Treadstone is a TV show about a secret government program that turns ordinary people into killing machines. It is a spinoff of the Bourne movies, and it tries to do something the movies never attempted: explain how the program works.
The show follows a group of agents who are “awakened” to carry out missions around the world. Their personalities are broken down, their memories are erased, and their sense of right and wrong is removed. That is the premise, and it sounds bold.
It is not.
Trailer, via USA Network.
The Premise
The show opens with an incident in East Berlin in 1973, where one of the program’s agents, John Randolph Bentley (played by Jeremy Irvine), escapes from Soviet captors. Then the story jumps to the present day, where a group of agents are being “activated” or awakened by force.
The setup is clever. The execution is not.
The Cast
The leads are Jeremy Irvine as J. Randolph Bentley, Brian J. Smith as Doug McKenna, and Omar Metwally as Matt Edwards. Han Hyo-joo plays SoYun Pak, Tracy Ifeachor plays Tara Coleman, Gabrielle Scharnitzky plays Petra Andropov, and Emilia Schüle plays Young Petra Andropov. Michelle Forbes rounds out the cast as Ellen Becker.
That is a solid lineup. None of them get enough to do.
What Treadstone Gets Wrong
The show’s biggest flaw is that it never commits to what it is doing. It wants to be a gritty, realistic thriller, but it keeps leaning on the same tricks the Bourne films used. Agents are awakened, they fight, they remember things they were told to forget. It is all familiar ground.
There is no new idea here. The behavior-modification protocol is explained once and then mostly ignored. The agents act like they are still learning what they are capable of, even though the show has told us repeatedly how the program works.
The result is a show that spends ten episodes explaining itself. That is a lot of time.
The Cancellation
The show was canceled after one season of ten episodes. In May 2020, USA Network pulled the plug.
That is the full record of the series.
The Verdict
Treadstone is a missed opportunity. It has a great premise, a talented cast, and a built-in audience. None of that mattered.
The show is a mess. It is confusing, repetitive, and it never earns the stakes it sets up. The actors are doing their best with thin material.
This is a franchise that has spent decades building tension and dread. Treadstone fails to deliver on any of it.
Key Facts
- Creator: Tim Kring
- Network: USA Network
- Seasons: 1 season, 10 episodes
- First episode: October 15, 2019
- Last episode: December 17, 2019
- Canceled: May 2020
The show was a failure. It is worth watching once, to see what went wrong. After that, it is best left behind.
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