NETWORK: NBC
AIR DATE: October 13, 2008
STARRING: Christian Slater, Alfre Woodard, Madchen Amick, Mike O'Malley, Saffron Burrows
CREATED BY: Jason Smilovic

The influence of 24 combined with the resurrgence of James Bond and an increasingly dark real world can be seen all over the television schedule this fall. Developments in dangerous technology fuel shows like Fringe and The Eleventh Hour. Violent shows like CSI continue to thrive. And spies are everywhere from the success of Burn Notice to Chuck and NBC's most high profile new offering, My Own Worst Enemy. But this Christian Slater vehicle is not your standard spy show. It's kind of like The Manchurian Candidate in TV form. What is the best place to hide one of your most expert spies? How about inside his own head? As Alfre Woodard says in the premiere, "That's what we existentialists would call a doozy." The high concept is that a spy, Edward Albright, volunteers to be a part of an experimental program, one that creats a split personality in his own head named Henry Spivey. The family man lives an ordinary life and has no idea about the existence of his alter ego. It's a great concept for a show, but a series needs more than a concept. The Henry vs. Edward set-up only lasts so long and it's unclear after the premiere if My Own Worst Enemy has anywhere else to go. My Own Worst Enemy is as much of a split verdict as the two personas of its lead. The jury is still out.

The main reason to watch My Own Worst Enemy is simple - Christian Slater. He shines in both halves of the role, not overplaying the suave guy and not being too much of a simpleton in the average guy part. He sells the ridiculousness of the concept, which is clever, but doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you think about. The government is going to use a $1 billion computer and teams of people to hide one spy in his own body? Why go to so much trouble? And why not hide him someplace completely different from his spy life, like say a homeless guy or someone they could just keep in a cell and turn on and off like a super-spy robot? The need to have Henry live an ordinary life with a wife and kids when Edward's not busy with espionage? It's not really explained.

The premiere - "Breakdown" - is what you'd expect it to be. It opens with a very Bond-esque scene involving a sexy girl and a shooting, but quickly we're watching as the wall between Henry and Edward crashes down. The show focuses much more on Henry dealing with the revelation about his other personality. "I won the Medal of Honor?" Eventually, things get complicated as Henry and Edward discover that they're going to need each other to survive. With the premiere relying so heavily on the high concept set-up, it's real hard to judge the execution. In fact, if we get the second and/or third episode, we may come back and give you a heads up either way. I'm real unclear as to how this show will proceed week to week.

I will say this - the premiere doesn't blow me away. It's entertaining but it makes me nervous. There's a reliance on slo-mo that's unacceptable outside of Sci-Fi Channel movies and everyone but Slater seems a little underdeveloped. I do love the unusual casting of comedian Mike O'Malley as another spy buried in the body of Henry's best friend and co-worker. He's fantastic and will be one of the main reasons that audiences tune in. He's surprisingly good. Having said that, the dialogue doesn't crackle nearly like it needs to for this show to really work. I like creator Jason Smilovic but My Own Worst Enemy needs to be bathed in "cool", kind of like Burn Notice, if it's going to work. It's at its "coolest" when O'Malley is allowed to get tough, believe it or not. But for the most part, it's as if they don't want to play up the awkwardness of the average guy like Chuck but don't want to go all spy show like 24 either, leaving them with their own split personality. Only time - and not a lot of it - will tell if My Own Worst Enemy becomes more than a show stuck between good and bad but I have to say that, unlike a lot of new Fall shows, I'm still intrigued enough to check out week two. And that's really all a premiere needs to do - get you to tune in again. For now, I will. But half of me doesn't want to.