Crime
Prime Target
This math-centric thriller comes with an interesting premise. But Prime Target comes with some primary problems, too.
Jacob Pearce wants revenge. And it seems all of Paris might be on his hit list.
Before Pearce fixed his mind on vengeance, he served as a captain in the French Foreign Legion, where he led counterterrorism forces in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, Pearce’s last mission went wrong, resulting in the deaths of his men and a brutal, six-year imprisonment by the Taliban.
Now that Pearce is free, he wants the people that he believes are responsible for his “mission gone wrong” to pay.
Pearce’s first target: French Defense Minister Philippe Bardin. Philippe swears he had nothing to do with the failed mission, and he claims that the reason for Pearce’s actions is that “he’s completely crazy.”
At first, Vincent Taleb—the man tasked with protecting Philippe—takes the defense minister at his word. He vows to protect Philippe and bring Pearce to justice. But when Vincent begins to collaborate with MI6 agent Zara on the case, he learns that Pearce’s motivations are far more nuanced than he was led to believe.
In an attempt to protect their personal interests, multiple civilian and government individuals intentionally sent Pearce and his troops into a Taliban ambush. And some of these individuals are the very people whom Vincent is supposed to protect.
So, while Vincent and Zara work to apprehend Pearce and bring him to justice, they become increasingly disillusioned by the corruption in the government they are working to defend.
It seems Paris has fallen, indeed.
Hulu’s TV series Paris Has Fallen is the most recent addition to the Has Fallen franchise, originally starring Gerard Butler and which includes movies such as Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen. Like its predecessors, Paris Has Fallen is an action-packed drama featuring a tough protagonist, terrorist threats and gruesome violence.
The series opens with a hostage crisis in which men and women are threatened and shot with guns. Individuals throughout the series participate in hand-to-hand combat and experience painful blows to the head. Often, these violent actions result in grisly streams of blood flowing from the victims.
It’s also worth noting that the primary plot is driven by a revenge scheme. Although the series’ antagonist spearheads this vengeance movement, the viewer is sometimes invited to sympathize with the character’s motivations—even when these motivations lead him to murder various (though certainly not innocent) individuals.
Paris Has Fallen also includes an LGBT relationship between two women, who sometimes show mild romantic affection for one another. Additionally, characters use profanity including the f-word and the s-word.
Like the films in the Has Fallen franchise, Hulu’s Paris Has Fallen TV series seems to invite its viewers to gawk at the spectacle of extreme violence in its episodes. While the storyline certainly calls for some depiction of action, the series seems to embrace brutality and gore. As such, thrill-seeking families—especially those with younger viewers—will likely want to look elsewhere for their action-packed television.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
When terrorists attack the British embassy in Paris, security officer Vincent risks his life to protect Defense Minister Philippe and his family.
Much of the episode’s drama centers on violent terrorist attacks. Numerous women and men die or are injured from gunshots, which often cause blood to pour from their bodies. Additionally, the terrorists hold party guests—both politicians and civilians—hostage, threatening them with guns. The terrorists also kidnap a young girl, whom they tie to a chair and hide in a storage container and threaten to kill. A man commits suicide, and his blood splatters from the gunshot wound.
Some characters get thrown against walls and crumple to the floor, while others get hit in the head with heavy objects. In one scene, a man physically fights a woman by punching her in the head and throwing her onto the floor. A man takes off his shirt to reveal the gruesome scars he sustained during a war. A character stabs a man in his eye, and blood flows from the wound. A man threatens someone with a knife. Another man urinates in his clothes during a tense hostage situation. An explosion destroys a section of a building, allowing terrorists to escape. Countless individuals die because of the terrorist attacks, and their bloody bodies lay scattered on the floor. A character uses a needle to give someone stitches.
A character goes home to greet her female partner, and the two women share a kiss. Dancers wear somewhat revealing clothing: Women wear short skirts and men wear tights and vests that show their bare chests. It is mildly implied that Vincent had a romantic affair with French President Juliette Levesque.
Characters occasionally use profanity including one use of the f-word, one use of the s-word and “p-ss.” Characters drink alcohol, and a character comments that her father drinks too much alcohol when he is alone.
This math-centric thriller comes with an interesting premise. But Prime Target comes with some primary problems, too.
In Netflix’s new anime series Babanba Banban Vampire, a 450-year-old vampire longs for the untainted blood of a 15-year-old boy.
Severance takes us on an unsettling ride—one with few thrilling loops and dips, but strange turns that may still make you a little queasy.
What’s shown here may be reminiscent of what real police officers have seen on the job. I’m not sure the show’s message is strong enough to justify depicting it.
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