HBO’s War is heaven: an absolute blast of a TV show.

War has such a phenomenal first season that it could easily find a place among the greats if it maintains the quality in future seasons.

War comes with corporate espionage; a heavy dose of soapy interpersonal drama; and, as is typical for a British series, tons of class resentment — but the show, created by Lupin and Hijack’s George Kay, carries its twists and turns with aplomb.

The show has a lot going for it. The first episode is irresistible, but from episode two onwards it becomes easier to resist as you start wishing for more West and Miller, fewer backroom legal meetings.

Although it gets stronger as the season unfolds, “War” takes too long to get its gears turning. That’s not to say the series doesn’t improve greatly over its eight episodes, because it certainly does. It’s just unfortunate that it takes so long to fully flesh out the identity that will inevitably continue on into the show’s second season.

Those who like a sneak peek into the misdeeds of the rich and famous will get a vicarious thrill, but when all is said and done, War only works on the surface, when something more cerebral would have been far more compelling.

“War” proves as inept at building characters that can support multiple seasons as it does depicting the legal drama in the here and now.