There are a million reasons why the USA Network’s Bourneless Jason Bourne spin-off, Treadstone, may not work. You could look at the patchy nature of showrunner Tim Kring’s résumé, or speculate on how severely the series’ trademark globe-hopping would be curtailed with a meagre TV budget. You could ask yourself whether your tolerance for shaky-handed parkour could stretch to several hours a year. Honestly, the whole thing could stink. But, you know what? I’m an optimist. After giving this some consideration, I have decided that Treadstone may be the perfect way to continue the Bourne story. Here’s why …
There’s a rich mythology to play with
By the end of this year, 15 Bourne novels will have been published; a huge reservoir of source material. Everything you could possibly want to know about operation Treadstone – the black-ops CIA programme designed to create nearly superhuman assassins that the series will revolve around – has already been written. The world is already fully formed, and all Kring needs to do is find his place in it. If he does it right, Treadstone could be as rich and deep as The X-Files or Lost.
It isn’t unprecedented
If any series can continue a story without its leading figures, it’s Bourne. Robert Ludlum, who created the character, died shortly after the publication of the third Bourne novel in 2001 and Eric Van Lustbader has continued to churn out a book a year for more than a decade now. And let’s not forget The Bourne Legacy, the weird 2012 Bourneless offshoot film that starred Jeremy Renner instead of Matt Damon. Admittedly, it wasn’t a great film – as the end credits rolled, I couldn’t remember a single thing that had happened – but it was still a million times better than 2016’s Jason Bourne.
It can toggle between serialisation and mystery of the week
The big question a show like Treadstone needs to ask is whether it wants to be heavily serialised or a Murder She Wrote-style succession of short stories stitched together with scant care for continuity. The thing about Treadstone is that it can be both. On one hand, it would be great to see one character work to uncover the vast conspiracy at the heart of the operation. On the other, this is a show about a squadron of super-soldiers. If Kring fancies making a few self-contained episodes where they pal about around the world beating up dictators for funsies, that would be great, too.
Bourneless doesn’t mean Bourneless
If the USA Network ever gets too antsy about making Treadstone without the marquee Bourne character, it would do well to look at Netflix’s Marvel shows. Although they have nothing to do with the Marvel cinematic universe, they still, technically, exist in the same world. This is why, from time to time, Jessica Jones will cryptically mention the Hulk, then look straight at the camera and move her eyebrows. This is something Treadstone can emulate. A brief scene every few episodes where one character says: “Whew, did you hear about what Jason Bourne has done now?” and another replies: “Oh, boy, driving a Mini through the Statue of Liberty’s head was a gutsy move,” and everyone’s happy.
It could run and run
There is nothing stopping Treadstone from being the longest-running show in television history. It’s a series about the ongoing creation of weaponised intelligence agents, so there’s always plenty of room for new blood. Actor asking for too much money? Kill him off and replace him with someone cheaper. Cast starting to look old? Have them all throw themselves in the river like Bourne did at the end of Supremacy and start again. Done right, the Treadstone cast could keep regenerating like Doctor Who, if Doctor Who had a thing for fight scenes that give you motion sickness.