There is a fine
line between dreams and reality, it's up to you to draw it. ~ B. Quilliam
Quotes like the
above have always given the fiction writer reasons to create parallel
universes. As any geek will know decisions are the catalysts in creating an alternate reality. Anyone not into fiction would see only a self-help advice.
Counterpart is
about 2 different earths living in a classic Cold War atmosphere. The doorway
is even conveniently set in a German city – Berlin, considering the theme. A
city that should have been one and the same but because of a decision
somewhere, sometime, they’ve grown to be very different.
via GIPHY
Just a Small
Pinch of Science Fiction
What is science
fiction about the series is only that another earth exists so it felt slow over
a couple of episodes because of unmet expectations.
A doorway was
created out of the Cold War; the type and nature of the experiment was never
explicitly explored. The doorway itself isn’t a computer generated special
effect piece but an actual set that looked like a cross between a Cold War border
and a catacomb.
Remove the parallel universe concept and the story can pass to
some degree as one about East and West Berlin. I don’t even get the security
benefit of a passport if in your destination another you exist. There are just too few details of the world that I can chew on.
Certainly having
JK Simmons in the titular role of Howard Silk didn’t help arouse interest
looking old and un-heroic. I had to wait it out. By the 3rd
episode it gets interesting in the sense I understood it’s not about looks.
via GIPHY
Fighting the
Life you have not Lived
Howard Silk
first meeting Howard Silk is the tone.
The crosser was
more a field guy, confident, able to handle himself even in lethal situations. The
native who met his counterpart crosser is a creature unsure of himself in the
office setting. After a short look, the crosser looked disappointed seeing his
counterpart was nowhere near his equal.
It’s not about
looks or the differences between worlds; it’s more about the feeling about
those differences, and often in relation to the counterparts.
The wife of
Howard the office worker is a target so the crosser insisted on taking his
place albeit with some revulsion. To stop an assassin he pretends to be an
unlived version of himself.
Baldwin (Sara Serraiocco), the
assassin, is my favorite with her the saddest looking eyes. Cold blooded, easy
on the kill, her arc changed only when she saw her counterpart, an artist, who
has the same eyes. They could have been the same person so how did they become
different?
In this light JK
Simmons has been great for the story if only because any romantic point of view
has been set aside. Simmons has effectively carried the story by being 2 versions of
the same man.
Is it about
disunity as a society – one city/earth but two different paths? Or, about life
decisions? I always wonder what the makers of the series are trying to talk
about. It’s not like a Russian spy brainwashing an American into communism;
characters see their other selves and something existential is
stirred.
Counterpart is
fascinating because every episode I flip the ways how to look at it: a war between two parties or a war of the
self.
Consider that
all the offices talked about are generic sounding like Interface, Strategy,
Diplomacy, Housekeeping, and Management; I can’t help but think that it all
sounds like the processes of the mind. So maybe it is about the self?
The Ending
I had to think about this many times over and the ending of Counterpart
is sound. It is right for the story. It makes sense and allowed room for a season 2 which is reportedly already under production.
But for some
reason there is a momentum killing quality about it. The best answer I can
think of is having the wrong expectations that came with the concept for parallel
earths. Maybe I was expecting something more grandiose and sci-fi; the ending was more akin to a Cold War story.
The best way to see all this is from the point of view of the counterparts; they all have played out compelling arcs, affected by lives they have not lived. Season 2 will definitely be worth the wait. Let’s see if there will be more world building or a further journey inward into the lives of the protagonists.
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