The major networks have a glut of occupational scripted programs. We see police, lawyers and doctors do their jobs, each with varying levels of attention paid to their personal lives. And now there’s another trade (back) in the mix: espionage. There have been a few shows about spies lately, mostly on basic cable: Burn Notice, Chuck, Covert Affairs and Archer, to name a few. On April 1, CBS brought Chaos to its Friday night line-up (yeah…because that always bodes well). It’s an off the wall comedy about spies and snafus.
Rick Martinez is a new CIA employee who has a very bad first day. After the list of new recruits gets inserted into no-fly list, Martinez finds out his job has been eliminated because of budget cuts. The director of Clandestine Services, H.J. Higgins (Kurtwood Smith) places him in Clandestine Administration and Oversight Services (CAOS, pronounced like the title) to find faults with its team so he can cut that program as well. However, the three CAOS members get Martinez (who thinks he’s giving coordinates to a Homeland Security agent) to appear like he is selling secrets to the Russians. Oh the hijinks.
The show lacks subtlety in some areas. For example, Billy Collins (James Murray) starts teasing Martinez in an obvious brogue and before the question completely forms in your head the rough thistle shows off his keen precognition: “And I imagine you’re wondering what I’m doing working for the CIA.” He apparently was deported for reasons he refuses to specify. Future Collins-centric back story episode alert! Then, in case anyone still doesn’t realize Collins is Scottish (Murray is actually Mancunian), he does a Sean Connery impression and later announces his presence via earpiece using bagpipe music. Chaos also doesn’t shy away from acknowledging that Fay Carson (and Carmen Ejogo) are quite pretty…or that Martinez isn’t as conventionally attractive. In that case though, it’s rather refreshing.
Summing up the show for our baby-faced newbie, Fay describes their workplace as just “office politics” that “come with poison pills and guns.” A spy version of The Office may seem appealing on paper, but it’s more fun to see something blow up. Infighting and the ludicrous effects of government cutbacks (an employee with no office to report to and computers that still run Windows 97) are not what make a spy show, especially when the characters are mere caricatures. Martinez — the straight man in a building full of crazies— is the most relatable character, even if most people don’t spend their formative afternoons learning Arabic. Chaos succeeds when its chaos occurs in the field. At one point, Collins has to drive across a square to find a terrorist because CAOS leader Michael Dorset (Eric Close) said, “Do what you gotta do.” Later, Martinez stops a rebel leader from chopping off Dorset’s hand by swallowing a scorpion.
Spy shows are alluring because they feature (often) extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. Not everyone is a doctor or a lawyer or a cop, but these occupations are highly visible. How many people can say they met a member of the CIA? Unfortunately, because shows with spies have been around since the days of bobby socks and bomb shelters, Chaos must try to be extraordinary in unusual ways. And right now, the show has yet to prove itself a maverick.
Chaos airs on CBS Fridays at 8, or watch it online.
