My Own Worst Enemy - season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Brent M]

Watched the premiere last night and set my DVR for all new episodes. I liked it.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

What did everyone think of the second episode?

I thought it was great, Edward is proving to be one sleezy bastard, it must be remarkably frustrating for Henry to know that someone else is sleeping with his wife and he can't do a damn thing about it.

I've always loved Slater's wise-ass manor going way back to Heathers, Kuffs, Pump Up the Volume and to a lesser extent Gleaming the Cube and this role fits him like a glove.

Henry seriously needs to wake up and realize that what they're telling him is the truth and after this weeks ep with Edward killing the doctor I think he will realize that he's a creation placed inside the mind of a psychotic (I know Edward is supposed to be on our side but let's face it the guy's a dangerous prick) and begin accepting it.

I read that the second ep didn't do very well in the ratings, too bad, I hope this show lasts.

 

[ScottH]

During the episode, I had myself convinced that I was gonna bail on the show, but the last 10 minutes might have bought another week.

 

[todd s]

I might be completely wrong here. But, what if Edward is the made up persona and Henry is real? I know he checked his background and nobody existed. But, we see how powerful this "agency" is. Everything in Edwards apartment and his memories may be fake. It would be an interesting twist.

On a side note. If they can implant memories into Henry about his business trips. Wouldn't it be wise to maybe implant some self-defense techniques. So if he becomes Henry in a bad spot. He has some knowledge to defend himself.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I'm guessing that implanting memories and implanting skills might be very different things. Memories can be sort of hazy, and I've read that we actually re-create many of the details in the process of remembering, whereas skills need practice.

The second episode was okay, I thought, but sort of confirms that this premise really doesn't seem to have enough to it to make a good open-ended TV series. The missions are fairly generic so far, and as nifty as Slater's acting is in going between the two characters, there doesn't seem to be as much fertile ground in the gimmick as one might have thought.

I've got a little bit of hope that the producers have pulled James Cromwell in to do something interesting, rather than just demonstrate that they've got a large enough budget to put great actors into stock roles. But they really need to show me something soon.

 

[ScottH]

That's actually what I thought was the case from the beginning, and in fact HAS to be the case as it's the only reasonable explanation as to why they would even implant the chip.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

I had the same thought about Henry being with Edward being the spin off. Actually they could both be a split from an original character that was imperfect with the traits of Henry and Edward split to perform different functions. Henry was left in Edwards apartment and "discovered" his alter ego. Like that was an accident.

I don't understand the posts that suggest this theme has limited potential. My thoughts have been that the many conflicts leave infinite possibilities. Henry and Edward are their own worst enemies hence the limitless conflicts. Many subtle plot devices have been inserted that can be brought up in later episodes.

Politically correct plot devices have been thrown out the window with this series - that alone has be hooked. Hollywood has treaded lightly with themes that deal with fundamentalist Islamic terrorism; likely for fear that it would appear overly nationalistic and jingoistic. The second episode deals with the torture of a German national who is giving aid to an Ismamic terrorist organization. The show has Henry to give the counter argument to all the questionable issues that have been laid at the feet of the spy-o-crats.

The West Wing this show ain't - and for that reason I'll keep watching.

 

[NeilO]

It could just be that when Edward is on a mission he is their best agent, but they wanted to keep him under lock and key so to speak when they didn't need him.

 

[NeilO]

Color me surprised by the end of the episode. Twists upon twists here.

Meanwhile, any explanation about Henry/Edward needs to also explain the other guy. That makes it all that more complicated and maybe it will take some time to figure out just why they did this.

 

[Joe_H]

I thought this was pretty good in the first few episode, but today's was a huge step forward and I hope it continues that way.

 

[Greg_S_H]

This show's getting awesome. The first night, I put it off until I finally decided to watch it. Now, I look forward to it.

If they make a Leisure Suit Larry movie, I want Christian Slater for the lead. He's got the hairline.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I become more intrigued as this goes on and that's a very good thing, it's a fun spy drama with playful twists and Slater's wise-ass carisma carries the rest.

Did Henry actually think, given how much he is scrutinized and watched, that he would be allowed to get away with spilling his guts to a civilian shrink? It should be obvious to him that the only reason she's still alive is because she's working for the organization so it shouldn't have been all that shocking when she whacked the agent.

Some of the funnest stuff in this show is the constant battle of heated words exchanged between Henry and Edward via cell phone. I also find it funny how they're constantly cutting off the message once it veers into an area that they don't care about or want to hear about like Edward beginning to let Henry have it about giving his watch away lol.

 

[Jason Seaver]

I think it's pretty clear that Edward's got most of the brain.

Glad to see they're finally giving Saffron Burrows something to do. Now if they could just stop wasting James Cromwell...

 

[NeilO]

I'm sure we all knew that she worked for Janus, but she didn't have to be a full gun carrying agent who is also trying to keep the secret that Edward's chip doesn't work correctly. We also all knew that someone was going to come out and shoot the agent before he killed Henry. I thought it was going to be Mavis (played by Alfre Woddard). Just in this week's TV Guide they gave a jeer to the show talking about how underused Saffron Burrows was. They nicely set us up with that expectation only to yank it away at the end of this episode.

 

[Ashley Seymour]

Correct, waste as in wack him. Cromwell is a character actor that has played this part in most of his movies. I'd rather see someone who is a new face.

I have to go back to figure why Janus decided to kill Henry/Edward. Did they consider "them" damage goods and a security threat? I guess we will find out next week why the shrink had to come to save him.

Can Henry be that dumb? He is learning by the week, but sooner or later extreme paranoia has to set in - trust no one, everyone at work is actually part of the "company." People he meets on the street, his wife, all may be employed to keep an eye on him.

Week by week we get new revelations and that keeps us coming back.

 

[NeilO]

We definitely saw more of Saffron Burrows last night

I was quite surprised that she held such a high position with the company and her motivation for saving Edward was explained well. Just how many dual personality people are there with Janus?

 

[todd s]

It was interesting to see how "termination" really works. Watching since the beginning of the show. You assumed that if an agent is broken. They are killed. Nope..Just the agent personality is erased and they go about their private lives.

With regards to the dual personality agents. I am curious as to why the agency does it. It seems to be more trouble than its worth. I hope they take the time in an episode to explain why the company has agents with dual personalities.

 

[Nelson Au]

Interesting episode last night, I missed last week's.

What will be interesting is if the termination sticks. Maybe in the future, Paula will regain her self and come back. Or join with Henry to take Janus down.

Nice to see that Norah is more then she appears and the other people could be part of the company too. Reminds me of the film Seconds with Rock Hudson.

 

[NeilO]

The overnight ratings were pretty dismal. From Media Life Magazine - From bad to worse for NBC's 'Enemy'

 

[Greg_S_H]

The revelation about the real meaning of "termination" doesn't apply to Edward, obviously, since the watcher was going to kill him if he was broken.