depth. Everything else can be scrutinized to pieces.The numbers don’t add up and that’s a letdown.
Prime Targetis a production of New Regency and Scott Free Productions. The series premieres globally on Apple TV+ on January 22nd, with the first two episodes, followed by one episode weekly, every Wednesday through March 5th. You can watch it through the link below:
