Agent X Episode 1 Review: Despite Mediocre Reviews, Its Surprisingly Fun (Series Premiere)

"Agent X" aired it's first episode on November 8. And I'm surprised to say, I enjoyed it. Sure the plot is preposterous. Sure it's a James Bond knockoff. Sure the sets remind me of "National Treasure". Who cares? It was still great fun. The initial reviews however have been less than stellar. I'm hoping "Agent X" will grown on viewers after a few weeks.

The premiere begins with John Case (played by Jeff Hephner) dressed as a porter. He's riding the elevator with a food cart. Room service is of course not what it seems. He fights it out with lots of baddies. One guy falls from the roof (why is he wearing shorts under his robe?) and lands in a swimming pool. He also encounters a woman who first pretends to be a damsel in distress. Nope, she's instead a grade A bad ass. We see more of her later.

Enter the Vice President of the United States Natalie Maccabee (who is none other than Sharon Stone). Maccabee is joined by Supreme Court Justice Thorne (Mr James Earl Jones) and the VP's Chief Steward Malcolm Miller (Gerald McRaney). I have no idea how they got all these stars to join "Agent X" (or how much it cost) but they really add to the overall quality.

The show's premise is that there is a secret fifth section to article two of the "real" constitution (which the American public know nothing about). The paragraph authorizes "an agent of unknown identity to serve at the discretion of the vice president for the purpose of aiding the country in times of dire peril". This person operates at the discretion of the Vice President only. The President disavows all knowledge of the program. The first secret agent was believed to be Nathan Hale. John Case is the most recent one. This explains why the vice presidentcy seems like an empty position. I never understood exactly what the VP was supposed to be doing.

The case of the week involves the FBI director's daughter being kidnapped. After some soul searching, Natalie sends in John. She and Malcolm are in constant contact with Case thanks to a secret camera in a button on his jacket. They watch the scene unfold from the security of the VP's secret underground bunker.

The culprits are of course the Russians. Aren't they always? It's the same crew John tangled with at the beginning of the episode. The ring leader is the woman he met earlier in the elevator. Her name is Olga Petrovka (played by Olga Fonda) and she is hell on wheels. Next time that guy will DEFINITELY give her a cigarette when she asks for one. Hopefully we'll see much more of her. She's quite an adversary.

As predicted, the kidnapped girl is located. John fights his way in and rescues her. There are some great fight scenes as they try to escape the building.

Favorite Quotes:

"An agent of unknown identity to serve at the discretion of the vice president for the purpose of aiding the country in times of dire peril"- the part of the constitution that authorizes John Case to use any means necessary to take out the bad guys.
"In times of crisis we take our hatchets and we bury them-- into the backs of our real enemies."- Justice Thorne to the VP.
"I know something you dont... I'm double jointed."- Olga to her FBI interrogator as she flips out of her chair and almost strangles him to death with her legs.
"We just downloaded a back door to their security system. We own it now. Turning off all the recording. Erasing their hard drives. You never existed John."- Malcolm. (If only it were that easy!)

Grade: 4 1/2 Monsters (out of 5). A great kick ass premiere. There's lot of major star power, fight scenes and eye candy. The show is a little old school.. but maybe that's just what we need. And the thought of Dan Quayle, Al Gore and Joe Biden being in charge of a top secret government spy program makes me laugh.