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Saying that something is “less than the sum of its parts” is cliche, of course, but it’s a very apt way to describe shows like The Agency. The show has an amazing cast, and a look that makes it seem more contemplative than the average spy thriller. Yet we came away from the first episode wondering why there didn’t seem to be more propulsive stories.
THE AGENCY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: “ENGLAND.” A hangar door opens as a man who just disembarked from a private jet walks in.
The Gist: Martian (Michael Fassbender) is a CIA agent who was just pulled out of a six-year, deep-cover assignment in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His handler, Naomi (Katherine Waterston) debriefs him over a secure video call; she asks him about how he broke it off with Sami Zahir (Jodie Turner-Smith), a woman he had a relationship with. He lies and says it was a tough breakup, when the reality was that she was sad but knew the day was coming.
In London, Martian goes to his flat, and the first thing he does is look for listening devices; they’re everywhere. He then calls down to the agent assigned to watch him and asks to see his daughter.
In Belarus, an agent named Coyote (Alex Reznik) drunkenly bashes his car around the streets, causing a frenzied police chase. When word gets back to the bureau office in London, the department head, Henry (Jeffrey Wright), tells Coyote’s handler, Owen (John Magaro), to examine his interactions with the agent to see if there are any clues to this turn in behavior. One of the senior agents, Frank (Alex Jennings) was supposed to train Coyote on how to not get blown if plied with alcohol, but Coyote begged off because he was sober; Frank agreed to that because of his own history.
In the meantime, Henry tries to keep this development from Bosko (Richard Gere), the bureau chief. But a bombing puts the team on alert. Martian, wondering why he Henry pulled him off his assignment with little notice trains a new recruit named Danny (Saura Lightfoot-Leon). He also stays in touch with someone from his deep-cover in Ethiopia.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Based on the French series The Bureau, The Agency reminds us of a bit of a cross between Homeland and The Wire.
Our Take: There is no doubt that The Agency, created by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth (George Clooney and Grant Heslov are among the producers), has an amazing cast, and it doesn’t try to be paced the same as other spy thrillers. It’s very contemplative, lingering on scenes and using techniques like wide-angle shots and push-ins to make things feel more paranoid and intimate than the usual hard-charging spy genre tends to use.
What we’re not sure about is if what all of these great actors are doing is compelling enough to follow for ten episodes — or more. There are storylines to be examined, but only one of them — Martian’s relationship with Sami — holds any season-long potential, as Martian knows he’s close to throwing his entire career away for love, and is thrilled by the prospect.
The rest feel like stuff we’ve seen before. An asset that is threatened or uncooperative. An attack that needs to be investigated. A new recruit being trained. Even if the camera movements, orchestrated by director Joe Wright, gives a Jordan Peele-style feel to the show, the show itself feels mostly rote.
As we get into the season, perhaps some of these storylines will develop into compelling narratives. But the first episode left us with that uneasy feeling that the show will be less than the sum of its parts.
Sex and Skin: Some footage of Martian and Sami making love.
Parting Shot: Closeups of Naomi’s and Martian’s eyes during one of their debriefing calls, as they talk about his relationship with Sami. “You know what they say about love, right?” she asks him. “That it’s all you need,” he says, quoting the Beatles. “No, it’s blind,” she replies.Sleeper Star: Hard to call Richard Gere a sleeper, but we hope has has more to do than just be the guy cursing at everyone in meeting rooms as he gives orders to his underlings.Most Pilot-y Line: “So you left us for six years to make acquaintances?” Martian’s daughter Poppy (India Fowler) says to him after he describes what he does in the field.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Like we said, the cast of The Agency carries the show, but we’re not sure how much the stories will hold viewer interest unless they quickly get more interesting.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
