“His small murder business sits in a tidy shack not far from the water. Convenient for dumping bodies. ‘Location, location, location,’ he says.”
—Hilary Leichter, Temporary
John: Hey, don’t put “Capture A Guy”!
Dennis: Well I’ve gotta put something!
John: Fine, just write “CG” or something.
Dennis: Good coding!
—Patriot (2015)
Talk about singular storytelling. It’s as intricate as the show’s fake industrial piping and the book’s “inner-office” pirate ship politics, both of which the main characters pretend to understand.
Temporary and Patriot are very much rogue agents, and I mean that in terms of genre, character attributes, and overall tone. Whatever they are, they have a self-aware, expertly crafted humor behind them. They cover a full range of emotions and ambitious plots but they insist on doing it with a devilish perma-smirk.
The pairing captures:
- Crimes disguised as occupations, occupations disguised as crimes
- Prolonged personal breaking points
- Halfhearted identities
- What it looks like for secrets to be revealed but facts to become convoluted
- Applying time management techniques to assassination methods
- Yearning for steadiness
- Possessing a sense of dedication alongside a persistent malaise
- An absurd study in workplace sociology
- The quasi-maintenance of long-distance relationships
- Feigning competence amid escalating stressors
- Withstanding a deluge of ludicrous vocational duties
- Moral support from a band of bros (very different from a band of brothers)
You will root for this show and this book like you’re at your child’s first T-ball game, numbed butt digging into the unforgiving bleachers, voice growing shrill, glitter puffy paint drying on your neon poster. But good luck trying to explain what makes them so great.