The Veil - Season 1

Chameleon ‘Imogen’ has to find out whether her traveling companion is the most dangerous women in the world, or a mother caught up in a whirlwind of troubling circumstances.

In my review on the first two episodes of The Veil, I wrote that we would have to see whether it would live up to its promising start. The short story is: no, they did not manage to do so. The ending of the first season was a bit disappointing. The ride, nonetheless, was intriguing.

The main question: is Adilah the terrorist Djinn al Raqqa?

The Veil starts in a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border, where a woman (Yumna Marwan, Little Birds) is accused of being the Djinn al Raqqa, a horrible terrorist with many deaths to her name. This woman, on the other hand, claims to be Adilah El Idrissi, an Algerian Parisian caught up in a difficult situation but no terrorist. The main question is: is Adilah the Djinn of Raqqa? This needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later, as the threat of an imminent terrorist attack looms over the Western world. Superspy ‘Imogen’ (Elizabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale) is tasked to find out who Adilah really is and to prevent the attack.

Imogen is a shape-shifter with her own fair share of secrets. The question that runs throughout the show is whether Imogen get more secrets out of Adilah, or the other way around. Imogen manages to get Adilah out of the refugee camp, and together they travel through Europe. As the time pressure increases, different secret services start to get more and more involved in the mission. Both the French and the Americans have their ownreasons for wanting to close this case quickly. Their involvement is not always amicable, and also does not always help the cause.



Altogether, the show tells an interesting spy story with a lot of promise. The episodes are gripping and I wanted to quickly watch each episode after the other. Moss and Marwan play very well, although Moss’ British accent is not that great. The main background characters from the different agencies also play their respective roles well. Combine that with beautiful cinematography, and fitting music, and we really have a decent show here. It is a slow series, but not too slow, and the pacing is executed well. But do not expect many chases or shootouts; they are only used sparingly.

When everything comes together, the ending is anti-climactic.

Unfortunately, the ending disappoints. When everything comes together, the ending is anti-climactic. Not everything makes sense in the end. Some characters make non-sensible choices, which is a bit frustrating. Overall, potential is wasted. Unfortunate, because the rest is quite decent. In any case, the series was still an enjoyable watch, and I do not feel like it wasted my time. There are better spy shows out there, but this could entertain in between some of those better ones.

At the time of writing, it is unclear whether there will be a second season. The ending left an opening for it, but the story from this season is more or less concluded. I am not too sure what would be the added benefit of adding a season to this story. Perhaps they are better to move on to different characters and different (spy) stories.