How are you feeling?
Pretty good.
Patriot, an Amazon Original, is a clever dark comedy. John Tavner (Michael Dorman) is depressed because he killed the wrong person on his last mission. Although he would like to continue smoking pot and singing songs and riding mechanical bulls for money in Amsterdam while processing his PTSD, his father needs him for an off-the-books undercover mission that would facilitate regime change in Iran and effectively disrupt its nuclear program. As John Lakeman, he joins an industrial piping firm that would allow him to do just that, except that there is no due diligence regarding the structural dynamics of flow and the project unravels.
What are the structural dynamics of flow? Well, it is the title of a book written by the OG of industrial piping, Leslie Claret (Kurtwood Smith), and as explained by Lawrence LaCroix (Gil Bellows) to Detective Agathe Albans (Aliette Opheim) of the homicide division in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, the difficulties inherent in transporting an entity from A to B.
Agathe: Describe the basic nature of your work.
S01E05, Patriot, Amazon Prime Original
Lawrence: Industrial piping. We create the structural dynamics to deliver elements from A to B, and we provide services concerning the vulnerabilities of that expectation.
Agathe: Which expectation?
Lawrence: The simple delivery of an element from A to B. We consult concerning the obstacles, challenges, and insecurities that come up against the simple act of delivering an element from one place to another. To name a few… attrition, gravity, mischief, calamity, incompetence. Also erosion, contraction, expansion, buffoonery.
Lawrence: Essentially, we exist because of the tremendous difficulty inherent in simply transporting any entity from A to B.
It would be terribly remiss if, having seen both seasons twice now, I do not acknowledge the nuances of this show (as I see them) and its simple premise of negotiating with the structural dynamics of flow. The phrase itself conveys a specific sensibility that every living thing assesses its environment to gauge where it is in the present in order to devise a strategy for a future where it can survive and thrive. In the absence of opposing forces and sometimes despite them, there is a creative breakthrough and tremendous momentum forward in evolution. Sometimes, however, there is an unfortunate paucity in imagination; if you do not know where you want to go, all directions and maps are useless. This state of things is not something that can be controlled in accentuating circumstances such as depression, which is known to shrink the brain.
To effectively navigate the distance between the present and desired future, it serves well to be cognisant of the challenges inherent in the enterprise. And yet, foreknowledge might not prevent a train wreck. It is difficult for the brain to amend its plans, which is a confounding situation to find oneself in considering the inevitability of change. Mitigation of behavioural inertia requires conscious engagement, a skill that is further impaired when depressed.
Hearteningly, it is not all bad for John Lakeman. His endearing elegiac disposition throughout the series is deadpan humour at its best. It is beautiful to see his family and friends rally around him in Season 2. There is singing of songs and revelry with old friends, new friendships, shooting of the only openly angry man in the face, cuddles, and so much more.
