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The Copenhagen Test: When Your Own Eyes Betray You
- Sakshi D
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
I’ll be honest - I went into The Copenhagen Test expecting another generic spy thriller that would disappear into the streaming void. What I got was something way more unsettling and engaging than anticipated.
This Peacock series takes the familiar spy game formula and twists it with one hell of a premise: what if someone hacked your actual senses? Like, they can see what you see and hear what you hear in real time. The paranoia that concept creates drives the entire show.
TMJ Rating: 🍿🍿🍿/5
The Setup That Hooked Me
Alexander Hale works at a top-secret spy agency called The Orphanage (weird name, IMO). He’s stuck doing analyst work in the basement when he starts suspecting he might be the mole everyone’s hunting for. Then he realizes the horrible truth - his eyes and ears have been compromised. Someone’s watching and listening through him constantly.
The kicker is that he has to pretend he doesn’t know. Every move becomes a performance. Every conversation could give him away. The pressure of maintaining that act for eight episodes creates this constant anxiety that kept me completely invested.
Simu Liu carries this weight beautifully. I’ve seen him do the charming action hero thing before, but here he’s playing someone who can’t trust anything, including his own perception. You can see the mental toll building as the series progresses.
The Hacking Concept Works Brilliantly
What makes this show different from typical spy stuff is how they explore the hack itself.
Alexander has to get creative to communicate without revealing what he knows. Using Morse code, finding ways to send messages without speaking or writing, where his watchers can see - these workarounds add layers of tension.
The physical and mental effects ramp up as the show continues. Panic attacks, migraines, the blurring line between what’s real and what might be manipulation. Watching someone slowly lose grip on their own mind while trying to solve a conspiracy? That’s the good stuff.
Melissa Barrera Grounds Everything in The Copenhagen Test
Michelle, played by Melissa Barrera, becomes Alexander’s anchor throughout this mess. Their relationship has to exist on multiple levels - what they’re pretending to be for the watchers vs. what’s developing between them.
Barrera brings warmth and humanity to scenes that could otherwise feel too cold and calculated. Their chemistry works because you believe both versions of their connection. It just feels earned.
Where It Stumbles
The show doesn’t trust its audience enough sometimes. Too many scenes stop to recap who’s connected to whom and why we should care. I found myself wishing they’d just let the plot unfold without constantly reminding us of every detail.
Some characters also feel inconsistently written.
Parker especially bounces between being competent and suddenly having no idea how to handle situations she should be trained for.
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The middle episodes drag occasionally. Eight episodes might have been one or two too many for this story. I could see this working just as well as a tighter six-episode arc.
The Paranoia Hits Different
What the show nails is that constant sense of surveillance. Every conversation feels loaded with double meaning. Every character could be working against Alexander. The distrust seeps into everything.
James Wan’s producing influence shows in how tension builds even during quiet moments.
You’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and that sustained dread keeps you watching even when the pacing slows.
The immigration and identity themes woven into Alexander’s story add depth without feeling preachy. His experience as a first-generation Chinese American navigating loyalty and suspicion within government work creates interesting conflicts beyond the spy plot.
The Visual Style Matches the Mood
The cinematography uses lots of blues and grays, making everything feel clinical and cold.
Characters constantly get framed as if they’re being observed - which they are. The visual language reinforces the surveillance state that the show explores.
Action sequences feel grounded and believable rather than over-the-top. When fights happen, they’re messy and desperate rather than choreographed perfection. I appreciated that realism.
Should You Enter This Paranoid World?
If you love cerebral spy thrillers that prioritize mind games over explosions, The Copenhagen Test delivers. The concept alone makes it worth checking out, and the execution mostly lives up to the premise.
Fair warning - this requires your full attention. Don’t put this on as background noise while scrolling your phone (I tried!). The plot gets complex enough that you need to track who’s who and what everyone knows.
Have you watched this yet? Did the hacking premise work for you or feel too far-fetched? Let me know your thoughts!
