Rubicon is a stylish spy tale

AMC's new show "Rubicon," is a worthy addition to a lineup that already includes three-time Emmy winner, "Mad Men," and "Breaking Bad," with three-time Emmy winner, Brian Cranston. An interesting window, however fictional, into the intelligence community, which, as a series in the Washington Post recently noted, is largely hidden from public view (duh), private (of course; see, e.g., Blackwater a/k/a Xe), and exponentially bigger, more redundant, and vastly more expensive post-9/11. A generous dose of the good ol' boy, Yale/Harvard, Fisher's Island, Hamptons CIA former Newsweek editor (and Harvard classmate), Evan Thomas, wrote about (and which was the subject of a pretty good spy movie, "The Good Shepherd" with Chris Cooper and Matt Damon). The show features some very good acting, particularly from the main character, Will, played by James Badge Dale, who was excellent as James Leckie in HBO's "The Pacific."

I love the New York setting. I was born in Manhattan, and worked in at 42nd and Lex for six years in the first half of the "Greed is Good" 80's, so all of the scenes of the City are a nice bonus. Will's boss, and his boss's boss, are both slimey but smart. I love the intrigue. Annie Parise (who was wonderful in "The Pacific" and must love NY from her stint on Law and Order) was good last week as Will's love interest. There is a lot of evil lurking just below the surface (can't wait to find out what the four leaf clover really means), which adds to the dramatic tension. The rest of the cast is good too. Love the woman playing Tanya: strung out, edgy, into partying. Wonder what she is going to be like when she returns to the stress of API after getting out of rehab. Hopefully, she'll do better than Lindsay Lohan!