‘High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam’ Review: A Gripping Political Drama That Finds Its Greatest Strength After the Hunt

Based on Nixon’s bestselling nonfiction book Debriefing the President, High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam comes from showrunners Daniel Stiepleman (On the Basis of Sex) and Jonathan Wakeham (To Catch a Killer). Like much of their previous work, the series, especially its first five episodes, is too conventional, formulaic, and safe and, for some reason, lacks narrative urgency. Frankly, the series has all the hallmarks of a ’90s network miniseries.

Which, to be fair, is essentially how it plays. However, I would never call TNT‘s High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam derivative, since this is the first major television drama to chronicle the hunt for the infamous Iraqi dictator. The first three episodes are where the series runs into trouble: when your source material comes from one of the central figures, the story can easily meander too far into Nixon instead of focusing on the hunt itself.

The story takes place after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. CIA analyst John Nixon (Joel Kinnaman of Suicide Squad and Peacemaker fame), an expert on the now-missing Saddam Hussein (Omar’s Waleed Zuaiter), demands to be added to the team searching for him. After clearing all that red tape with his boss (Mad Men’s Talia Balsam), Nixon becomes the analytical point man for Operation Red Dawn, searching for a man who cannot be found.

The story’s underlying theme is Nixon, who has never been a field operative despite being born into a family steeped in American military symbolism. His father, Charles (Platoon’s Tom Berenger), is a retired colonel who often needles him for never having been in the dirt. Nixon’s wife (Rebecca Night) also has multiple sclerosis, yet the series never questions his decision to add significant stress and potentially contribute to a pseudo-relapse.

We should also point out the fine work of The Covenant’s Dar Salim, who plays Samir, the translator and interpreter who works with Nixon and also takes part in the interrogations. Salim’s character helps provide important context for why removing Saddam Hussein from power was still necessary. With power and grace, Salim helps bridge that gap not only for Nixon, but also for the audience watching at home.

The series underplays the moment it finally catches its target, which is a shame. However, while the title may be misleading, this is not Katherine Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty. The series begins to morph into more than its initial premise. The intrigue comes from Hussein’s first interrogations, which escalate the tension, while the writing’s political message begins to take shape. Characters begin to understand their roles may be triumphalist political theater.

That doesn’t take away from the story’s power; in fact, it highlights it through the open-book approach. There is nothing virtuous about political power, and the show never mistakes the United States’ actions for highbrow intellectualism when they are, instead, an exercise in sheer, overwhelming force. On the surface, that’s quite an accomplishment, but it is hard to imagine it without the pacing and tension keeping audiences engaged.

Still, the performances and ambition of High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam will keep viewers interested enough to see the story through to the very end. Kinnaman has a magnetic physical presence and natural authority, but his ability to create tension without theatrics, using pauses, silences, and posture during the interrogation scenes truly brings the series to life. The capture is only the beginning; the real drama starts when the questions begin.

You can watch High Value Target: The Hunt for Saddam on Sunday, September 13, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on TNT, with a special three-episode debut and a special Sunday-and-Monday rollout through September before concluding with its eighth and final episode on Sunday, October 4th!