Global spy agency Citadel has fallen, and its agents’ memories were wiped clean. Now the powerful syndicate, Manticore, is rising in the void. Can the Citadel agents recollect their past and summon the strength to fight back?
Ever since James Bond exploded onto the big screen in 1962 with “Dr. No,” the suave superspy has influenced a plethora of filmmakers over the years, culminating in copycat spy movies like “Our Man Flint,” Jackie Chan’s “Armor of God,” “Kiss Kiss…Bang Bang,” “XXX,” and the Jason Bourne and Austin Powers series. Bond’s fingerprints are on TV shows too, such as “Archer,” “24,” “Chuck,” and “The Night Manager,” and now you can add Amazon Studios’ “Citadel,” starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, to the list.
“Citadel” is a top-notch, action-packed series that takes our two central characters, Mason Kane (Richard Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), all over the world. They are operatives who work for the global spy agency, Citadel, a company created to eliminate threats from around the globe. Eight years ago, it was destroyed by a new syndicate, Manticore, brought into existence by crime families collaborating together worldwide to achieve global domination.
As the show begins, Mason and Nadia are on a mission, traveling on a train through the Italian Alps. When their covers are blown, and they learn about Manticore for the first time and that they are killing all of Citadel’s employees, one agent at a time, they manage to escape, but not before a bomb goes off and derails their car into a frozen lake. As is Citadel protocol, when an agent is jeopardized, their memories are erased and backed up on an internal server. For eight years, Mason, now living in the US with his wife Abby (Ashleigh Cummings) and young daughter Hendrix (Caoilinn Springall), and Nadia, a restaurant manager in Valencia, Spain, have no recollection of their previous lives.
That is until Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) turns up at Mason’s front door and kidnaps him and his family at gunpoint. Arriving at a secret location, he tells Mason they were old friends and that he used to be a spy, but his memories were erased. He proves this with video and photographic evidence and informs Mason that he must go to Valencia and try to get Nadia to remember who she was. When asked why, Bernard tells him that Manticore discovered Citadel’s old X Case, a strongbox containing all the codes for every nuclear weapon in the world and that they are planning to use it for something big. Now Mason must leave his family and take on his old persona to try and bring Nadia back before it’s too late.
“Citadel” is a globetrotting action-adventure that does not let up or disappoint. Our two protagonists, Mason and Nadia, share undeniable onscreen chemistry, and every episode is filled with treacherous subplots, perilous experiences, and surprise twists that materialize out of nowhere, and they are what help make the show so great. Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas work splendidly together, and Stanley Tucci, as Citadel’s Q, infuses the show with much-needed humor and sardonicism. Lesley Manville, as Manticore’s matriarch, Dahlia Archer, gets to go full-blown villain and chews up the scenery whenever she appears onscreen. The series has already been renewed for Season 2 and will include spinoffs in different countries and languages, with one set in India and another in Italy. If action, espionage, betrayal, and love triangles are your thing, check out “Citadel” when it premieres on Prime Video on Friday, April 28th.
Premieres exclusively on Prime Video Friday, April 28th
