George Parker "The Grid" (we never really know to what the title refers) is a 6x45 min miniseries action/drama about international terrorism. The bad guys are a rogue terror cell operating out of Yemen, deploying operatives to the UK and the US where they are to attack with sarin nerve gas. The good guys are a joint task force of Brits and US Federal agents who are out to stop the bad guys. The film leapfrogs incessantly from Yemen to London to Washington to Saudi Arabia to Chicago, etc. globe trotting in a surprisingly well orchestrated conglomeration of good vs evil Muslims, interagency wrangling, boyish suicide bombers, covert ops, murder, love, and much more given this US/UK co-op's budgetary constraints. On the upside, "The Grid" gets busy and stays busy sufficient to engross and make some of the obvious histrionics easily overlooked as it provides an acceptable overview of the amorphous nature of terrorist cells and the international agency cooperation required to effectively cope with this 21 century threat. On the downside the film is difficult to follow at times, somewhat disjointed in an effort to be all things to all people, pushes the believability envelope occasionally, and is generally too pat to be real. Overall, "The Grid" is an acceptable miniseries worth a look for those who can commit to a 4.5 hour small screen watch. Those who enjoy this miniseries should also check out "Traffic (2004)". (B-)

Alex-372 I don't like this mini series. It tries to be "24", but it doesn't have the guts, the writing ability or the actors to get away with it.No one in this series is likable. I don't like the switching back and forth between uppercrust English (Hari Kumar, anyone?) and arabic dialog, because no one talks like that. Dermot Mulroney who is no Kiefer Sutherland, comes of as a selfrighteous prick, Jemma Redgrave looks plain (unlike the rest of the family), and the British cast seems to have walked straight out of one of the myriad of second tier British cop series.When watching this stuff, I thought "there are Miami Vice episodes made 20 years ago that this dreck couldn't touch". And that's with all modern technology.

Mister_Anderson I really enjoyed this miniseries. I was especially impressed by the action-packed and tense finale. I think it was a matter of many good parts coming together at once. It's never excellent, but I would call it "great" without much hesitation.Solid acting by all, especially Bernard Hill. But really, they all acted well, even the bigger names (McDermott and Margulies). I particularly enjoyed all the agencies involved (Justice Dept., FBI, CIA, MI5, MI6)-this kept things interesting. And the terrorists were just as diverse and complex as the good guys.Cheesy dialogue surfaced a couple times, but was surprising kept to a minimum (especially compared to most TV movies).(SPOILER BELOW)One thing I wish they had explained more is what happened to the terrorist doctor guy who did the Sarin attack in London during the finale. We see him right before the credits, but it appears he has gone back to his normal life. But shouldn't the grid still be tracking him down? Maybe I missed something.Overall, though, you impressed me, TNT. I may even pick it up on DVD if the price is right.

Decrypt3 This comment contains spoilers, unless you've seen the third episode.The release of "The Grid" could not have come at a better time. One of the primary conflicts in the series is the bureaucracy involved between the various American and British intelligence agencies, right when we're in the midst of all this stuff in the real world about an "intelligence czar" and a national counter-terrorism center. One of the series' merits is that it shows what could happen if the government lets bureaucracy get in the way of actually fighting terrorism.Some have objected to "The Grid" on the basis of its being racist. I have two counter- arguments. The first is that Muslim extremists are the group identified by a lot of Americans as the primary terrorist group in the world, so involving any other group would not "click" with audiences. Sad but true, I know. The second counter-argument is that the series makes an effort to humanize the antagonists. Ragib Mutar, for example, gets unwillingly caught up in the terrorist plot, initially only because he wants the best for his patients, and he suffers greatly for his involvement.Most of the actors are good enough to hold up the story. The exceptions are, unfortunately, the two main actors, the only ones who are named in the trailers: Julianna Margulies and Dylan McDermott. Neither of them seems to be able to evoke the appropriate emotions on screen. I can't speak for Margulies, but I know McDermott is a fairly good actor (from seeing him on "The Practice"). Here, he's either not trying or he's miscast.The supporting actors are excellent, especially Tom Skerritt, Jemma Redgrave and Bernard Hill. Hill was a superb choice to play Derek Jennings - he is a natural tough guy and very British. He even looks like a grizzled veteran. You don't see him really act like one until the third episode - see below - but when he does, he's amazingly convincing. Redgrave creates mystery around her character very well - you can never be sure exactly what she's thinking or what her intentions are. We see that the character can be very cool and calm, but at other times she shows emotion, but you get the feelings those emotions might be fake.Especially during the pilot episode, the action seemed to drag a bit too long. The pace only really started to pick up towards the end, where the FBI raids a warehouse. I never really felt a lot of suspense and adrenaline except for one scene in the third episode involving Derek Jennings in an elevator. That made my heart pound crazily. You see Bernard Hill's skill as an actor - you can tell he's suspicious of the assassin, but you can't tell that he knows who he is. You wonder if Jennings' experience and training will save his life or if he will become just another victim.I look forward to the finale, when all the intricate plot threads will finally come together (hopefully). I will definitely be watching it, and I hope it doesn't go downhill.