Name that cryptanalysis show!
January 21, 2022 4:01 PM Subscribe
I can't place the name of a show from probably 10-15 years ago that concerned a cryptanalyst/codebreaker, working for a think tank, who discovers what he thinks are secret messages hidden in (IIRC) crosswords. A few more deets inside.
One season, well made, American, and I think on a network (i.e. not HBO or whatever). I think title was one word, along the lines of "Codex" or "Cypher." White male lead, not an A-lister but familiar. I believe the first scene is an older, rich man receiving a pressed 4-leaf clover in the mail and immediately shooting himself. Clearly there are similarities to 3 Days of the Condor, the 5 Orange Pips, etc.
No luck on about a bazillion searches for "tv show codebreaking," "show with code in crossword" and so on, but hoping it rings a bell for someone here.
One season, well made, American, and I think on a network (i.e. not HBO or whatever). I think title was one word, along the lines of "Codex" or "Cypher." White male lead, not an A-lister but familiar. I believe the first scene is an older, rich man receiving a pressed 4-leaf clover in the mail and immediately shooting himself. Clearly there are similarities to 3 Days of the Condor, the 5 Orange Pips, etc.
No luck on about a bazillion searches for "tv show codebreaking," "show with code in crossword" and so on, but hoping it rings a bell for someone here.
Response by poster: It TOTALLY is! Got it in one, thank you!!
BUT! I meant to ask in the question, if there are any other intelligent code-breaking type shows out there, I would love recommendations. I'll leave the question open for a while.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:13 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
BUT! I meant to ask in the question, if there are any other intelligent code-breaking type shows out there, I would love recommendations. I'll leave the question open for a while.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:13 PM on January 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
You might like Counterpart, which ran 2 seasons on STARZ, and starred J.K. Simmons as a guy who worked in Berlin for a very odd government-type agency, exchanging cryptic codes with a counterpart on the other side of his glass booth, something he did for decades but never had a glimmer of understanding it.
Then one day, he is taken by his bosses to an interrogation room; he's not there to be interrogated, he's there to meet... himself, his counterpart from the mirror universe where he works at basically the Checkpoint Charlie between universes.
It's a very clever (and, looking back, prescient) way to reboot the cold war intrigues of mid 20th-century Berlin. Great cast, and JK Simmons playing two distinct characters whom you'll instantly identify, even if they happen to pretend to be the other.
posted by Sunburnt at 4:46 PM on January 21, 2022 [7 favorites]
Then one day, he is taken by his bosses to an interrogation room; he's not there to be interrogated, he's there to meet... himself, his counterpart from the mirror universe where he works at basically the Checkpoint Charlie between universes.
It's a very clever (and, looking back, prescient) way to reboot the cold war intrigues of mid 20th-century Berlin. Great cast, and JK Simmons playing two distinct characters whom you'll instantly identify, even if they happen to pretend to be the other.
posted by Sunburnt at 4:46 PM on January 21, 2022 [7 favorites]
The Bletchley Circle is a mystery series featuring 4 women who work as cryptanalysts at Bletchley Park during WWII, the center of the British codebreaking operations at that time, and the foundation of their GCHQ (like the American NSA).
Enigma (2001 movie) is a decent thriller which is also set at Bletchley starring codebreakers, but it's a murder mystery in which intercepting Enigma-encrypted transmissions is part of the story.
Three Day of the Condor (1975 movie, recently adapted to Condor, a TV series) is about a guy who works at a government think tank, with the odd job of reading spy novels to detect whether real spy techniques are leaking. He steps out for lunch one day and his entire office is murdered, and then he's on the run.
Utopia is a TV series (first UK, adapted for Amazon Prime in the US) in which a bunch of obsessed comic-book nerds are on the trail of a graphic novel which has embedded clues which predict terrorist attacks. Of course, killers want to get the book first...
posted by Sunburnt at 5:01 PM on January 21, 2022
Enigma (2001 movie) is a decent thriller which is also set at Bletchley starring codebreakers, but it's a murder mystery in which intercepting Enigma-encrypted transmissions is part of the story.
Three Day of the Condor (1975 movie, recently adapted to Condor, a TV series) is about a guy who works at a government think tank, with the odd job of reading spy novels to detect whether real spy techniques are leaking. He steps out for lunch one day and his entire office is murdered, and then he's on the run.
Utopia is a TV series (first UK, adapted for Amazon Prime in the US) in which a bunch of obsessed comic-book nerds are on the trail of a graphic novel which has embedded clues which predict terrorist attacks. Of course, killers want to get the book first...
posted by Sunburnt at 5:01 PM on January 21, 2022
These aren't about cryptography in the way Rubicon is, but if you are after the tradecraft/paranoia/riddle-in-mystery-in-enigma vibe these might scratch the itch:
The Conversation (1974) by Francis Ford Coppola has no cryptography but highly recommended.
The Americans has lots of tradecraft bits with some occasional cryptography.
The Smiley novels by John Le Carré, the original BBC TV adaptation Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) and the more recent film version. Again more tradecraft than cryptography per se.
The first season of Berlin Station is quite good.
Perhaps straying too far from the original premise, but I really liked Collateral.
posted by riddley at 11:21 PM on January 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
The Conversation (1974) by Francis Ford Coppola has no cryptography but highly recommended.
The Americans has lots of tradecraft bits with some occasional cryptography.
The Smiley novels by John Le Carré, the original BBC TV adaptation Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) and the more recent film version. Again more tradecraft than cryptography per se.
The first season of Berlin Station is quite good.
Perhaps straying too far from the original premise, but I really liked Collateral.
posted by riddley at 11:21 PM on January 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is a tangent, but the story also happened in reverse, in real life.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:55 AM on January 22, 2022
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:55 AM on January 22, 2022
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