The pilot to the new Tom Clancy-based show Splinter Cell: Deathwatch spends no time on expository elements of its story before throwing you right into the mysterious and action-packed world of the show’s secretive paramilitary group and its violent enemies. The opening image of this show sets the tone for the first episode: shadows. We are following an unnamed agent-in-black through the shadowy underbelly of an Eastern European mafia. We know very little about what each group stands for, who’s right and who’s wrong, and who to root for; all we see is a spy in black efficiently taking out mobsters. The agent is being instructed by a pair of women in Denmark, who tell the agent and the audience precisely what the mission’s objective is: to retrieve the Shetland files. What this entails, we do not know. Under pressure, the agent’s heart rate spikes, and she goes rogue, removing her mask and earpiece. Thus begins this chapter of Splinter Cell’s sprawling espionage epic.

Sam Fisher, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch

After the title sequence rolls, we are put into a calm, and again, dark, farm, tended to by an old and tired man. What catches this man’s ear is that Diana Shetland will be speaking at a COP-31 event in Hamburg. The man knows who this is. Quickly, we are thrown back into the world of the agent, who is mourning a bloodied and tortured man in a chair. The women in Denmark still have no communication with their rogue agent, and on top of that, their system is being hacked. As a last resort, the women mention an operative who’s been “out of the game for years”. The agent, now beat up and bleeding, tries her best to regain contact with her team in Denmark, but to no avail. She escapes the mobsters’ compound and reaches a payphone, where she calls her team. They tell the agent that someone is messing with their system and to go to specific coordinates.

A new character is introduced against an ominous soundtrack —a bearded man following in the agent’s tracks. He orders his men to go after the agent. Despite her bleeding, the agent reaches the coordinates. This is the old man’s farm, and the assumed operative who’s been “out of the game for some time.” Now, with the bearded man’s soldiers closing in, the old farmer must choose whether to help this dying agent or leave her for dead. In an instant, he takes her from her car and saves her from certain death. After the old man deals with the enemies, he calls the women in Denmark with one question: Where should I take her? Thus, he swallows the red pill and begins the story.

One word to describe this pilot is mystery. There is a lot that we don’t know, including the names of most characters, what anyone’s motive is, and who this villainous bearded man is. What it does give us is this: there is a paramilitary group, a spy agency, and lots of action. It gives us the show’s tone— dark and mysterious —as well as a whole bunch of classic Tom Clancy-esque characters. The animation style is much like Invincible or Scavengers Reign, with some clear references to other assassin thrillers, such as John Wick. This is not surprising as Splinter Cell’s writer, Derek Kolstad, also wrote the John Wick franchise. While we don’t get much from Liev Schreiber in this episode, as his character is mostly silent, we know from his other forays into Tom Clancy’s work, like his role in Sum of All Fears, that he understands how to play the tone and urgency of characters like Sam Fisher.

The show does a great job of enticing you to keep watching, mainly because so much remains unknown. However, it would be nice to know a little bit more about these characters, if anything, to connect with them and care about them more for the next episode. If you’re a fan of exciting action sequences, mobsters, or the trope of reluctant old men re-entering their professions to complete “one last job”, then there is little in this show that you wouldn’t like.

Rating: 7/10