Strike Back: A Better Replacement Than Marshals

The writer admits not enjoying Taylor Sheridan’s Marshals, which currently holds a 45% critics' score and a 27% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Sheridan’s shows have often improved in later seasons — examples cited include Lioness and Mayor of Kingstown — so Marshals might yet recover, but it hasn’t landed with viewers so far.

By contrast, Strike Back, an eight-season action thriller based on Chris Ryan’s 2007 novel, delivers the fights, chases and shootouts Marshals seems to aspire to. It follows Section 20, a fictional MI6 branch that handles high-risk missions worldwide. The original protagonists are Michael Stonebridge, a Royal Marine Commando turned SBS operator, and Michael Scott, a blacklisted former US Army Ranger and Delta Force member; revival seasons later introduce new leads.

The series trades in James Bond–style globetrotting, ’80s-style action, seduction and bro banter, and it varies its threats from terrorism to arms dealing.

taylor sheridan, marshals, rotten tomatoes, strike back, chris ryan, section 20, mi6, michael stonebridge, michael scott, action thriller