Rabbit Hole review: Kiefer Sutherland leads a ludicrous yet amusing thriller
The slick Paramount Plus espionage series starts slowly but eventually flourishes, thanks to its outlandish twists
The relatively mild premiere episode of Paramount+’s new spy drama Rabbit Hole doesn’t do justice to the wild storylines about to unfold. The show, which kicks off March 26, opens with espionage agent John Weir (Kiefer Sutherland) in a church. While in the confessional, he says, “Maybe he [god] can tell me what the fuck is going on.” As a matter of fact, no one can explain what goes down in this timely but bizarre TV series, where it often feels like co-creators John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (Crazy Stupid Love) are making it up as they go. In each episode, they pull out a barrage of plot twists from their magical hat that effectively undoes what they’ve previously established. It’s all ludicrous, but against all odds, Rabbit Hole turns it into a somewhat compelling series.
Rabbit Hole feels like a CBS drama. (Think Person Of Interest or MacGyver, dialed up several notches.) The show takes advantage of its streaming platform to tell a jumbled but fast-paced narrative in its almost 50-minute outings (the first four episodes were provided for review), even though it takes a while to get going. Shocking cliffhangers and jaw-dropping reveals throw the show into a dizzying loop. Or down a rabbit hole, if you will. But it becomes a fun endeavor once the series’ gimmick is embraced for what it is: a vivid exploration of the surveillance age told through tropes and subtle hilarity.
Sutherland’s foray into this genre includes serious dramas such as Fox’s long-running 24 and the ABC-turned-Netflix political series Designated Survivor. Rabbit Hole allows the actor to portray a smug, more charming, and less vexed version of Jack Bauer and Tom Kirkman. Sutherland is clearly enjoying playing a cockier, more flirtatious protagonist who throws out one-liners every so often, and his performance keeps Rabbit Hole’s kookiness bearable. Don’t worry; he still brings depth to John Weir (who suffers from anxiety and panic attacks) but without the constant crease lines.
John’s profession includes manipulating stock markets and other forms of corporate sabotage (think infiltrating focus groups, creating fake news stories, etc.) with the help of his recruits—in case you were wondering what an espionage agent does. When he’s accused of murders he didn’t commit, John teams up with misfits like former mentor Ben (Charles Dance), one-night hookup Hailey (Meta Golding), and Edward (Rob Yang), who works in the Treasury Department, to restore his reputation. The back-and-forth between Sutherland and Dance is particularly amusing because of their tense relationship, which is illuminated further by flashbacks.