Watch the World Burn
A retired FBI agent suspects that the CIA may have been behind his wife's death.
Synopsis:
When obsessive FBI Agent Charles Peterson retires, he plans to spend the rest of his life with his wife, Alicia. On the way home from the party, their car is hit and Alicia is killed. Charles and his fellow agents begin to investigate the cause of the accident, crossing paths with the local CIA branch who are investigating a farmer (Sadiski) building a fertilizer bomb to use on American soil. The undercover agent behind the hit-and-run is Kate Brannigan, a no-holds-barred agent who will stop at nothing to capture whoever trained Sadiski. As an agency battle becomes a ruthless engagement, the mission at hand becomes protecting their own rather than saving the world.
Reviews from Industry Readers:
”Very well written script… full of complications and character development…”
“A descent into a mess of rage, hatred, investigations, and double agent behavior.”
”Executed very well. The craft is solid and strong. The structure is near perfect, and the script moves at a quick clip. The characters are strong, interesting and well developed. It's full of action from beginning to end, and yet there’s a strong emotional component as well, as love and loss play an important part in the story.”
“WATCH THE WORLD BURN is a riveting and taut thriller that provides twists and turns right up to the end. The writing creates a grounded and gritty tone and world, it never succumbs to using over the top action sequences or larger than life characters to tell its story. The characters are all somewhat damaged and deeply cynical people, fighting a constant battle to keep the country safe. Their tension and exhaustion as a result of all of this stress is palpable, there is empathy for the agents even when they are doing questionable things.
Kate is a very nuanced and complicated female lead - dark, driven, wounded (literally and figuratively) yet still capable of love for her fellow CIA agent husband. The newly retired FBI agent and loving husband Charles engenders great sympathy, even as he descends down a path of ruthless vengeance. When their paths collide and they both lose someone close to them, it is heart wrenching to see. No one wins.
The remaining supporting characters are mostly agency types who spout constant profanity laced tirades, but the writing does a good job of keeping them distinct from one another.
In the third act, the story zigs and zags in entertaining fashion and the walls close in on everyone in a tense and painful way, leading to a final twist that is intense and powerful. And even after all of this relentless violence in the finale, the script ends on a bleak note. Maybe just a glimmer of hope in its worldview at the end would work, but that might not be what this story is about.
A very well written thriller that is entertaining, complex and thought provoking.”