After six years on assignment, a spy is called up one afternoon and told that it’s time to come home. Naturally, he packs up and obeys his order without any pushback. But he can’t help but wonder if he’s done something wrong, or if his cover has been blown. Though we have no idea what this guy has done, we are immediately invested. That is how good the new Paramount+ series The Agency is from the jump. 

 

Produced by Academy Award-winners George Clooney and Grant Heslov, the series is based on the French series titled Le Bureau des Légendes. It follows the lives of several individuals employed at the CIA as they grapple with their inner demons on top of potential global threats. It features an ensemble cast consisting of Michael Fassbender, Jeffrey Wright, Katherine Waterston, John Magaro, Jodie Turner-Smith and Richard Gere.

 

Fassbender plays the spy we meet at the beginning, the show’s lead character codenamed “Martian.” Though his story occupies a lot of the show’s time, his thread isn’t necessarily the most important. In fact, it becomes very clear in the first episode that he is a partial Trojan horse whose purpose is to introduce more important characters and arcs. The biggest arc (so far) revolves around an asset that the organization believes has defected. Although Martian is initially asked to assist with finding the asset, the focus becomes more on the actions of the rest of the team. For example, Wright’s character, who plays Martian’s boss, begins to wonder how exposed the CIA might be despite its best efforts to keep certain things secret.

 

Shortly after being brought back from his assignment, Martian is also tasked with training a young female recruit. Though she seems like an incompetent supporting character at first, by the end of episode two she is assigned to embed herself among nuclear engineers. Even she doesn’t think she can pull it off. But knowing that she has no other choice once again underlines just how gripping the series is.

 

Now, the show is not perfect. In fact, it’s excess of characters, arcs or moving parts doesn’t always work. For example, there’s a whole mini arc in the second episode revolving around Ukrainian soldiers with a connection that still hasn’t been made entirely clear. So far, it seems like the show is in no rush to answer any existing questions either. And as a result, it is easy to get overwhelmed and confused. Still, that doesn’t take away from how engaging the show is or how meaningful its message is.

 

The first episode is an hour long, and the second one is fifty minutes long. Yet, not once, do you feel the story drag. That’s because of how pointed its portrayal of fallibility is. For all the special skills these characters possess, they are still not perfect. The way the show captures how flawed our government officials can be, despite working in a field where one mistake can mean the difference between life or death, is both eye-opening and shockingly relevant. Considering that we’re about to switch over to an administration that has demonstrated its incompetence before makes you wonder how fragile our country really is..

Two episodes in, and The Agency is still finding its footing. Yet it also feels like one of the most exciting things to debut on streaming in quite some time. Between its star power, scale and unabashed exploration of humanity, it feels comparable to the early episodes of Game of Thrones or Westworld. While the fact that it is rooted in reality more than fantasy or sci-fi is a plus, it’ll be interesting to see if it can use its political relevancy to maintain its momentum.