Splinter Cell: Deathwatch marks the third time this year that Netflix has adapted one of my favorite video game franchises/series into an animated series. Castlevania: Nocturne and Devil May Cry both came out in 2025 and landed to mixed reception, as Nocturne Season 2 was largely beloved at launch (in comparison to its muted Season 1 reception) and Devil May Cry caused a bunch of controversy among its fanbase for its own variety of reasons. Splinter Cell marks a dramatic shift away from both of those shows, as its creative team is entirely different from those shows and shares no DNA or similarities with them. It's not a reinterpretation of the games' stories but instead a continuation of events. The show largely succeeds within this framework, telling what is easily the best story in the Splinter Cell franchise to this point, whilst also respecting what came before.

I will start by saying I have more affinity for Splinter Cell than I do for Devil May Cry. Splinter Cell is one of my favorite game series and has a higher volume of entries I adore than Castlevania. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory is honestly a masterpiece in its own right and a masterclass in stealth-action game design, Splinter Cell: Blacklist is also a fantastic modernization (at the time) of those same systems even if tonally it didn't hit the mark and Splinter Cell: Conviction is great even if it's core gameplay tenets are vastly different than the previous games (Conviction also has the best story in the series until Deathwatch, sorry diehards). As such, I was going to be more critical going into this than others would be who have no experience going into the show. I love Splinter Cell, and I want it to be faithfully recreated in a television format; thankfully, Deathwatch does just that.

The main plot for Deathwatch involves series protagonist , Sam Fisher, portrayed brilliantly by Liev Schreiber, being dragged out of semi-retirement after current Fourth Echelon agent Zinnia McKenna is wounded following a mission gone wrong investigating a global conspiracy. The mission gets personal for Sam as the series goes on as Displace International is somehow involved, the heads of which are the children of Sam's former friend Douglas Shetland.

Splinter Cell has never had the best narrative by any means, but the strengths in their narratives often came from a great central performance by Michael Ironside as Sam and fun, gritty spy genre elements. The show keeps these intact when translating the game, as the central performance of Sam is great (we will get into this later), and the gritty spy elements of the games are on full display here. It, however, elevates the games in a way I may not have been prepared for, as it also has characters that ended up being developed in interesting ways that actually made me care for them. A feat the games have struggled with since the first entry.

The biggest character to get right for this show was its secondary protagonist, Zinnia McKenna, played by the excellent Kirby Howell-Baptiste. Introducing a new younger splinter agent for us to get attached to was going to be an uphill battle from the start, as fans are rightfully attached to the series' leading man, however..McKenna is great. She never drags screen-time away from Fisher and has a pretty great subplot all to herself. The main thrust of which is her dealing with the fact that she got too close to another agent in the field, and the repercussions of that decision. She's smart, capable and fierce which makes her an interesting foil to our protagonist as she reflects a younger version of him in all too many ways.

Sam Fisher himself is excellently portrayed in this show, not missing a beat from his characterization in the games. Something that really surprised me, considering that this is an entirely different medium and that it's been so long since we've seen Sam in general. This show's Sam is actually a better representation of the character than we last saw him in Blacklist. Sam's iconic dry and dark sense of humor is intact, and his wisened demeanor is maintained. Sam's definitive characteristics are that he's somewhat cold, professional, a bit witty, mature, and deadly. All of which is maintained here. 

Of course, there is the elephant in the room, which is the recast. Yes, in the show that is a continuation of the games, beloved actor Michael Ironside does not return as the voice of Sam Fisher. It does sting, especially since Ubisoft brought him back as the character for two cameo appearances in the last two Ghost Recon games. The promise of seeing Ironside fully step back into the role has still not been fulfilled; however, this does not mean Sam's performance is bad by any stretch. Liev Schreiber does an excellent job with the character, far better than Blacklist's Eric Johnson or any other imitator we've seen so far. He brings the character to life excellently and emulates Ironside's voice with great success. He sounds exactly like the character should.

I don't want to focus too much on comparing the series to the games; comparison is the thief of joy and all that. So let's talk a little about what the show does well, rather than focusing on elements similar to something else I may enjoy. 

The animation of Deathwatch is absolutely stellar. Its animation is a significant improvement on Netflix's other efforts in the medium, as while Castlevania and Devil May Cry did not look bad, they looked more generic for an adult animated show in comparison to Deathwatch. The french animation studio , FOST, takes great care to make every character look good and no character suffers from looking generic or like not enough attention was given to them. The fight and stealth scenes in the show are where the animation truly excels, as it brings these scenes to life with such energy and tension. 

A criticism I've seen online is that there are not enough stealth scenes in the show, something of which I vehemontly disagree with as almost every action scene in this show is framed as a stealth or sneaking scene. Sam and McKenna are always sneaking around and getting the upper hand on their enemies. These are not John Wick style action scenes, but instead are more focused on being true to the story of this world.

The conspiracy itself in Deathwatch is engaging and interesting to see unfold. It's very much of its time in a way that I enjoyed, taking aim at self-righteous billionaires and tech startups. It feels very current in a good way, even if it does seem a bit toothless in some regards by not drawing any direct comparisons. Not to say the show itself lacks punch, I wouldn't go that far, but I did end up wishing its aim was a little more direct.

Splinter Cell's dark and gritty take on espionage in the modern world is something I greatly appreciate and love. Part of what makes the games so fun and appealing is the factor of feeling like a dagger in the shadows, shaping history and saving the world anonymously. Deathwatch adeptly realizes this and translates it well to the screen while also holding its own as a captivating and well animated espionage thriller. While we may have to wait longer for our beloved Sam Fisher to come back to the game scene, Deathwatch is more than willing to keep us company in the dark.