E-Ring

Reviewed by:
Gregg Braverman

Pop quiz, hotshot: What do you get when you make an accomplished actor a high-ranking executive-branch official? Nope, not our 40th president. It's the latest force of evil-busting experts to hit the small screen. Benjamin Bratt—best known for his pelican-brief romance with Julia Roberts—stars as Major Jim "J.T." Tisnewski, joining sallow-faced Colonel McNulty (Dennis Hopper) in a special operations division of the Pentagon dubbed the E-Ring. Together, they combine cutthroat politicking and first-rate soldiering to secure U.S. assets. Episodes consist mainly of persuading skeptical bureaucrats to endorse a mission, often accompanied by a hackneyed pep talk borrowed from 1001 Speeches, Toasts, and Political Motivations. To the show's credit, the covert military ops are gripping despite the built-in knowledge that the U.S. never loses. Hopper's performance is as chopped and spotty as ever, yet somehow laudable when standing floppy-jowl-to-square-jowl with Bratt. At least the all-access pass into military decisions rings patriotic and lets us know there are fictional heroes looking out for us when TV terrorists attack. (FCC, consider yourself warned.)