Treadstone

Treadstone is the far more simplistic and far less cool cousin, in both its direction and its dialogue, a show in need of an added oomph to turn it into something really special. But as it stands, as a show we really didn’t need in the first place, it’s a pacy and entertaining journey that does more than it could have done with the loose pitch of finding a way to force Bourne back on to the small screen.

It’s a visually stimulating series that looks to have filmed in many locations around the world, leaving viewers with curiosities aroused just enough to keep tuning in for more if only for the fights.

Right now, “Treadstone” is a diverting series about an organization so diffuse that it’s easier understood as background noise between action. In the episodes and, perhaps, seasons to come, I’m hoping the show gives us more by paring back.

This one is heavy on scenery and action, and thin on profundity.

The globetrotting and time-jumping to different “Bournes” makes for a show that’s hard to follow and gives us too little reason to make the effort. ... Even the fight scenes, a hallmark of the Bourne movies, are poorly done. ... Whoever thought turning a show built around a someone like Jason Bourne into an ensemble of forgettable quasi-Bournes was a good idea should be put in a government program themselves.