Movies |
The State Within
By
Published: Sep 23, 2023
Category:
Action and Adventure
I, who never binge, binged “The State Within.” There are, I know, many multi-episode intellectual thrillers with British stars who talk smart. Most have the same theme: what’s really going on, the story they never tell you on the news. They suggest that international corporations just might be criminal enterprises and that governments happily do their bidding. This one is all I’ve seen, and all I ever need to see — a lot happens, and it happens fast, and the restless camera is always on the movie, and it’s hard to know who the good guys are or even if there are any. Seriously, you can’t begin to understand what’s going on until the end of episode 3 — not that you can stop watching. If you’re used to having a glass of wine with your streaming entertainment, this series is not for you. (You might consider coffee. Several cups.)
So what is it about?
Start with a plane crash, a crash like you’ve never seen before. Sir Mark Brydon (played by Jason Isaacs, Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” movies), Britain’s Ambassador to United States, has just arrived at Washington’s Dulles Airport. As he’s being driven to Washington, a plane takes off, bound for London. And…..watch the beginning.
Who took that plane down? A great many people would like to know, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Lynne Warner (played by Sharon Gless with an icy efficiency that suggests Dick Cheney, though she could do Hillary Clinton in her sleep). Warner used to be head of a company — let’s not call it Halliburton — that did a lot of business in oil-rich Turkistan. Then there’s a Falklands war hero awaiting execution on Death Row in Florida. The Ambassador’s most trusted assistant, who’s having an affair with the #2 to the Secretary of Defense. (Spoiler alert: these men will kiss.) A former British ambassador to Turkistan mouthing off about American and British human rights violations. A dead soldier, dumped in a river. And those are just a few threads of the story.
We quickly learn that the plane crashed because the passenger in that video — a British Muslim — activated a bomb. Predictably, the Governor of Virginia rounds up British Muslims in his state. Less predictably… well, if I started to explain, we’d be here all night.
But let me say this much: There’s a connection between that terrorist bombing of the plane and American business interests –– let’s not think Halliburton — in Turkestan. Private business driving foreign policy? Sure. And there are also covert military operations, WMDs, backroom business deals and — oh, why not — men moving around Washington with guns and silencers. [To stream “The State Within” on Amazon Prime, click here.
A chilly view of the world? Get your parka. Implausible? You make the call.
