Rubicon Review: Thrilling New Conspiracy Show From AMC

Wednesday night at the High Line Room at the Standard Hotel in New York City, cable network AMC shed light on the style and concepts behind their upcoming new show Rubicon. A panel consisting of Executive Producer Henry Bromell, former CIA Chief Jack Devine, former Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism Unit and National Security Council Michael Sheehan, and former Senator/New School president Bob Kerry talked about the show, the concept of conspiracy within the government, national threats, and the value of information governments hold.

In the show Will Travers (James Badge Dale) is an intelligence analyst working for API, a government organization that discovers connections by sifting through the information gathered from the government’s various spy agencies. Will stumbles upon a pattern in the daily crosswords spreading across multiple publications. With all three branches of government being mentioned in the puzzles along with a four-leaf clover, Will starts to question what organization or whom the fourth leaf represents. Will’s travels will bring him deeper and deeper in his search for answers, eventually causing him to cross the Rubicon; a point where the world he once knew is a place where he can no longer return.

Bromell talked about the meaning of Rubicon during the panel Wednesday night. Rubicon, originating from the river in Northern Italy, was a border set by the senators that the Roman army was not allowed to cross. They feared the Roman army would overthrow the Republic, which eventually happened with the help of Julius Caesar. With an Empire now in place, the phrase “Crossing the Rubicon” now carries a declaration of war. Could the answers to the questions that Will Travers is desperately searching for lead him to a shadow government or a group seeking to take control of the nation? Your guess is good as mine.

From the clips shown at the panel and the preview of the first hour of the two hour premiere on the shows website, I can’t wait to see what’s in store. I love a good conspiracy and Rubicon is aiming to deliver. The length of the series is my only fear for a show delving into government conspiracies and mysteries. The longer a show wrapped in mystery runs, the more chances it has on tripping up and ruining what could have been an overall remarkable series. This has been true for shows like Lost and Prison Break in terms of mysteries and conspiracies. Even with my fears I do realize that this is AMC, the network that has already delivered high quality writing with hit shows Mad Men and Breaking Bad.  

Rubicon premiered on Sunday, August 1 with a two-hour premiere on AMC. For those that crave a good mystery or love government conspiracies, Rubicon is the show for you.

Rubicon airs on Sundays at 9pm EST on AMC.Photographs courtesy of AMC.

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