Apple TV+ is already on a tear, and the year has barely begun. The return of Severance last week, for example, feels like a rare instance when Apple, finally, has tapped into the pop culture zeitgeist with its streaming service. It also has another major new release arriving this week—not as high-profile as the new season of its dystopian workplace drama but an all-around solid new TV show nonetheless.
The action-packed Prime Target, starring Leo Woodall as a math postgraduate named Edward Brooks doing groundbreaking work on the relationship between prime numbers, is sort of like Good Will Hunting meets the vibes of The Bourne Identity. Without getting too down deep into the weeds of the math that drives the story, Edward’s work has potentially found a way to understand the relationship between primes in a way that hasn’t been understood before — and which, at least in the context of the show, supposedly puts all sorts of digital password architecture at risk.
Edward is warned off his work; eventually shady forces come out of the woodwork to try and kill him, turning this Good Will Hunting-style story about a math prodigy into a straightforward cat-and-mouse thriller. And if you focus on the latter, without trying to wrap your arms too much around the math of it all, Prime Target is quite an entertaining thriller, indeed. Especially since it’s not Edward going on the run alone from everyone, which would strain credulity even more — rather, he links up with an NSA agent played by Quintessa Swindell, who not only helps keep him safe but helps him start unraveling the conspiracy Edward has found himself at the center of.
Behind the camera is Steve Thompson, the creator of Prime Target who’s also written for shows like Sherlock and Doctor Who. Add in the production powerhouse Scott Free Productions (yes, Ridley Scott’s team), and you’ve got all the ingredients for a show that will keep viewers glued to the screen. And with a stellar supporting cast that includes Stephen Rea, Martha Plimpton, and David Morrissey, Prime Target doesn’t just promise edge-of-your-seat action—it delivers depth and intrigue aplenty.
My verdict: With the first two episodes coming on Jan. 22 and then one every Wednesday thereafter, Prime Target makes for an excellent show to keep you busy while you wait for each week’s new Severance episode to roll around.
