Critic Reviews

American Odyssey is rooted in current events, which provides immediate credibility to the series. But like “Homeland,” “Person of Interest” and other shows, it also makes effective use of the post-9/11 air of wariness that wafts through American society. Conspiracy buffs will be in heaven watching American Odyssey, but the rest of us will just be completely hooked.

With a “Homeland”-style mastery of momentum and a “Traffic”-esque multi-narrative premise, Odyssey passes the biggest test of all when it comes to trying out new TV shows in today’s glut of offerings: As soon as the first episode was over, I was eager to see more.

There are, in fact, too many plates. At worse, they induce vertigo, or prevent close inspection for logical consistency (and there is some). But at its best, they promise something unique, even smart.

It’s an exhilarating thriller that pits a disparate group of people against an insidious military-industrial conspiracy. But it’s the unlikely affinity between a stern, pious Muslim teenager and the captive female American soldier he is instructed to guard that gives this high-octane action-adventure drama a special charm.

American Odyssey is very much its own creation: clever, exciting, colorful without being self-consciously so. Most important, it is only occasionally ridiculous in the way conspiracy thrillers inevitably are.

Though it makes several seriously absurd leaps of logic, American Odyssey will be a must-see for conspiracy lovers. The show's only real downside is that its utterly hyperbolic and sensationalistic tone overshadows and obscures some of the real political issues it touches upon.

Peter Facinelli (plays a former U.S. attorney and Jake Robinson an activist who are also getting dangerously close to the secret that threatens Sgt. Ballard, though it's Friel and Omar Ghazaoui, the young Moroccan playing her traveling companion, who are most responsible for making American Odyssey stand out from the conspiracy crowd.

It’s an ambitious, sprawling undertaking.

Odyssey is bland and soulless, with too many threads offering too little wallop. [3 Apr 2015, p.59]

American Odyssey is equal parts ambitious and frustrating.