Jed Mercurio has spent a career making institutions sweat, from hospital wards to police anti-corruption units to the protection detail of a British cabinet minister. With Trinity, he takes the pressure underwater and into the Pentagon. The seven-episode thriller arrives on Netflix on Tuesday 1 December, with every episode released at once.
The pitch is simple and very Mercurio. A naval officer is drawn into a political conspiracy through her connection to the US Secretary of Defense, and begins to suspect he is tied to a top-secret program called Trinity. Mercurio describes the series as “high-octane action with a nail-biting conspiracy thriller.”
Who is in it
Gugu Mbatha-Raw leads as Commander Katherine Decker, second in command of the submarine USS Kansas. Richard Madden plays Secretary of Defense Webb Preston, the man at the centre of her suspicions. The casting reunites Mercurio with Madden, who led his earlier hit Bodyguard.
The supporting cast leans heavily on familiar American television faces:
- Marcia Gay Harden as Margaret Vandenburg, chief executive and matriarch of a sprawling family business empire
- JD Pardo as Lieutenant Commander Tom Reyes
- Bruce Greenwood as Special Agent Eric Colby
- Robert Wisdom as Admiral Griff Tatum
- Kirk Acevedo as Captain Jock Campbell
- Ben Cotton as Special Agent Jake Ryan
- James Remar as President Paul Barnard
- Jason Ralph as Brooks Vandenburg
- Mark O’Brien as Dr. Brian York
Behind the camera
Mercurio created, wrote and runs the show. Michael Cuesta directs the first two episodes and executive produces. Mercurio is also an executive producer with Jimmy Mulville for Hat Trick Mercurio, alongside Wendy Mericle.
The setting matters. Mercurio’s earlier work drew its tension from the rules of British public life; here the stakes are the US Navy’s ballistic missile submarines, which he calls “the most powerful weapons ever created.” The series pairs a commander whose mantra is “The boat comes first” with a political class that may not share her priorities.
Why it is worth watching for
Trinity joins a Netflix shelf that already holds Black Doves, with its mix of espionage and character work, and The Diplomat, which turns foreign policy into a race against the clock. Mercurio’s series sits between the two, trading London and embassies for a submarine and Washington.
A seven-episode, all-at-once release also means there is no waiting for a finale. Viewers who start on the first night can finish before the end of the first week of December.
Where to watch
- Trinity, all seven episodes: Netflix, Canada, US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, Tuesday 1 December
- Black Doves: Netflix, all five markets, streaming now
- The Diplomat: Netflix, all five markets, streaming now
Sources
Before you go
