Review: Simu Liu Shines in ‘The Copenhagen Test,’ a Glossy, Modern Take on ’70s-Style Slow Burn Espionage

***Caution. Spoilers ahead***

I remember the first time I saw Robert Redford’s “Three Days of the Condor” as a teenager. Redford plays a CIA analyst who takes a break from the office. While he’s gone, his colleagues are all wiped out. And for the length of the movie, Redford is largely isolated and alone, and can’t trust anyone. At the time, I thought, “My God. To be that hopeless, alone, and unsupported?!” It was terrifying.

Simu Liu’s (“Kim’s Convenience,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”) Alexander Hale only has it a little bit better in the first two of eight episodes I’ve viewed thus far of “The Copenhagen Test,” a Peacock Original released on December 27. Hale is a first-generation Chinese-American patriot who has combat experience as a sniper and specialist in the army.

The show begins with him and a team attempting to rescue a dozen or so hostages being held in Belarus. There is trouble executing the mission, and as the team falls back, Hale (an Americanized version of his given family name) discovers a young Belarusian boy hiding in a hollowed-out tree. He speaks to him in both languages to try and build trust, picks the boy up, and begins to get him back to the helicopter when an unfamiliar voice in his headset says that there is only room for one hostage on the chopper, and for him to prioritize Americans. Then, a young woman, maybe early 30s, chases after them, pleading for help and telling Hale she’s an American citizen. We don’t yet see who he chooses.

Fast forward three years, and Hale is working as an analyst “downstairs” at the CIA, which the show explains before the action begins. Apparently, George H.W. Bush separated departments at the Agency into the operations agents (the ones who see the action) “upstairs,” and the analysts downstairs in what’s known as “The Orphanage.” It was intended to help keep departments honest; an Internal Affairs division, if you will.

Hale interviews for a spot upstairs, as he’s somewhat bored simply translating North Korean intelligence and feeding it to his Korean assets in the field. They show how haunted he is by his decision in the field three years ago, and the nagging feeling he has about it. He suffers panic attacks and, lately, migraines that he has to hide from his superiors. In fact, the interviewer asks about one particular panic attack on his record, and he assures her it was a one-time thing.

At one point, during a social outing, he leaves his friends’ table early after deducing that his ex-wife was coming to join the group. Before Hale leaves, he takes a seat at the bar, where he strikes up a rapport with the beautiful bartender, Michelle (played by “In the Heights” and “Scream” actress Melissa Barrera). Then, upon exit, his ex-wife finds him and gives him some illicitly obtained pills he uses to ease the panic, but she tells him this is the last time she’ll supply him.

The next morning, Hale learns that his colleague, Cobb, was selected to move upstairs, and so he must not have been. Cobb tries to reassure him, but fails when he says insensitively that it will probably just take him a little longer as a first-generation immigrant. Hale has to suspect that perhaps his superiors already don’t have enough trust in him as someone whose parents emigrated from China.

When news breaks that a third Korean asset in the field has been compromised or killed, a meeting is called among the analysts, and their superiors tell them everyone will be investigated. Hale realizes that he happens to have been the analyst assigned to all three, and starts to think he’ll be the brunt of the scrutiny. He goes to visit a retired operative turned chef, Victor (played by the legendary Saul Rubinek), with whom he clearly has a close relationship. Victor confirms that if the blame is laid on him, he’s a dead man. He should run.

He returns home and begins to pack. He Zooms with his parents, who, as immigrants, are very proud of Alexander and his service to the country. He tells them they may not hear from him for a while, as he’ll be “traveling for work.” But he gets word that the Agency has resolved the issue and that all analysts are to report to work the next day.

The analysts are assured they’ve found the party responsible, and they can rest at ease. But Hale is asked to stay behind. His superior then gives him word that he is, in fact, being moved upstairs to tend to a sensitive mission. He is pleasantly surprised and almost doesn’t trust the promotion.

But he still doesn’t feel right. There must be something else going on, because he was cooked for sure (despite knowing full well he was innocent). He begins digging into some internal protocols he suspects are at play. One of which is the Copenhagen Test, where an operative is told there is only room for one hostage and asked to prioritize the spot for an American citizen. He was, in fact, being tested. We then learn he chose the boy, and therefore feels like he failed the test.

He also looks into some other sneaky spy stuff and finds out there is one condition where an operative begins to complain of migraines. He takes this protocol to a colleague he’s always confided in, passing her a note stating the code name of the protocol and that he’s somehow been compromised. Does she keep it to herself? Nope!

Alexander is then brought into a private briefing room, not knowing what to expect. A higher-up then enters, puts the note on the table, and asks him if he really thought this wouldn’t be passed up to directors. She then questions him and his loyalty, and essentially asks if he’s a traitor. He confidently denies it.

He is then joined in this relatively dark room by the second overall in command, Director Peter Moira (played by “Spotlight’s” Brian d’Arcy James). He then reveals what the Agency now realizes: Alexander Hale has been the mole, but an innocent one. It is then explained to Hale that, somehow, an adversary has hacked his brain with some nanite particles and made it essentially a Wi-Fi tower beaming out everything he says or sees. And someone is watching. Luckily, it is revealed that the signal from his brain can’t escape the particular briefing room they are in.

They then ask him if he’s willing to let the hack continue, playing dumb and cooperating with the Agency to see if they can make some covert moves to flesh out who the adversary is.

In Episode Two, we dive more into a very important character, Parker, who somewhat serves as quality control, or even a conscience of sorts, for this experiment. In fact, Parker, whom the audience sees and knows has been tracking Alexander since E1, even prevents another operative from taking him out at one point when he abruptly departs the office to head back downstairs. Because she’s an expert in predictive behavior, she assures her superiors that he’s going to return upstairs and not to extinguish him.  

Director Moira meets with Parker (played by “The Other Black Girl’s” Sinclair Daniel) to tell her she’s going to be an integral part of the operation in guiding Hale and helping predict the adversary’s moves. She knows she shoulders a great deal of responsibility.

They decide to conduct an operation. By now, Hale has also learned that “Michelle,” the bartender, is not only an operative, but was the young woman who pleaded with Hale to take her with them in Belarus (she looked disheveled then, thus unrecognizable at the bar). There are some great flashbacks to the Agency prepping Michelle for her role as the bartender, trying out certain lines with Parker that she could use with Hale.

They are sent to a bookstore together just to look around and see who follows them in. The bookstore will be closing soon. Sure enough, three people who don’t particularly seem that interested in books trail in and pretend to look around. Long story short, we finally get some fight action going, and both Hale and Michelle can handle themselves quite well.

I’ll leave you there with PLENTY of series to discover for yourself. As I always say, this is a recap, but you really need to watch it all yourself.

Overall, the characters are very smooth and convincing. Liu stands out for his demeanor but also for a little edge that says he’s only going to take so much crap. And I love that an Asian actor was given this lead. It’s important.

Barrera, as Michelle, is an interesting character for me because I still don’t know how much I can trust her. I don’t think there’s a “will-they-won’t they” between her and Hale, as we don’t really know anything about her core identity yet. She doesn’t seem like she’s in this for romance. All the stories she told Hale at the bar were made up and rehearsed with Parker. In fact, we’re not even really sure we can trust Victor, either. Has Alexander’s confiding a lot to him left both him and the Agency vulnerable if Victor is still, in fact, in the spy game under the table?

So far, it feels more like a European, Le Carre-style spy drama than an American one. But again, I’ve got six episodes to go. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

And that’s what Todd’s watching.