News & Interviews for Treadstone: Season 1

Critic Reviews for Treadstone Season 1

All Critics (18) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (10)

It's like a Jason Bourne movie squared, cubed and extruded every which way as this compelling new series takes Robert Ludlum's Bourne trilogy mythology to places it's never been.

Jan 22, 2020 | Full Review…

Brad Newsome

Sydney Morning Herald

Top Critic

As spy dramas go, this one is better left out in the cold.

Oct 18, 2019 | Full Review…

Michael Starr

New York Post

Top Critic

In Treadstone we have more distraction than emotional resonance, sold with the fantasy of precision-driven, expert violence. No doubt, this is a vintage approach. It also feels right for right now.

Oct 17, 2019 | Full Review…

Melanie McFarland

Salon.com

Top Critic

Parkouring its way on to screens with far more vim and purpose than one would expect, Treadstone is a scrappy but stimulating surprise and a refreshingly necessary addition to the saga.

Oct 15, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Benjamin Lee

Guardian

Top Critic

It is fine for what it is, but nothing about it really justifies it's existence. You won't be bored watching Treadstone but you may not stick with it long enough to get the answers you seek.

Oct 17, 2019 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…

Alex Maidy

JoBlo's Movie Emporium

I don't know how long an action series can keep this up, but the premiere, at least, is intense, mysterious, and oddly electrifying.

Oct 16, 2019 | Full Review…

Dustin Rowles

Pajiba

Kring still hasn't figured out that momentum isn't the same thing as complexity...

Jan 10, 2020 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Norman Wilner

NOW Toronto

It's all a clone of the same idea. [Full Review in Spanish]

Jan 22, 2020 | Full Review…

Hernán Ferreirós

La Nación (Argentina)

On a technical level, Treadstone has a lot going for it. The action quality is there. The bombastic energy is there. The espionage element is there. But, the show really needs to shed its unwillingness to be a part of the universe audiences know and love.

Oct 31, 2019 | Full Review…

Merrill Barr

Forbes

The biggest positive about Treadstone is that it doesn't play out like a TV show. With the intense fight scenes, exhilarating chase sequences, and everything else, it felt like I was watching a big-budget movie.

Oct 16, 2019 | Rating: 4.0/5.0 | Full Review…

Paul Dailly

TV Fanatic

Disappointing action spin-off is violent, has cursing.

Oct 24, 2019 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Melissa Camacho

Common Sense Media

While the action in Treadstone is great, there just isn't enough plot to make a satisfying watch.

Oct 15, 2019 | Full Review…

Joel Keller

Decider

View All Critic Reviews (18)

Audience Reviews for Treadstone: Season 1

• Feb 12, 2020

  I can't understand RT anymore, I rarely agree with the critic score any more - in fact they seem to be a complete inverse of what the audience feels. In this case, I cannot comprehend the low critics score - this (to me anyway) feels like a really good, strong series that has enough intrigue and surprise to keep me more than entertained. I like what they've managed to do with the Bourne franchise here - it's not hugely original, and there are some shaky plot points - but I was entertained - which is a lot more than I can say for a lot of series at the moment. Ignore the critics - try it, see for yourself.
  

  John H
• Jan 28, 2020

  I'd have happily given up after 2 episodes but my wife stuck with it so I had the pleasure of listening to it in the background. One of the worst written shows I've seen in a long time. Totally unrelated to the Treadstone from the Bourne films with "assets" that are more like super-heroes than the laser-focused psychotic assassins of the movies. Tiny little muscle-free women beating up multiple men twice their size and knocking them out with a single punch, leaving the unconscious for the rest of the scene. Whereas they could jump out of 2nd story windows and get hit by cars and just get up and dust themselves off. One even had super-strength that could break through handcuffs if he got angry enough. Every possible CIA clandestine trope with buzzwords being thrown around with no care for the plot or consequences. The absolute low must be the guy making a laser scanner in 30 seconds out of a mobile phone, a laser pointer and a pocket knife. Words just can't describe how ridiculous that idea is. The story was simply all over the place. I got the impression they started with a list of characters and locations and then tried to concoct a story that somehow linked them together. Why did the "reporter" ever need to go to Africa and since when do visitors to prisons get to just wonder around them? The oil rigger's wife character was a joke. All she ever did was magically move the plot along by somehow knowing exactly what to do next, but only ever after her previous epiphany had played out. What was with this "sekeda" rubbish? I can't tell if the writers consciously chose to introduce a new kind of asset so they could portray them as "normal" people or whether they simply didn't watch/understand Bourne. The original Treadstone assets knew all along what they were and Bourne was the exception that lost his memory due to being shot and falling in the sea. I'm a massive fan of the Bourne films and this was a complete and total let-down. Even the music was some kind of close-but-not-actual version so presumably they couldn't get John Powell's rights or something. I could probably mention another 20 stupid things but I've already wasted enough of my time on this rubbish.
  Richard L
• Jan 27, 2020

  Ludlum is by far my favourite author, I've read the Bourne books a few times and the films countless times; I was excited to see the word Treadstone pop up on Prime but to be honest I've not made it to the end of the 4th episode. Bourne is all about the chase scenes, the anticipation and keeping you on the edge of your seat but sadly this show is flat and predictable from the start. I'll probably binge it at some point when there is nothing else to watch it doesn't bring anything to the sage. Reminds me a lot of films like Mission Impossible, If you are here for a fast passed action show with no depth to pass some time then it will work but if you care about character development and a decent plot I would jog on.
  OLi D
• Jan 26, 2020

  Convoluted, loud, and dull. Mediocre acting, second-rate action choreography, very little narrative cohesion, and characters that arouse no sympathy from the audience.
  

