My Own Worst Enemy premiered on October 13, 2008. The
series was produced by
Universal Media Studios. Jason Smilovic was the executive producer;
David Semel was the
director and executive producer. It ended on December
15th after 9 episodes. The final episode ended with a
cliff-hanger, and the major plot lines ended without
resolution.
The series followed the life of American secret agent Edward Albright and his cover alias, Henry Spivey who had no knowledge of his double life. Albright, played by Christian Slater, was implanted with a chip that allowed his handlers to physically switch Albright's personality to that of his alias. However, in the pilot episode, there was a malfunction which caused Albright's personalities to switch at random, revealing his secret life to his alias.
It has been announced that the
complete series will be released to DVD on April 21,
2009.
Cast and characters
- Henry Spivey/Edward Albright (played by Christian Slater) - Henry is a middle-class efficiency expert living a humdrum life in the suburbs with a wife, two kids, and a dog. Edward is an operative who speaks 13 languages, runs a four-minute mile, and is trained to kill. Henry and Edward are polar opposites who share only one thing in common—the same body. When the carefully constructed wall between them breaks down, Henry and Edward are thrust into unfamiliar territory where each man is dangerously out of his element. The first names match those of the two dueling spirits that shared a body in Robert Louis Stevenson's novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
- Angie Spivey (played by Madchen Amick) - A housewife who lives with her loving husband Henry Spivey and two children, Jack Spivey and Ruthy Spivey.
- Jack Spivey (played by Taylor Lautner) - Son and oldest child of Henry and Angie Spivey.
- Ruthy Spivey (played by Bella Thorne) - Daughter and youngest child of Henry and Angie Spivey.
- Mavis Heller (played by Alfre Woodard) - Edward's supervisor in the superspy organization
- Tom Grady/Raymond Carter (played by Mike O'Malley) - Raymond Carter is a superspy partner with Edward Albright. Tom Grady is Henry Spivey's friend.
- Dr. Nora Skinner (played by Saffron Burrows) - Dr. Skinner is the AJ Sun therapist who helps the employees. At the end of the third episode, it is discovered that she knows about Henry/Edward's secret and is currently carrying on an affair with Edward.
- Alistair Trumbull (played by James Cromwell) - Trumbull is the chief of operations for Project Janus. He is both cunning and devious, and places very little faith in Edward's capabilities as he suspects he has broken.
Episodes
| # | Episode | Premiere | Rating (millions of viewers) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Breakdown" | October 13, 2008 | 7.3 |
| Henry discovers his alter ego and tries to cope with his discovery, not knowing whether or not he should trust Mavis. Conflicts are resolved and the episode ends with Edward watching a thank you video from Henry. It is established that while the two can't meet, they can communicate. | |||
| 2 | "The Hummingbird" | October 20, 2008 | 5.7 |
| Edward and Raymond must kidnap a German software engineer with information about a possible terrorist attack. Henry tries to deal with the fact that all his childhood memories were made up. With the help of Mavis, Henry must pretend to be Edward when he accidentally meets Edward's boss, Alistair Trumbull. | |||
| 3 | "Hello, Henry" | October 27, 2008 | 5.2 |
| Edward is double crossed when he is in Mexico in search of Russia's new age nuclear bomb. Ruthy is accidentally put into a dangerous situation by Edward, which causes an FBI agent to look into the matter. Tom/Raymond's wife thinks there is more to the business trips he always takes, so she hires a private investigator to check it out for her. | |||
| 4 | "That Is Not My Son" | November 10, 2008 | 4.2 |
| Henry awakens and finds himself in the midst of gunfire, while Edward was trying to save Raymond. He calls for help giving away his wherabouts and his identity. Mary Grady finds out the truth about Tom. | |||
| 5 | "The Night Train to Moscow" | November 17, 2008 | 3.9 |
| Henry starts to suspect that Angie is a spy planted by Janus, while Edward makes a dangerous deal with a KGB agent in exchange for information regarding his past. | |||
| 6 | "High Crimes and Turducken" | November 24, 2008 | 3.8 |
| Edward puts national security in jeopardy in finding the culprit who murdered his parents. Angie braces herself in the arrival of her father. Tom gives his marriage a second chance. Henry gets to see first hand what Edwards relationship with Dr. Norah Skinner. | |||
| 7 | "Down Rio Way" | December 1, 2008 | 4 |
| Edward commits treason, when asking about his parent's death. Raymond tries to reason with Tom and Mary to avoid any potential accidents. | |||
| 8 | "Love In All the Wrong Places" | December 8, 2008 | 4.9 |
| While on a mission in Angola, Edward and Raymond find long time American hostages. Mavis and Alistair Trumbull can't agree on exactly how they want to go about bringing them home. | |||
| 9 | "Henry And The Terrible, Horrible No Good Very Bad Day" | December 15, 2008 | 7.9 |
| Edward thinks he may have found a reliable, yet dangerous way to activate the switch between himself and Henry. | |||