A covert CIA agent is ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to his Station; when the love he left behind reappears, romance reignites.
A modern-day spy thriller that traverses an unconventional path, “The Agency” confounds expectations from start to finish. Michael Fassbender plays Brandon Colby, code-named Martian, a field agent transitioning to a desk posting. Jodie Turner-Smith plays Sami Zahir, an enigmatic Sudanese woman and Martian’s former lover.
After a brief visual introduction to Martian, his debrief shifts to a flashback with Sami in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he tells her he is leaving that same evening for a new job in Jordan, much to her surprise. Regardless, she takes the news well, saying calmly that she has family in Khartoum who she can stay with. During the post-mission interview, Martian doesn’t quite convey the breakup details accurately, a recurring trait that adds to the mystery of his character.
After his extended absence, Martian arrives at his London flat and sweeps the rooms for surveillance devices, finding several. Though no longer in Addis, the CIA continues to surveil Martian as standard protocol for any agent resuming their former identity after weathering a prolonged deep-cover assignment. As Martian’s flashbacks continue, his latent obsession with Sami, who is married to a jealous, prominent doctor in Africa, becomes increasingly clear. When he learns Sami isn’t in Khartoum, but in London, he seeks her out.
Martian’s immediate boss is Henry Ogletree (Jeffrey Wright), deputy station chief and director of operations. Bosko (Richard Gere) runs the London station and reports to the CIA director (Dominic West) in Washington. Katherine Waterston plays Naomi, a handler once responsible for Martian. She later coaches and handles Daniela Luiz Morata, or Danny (Saura Lightfoot-Leon), a promising operative Henry also wants Martian to prep before deploying her to Iran. The training is rigorous, sometimes brutal, and aims to simulate the gritty reality they’ll likely face in a hostile region.
John Magaro plays Owen, an insightful analyst who manages Coyote (Alex Reznik), an operative spying on the Russians in Minsk, Belarus. One night in a bar, his cover is blown, forcing him to flee in his sports car. The local police apprehend him, and he mysteriously disappears. Both his current handler, Owen, and his old one, Blair (Ambreen Razia), brief Bosko, who’s not pleased. Coyote stores a plethora of intelligence in his head, potentially jeopardizing clandestine activities and agents in multiple countries worldwide.
A divorcee, Martian works to repair his relationship with his daughter, Poppy (India Fowler), given his abrupt disappearance into the field six years ago. They have a better rapport than you might expect, perhaps because Poppy is a little older now and no longer an impressionable teenager.
Adding some humor and zest to the proceedings is Dr. Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris), an older hand and seasoned clinical psychologist who asks insightful, pointed questions in a down-to-earth fashion. She’s also not reticent to answer direct questions, no matter how personal.
Martian’s friend, British MI6 agent James Richardson (Hugh Bonneville), becomes increasingly involved in the CIA’s London activities. Angling for a promotion in Her Majesty’s secret service, he becomes a behind-the-scenes wild card and one of the play’s more interesting characters. His protégé Robinshaw (Elena Saurel) starts to show some spunk as well; her role takes on greater significance in Season Two.
Marcin Zarzeczny plays Alexei Orekhov, an embedded CIA asset in Belarus who may be compromised. As with others in this puzzle, he falls victim to a staged abduction by the CIA itself, though he believes it is the Russians who hold him. In reality, the CIA, unsure of his loyalties, is testing him. Despite torture, Alexei refuses to reveal anything of value, though he does offer up fictitious names from Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.”
As the metaphorical dance between Martian and Sami continues, a shadowy presence known as Osman (Kurt Egyiawan) lurks in the background. A Sudanese security official, he becomes an overbearing presence. At every turn, he seems to appear out of nowhere to intervene in, or interfere with, any contact Sami has with the outside world, particularly Martian.
The mood and pace resemble “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” another cerebral sort of secret agent yarn that methodically draws in the audience scene by scene. Because the series doesn’t immediately dive headfirst into gunfights and martial arts exchanges, some viewers may struggle to engage right away. Seemingly trivial details like destroying forged identification cards or deleting undercover email addresses, though not edge-of-your-seat exciting, all constitute part of the tradecraft. The slow build-up, however, lays a firm foundation for what follows, making it more than worth the wait. The relationships, the motivations, and most importantly, the personal toll of the spy game all come into play. People with the kind of temperament required to go undercover for years at a time, attempting to remain somewhere on the cusp of sanity – not necessarily insane, but still nutty – can’t be found on just any street corner. By all accounts, it’s a miserable life: the subordination of identity for the greater good as defined by the state, run by an invisible elite. Taking the word of such unseen masters, a faith rivaling religion, isn’t how most people would choose to live, but it makes for compelling drama.
Lots of moving parts, feints, and misdirection will keep viewers guessing throughout. In the early episodes, I wasn’t sure what to expect, maybe something like “Lioness,” the excellent Taylor Sheridan series with copious amounts of kinetic action, but no, “The Agency” is different. It starts unhurriedly, fleshing out characters and letting the simmering storyline unfold organically. Also similar to “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” with the decline of post-World War II British influence as the backdrop, “The Agency” draws a similar parallel for the United States on the global stage, a fate assured by the current administration.
Created by Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth with executive producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov, the production possesses a formidable pedigree. The premise of the script and storylines are based on “The Bureau,” an acclaimed French television series described as cynical and stylish. Season One of “The Agency” ties up enough loose ends to bring closure, while leaving other elements of the plot tantalizingly open for Season Two. Boasting a superb cast across the board, it’s an intelligent series that requires some time before taking flight, but once aloft, it soars.
Available on DVD October 20th
