Suranne Jones (left) and Julie Delpy in 'The Hostage.' Kevin Baker/Netflix Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text When the derivative Netflix spy drama Treason premiered in 2022, I used the Charlie Cox vehicle as an excuse to write a small treatise on the institutional misuse and overuse of in medias res openings. I've occasionally needed to reference what I wrote, but I've never been able to consistently remember what show I pegged the analysis to. Treason has a wholly generic title, and while it has an OK cast and the recognizable structure of a television series, it's among the more forgettable dramas of an era that has had more than a few forgettable dramas. There are countless shows, some quite successful, that are far worse than whatever that Charlie Cox show was called, but few that have dissipated into the ether as thoroughly. Related Stories TV Jillian Michaels Breaks Silence Over Netflix's 'Biggest Loser' Docuseries TV 'Emily in Paris' Season 5 to Release in December, Series Will Travel to Venice Hostage The Bottom Line Entirely forgettable. Airdate: Thursday, August 21 (Netflix)Cast: Julie Delpy, Suranne Jones, Ashley Thomas, Lucian MsamatiCreator: Matt Charman Competition comes in the form of the new Netflix drama Hostage. Like that Charlie Cox thing, it's a London-set five-parter with an instantly negligible title, a solid ensemble and the discernible shape of a television thriller, rendered near-generic by flimsy characterizations, an illogical central action and an ending both silly and cribbed from A Few Good Men to a degree that I'd call parody except for how purposeless the cribbing is. That this show and that similarly search-challenged Charlie Cox thing both hail from creator Matt Charman suggests a writer skilled at pitching a sturdy hook, but badly in need of more development time to allow the finished product to live up to its potential. In the case of Hostage, the potential stems from the tantalizing prospect of watching stars Suranne Jones (Gentleman Jack) and Julie Delpy (the Before trilogy) in an acting power struggle - a promise that isn't quite an empty tease, but never gets delivered upon fully. Jones plays Abigail Dalton, semi-recently elected as British prime minister. Dalton's biggest campaign promise was to boost the National Health Service by gutting the military. She has succeeded in the latter, but not the former, as the NHS is in the midst of a shortage of vital medical resources. A crisis is developing. Dalton is hoping to receive assistance from Vivienne Toussaint (Delpy), the French president, in London for a summit. Toussaint is in the middle of a re-election cycle that has forced her to kowtow to France's extreme right. Although she has the medical supplies that England needs, she's prepared to use this power imbalance for her own political needs, which may or may not be nefarious. The summit becomes more complicated when Dalton's husband, a Doctors Without Borders physician (Ashley Thomas' Alex), is taken hostage in French Guiana along with three other doctors. The kidnappers' only demand is Dalton's resignation, which seems like a no-brainer to Dalton's petulant teenage daughter (Isobel Akuwudike's Sylvie). But if you've seen a political thriller before, you probably know that global leaders are big fans of saying that they don't negotiate with terrorists. The kidnapping - the logic and strategy of which unravel if you even partially consider them - is predictably part of a conspiracy, one that both goes higher and less high than you could possibly imagine, and quickly compromises Toussaint as well. The respective challenges that Dalton and Toussaint face are vaguely morally complex and, I guess, compelling, albeit in a gendered way that Hostage isn't nearly smart enough to explore. Would a largely generic male prime minister whose largely generic female spouse was taken hostage ever be judged negatively for choosing job and country over family? Probably not. Is that relevant here? Barely. Toussaint's own involvement is tied to a double standard that the show hints at, though it lacks the mettle for deeper engagement. Hostage references things, but is about very little. The show is convinced that the dilemma is inherently interesting, and it does, if nothing else, give both Jones and Delpy interesting things to play. But the dilemma functions instead of individual characteristics for either woman. They're defined by the power of their positions and the fragility of their significant others (Vincent Perez briefly plays Toussaint's media mogul husband) rather than by voices or personality traits. For an episode or two, there's enough material related to how these women attempt to project power that it's possible to ignore that neither character behaves as a human outside of the constr