Last year while listening to Dax Sheppard’s podcast, Armchair Expert he mentioned his love of the quirky and farcical comedy-drama Patriot, a 2 season series on Amazon Prime.

Patriot follows “the turbulent and complicated life of an intelligence officer, John Tavner, whose latest assignment is to prevent Iran from going nuclear. The assignment requires him to forgo all safety nets and assume a perilous non-official cover.” ~ Google

Unlike most series that chronicle secret agents perfectly kicking ass while seamlessly taking names, this one shows what happens when nothing goes according to plan. Absurd and at times dismal, Patriot tells the tale of a beleaguered, undercover intelligence official willing to do whatever is asked of him by the Director of Intelligence at the State Department – who also happens to be his dad.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that to process all that he’s been through, Tavner performs folk songs about his top secret missions in excruciating detail.

Birds of Amsterdam lyrics by Genius.com

In June two thousand and eleven
The United States learned Iranian president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was fucking around
With new centrifuges

Egyptian physicist Mohammad Wahwa El-Mashad
Was hired to produce the catalyzed uranium
I was tasked to shoot Mashad
While he was on vacation
To keep Iran from activating
Short-range nuclear weapons
To destroy Israel
I got some really bad intelligence
Shot an old male hotel maid
Who was just making the physicist’s bed

And my evacuation team parked on the wrong street
I was arrested by the secret king’s police
I got a fair dose of white torture which is supposed to
Completely erase your sense of self

I’m showing several signs of increasing mental instability
Talking to my wife would be… well
That would be awfully nice

You can’t just go back to the US after
You target a guy on their behalf
And some genius parked me in Amsterdam

I’ve just been getting baked, just looking up at birds
Wondering why there aren’t male hotel maids in other countries
You never see that, never see that
Never see that

I found a cool fan site on redbubble while looking for art for this post. Check out Alicia Cordyle’s site when you have a chance.

And lastly the photo for this post’s featured image is a screen shot (which explains the shitty resolution – sorry) of my favorite scene which involves: Cool Rick carrying his attache badge while wearing his awesome yellow track suit while listening to Beastie Boys Root Down, or as he calls it, “best song for kicking ass for my brother”.

Just watch the damn show, will ya?