Last week, Amazon dropped the first season of a new series with the lousy title “Patriot.’’ The title is lousy because:

1.) It’s so generic, and

2) The show is pretty much the opposite of generic.

I will admit that “Patriot’’ is a mixed bag — it’s a tonal blend of comedy, farce, surrealism, and drama that follows a pot-smoking CIA operative with PTSD. It works beautifully half the time, as our addled hero, Michael Dorman’s John, works to curtail Iran’s nuclear capabilities through an undercover job at a piping company. There are many cleverly comic set pieces, some of which involve John’s father, the director of intelligence for the State Department perfectly played by Terry O’Quinn of “Lost,’’ and some of which involve John’s boss at the piping company, also perfectly played by Kurtwood Smith of “That ’70s Show.’’

The other half of the time, well, the jokes don’t quite fly and the action gets as confused as John’s state of mind.

But I mention “Patriot’’ here because show creator Steve Conrad deserves a lot of credit for his originality and audacity. A very high percentage of new TV dramas are straight-up procedurals that walk us through all the familiar steps. The writers don’t bother to try and throw us off balance. “Patriot’’ is a CIA show that is thoroughly unpredictable, that evokes everything from “Homeland’’ to “Get Smart’’ as it plunges forward, that aims to surprise but never alienate.

For that, it deserves kudos.

Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewGilbert.