This post contains spoilers from Prime Target episode 3 from this point forward.
When Prime Target premiered on Apple TV+ one week after Severance season 2, most of the reviews seemed to simmer around the same thought: It's a passable series with an interesting premise, but it's not the high-octane, edge-of-your-seat thriller we've become accustomed to. Variety referred to it as an "increasingly dull show." (Its proximity to Severance surely doesn't help.)
I never wanted to join the chorus of fans online (if you search them out, you'll find a small bunch who are actually tuning in and agree that it's dull), but the third episode confirmed the boring allegations. The momentum Prime Target has been operating at is its baseline. In spite of two shocking deaths in its first two episodes, we're not going to get crazy action or drama from this show.
In all honesty, I actually love the low key quality of Prime Target, and I especially love Leo Woodall in the leading role as Edward Brook. He's finally able to team up with co-lead Quintessa Swindell as NSA agent Taylah in episode 3, which is basically the biggest thing that happens in the most recent episode. I think it's time to admit that Prime Target is kinda boring, and that's okay.
Prime Target episode 3 recap and review
While there was some movement as far as the dig site in Iraq, Prime Target episode 3 centers itself mostly in Ed and Taylah's crossover. It's by far the most interesting aspect of the episode, the union of the show's two most compelling characters and performers. (Aside from Ed's continued romance with hunky bartender Adam and their deepening connection.)
But before Taylah makes her way to Cambridge, she's confronted with more realities of the danger she's in. She calls Alex, the unit's newbie, to warn him about what's going on and Olson's death, but before she can get what she needs from him, she overhears him getting murdered through the phone. Obviously, that prompts her to get out of dodge.
Episode 3 spends a bit of time in 1994 with Safiya in flashbacks as Ed tries to figure out her story by analyzing her work in the present. He's still being followed, leading to two hooded people on bikes tracking him down and stealing his backpack. Oddly, Taylah was following closely behind.
The next day, he's scribbling numbers on a bar menu when he meets Taylah. She doesn't immediately show her cards, but she reveals that the same people have come after her and tried to kill her. (True!) Taking another look at the numbers on the menu, Ed punches the into the library computer, which leads to a book. Taylah finds a note Safiya hid behind the cover, but she's suspicious when the fire alarm goes off.
They hide in the stacks, but the two men chasing them find Ed. Taylah fights them off and they escape into the chapel. She asks about the work Mallinder destroyed and reveals she believes Mallinder was murdered. Ed admits its about prime number patterns. Taylah drops the bomb that it's the "cornerstone to all digital security." In Safiya's book, they also find her thesis' abstract and a Kaplar flyer. The pieces are starting to come together.
See, it's not the most captivating episode of television, but at the same time, it is captivating in its own way. In my initial recap and review of the first episode, I said that the series "moves slow" but drops big twists. That's still true of episode 3. Prime Target is visually stunning and expertly skilled at gradually revealing information. But it's also boring. Good shows can be boring, too.
New episodes of Prime Target release Wednesdays on Apple TV+.