With episode 4 to air tomorrow this is a TV series I want to keep covering, so far its probably the best action series on air right now, besides The Mandalorian. First season looks like wont be too long with only eight episodes announce on IMDB and I don't see the word Mini-Series been use so I guess there will be a second season.
From the first three episodes we know John Weir specialty is to manipulate situations to stimulate or force an specific result for his clients advantage, he and his best friend from infancy Valence somehow this time are the ones been manipulated, they both get tricked and Valence kills himself but John finds out its way to survive after many attacks but he didn't do it alone, his father had to do a lot. I expect two episodes at least where they will go back and forward in the timeline explaining how everything start because his father fake his own death and now comes back??
The third episode starts with Valence and John sitting on the same room with John's father Ben Wilson, he is giving them orders and a briefing of the plan moving forward, this was on 2018 years before their current time line, they have to trust each other but how can John do that now after Valence throw himself out of a balcony in front of him while at the same time John has someone trying to get rid of him.
After his father fake his own death, John and his mother move out leaving their house empty but never sold it, she must have known what Ben was involve or at least had an idea, John gets obsess with his father safe box and tries to open it many times to the point of maximum frustration, once almost burn down the place trying to open it, constantly getting in trouble at school his mom couldn't manage the situation, drank too much, decided to send John to boarding school where he will be teach to be more discipline and stay out of trouble, well at least that was her plan besides don't have to deal with John troubles. On every similar story that hardly works and John stay been the same, a little more limited of course but nothing that can stop him from his end goal, open the safe box.
Its on this school that John meets Valence, at first as classic John he didn't like him that much but he understood how brilliant Valence is, so both started studying some documents that his father left behind with letters and numbers circle that could help them figure out the combination. One day they decided to go and give it a try, see if they could open the safe box.
Back and Forward, the episodes keeps moving explaining things that happen before Valence decides to kill himself, this time how Ben comes back after many years of faking his death, tries to explain everything to John but he freaks out. Ben is a psychologist, he is very direct, feelings don't move him that much and tries to reason with John but he is MAD AF, after traumatizing him and his mother, Ben start to reveal things to John but at the moment is just too much to process and that's the life of many people who have this type of jobs where everything is a secret and are constantly in danger, not only them but their family too, some decide not to have family. John has a kid but doesn't life with him and tries to stay away for security reasons.
Here comes the tittle of the series, Rabbit Hole, John goes to Valence apartment to vent out because he cant handle the situation alone, he says "I cant go through that Rabbit Hole again..." its his father conspiracy theory that would make him go crazy, he fakes his death, now his mother knew about it and she dies because of all that situation, that is no way to live, constantly thinking you and your kid are in danger and that your husband fake his death to protect you but cant tell your kid the truth.
Valence, John and his father Ben agree to have lunch and clear things out. Ben work for the government back in the 80's where technology like computers, cell phones and many other things were not develop as when they had this meeting in 2018, back then they already develop algorithms to control population similar to what social media now days use to predict human behavior. At first they saw it as a tool to defend and protect the country but after some time Crowley, someone who we don't have much information so far, decided to sell data to the highest bitter and started his empire of manipulation. John and Valence new this because they found his father study on the safe box.
Ben is worry that Crowley is not for hire anymore, he is willing to get something more important than money and that's power, going for a nation that he suspects is the USA, he ask for John and Valence help to stop him.
On previous episode we saw how John puts his life at risk for Valence token generator, he went into the police office and infiltrates with cheap tricks to manipulate people, then after getting the device from the evidence room one of this ex employee, the intern, is working for who ever wants him dead and try to steal the device from him got into a fight but Hailey run him over and both John and her got away.
John is now trying to get into Valence server access to check his email, files and other type of evidence that can help him figure out whats going on, he needed the token generator and his password, he and Valence use to encrypt messages and some how manage to learn how each other think after all that's his dad research that they discover and make a business out of it.
Xander was monitoring Valence access and use it as a honey pot to get John, at the moment he tries to access Xander gets notify and is on top until Jo Madi visit him because Xander send her an email saying they need to talk about John at 10:15 a.m but he didn't send the email, some one else did and that create the perfect distraction, its like John had everything planned but I have seen the episode again and cant find when he did it, probably some one else is helping John from the inside.
John manage to crack Valence password, download all the data but Xander went out of the room giving direct orders to not doing anything without consulting him so the IT didnt log out John while Xander was talking to Jo, at the end John got away with the data he needed and now has to run since he knows the chances they locate him are very high.
I still dont believe the Hailey story, how she have nothing to do with John or who is trying to kill John, there must be a connection, she is just too clean, too innocent.
Hailey sneak out to the backyard with a cell phone she took from the house without John or Ben noticing, she opens an email with a Crypto Wallet update, probably checking on Bitcoin??? look at the screen and does nothing because on that moment Ben shows up.
She is scare to death of Ben, she knows he doesn't have any attachment like John has and wouldn't doubt to kill her, Ben explain her how with one question he can tell if someone is saying the truth, how he identify patterns on someone who is lying. Hailey starts shaking, nervously smile and Ben with his psychotic smile ask her to answer one question, she is shitting bricks at this point, Ben ask her are "you who you say you are?" then "who you working for?" , she answer the The Homeless Aid Network. Well it was not enough, the questions was a distraction, he knew she had something in her hand, probably his intention was just to stop what ever she was doing to investigate latter on and get the hole truth, why killing her without knowing what she is up to than let her believe he trust her and find out her real intentions. He ask Hailey to show him his hand but some how she drop the phone on time, show him her hand and went back into the house both smiling as "friends".
The people behind John do not forgive errors, they must have dirt on all this people that keep killing themself without thinking twice, Valence did now Xander kills himself after failing to catch John and letting him get to Valence data.
I like how this is the first episode where we dont have shooting, chasing and violence during the most part of the episode but it remains interesting, how well the story is structure with certain details like when did John or someone else send the email to distract Xander and the app on the phone Hailey had, a Crypto Wallet?? what could it had to do with everything or is it a mistake from production?? sometimes this espionage TV series try too hard to sell the perfect James Bond situations and really try to make things mission impossible getting to far away from whats real and more into the fiction side of things. Still a good 7/10 for me.
