‘Prime Target’ Made the Wrong Character the Lead

1 week ago 10

So far, Prime Target is one of those shows that feels like it has some big mystery we’re waiting for the reveal to, but it might lose its audience before getting there. The mystery surrounding Mallinder's (David Morrissey) death, Ed's (Leo Woodall) prime finder formula, and the library in Baghdad are intriguing on the surface, but the show is struggling to translate this intrigue into anything tangible to engage with on screen. A large part of this is because Ed is simply not a very interesting protagonist emotionally, which causes the premise to lack weight when we need to understand why this formula is so important. Instead, it should be Professor Andrea (Sidse Babett Knudsen) due to her greater emotional range and urgency in discovering the truth behind the math. It should be made clear that this isn't entirely Woodall's fault. This performance is not one of his better ones, but he is given exceptionally little to do with the writing of his character.

Andrea is a Far More Emotionally Dynamic Character in 'Prime Target'

Sadly, despite the fact that Woodall is a watchable actor with very emotive eyes that do well to portray his character's disconnection from the rest of the world, it can't be ignored that Ed has been written poorly, with brooding being his default setting so far. He has no character he can openly talk with; even scenes with his boyfriend, Adam (Fra Fee), feel like drawing blood from a stone because he gives 1–2-word answers to Adam's questions, barely being able to speak a romantic word to his boyfriend. It feels like a commitment to the trope that all geniuses are emotionless robots who have to be taught by simpler people with a greater connection to the world around them.

Compare this to Andrea, and we have a far more varied character who openly expresses her love and pain for the loss of her husband, Robert Mallinder, and a friend, Nathoo (Maanuv Thiara), which gives us someone to root for as it is a personal connection that puts her at the center of the narrative rather than an egocentric drive to discover a prime finder. Furthermore, Andrea’s emotional connection to the conspiracy gives her more urgency to discover the truth, whereas Ed is being forced into investigating why his prime finder is so dangerous. Ed is constantly having to be convinced by Taylah (Quintessa Swindell) to keep going, such as when she talks him into going to the Kaplar Institute because he simply wants to give up before it becomes more dangerous, despite already acknowledging he is being followed and was independently investigating Safiya (Sofia Barclay) anyway. In contrast, Andrea rejects an offer to leave Baghdad after her friend is killed and tears up when she first sees the archeological site, as her inner and outer narratives clash with the joy of seeing the site and the sadness that she can't share it with her husband.

Custom image of Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy for The Gorge interview

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When you have a high-concept premise that viewers might find confusing, as I can admit I do at times, then you need the audience to care more about who it is important to and why rather than how it is important. Instead, when Ed speaks about primes revealing the patterns all around us or Taylor repeatedly talks about how they are the “basis for all digital security”, it feels like we’re being forced to see how important this intangible formula is. Perhaps a scene showing how it could hack into a bank or military facility would be interesting, but we haven't gotten that so far. In contrast, Andrea’s lines in this episode about how this library links to the idea that no one is ever really forgotten and how it is the birthplace of civilization give us an emotive link to the premise. Even if it is hard to believe, we can suspend our disbelief as long as we truly believe it is important to Andrea, and since we like Andrea, we will go along with it.

Overall, Prime Target's greatest error so far has been its inability to make us care about the premise itself, and it is in the choice of protagonist that this is most clearly reflected. Rather than Ed, Andrea has shown us why she should have been the central focus of the narrative. Her emotional connections to the conspiracy are far greater than Ed's, which means that she actively moves towards the danger, whereas Ed teeters on the fence often. Ultimately, it is hard to suspend our disbelief when our principal character gives us little to engage with to distract us.

New episodes of Prime Target are released weekly on Apple TV+.