Despite being someone who far prefers writing over math (maths for you nasty bois and grrls across the pond), even this reviewer has to admit that film and television have made the act of working equations far more visually compelling than crafting a killer persuasive essay. Something about those big whiteboards, furious scribbling, and the arcane look of empty set calculations sells drama far better. CBS’s show Numb3rs was a hit in the naughty aughties for a reason. So, despite an aversion to calculus, the Steve Thompson-created Prime Target seemed promising.

Edward Brooks (Leo Woodall) is a math post-grad certain that prime numbers are the secret key to, well, everything. Maybe? His advisor, Professor Mallinder (David Morrissey), seemed to have similar thoughts once but refuses to engage. Instead, he urges Brooks to abandon that academic pursuit for something, anything, else. Others seem far more enthusiastic about Brooks’ pursuit. They include wealthy think tank entrepreneur (Jason Flemyng) and Professor James Alderman (Stephen Rea). Meanwhile, a tragic accident in Iraq reveals preserved ruins. They reignite the intellectual pursuits of Mallinder’s wife, Professor Andrea Lavin (Sidse Babett Knudsen). As it becomes clear Brooks’ and Lavin’s interests intersect, bodies start dropping, pulling the CIA into the situation, including surveillance agent Taylah Sanders (Quintessa Swindell) and her mentor/boss (Martha Plimpton).

It’s all pretty standard conspiracy thriller fare, complete with a sympathetic love interest who is still a stranger, bartender Adam (Fra Fee), and a shadowy Bogdan (Sergej Onopko) who could be friend or foe. There’s globetrotting, double-crosses, paranoia—justified and otherwise—and lots and lots of running. Sadly, not much of it gets the heart racing.

Part of that lies in the MacGuffin at Prime Target’s center. To be an effective MacGuffin, you either need to fully understand the object or know so little about it that one can think of it as magic. The show initially seems to be committed to the latter, with Brooks implying that understanding prime numbers via his equation will somehow unlock the natural universe. However, as the series progresses, it seemingly tries to drill down and ground it. As a result, by the end, the equation has been practically reduced to something akin to an algorithm. Its evolution makes it seem less worth all the efforts involved in acquiring it, not more.

Another issue is the central moral question that Prime Target likes to act like it is wrestling with throughout. Time and again, Sanders compares Brooks’ equation to the creation of the nuclear bomb, seemingly in the name of making him feel responsible for all the deaths that are decidedly not on his hands. The argument is simplistic and falls apart with the smallest of pushes. For instance, the Manhattan Project created the nuclear bomb to be a weapon from the start. Brooks has no plan for the equation beyond the acquisition of knowledge. And yet, over and over, the show returns to the debate as if it is obviously true and Brooks is simply too closed off from his humanity to get it.

Visually, the series is competent but never especially noteworthy. A few choices in color use stood out in the moment, but those moments never built into an ongoing visual motif. That means they look good but don’t add anything of depth.

Much of this negativity is owed to Prime Target’s failure to deliver on potential as much, if not more, than its quality. There are a couple of small but bruising fight scenes and an effectively deployed sense of ever-rising helplessness for our protagonists. Rea gets some choice material in the back half, which is a relief after he spent much of the first half as little more than set dressing. The interplay between Plimpton and Swindell makes one wish Swindell was the lead. Woodall largely feels handcuffed by the role but does deliver in a couple of juicy moments.

Taken as a whole, however, a few strong action set pieces and a handful of good performances can’t erase Prime Target’s shortcomings. It is too slow and too long. Its supposed moral wrestling feels unearned and weighted to a perspective it can’t play fair to achieve. As a result, it neither fulfills its potential as a thriller nor as a thorny reflection of these complicated times. The numbers just don’t balance.

Prime Target starts doing equations on the back of the napkin that is AppleTV+ starting January 22.

Prime Target Trailer: