JK Simmons' Forgotten Sci-Fi Thriller With 2 100% RT Seasons Still Hits Hard 7 Years Later

Combining the classic tropes of espionage thrillers with a sci-fi twist, Starz’s Counterpart is an intelligent and gripping series that avoids the genre's common complexity. Following an agency worker who discovers that his workplace is a gateway to a new dimension, the sci-fi thriller, led by the ever-commanding JK Simmons, is a tightly constructed two-parter that refrains from over-explaining its world.

Avoiding the scientific know-how of its universe and instead focusing on the protagonists’ choices and arcs, Counterpart is an ingenious entry to a genre known for its excessive ambition. Supported by Simmons’ dual performances, which help sell its parallel premise, this two-season tour de force proves that, sometimes, the smaller the scale, the higher the payoff.

Counterpart follows Howard Silk (Simmons), a mild-mannered man who has worked at the Office of Interchange for 30 years, but has never understood the secretive nature of his role. He soon realizes that the agency is a connection point between two parallel worlds, the Alpha and the Prime.

When the Others, a terrorist organization from Prime, sends Baldwin (Sara Serraiocco) to kill the leading members of Alpha, Howard and his counterpart work together to protect his wife, Emily (Olivia Williams), from the cross-dimensional assassination plot. Alternate realities are nothing new in sci-fi ; several TV shows and movies have explored this plot with varying degrees of success.

However, Counterpart avoids the typical cliches by interconnecting two already lived-in worlds, neither of which needs time to develop nor excessive twists. Alpha and Prime are the same, with people in both worlds sharing backgrounds, parents, and family histories. The point as to how this parallel universe came to be is made early on, removing the mystery to focus on the premise.

A botched Cold War scientific experiment opened a portal in what would become the Office of Interchange, accidentally splitting reality into two dimensions. A simple explanation that needs little expansion, Counterpart forgoes the complex backstories and scientific breakdowns common in this subgenre.

The series is labeled as a sci-fi, which is understandable given its multiverse story, but would be better described as an espionage thriller with a heavy focus on psychological themes. Counterpart is, for all its toing and froing between the two worlds, essentially all about nature vs. nurture, exploring how historical and cultural differences alter perceptions and personalities.

The prime example of this theme would be the two Howards, both of whom became complete opposites due to their alternate realities. Alpha Howard, the one audiences are introduced to, is more soft-spoken and less inclined toward confrontation, living a seemingly normal, mundane life from childhood to adulthood.

Prime Howard, who faced a tougher reality due to a viral pandemic that devastated his world, is more hardened and quicker to step into danger. Neither version is treated as more real or significant, but the dual personalities are a study on how upbringings and hardships can lead two identical people down different paths and outcomes.

With this theme, Counterpart presents a zero-sum relationship between Alpha and Prime. The worlds are tied together in a bitter cycle of cause and effect, where a tragedy on one side changes the survival of the other. The series is a master of character work, using its doppelganger approach to force characters to confront who they could have been had they ended up on the other side of the same coin.

Playing two versions of the same character is no easy task, either technically or performatively, but Simmons effectively portrays the counter-personalities of the two Howards. This is perhaps a credit to his background; he’s played almost everything imaginable, from the abusive, jazz-instructing Terrance Fletcher in Whiplash to the supportive father of the titular Juno.

However, before Counterpart, he had yet to play two dramatically different roles at the same time, which makes his performance as the gentle Howard Silk alongside the ruthless Howard Prime all the more remarkable. Through posture, voice, facial expressions, and subtle behavioral shifts, Simmons turns Silk and Prime into two completely different people who share nothing in common but the same face.

As noted above, nature vs nurture is one of Counterpart’s biggest themes, and Simmons’ dual performance feeds into this. Through slight physical and behavioral adjustments, it’s obvious which version is currently on screen. And it’s the two Howards’ mannerisms, psychology, and movements that nail the series’ exploration of human nature and the influence of choice.

This is especially evident in “Love to Lie” (Season 1, Episode 8). In this episode, the two Howards, after having spent time in each other’s worlds, finally come face-to-face. Silk, effectively staring at a mirror version of himself, reacts with disgust and asks Prime, “Is there any truth to you?”

The scene reflects Silk’s fear that he himself could become capable of violence and cruelty like Prime. By looking at his counterpart and seeing a ruthless liar, Silk realizes that nurture has the power to turn even the gentlest of souls into a monster. It’s the moment in which he comes to terms with the fact that the only reason he’s a kind and hard-working man is that he didn’t grow up in a Cold War spy world.

Convincingly playing both sides of the same coin, Simmons shows that the same DNA doesn't always guarantee one path. It’s a performance that questions the definition of humanity, drawing audiences into this age-old debate about what makes a person whole. It’s a masterclass in micro-characterization that pushes Counterpart further than any other alt-reality series the genre has seen in decades.