From the jump, "Rabbit Hole" has quite a few things going for it. It has the pedigree of a CBS investigative procedural, it airs on Paramount Plus for no content restrictions, and it brings Kiefer Sutherland back to a 24-esque role. Though the show does execute a few significant rug-pulls and is ostensibly based on current events surrounding data privacy, it ultimately feels unsatisfying because it bites off more than it can successfully masticate.
For a very basic overview, this first season of "Rabbit Hole" tells the story of John Weir (Sutherland), a tech/data company executive who orchestrates (or is it entrapped by?) a scheme involving the threat on the life of Edward Homm (Rob Yang), a U. S. Treasury officer. As the threads of that plot begin to be untangled, Hailey Winton (Meta Golding) gets caught up in Weir's wake, while John's father Ben (Charles Dance) hangs like a spectre-both past and present-over everything. At the same time, Weir is doggedly pursued by federal investigator Jo Madi (Enid Graham) who has a sneaking-and often correct-suspicion that not everything is as it seems.
After watching the first two "Rabbit Hole" episodes, you'll wonder why it is on a streaming platform-it seems every bit like a by-the-book "CBS proper" police procedural with a dollop of current events thrown in for good measure. Not the greatest foot forward with which to step and lure in an audience.
The next 3-4 episodes, however, significantly improve and reveal what the show is actually all about: misdirection. Basically, everything you saw in those first two odd installments is re-contextualized. It doesn't always work, but there are a number of rug-pulls that are legitimately effective and peg the series as a "hit you with a cliffhanger at the end of each episode" sort of production. This portion of the show is 6/7 stars.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to keep up that break-neck, pool-the-wool-over-your-eyes pace for long, and especially impossible in the endgame when the seams really begin to show. As soon as "Rabbit Hole" has to commit to ending its various S1 arcs, it becomes clear that it was largely smoke-and-mirrors all along.
Two other quick notes:
Though clearly trying to incorporate data privacy concerns into its narrative tapestry, "Rabbit Hole" fails to be compelling in this quest because such a heavier focus is put on character recontextualization and timeline shenanigans. In all honesty, a little more of the former and a little less of the latter may have made this a better slate of episodes.
Also, the casting of Sutherland here writes a check that ultimately Paramount can't cash. Though of course Kiefer is known for his ultra-intense Jack Bauer in "24", that was simply a character-pretty far removed from what by all accounts seems to be Sutherland in real life. In other words, when allowed more input/agency as he almost certainly had here, characters like the more subdued (if troubled, to be sure) Weir are the result-Jack Bauer is not his default no matter how many political thrillers he's cast in.
Overall, I landed on a right-down-the-middle 5-star rating for "Rabbit Hole" Season One. It entertained me in the barest amount to keep watching, but when the end was reached it also became pretty clear that everything was a little too slick or half-baked to really add up to all that much. No S2 renewal is imminent as of this writing, but if it happens it isn't one I'd be returning to without a significant formula change.
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