Review of The Assets

The Assets (2014)
10/10
Ninth Episode Makes this a Unique Dramatizaton
5 January 2015
Not a single article or description of the ninth episode of this series, perhaps because it was never aired on T.V, and is only on Netflix. It is mostly interviews with the actual persons depicted in the series: Sandy Grimes, her husband, Jean,among others, responding to off camera questioner. Then there are extensive segments of Ames being interviewed by Ted Koppel.

This final segment is the key to the entire series, as it shows just how accurate the dramatization was. Once they had the smoking gun from the final Russian source and home recordings Ame's conversations with his wife, without knowing that the final episode would be a documentary of the series, I thought it would be created fluff, perhaps an extended trial and marriage issues. I had thought that many scenes were the writers taking liberties, as they seemed so implausible to me, but that last episode confirmed that the dramatization right up to the personalities of the main characters were spot on.

There was the touching scene of the the Soviet General that we knew had been betrayed by Ames with his granddaughter, that I thought was such a flourish. In this final episode the actual now-grown woman showed up at the signing of the book this series was based on, "Circle of Treason." We learn that the General, unlike Ames, made his decision not for money, but out of belief that those who controlled the government were destroying his country.

This, along with the in depth interview of Ames raises profound issues of the fine line between bravery and treachery that is being asked this day about Ed Snowden - who some claim betrayed his country while others consider a rare patriot. The first eight episodes was a diverting drama, with the ninth it became a rare provocative event.
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