Treadstone is a TV series distributed USA Network.[1] The show began production in 2019. It premiered on October 15th, 2019 and was cancelled after one season in 2020.[2] It had Mixed to Negative Reviews and low tv ratings.
Plot
It focuses on the titular Treadstone program. The first season will reportedly follow multiple subjects as they are "awakened" to complete their missions.[3]
Status
The Treadstone series (2019), inspired by the adventures of Jason Bourne, created by Tim Kring, follows the story of CIA agents who "awaken" to resume deadly missions.
Treadstone is currently, as of the Jason Bourne film, inactive. It was shut down two years before Supremacy, at the end of The Bourne Identity film. In Legacy, Treadstone has been shown to be a Beta program along with Operation Blackbriar, for creating highly effective spies and assassins through genetic engineering.
Why was the 'Treadstone' series canceled?
The production had good ratings in its first season, but even so, it was not renewed.
Treadstone was a tremendous idea that faced many difficulties from the start. In production since 2010, it was slowed down by producers because they didn't want it to compete with the Bourne franchise in theaters. In 2019, with the end of the trilogy, the production was finally completed and seemed to have found its way. And there were victories.
With over half a million viewers in its first season, Treadstone showed signs of a good "latecomer" audience. That is, although it wasn't seen at the premiere, it had an audience that grew throughout the season. However, at the time, USA Network, the cable TV channel responsible for the production, began canceling several ongoing series due to the crisis in the cable TV sector, preferring simpler productions in terms of cost and production. The series was ultimately affected, even with good ratings and having been shown on Amazon Prime Video, despite dividing opinions, both positive and negative, far from a consensus. The same happened with another series of the time: The Purge.
Both Treadstone and the Jason Bourne films are based on the books by author Robert Ludlum. The series is divided into two periods: a plot set in 1973 focused on CIA agent John Randolph Bentley (Jeremy Irvine), captured by the KGB and brainwashed and reprogrammed to carry out assassinations for the Soviets. The other plot deals with "sleeper" CIA agents trained by the same program as in the films, who suddenly begin to awaken.
You can still subscribe to Amazon Prime Video and watch the first and only season of Treadstone.
And what would the second season of Treadstone have been like?
Every time a production is canceled sooner than its producers expect, there are always ideas for a sequel that get left behind. It happened with Alf and it happened in this case as well. The idea for the second season was to close the 70s storyline that explains the origins of the Treadstone Program as a response to the KGB's Project Cicada. Unfortunately, the season finale was more concerned with introducing these plots than answering questions. So fans will have to make do with Ludlum's books or their own imagination.
Trivia
- Treadstone agents have hardly any or no speaking lines, to give the illusion that these figures are ominous.
- The Bourne Legacy 2012 film reveals that LARX-3 has Operation Treadstone capabilities but without the inconsistency.
- It is probable that Treadstone and its successor Operation Blackbriar were clandestine programs within, or associated with, the C.I.A.'s Special Activities Division (SAD).
Cast
Main Cast
- Tracy Ifeachor as Tara Coleman
- Jeremy Irvine as J. Randolph Bentley
- Brian J. Smith as Doug McKenna
- Omar Metwally as Matt Edwards
- Gabrielle Scharnitzky as Petra
- Emilia Schüle as Young Petra
- Han Hyo-joo as Soyun Pak
- Michelle Forbes as Ellen Becker
Recurring Cast
- Michael Gaston as Dan Levine
- Jung Woo Seo as Dae Pak
- Tess Haubrich as Samantha McKenna
- Patrick Fugit as Stephen Haynes
- Lee Jong-hyuk as Colonel Shin
- Oliver Walker as Donald Matheson
- Shruti Haasan as Nira Patel
Episodes
Season One
| Ep# | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | "The Cicada Protocol" | October 15th, 2019 |
| 02 | "The Kwon Conspiracy" | October 22nd, 2019 |
| 03 | "The Berlin Proposal" | October 28th, 2019 |
| 04 | "The Kentucky Contract" | November 5th, 2019 |
| 05 | "The Bentley Lament" | November 12th, 2019 |
| 06 | "The Hades Awakening" | November 19th, 2019 |
| 07 | "The Paradox Andropov" | November 26th, 2019 |
| 08 | "The Mckenna Erasure" | December 3rd, 2019 |
| 09 | "The Seoul Asylum" | December 10th, 2019 |
| 10 | "The Cicada Covenant" | December 17th, 2019 |