The Grid (TV Mini-Series)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: B-     Episodes: B-

 

 

When The Grid first cam e out, many thought it was just an opportunistic action mini-series TNT just threw together to get quick ratings.  Looking at it now, it turns out it was much more ambitious than first perceived, trying to forecast what “the battle against terrorism” would be like.  Of course, there are many who would criticize the premise, but the show is at least bold enough to have Arab Muslim radical groups as the villains, instead of just a German Nazi revival or something as idiotic.

 

However, the show does not use the Nazi Analog or draw simple good/evil dichotomies in what it does.  One political side (Politically Correct Left) would still try to say that this is pro-war propaganda on the level of John Wayne’s infamous The Green Berets, the 1968 disaster that tried to equate Vietnam with WWI and WWII.  The other side (Religious Extreme Right) would say nothing short of portraying Arab villains as pure evil constitutes some kind of Communist work.  Executive Producer Tracey Alexander deserves credit for trying to show all sides of the situation, inspired by the mini-series version of Traffik, though the show in its six-hours is not as multi-layered.

 

On the other hand, politics aside, they had to know going into this that this would get dated.  The side of it that might be considered pro-Bush Administration propaganda has already been sent up in Team America (2004), but the show has to be serious at the expense of being perceived as conformist to make it work to its best ability.  With that said, The Grid is ambitious and worth a look, even if we have been beyond besieged by the subject on 24-hour news television.

 

Extras on DVD 1 include nine deleted scenes, Hour Three (episode three) commentary by executive producer Alexander and director Mikael Solomon, eleven scene specific commentaries each by Dylan McDermott and Juliana Margulies, and a Decoding The Grid featurette that runs over 8 minutes.  DVD 2 offers Hour Four commentary by Solomon, four more deleted scenes, eight more scene specific commentary bytes from Margulies, five more scene specific commentary bytes from McDermott, and two more featurettes.  VFX: Secrets Of The Grid (3:51) and Racing Against Time (7:00) are too short, but the extras are exceptional in number here, which is the set’s biggest surprise.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo