Parents' Guide to

My Own Worst Enemy

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Sophisticated drama packs too much heat for kids.

TV NBC Drama 2008
My Own Worst Enemy Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 1 parent review

AtticusEducator
AtticusEducator Adult
February 24, 2019
age 14+

This show is appropriate for 14 year olds

This is a great action comedy tv show that has violence. Your kids up that are 14 and up are perfect for this show if they like action comedy. Parents, this is a good show, I have seen it myself with my two teens (13 and 14). -Atticus Finch

This title has:

Too much violence
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Christian Slater stars as two different men forced to share the same body in MY OWN WORST ENEMY, a fast-paced drama that explores what happens when a top-secret government operation involving brain manipulation and deception goes awry. Henry (Slater) is a happily married Everyman with two children, a steady job, and a house in the suburbs. But he has no idea he's been living a double life as Edward (also Slater), a trained assassin who sleeps with beautiful women before killing them, speaks 13 languages, and can hold his breath underwater for five minutes at a time. Or at least he had no idea ... until everything changed.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (1 ):

My Own Worst Enemy is a thinking person's action series that draws obvious inspiration from movies like The Bourne Identity and espionage-oriented video games like Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent. The premise is intriguing, the writing is smart and shrewdly funny, and the characters are well-developed and multidimensional. To top it off, the special effects are impressive, and the use of nontraditional camera angles keeps things interesting.

With so many positives in its favor, My Own Worst Enemy has plenty of potential. But what will happen to Henry and Edward? Will one be absorbed by the other, or will they continue leading parallel lives? Whatever the answer, it's worth waiting for.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the moral and ethical implications of altering someone's brain to give them two distinct personalities. Do you consider Henry and Edward to be two halves of the same person, or are they two completely different people? Do you think the technology already exists to perform this type of procedure on human beings, or is it purely the stuff of fiction? If the technology did exist, do you think it would be OK to use it? If so, under what circumstances? How does this show compare to other TV dramas? Is it more violent? How does that type of content affect viewers?

TV Details

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