The first episode of Prime Video’s spy thriller series “Butterfly” opens with a pair of interconnected action sequences that drop viewers right into its world of deadly clandestine operations. I was immediately reminded of one of my favorite spy shows, “Alias,” while watching secret agent Rebecca Jung (Reina Hardesty) wearing an eye-catching wig and a fake pregnancy belly as she carries out the assassination of a high-level Russian official who’s in Seoul for a diplomatic meeting.
“Butterfly” recalls “Alias” in another key way, as Rebecca teams up with her father David (Daniel Dae Kim), a fellow spy who unexpectedly comes back into her life after years away. Based loosely on comic books created by Arash Amel, “Butterfly” is fast-paced and fun, without the heavy, drawn-out plotting of a prestige drama or the unwieldy efforts at world-building that doomed Prime Video’s would-be espionage franchise “Citadel.”
Show creators Steph Cha and Ken Woodruff deliver consistent action, plot twists and interpersonal drama within six lively episodes.
‘Butterfly’ delivers familiar but satisfying spy-thriller dynamics
While Rebecca is carrying out her mission at the beginning of that first episode, David is carrying out a mission of his own, just across town at a karaoke lounge. He infiltrates Rebecca’s crew and intercepts her escape route, with the goal of extricating her from Caddis, the private covert agency where she works for ruthless boss Juno Lund (Piper Perabo).
As far as Rebecca knows, David was killed in action nine years earlier, but he actually faked his death in order to save Rebecca from being targeted by his enemies.
At least that’s what he tells both Rebecca and himself, but she doesn’t entirely buy it, and maybe he doesn’t, either, since he’s determined to make amends for the years he missed. Watching Rebecca develop into an efficient, cold-blooded assassin has made him regret leaving her in Juno’s hands, and he wants to give her the chance at a normal life.
There’s nothing new about a spy who wants to leave the profession behind but is held back by larger forces, and “Butterfly” doesn’t reinvent the formula. The execution is what counts, though, and the creators find clever ways to keep up the conflict between David and Juno, who is furious when she learns that her former business partner is still alive and is attempting to steal her best agent.
The characters travel across South Korea, with plenty of car chases and shootouts along the way, waging a battle that is as personal as it is professional.
The character relationships inform and drive the action
Juno has her own family member to consider, since her son Oliver (Louis Landau) is also a Caddis employee, although he’s just an ineffectual analyst who constantly fails to live up to his mother’s expectations. His insistence on going into the field leads to disastrous consequences, and both David and Juno make risky decisions in order to protect their children.
David now also has a new wife to consider, and she has her own shady family connections, which come into play in the second half of the season and provide fodder for potential future developments.
After the exciting and intricate action of the first episode, “Butterfly” slows down a bit, in part so that David and Rebecca can get reacquainted, and Kim and Hardesty have strong chemistry, both as wary spies and as estranged family members. They bond over both cooking and surveillance, and they treat each other as professional equals, even though that means they can never truly trust each other.
Juno and Oliver have a friendlier but less respectful relationship, as she expects him to simply follow her orders because she knows what’s best. Perabo, who spent five seasons as the star of another globe-trotting spy thriller, the 2010s USA series “Covert Affairs,” never makes Juno into a sadistic, one-dimensional villain, although she’s clearly amoral and greedy.
These two sets of parents and children make for worthy adversaries because they’re driven by similar, complementary motivations.
‘Butterfly’ is perfect for action fans
The character development is mostly satisfying, but what makes “Butterfly” worth watching is the kinetic action, and the show is rarely far from another impressive sequence. Highlights include a car/motorcycle chase along sidewalks filled with pedestrians, and a close-quarters fight inside a cramped kitchen.
Kim Ji-hoon plays an assassin known as Gun, who fills the role of the purely nasty villain, as he’s hired to do Juno’s dirty work. He gets some of the show’s best action moments, but Kim and Hardesty easily hold their own as well.
While there’s nothing groundbreaking about “Butterfly,” that’s part of what makes it so refreshing. It wouldn’t have been entirely out of place on ABC alongside “Alias” or on USA alongside “Covert Affairs.” It’s a bit grittier than those shows, but it captures the same sense of adventure and intrigue, and that’s enough to keep the audience coming back for the next episode.
All six episodes of the first season of “Butterfly” are streaming now on Prime Video.
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