Television series

Patriot

Name: Patriot
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Espionage
Released: 2015
Cast: Michael Dorman, Terry O'Quinn, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Munroe, Aliette Opheim

Patriot is a darkly comic spy thriller about a CIA officer forced undercover in a small Wisconsin piping company to stop Iran's nuclear program. It's peculiar and tense, blending deadpan humor with genuine espionage stakes and family dysfunction. For viewers who want their thriller weird, intimate, and unafraid to pause for a banjo solo.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like spy fiction that finds its laughs in the gap between a deadly job and an ordinary life, with a deadpan streak and paranoia that stays funny.

Skip it if you want tidy plotting and brisk cuts, since this one lingers in slower, domestic stretches that can feel like waiting for the next jolt.

What it asks of you: Across eighteen episodes over two seasons, each around forty-seven minutes, it rewards steady attention and tolerates a slow build, its laughs and unease sitting side by side.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Americans2013

Two Soviet KGB officers pose as an American couple during the Cold War. Like Patriot, it braids espionage tradecraft with domestic life, and finds dark comedy in the absurdity of living a lie so complete it devours your real self.

But It's relentlessly bleak and demands you sit with moral compromise. There's almost no relief, and the final season tests patience with its pacing.

Severance2022

A corporation surgically separates employees' work and personal memories. Both shows excel at mounting dread through bureaucratic mundanity, then exploding it with sudden violence. Each has that same unsettling tonal control.

But Severance is more puzzle-box than character study. If you need clear answers, the first season will frustrate you.

Killing Eve2018

A MI6 agent obsesses over a psychopathic assassin across Europe. It shares Patriot's taste for stylish violence wrapped in psychological games, with similar momentum and a lead performance that commands every scene.

But After season two it loses focus. The later seasons prioritize shock over the careful character work that made it sing.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Patriot

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Lobster2015

Both films use surreal logic and bone-dry comedy to explore what happens when institutions force people into false identities. The emotional core is loneliness weaponized against the self.

In a dystopia where single people are hunted, a lonely man must find a mate or be turned into an animal. Like Patriot, it operates with deadpan precision in an absurd universe, finding tragedy and dark humor in the same moments.

But It's deliberately artificial and cold. If you need emotional access and naturalistic dialogue, this self-aware stylization will keep you at arm's length.

Spy Game2001

A CIA veteran recalls his decades mentoring a younger agent through flashbacks as they navigate capture together. It's brisk, clever, and understands that espionage is as much about improvisation and improvised identity as it is about tradecraft.

But It's a bit of a popcorn film. If you want something grittier and more psychologically complex, this will feel slight.

Slow Horses2022

MI5 misfits in a dumping-ground department solve a kidnapping. It shares Patriot's delight in competent people trapped in absurd bureaucratic situations, with sharp dialogue and surprising warmth beneath the cynicism.

But The plot mechanics can feel convoluted. You need to pay close attention or risk losing the thread.

Atomic Blonde2017

A British MI6 agent during the Cold War must survive Berlin while undercover. Stylish action sequences and a lead performance with real vulnerability. It understands that spies are people pretending to be people.

But The plot is fairly thin. If you're seeking narrative complexity over atmosphere and choreography, you'll be disappointed.

Le Bureau des Légendes2015

A French intelligence officer returns from deep cover in the Middle East with secrets that destabilize everything. Gritty procedural that takes espionage as a corrosive, family-destroying job rather than adventure fantasy.

But Subtitle fatigue and the dense political plotting won't appeal to casual viewers. It demands active engagement.

Homeland2011

A CIA officer suspects a rescued POW is actually a terrorist operative. Early seasons nail the paranoia and moral ambiguity that Patriot does so well, with genuine uncertainty about who's really working for whom.

But It badly overstays its welcome. After season three, the show becomes repetitive and loses what made it compelling.

The Lives of Others2006

Both examine the loneliness of undercover work—not the excitement, but the crushing weight of living as a lie so complete you forget your own face.

A Stasi surveillance officer in East Berlin develops a conscience while monitoring a playwright. It's a masterpiece about the corrosion of moral self beneath layers of duty and surveillance. Devastatingly human where Patriot is often absurdist.

But It's mournful and introspective. If you're seeking plot momentum and action, this will feel static and emotionally exhausting.

Kumbalangi Nights2019

Both use tragicomedy to explore men trapped by circumstance and family expectation, pretending competence they don't feel while their internal lives crumble quietly alongside the jokes.

Four brothers in a small Kerala town navigate adulthood, family debt, and their fumbling masculinity. A Malayalam-language film that shares Patriot's commitment to character-driven comedy laced with genuine pain, finding humanity in failure.

But It's in Malayalam with subtitles, and the humor is deeply specific to Indian family dynamics. If you need plot to drive you forward, this prioritizes tone and relationship over narrative.