  Andrew W
• Jan 23, 2020

  A great show for me. The action is definitely what you would expect from the Bourne series. The story is even better since it provides you more details on the world of Jason Bourne. Definitely would recommend it to everyone!
  

  Mark M
• Jan 22, 2020

  Treadstone a steaming pile of elephant shit The basic storyline is sound, at the height of the Cold War both sides are trying to develop ways of making secret agents indestructible, this along with theft of a nuclear warhead by rouge senior powers and political dishonesty could have been great. In the hands of a skilled, insightful and talented director this could have become a classic, unfortunately Wayne Yip is not skilled, insightful and talented. The characters are ridiculously unbelievable and attempts to develop and maintain tension between them is left to ridiculous shouting matches, fight scenes, foot and car chases and gun battles that may interest a moronic, WWF (or any other wrestling competition) watching, one celled amoeba but anyone with even the slightest intellect will struggle not to laugh at the ridiculousness of everyone. People seem to die everywhere but there is no credible investigation into any of these and they are left unsolved as the ‘plot' (if there was ever one) moves to another load of dreamed up dog excreta. These deaths are swept under the counter without the slightest concern. The acting is laughable (whatever acting schools Brian J. Smith, Jeremy Irvine and Emilia Schule went to should refund 100% of their fees if they want to maintain any credibility). Merab Ninidze what were you thinking when you agreed to act in this shambles? You are so much better than this! There is no discernible character development, unless you call going from shouting at maximum decibels to crying as development. The characters have no depth and there is nothing to like about any of them. The dialogue is pathetic, the romantic and sexual scenes are straight from the worst soft porn films and attempts at tension are cringeworthy, flash backs to drowning and being unable to breath are randomly dropped in with depressing regularity. Characters seem able to time travel across the world, appearing in one scene in one country and then moments later appearing in another scene in another country thousands of miles away. According to the storyline access in and out of North Korea is as easy as going from the sidewalk into Starbucks and the luxury in this highly secretive and poor country includes all that is available in the western world and makes communism look wonderful. All the side plots are utter nonsense, especially when the British journalist breaks a prisoner (who just happens to be her ex-lover) out of a Ghanaian jail and they fly away into the distance and drinks in a luxury hotel followed by love making when the world is about to bombed. These people are then kidnapped and released and a friend shot dead for no discernible reason, then she is in Berlin and then Moscow without border controls, WTF is going on? In Russia the journalist (who had been working as a taxi driver until a few days ago) gets unsupervised access to Top Secret Russian state intelligence at the Russian State Military Archive by using a forged plastic card. Our heroine journalist then interviews a former KGB agent at her home in Russia moments after being in Greece. This is so far fetched that it is difficult to believe that any educated person ever thought it up! CIA operatives are dispatched to kill the ‘rogue agents' in ‘kill teams' but all end up in ‘body bags' with depressing regularity. Character's abilities to recover from almost fatal injuries is biblical and would have done JC proud. The director makes good use of the 1950's technique of killing a character off at the end of an episode only for them to make a miraculous recovery for the start of the next episode. Treadstone is dreadful completely and utterly dreadful, completely and utterly dreadful and ridiculously put together, completely and utterly dreadful and ridiculously put together and awfully acted. In an era where there is so many great espionage series to watch (McMafia amongst the best) this is a super sized turkey with all the Christmas trimmings. All those involved in the production of this mess should be banned from making entertainment for many years until the show they have learnt the errors of their ways. I forced myself to watch all ten episodes of series one but if there is a second series I would rather put my penis in a vice and tighten it until my testicles explode and I bleed to death.
  

  Jonny J
• Jan 22, 2020

  I thought it was great on action and setting up the story. But it just ended, no resolution, no sense of achievement, no climax, no conclusion. Not even a proper cliffhanger for next season. just stopped. This is suffering from the traits of Streaming services in the worst way. A full season to get to the end of the introduction, or in the case of this show, nowhere. If the death of Yuri was supposed to be a climax ,then it failed. There were too many characters achieving too little each to warrant their arc. Sooo good at being a "Bourne" universe actions series. It just went nowhere.
  Fiendrunner K
• Jan 21, 2020

  It was good! What it lacked in cinematic effects it made up for in the storyline. I enjoyed it!
  Matthew T
• Jan 21, 2020

  Too many things going on. I gave it try. I'm stopping after episode 3. Too confusing and constant fighting scenes with no purpose.
  John B
• Jan 20, 2020

  It was fantastic! The acting was phenomenal and the cinematography was great
  

  Liam B

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