by
Stevie W.
Member since:
September 29, 2005
Sometimes PBS/Masterpiece Theater seems to "spot on" when it comes to mysteries and period dramas that one forgets that they do contemporary drama as well. Mathew Good is the new host and he is going to take you on a journey of today's world-- which is fraught with murder, conspiracies and more. 
The Masterpiece Contemporary Series debuts this season with a new product of The Last Enemy, a highly relevant drama/thriller that will hit so close to home by the time the series is over that it's stunning.
Stephen Ezard , noted mathematician, (Benedict Cumberbatch, Atonement) returns to London upon the deah of his brother, Michae. He finds his country a society now obsessed with surveillance. Seeking to make sense of Michael's sudden death, Stephen uncovers many secrets about his brother -- including that Michael had married and left behind a wife in the wake of his death.
Taking a government job-- that has a 3 year fully funded fellowship as the carrot -- Stephen finds that the job involves checking out a powerful new database (known as TIA) . Stephen exposes troubling revelations and soon finds himself stalked by a rogue agent (Robert Carlyle, The Full Monty).
More frightening than the rogue agent dogging him, Stephen stumbles into an international conspiracy and he realizes that the omnipresent, menacing all-seeing, all-knowing eye of the government has turned on him.
Stephen must thread the needle of the refugees, the rogue agents (this is more than one), the government and the scientists who are "dropping like flies" , Stephen ends up emerging at the other end of the maze -- but at what price?
The screenplay by Peter Berry (Prime Suspect 6) for The Last Enemy offers a frenetic ride through the paranoia and politics of a futuristic surveillance society. This series starts slow-- but please give it time. The first 30 minutes drags but the last starts to really wind up the story. Each of the episodes becomes more tense, taut with fear, frustration and terror.
Stevie Wilson, Movie Correspondent: Stevie's column is published randomly to
Gather Essentials: Movies Covering movies, DVDs, LA Entertainment events (Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes) Interviews, Screenings and Reviews Stevie Wilson is noted writer for print and online publications and you can find her on gather.com at
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Comments: 13
Good, thorough review.
Brenda - cash will only keep your purchases out of credit card data bases. Thats just a small piece of the data that is accumulating.
So this is very much a part of your life-- or will be . Pat is correct. the DB isn't about a cashless society.. it doesn't matter if you use public transport or personal cars.. they are going to get you either way..
very very scary
I was a bit confused by the ending.
So what I couldn't figure out was -- why couldn't Steven cut out that tag and slip away out of the country somehow.
I also did not understand the Russell character -- was he in the employ of the UK Gov or doing this on his own. If he was going to kill Cooper -- why didn't he do that when he had kidnapped him. Same with Michael -- why not kill him earlier. And then after he escaped, why still the need to kill him - just because he was "evidence" ?