Simu Liu and Melissa Barrera in 'The Copenhagen Test.' Peacock Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text The fifth episode of Peacock's The Copenhagen Test begins with an extended "Previously On..." sequence. After a brief flashback, the main character has his own series of memories related to things that happened previously on the show. Said main character next records a video in which he tells a then-unknown figure everything that happened previously on the show. The Copenhagen Test, created by Thomas Brandon and executive produced by James Wan, is a somewhat complicated show. But it isn't nearly as complicated as it thinks it is throughout a first half in which characters are constantly repeating the premise, monologuing expositional info to each other and sitting in blandly designed rooms bringing outside characters up-to-speed on the most basic of details. Related Stories TV Simu Liu Knows Hollywood Won't Cast Him as Bourne or Bond, So He's Working on Plan B TV Seth MacFarlane's 'Ted' Series Reveals Racy First Look at Season 2, Sets March Return The Copenhagen Test The Bottom Line A two-hour pilot stretched to eight episodes, four of them skippable. Airdate: Saturday, December 27 (Peacock)Cast: Simu Liu, Melissa Barrera, Sinclair Daniel, Brian d'Arcy James, Mark O'Brien, Kathleen Chalfant, Saul Rubinek, Adam GodleyCreator: Thomas Brandon The sci-fi espionage thriller is determined to be a smart show, while at the same time existing in a media landscape in which executives have decided that audiences are, at best, generally distracted and, at worst, kinda dumb. "Be grateful for all the things you don't know," a character instructs one of our heroes. "Ambiguity is a wonderful sleep aid, because once you know, there's no going back." Unfortunately, through its first four episodes, The Copenhagen Test is also a wonderful sleep aid - a whole lot of leaden dialogue and convoluted plotting, with very little intensity or momentum. It does get better, mind you. The fifth episode, directed by Vincenzo Natali, features the series' first two semi-memorable set-pieces, while the seventh episode, directed by Nima Nourizadeh, features its first two semi-memorable fight sequences. The last two episodes give the first real indications that the show is capable of being smartly tricky with its structure and timeline, rather than just annoyingly evasive. Throw in a strong ensemble of character actors doing solid work and hinting at depths that ostensible leads Simu Liu and Melissa Barrera struggle to convey, and The Copenhagen Test in its second half becomes a show I could potentially follow. So perhaps the triple recap at the top of episode five is the show's tacit blessing to skip over the first half of the series entirely? The place the show reaches after the eighth episode is probably where it should have been after, say, a two-part pilot. An eight-episode season that could be watched in four and probably should have been two? That, friends, is iffy math. What are the basics you need to know? Liu plays Alexander Hale, an analyst with an intelligence subagency known as "The Orphanage." It's a two-tier organization. Analysts work on the bottom floor; operatives work on the top floor, which is basically internal affairs for the CIA, FBI, NSA and whatnot. Alexander dreams of moving to the top floor. He interviews for a job upstairs. The job goes to his colleague Cobb (Mark O'Brien). Sad. In addition to feeling unfulfilled, Alexander is getting headaches. They seem like migraines, but they're not. They're REALLY not. They're evidence of a unique problem: Alexander has been hacked. Somehow, an unknown entity has the ability to see what Alexander sees and hear what Alexander hears, which is especially bad if you work with potentially sensitive information. Even though audiences are never given any reason to suspect that Alexander might be anything other than a perplexed victim of this "hacking" thing - which involves a secret government program and "nanites" - higher-ups at the Orphanage are less convinced. Consequently, they bring Alexander upstairs with one of two goals: Either they'll discover that Alexander turned rogue of his own volition or else they'll be able to uncover the mysterious forces who put nanites in his head without his permission. There are a lot of people involved in this process, starting with Michelle (Barrera), a bartender who isn't really a bartender. Her past with Alexander relates to the titular test, which the series forgets about entirely for hours at a time before a finale in which absolutely everything ties back to the lessons of that test in the most heavy-handed way. That's the way the writing in The Copenhagen Test goes: When there's a theme the show wants you to get, three consecutive scenes will m