A Review of "My Own Worst Enemy"

Henry Spivey is having a bad day. He thought he was going into work that morning and suddenly he finds himself awake, standing at a window, holding a very large and powerful sniper rifle and he's in Russia. He has no idea how he got there, where he is, how to get out or why he would be centering the cross-hairs on the guy on the street below. Needless to say, this is not the time to lose your memory.

Edward, meanwhile, is a spy of the highest order. He's more like a superhero than just a spy, really. He speaks thirteen languages. He can hold is breath underwater for five minutes. He can bed a gorgeous Russian spy one minute, giving her the time of her life, and then shoot her through the forehead the next when she returns from the bathroom with a gun.

The trick of the new NBC television show "My Own Worst Enemy" is that Henry and Edward are the same person. Edward came first, and has served his country well as the super-spy. However, when the government needs to hide Edward away between missions, they activate a device in his head that turns him into Henry. Henry is a humble, almost shy, devoted father and husband who would never hurt anyone who wasn't trying to hurt his family. In short, he is the exact opposite of Edward and, therefore, the perfect cover.

I have read a few reviews of this new show starring Christian Slater in his first television series. There seem to be some who are very down on this show and for reasons that only come from those who spend far too much time reviewing shows and have forgotten what it is like to just be sitting in your living room watching television. Sorry, but I don't watch TV to always have my mind blown and to witness plots so complicated and convoluted that it takes mental contortions to understand them. There are times when I just want to watch stuff blow up real good.

"My Own Worst Enemy" delivers on that and does so in spades. I honestly did not have much hope for the show when I tuned in to the first episode, placed just after "Heroes" on Monday nights. Before I knew it, a half an hour had flown by and I was still glued to the television and had not moved my butt from my couch. I laughed when I was supposed to laugh and thrilled when I was supposed to be thrilled.

In short, I had a blast watching this show. I had more fun then I expected and was delighted when it ended and wanted to spend more time with these characters the next week to see what happened. What more can you expect of a television action series?

I have heard a lot of people compare this show to "Alias" which also involved a plot of a super-spy who had the cover of a regular "normal" person." Critics, for some reason, seemed to have loved that show. For me, I found that show plodding, pretentious, needlessly complicated and, ultimately, tedious to watch. I want my James Bond running after the bad guys and blowing things up with his pen or whatever gadget he may have in his pocket. I don't need gravitas and plots that loop back on themselves like a collection of epileptic snakes.

"My Own Worst Enemy" has just enough of a complicated plot to make things interesting. Henry is the experiment and is shocked to find this out. You see, the device in Edwards head is starting to malfunction. Edward is showing up when he is supposed to he Henry and Henry is showing up with that sniper rifle in his hand. This leads to amusing scenes where Henry finds a recorded message from Edward that saves his butt and Henry leaves a message for Edward.

I liked the show, what can I say? Is it perfect? No, but I feel it has tremendous potential. Slater seems to really be enjoying himself. The people surrounding him have yet to get enough screen time to really feel well-rounded just yet. I feel that will probably be corrected in time.

For once, there seems to be a show worth watching once "Heroes" ends on NBC. So, I say, first you need to come back to "Heroes" and then you should stick around and catch Christian Slater in "My Own Worst Enemy."