By Debbie Schlussel

If you’re planning on watching “Mad Men” on AMC, Sunday Night, try watching the network a couple of hours earlier that night, so you can see the premiere of “Rubicon.” The show debuts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. I’ve posted the first full episode below (it ran as a sneak preview, last week, on AMC). The second one begins at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

Publicists for the show sent me a screener of the first four episodes, and I’m hooked! Since I don’t have cable (by design, so I’ll waste less time watching TV and stuff like “The Real World – Gazastan City,” Season 354), I’ll have to wait until the entire season comes out on DVD for the rest, like I do with “Mad Men” and “Damages.” But to most of the rest of you who do have cable, I recommend the show. It’s slow–a little too slow–but so are “Mad Men” and most other cable drama series.

But I really liked it.  This is my kinda show. It’s smart and mysterious and–so far, as I’ve only seen the first four episodes–apolitical.  If you like thrillers and intrigue as I do, this is for you.  If  you liked “The Parallax View” (read my review) or “Three Days of the Condor,” or if you’re just interested in national security and terrorism, you will probably like this.  Yes, Parallax and Condor were made from a liberal perspective, but as a conservative against big government nosing around in my life and too much federal power, I liked those.  It doesn’t have the action of “24,” “Enemy of the State,” or even “Sleeper Cell,” but, again, maybe it will after a few episodes.  This one doesn’t need action, though, to make it interesting. It’s clever and intriguing enough. Though I could have done without the positive nod to leftist ranter Thomas Friedman, who gets it right on almost nothing.

The story centers on a think tank, the American Policy Institute, which is really a front for the U.S. government, employing intelligence analysts who work for various federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, analyzing information and data, and making recommendations to those agencies.  They analyze information on terrorists and foreign agents, spies and others.  The main character on the show is well played by James Badge Dale, who takes over as the supervisor of his group of analysts when his boss mysteriously dies.  This all takes place after Dale discovers that several newspapers in one day have the same crossword puzzle clue, which seems to be a call to action of some sort.  There are people watching Dale, and he notices strange events.

There is also a concomitant story, in which a billionaire commits suicide after discovering a four-leaf clover–the crossword puzzle clue–in his morning newspaper.  His widow faces a number of strange circumstances that force her to dig deeper into who her husband was and what he’s up to.

Can’t tell you more because I’ve given away too much already, but if you get a chance to watch “Rubicon,” you should.  You’ll like it.  I know I did.

THREE REAGANS (based on First Four Episodes Only)

Watch the trailer & first FULL EPISODE . . .