'Devils' Episode 1 Review: A promising premiere with strong performances by Alessandro Borghi and Patrick Dempsey
Major spoilers for 'Devils' Season 1 Episode 1
'Devils' opens in London 2011 with Massimo Ruggero (Alessandro Borghi) working as the Head of Trading at the huge American New York-London Bank (NYL). Despite the ongoing European crisis, Ruggero manages to make millions for the banks on mere speculation.
Or does he?
The new The CW series 'Devils' follows Borghi as Massimo, who looks up to his boss Dominic Morgan (Patrick Dempsey) as a father figure. Episode 1 explores their relationship and how one's actions are seen as betrayal while the other is questioning loyalty. We are barely into Episode 1 and a person dies. As Massimo finds himself first directing then caught in the crossfires, he must find out who is loyal to him - not who he is loyal to. Massimo must find out who is pulling the strings of his fate and we see central to this game of loyalties is not money but power.
'Devils', the thriller, packs in a fair bit of interest. Although going by its pace, we are going to guess the interest might soon start to wear off. The premiere episode is not much to judge with especially with its jumpy camera work. The 50-minute episode was filled with ups and downs and got better only towards the end.
Patrick Dempsey as Dominic breaks out of his cocoon in a new avatar that he plays with authority. Opposite him is our protagonist in Massimo and together they make for interesting characters pitted against each other. There is no doubt that Borghi is a talented actor and that he has worked hard for the role being an Italian and living in Britain to get a hold of his accent and doing his homework. Anyone who has seen him in Netflix's 'Suburra' and 'Suburra: Blood on Rome' will appreciate seeing him in 'Devils'.
The CW is a surprising home for the financial thriller for it hardly fits their usual catalog. Perhaps it is with 'Devils' that the network is hoping to break their monotony. Either way, Episode 1 makes for an open intriguing enough to stick around for at least a few more episodes. Here's hoping the show doesn't fall victim to tropes of the genre - there is only so much of the audience that will be aware of high finance.
'Devils' will air Wednesdays at 8 pm ET/PT on The CW.