PILOT REVIEW: Whiskey Cavalier

WHISKEY CAVALIER

Starring: Scott Foley, Lauren Cohan, Ana Ortiz, Tyler James Williams, Vir Das, with James McDaniel, and Josh Hopkins

Created by David Hemingson
Written by David Hemingson, Directed by Peter Atencio

IN SHORT: A Get Smart for 2019

THE PREMISE:
Whiskey Cavalier is a globe-hopping spy dramedy centered on FBI agent Will Chase a.k.a. Whiskey Cavalier (Scott Foley) who is recently coming off a bad breakup and goes toe to toe with CIA operative Frankie Trowbridge (Lauren Cohan). They work with NSA analyst Edgar Standish (Tyler James Williams) despite the three of them trying to achieve different objectives in the pilot. Rounding out the main cast is fellow FBI agent Ray Prince (Josh Hopkins), a hot shot FBI profiler who is stateside, Susan Sampson (Ana Ortiz), CIA agent Jai Datta (Vir Das), and the FBI Director (James McDaniel).

THE REVIEW:
Whiskey Cavalier is the best kind of spy show in my opinion: one that doesn't take itself very seriously and spends episodes hopping around the globe. Just as I'm predetermined to hate sci-fi shows, I am also pre-determined to like spy shows so going in, this one didn't have to do all that much to win me over. Any show that's going to spend parts of its pilot in France, Russia, Germany, and New York City is exciting to me. But there have been shows like this that just don't work due to the leading performances (Undercovers for example). What makes Whiskey Cavalier winning is the strong performance of its cast, especially the three characters we spend the most time with in the pilot.

Scott Foley, Lauren Cohan, and Tyler James Williams really make this show what it is. While Foley was a divisive character on Scandal, he is very enjoyable in this role where he's less serious and has a silly streak to him. The vacillating between being a tough FBI agent and a heartsick man coming off a breakup was played in a pretty funny way. He also had good chemistry with Lauren Cohan and they seemed to be enjoying playing the one-up game. Tyler James Williams fit nicely into the trio as well with some good one-liners. I would gladly watch these three carry out spy missions and bicker on a weekly basis.

This looked like an expensive pilot with its many different countries visited not to mention some major explosions. I always wonder when pilots pull out all the stops if they will be able to keep up the feature film feel on a regular basis. Whether or not it can do that, I hope it continues to not take itself very seriously and tries not to delve too deep into a mythology or a continuing storyline. A little of that is fun but I just want to see this team carrying out missions across the globe on a weekly basis. That's not too much to ask, is it?

BOTTOM LINE:
Despite its Oscars promotion and sneak peek following the awards show, it has a tough task airing in a timeslot that has been rough for ABC (most recently evidenced by A Million Little Things seeing much more success on Thursday). But I'll be hoping it can find an audience, I would enjoy a nice escapist show like this.