There are several things to recommend about NBC's new series My Own Worst Enemy: Christian Slater proves himself a very capable TV star, the supporting cast is solid, the pace is quick and the visuals high-quality.

It's also saddled with what feels like the most needlessly overcomplicated back story to come along since Sydney Bristow was working for SD-6. Its convolution overwhelms whatever's good about it, leaving an impression at the the end of the first episode that can be summed up as: Wait, what?

[NOTE: This review will be a little more spoiler-ish than usual, so proceed with caution.]

The basic premise, as laid out in hundreds of NBC promos over the past couple months, isn't especially difficult to grasp: Slater plays both Henry Spivey, a regular-guy management consultant with a wife and two kids, and Edward Albright, a highly trained government operative who speaks 13 languages and is a very, very good shot.

They share the same body. Edward knows about Henry's existence, but Henry is not aware of Edward, thanks to a memory-manipulating program that basically serves as a firewall between the two personalities. OK -- so far, so good; it's sort of like True Lies, with that one added wrinkle that the spy's everyday persona is unaware of his own moonlighting.

But, of course, the wall between Edward and Henry starts to break down, and all heck breaks loose. Something has shorted out in Edward/Henry's head, and therefore the transitions between the two men start coming at the most inopportune times, like when Edward is in Moscow waiting to take out a target.

The expected complications ensue, but also some unexpected ones. The agent who pulls Henry out of the Moscow pickle (Mike O'Malley) is someone he knows as his co-worker Tom, but who says his real name is Raymond. Tom/Raymond takes him to Mavis (an authoritative Alfre Woodard), who explains to Henry that the dual personalities were a result of having -- and I'm quoting directly here -- "manifested a divergent identity that was dormant in a sealed-off portion of your medial-temporal lobe." 

Raymond, however, seems to be living his double life without the aid of brain implants (or whatever it is in Edward's head -- it's never entirely clear). Mavis then explains to Henry that the "divergent identity" is him -- Edward volunteered to have his medial-temporal lobe monkeyed with 19 years ago, and thus was Henry Spivey, suburbanite, born.

The big question here -- and at least Henry has the sense to ask it -- is, Why? Why would some super-secret government program mess around with an agent's head rather than just have him stick to a plausible cover story? Why would said agent's handler/superior casually drop a line like "Edward's different from the others -- he has secrets" and not seem to care what those secrets are? Why would Edward want the alternate identity in the first place?

Also, why has it taken until now for a bad guy to track Henry/Edward to his suburban home? And does Henry's therapist (Saffron Burrows) also know about Edward? You get the idea.

The baroque back story really does get in the way of what's some very solid work by Slater. There's no real physical cue to indicate which character he's playing, a la James Nesbitt in the fine BBC miniseries Jekyll, but he does a good job of conveying both Edward's ruthlessness and Henry's bewilderment with subtle changes to his eyes and voice. Woodard is her usual strong self, and comedian O'Malley makes for a surprisingly good heavy as Tom/Raymond. (Madchen Amick, as Henry's wife, has little to do in the first episode, but presumably she'll play a larger role down the line.)

My Own Worst Enemy is also one of the best-looking new shows of the season. Crisply directed by Heroes veteran David Semel, the show makes good use of L.A. locations, with the city both playing itself and standing in for various global locales.

It may be early enough for the show to extract itself from the tangled web it's woven without too much difficulty. Doing so would be a good thing for both the show and viewers. We're all for not dumbing down television around here, but that doesn't mean any show should be too complicated for its own good.
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My Own Worst Enemy premieres at 10 p.m. ET Monday, Oct. 13.

Comments

Great looking show, bad story.
Oh, Bourn again?
Why don't you get a bunch of spoild brats in a room, overpay them, throw them a script from a hit movie, and pretend its their new idea.
Is the writers strike still on? What's going on here?

Kevin McCain | Oct 12, 2008 8:38:18 AM | #

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I agree, I'm getting a little tired of the whole spy who burned me genre, but I saw the preview episode available for free on iTunes and enjoyed it in spite of my dislike for Christian Slater. He's quite good in the role. The look of the show, at least in the premiere, is very, very strong. Characters have the potential to be multi-dimensional. The shootout scene in Russia was intense. I'll definitely be tuning in to see how it develops.

IggyPop | Oct 13, 2008 5:57:21 AM | #

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I thought it was pretty clear that the Tom/Raymond character has the same thing going on in his head that Henry/Edward does, and presumably there are other people who work at Henry and Tom's "job" that do also.

Josh Man | Oct 13, 2008 7:38:25 AM | #

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Is it too early to say I wish Journeyman were back in the TP?

pakopako | Oct 13, 2008 9:08:00 AM | #

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They should of kept Journeyman.

John R. | Oct 13, 2008 12:31:36 PM | #

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Not sure I get the premise. As far as I can tell, the only person the hero's secret identity is intended to fool is...himself.

Somehow I don't see this method catching on within the intelligence community.

Dickie | Oct 13, 2008 2:54:07 PM | #

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Henry and Edward...Henry Jekyl & Edward Hyde. nobody'd picked up on this?...

stephen | Oct 13, 2008 5:04:54 PM | #

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Is he split because Edward does questionable, evil things?

Biff | Oct 14, 2008 7:46:18 AM | #

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> Is it too early to say I wish Journeyman were back in the TP?

You want Journeyman to be wrapped in toilet paper?

> They should of kept Journeyman.

In my opinion, they should simply have kept it.

coriolis | Oct 14, 2008 8:12:41 AM | #

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I loved this show. I got lost in it. I really hope it catches on. The premise is a lot like the movie Total Recall but I liked that too.

Kristy tru | Oct 14, 2008 10:30:27 AM | #

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Really enjoyed the first episode, had no problem following it what so ever. I guess they could dumb it down a bit for the masses but if you just pay attention, its a non issue. Slater was excellent, can't wait for the 2nd episode.

Damon | Oct 14, 2008 11:10:21 AM | #

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Absolutely loved it. The premise also. IMHO it's not too complicated or convoluted at all.

My theory is that Edward chose to live as two distinctly different persons because he wanted to also lead a normal life. Didn't Mavis quote him as saying that to truly have free will, one must do something he/she doesn't want to do? What more do you want?

David | Oct 14, 2008 12:16:08 PM | #

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Hated it.

Story was weak, and casting was all wrong. Slater is annoying, Woodard is an overrated bore, and O'Malley is a goof who can't be taken seriously. Amick was fine but underused.

I won't watch that show again.

Thomas | Oct 14, 2008 2:42:59 PM | #

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The show really caught my interest. Slater was great, the premise is not too complicated, and I can't wait for more eps. I can understand the references to Bourne, but really they are 2 different premises. Bourne lost his memory and was trying to get it back. Slater is 2 people in 1 body. See the diff?

Jane | Oct 15, 2008 9:42:50 PM | #

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Could it be possible that the agency/company that Henry works for is full of secret ops who are all part of the this little experiment? I also wondered whether Tom/Raymond had the chip thing in his head. Guess we'll find out in the upcoming episodes. Overall I enjoyed it. Slater does a real good job of playing two people!

just m | Oct 15, 2008 11:03:40 PM | #

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I can't believe the reviewer missed the fact that Henry told the bad guy his full "cover" name.. that's how they finally tracked him down. I'm with Damon.. if a veiwer pays attention they won't get lost... I loved it...

TgurlTO | Oct 16, 2008 11:28:14 AM | #

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I liked Journeyman a lot better. Nothing against any of the MOWE actors, who I thought did a very good job, but the writing wasn't as good.

Derek Wooden | Oct 18, 2008 8:22:23 AM | #

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