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I usually love a slow burn, especially in a spy thriller series. However,The Agency, a new series developed by Showtime that will stream on Paramount+, is a drawn-out progression that gives new meaning to the meandering way incense burns. In other words, the show is all atmosphere, just for show, with very little substance.
The Agencysuffers from a severe lack of motivation. The characters are poorly developed, and there is no payoff after the first episodes, where a pilot desperately needs to draw the viewer in with exciting plot developments. The lack of tension and intrigue makes the batch of episodes available to critics feel boring and stagnant.
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Showtime and Paramount+’sThe AgencyReview and Synopsis
The Agencyis an espionage thriller that explores the intimate and intricate nature of a department that trains and handles agents operating deep undercover. The hook is that agents must give up their individuality—a self-imposed act of subjugation. As the pilot shows, Martian (Michael Fassbender) is pulled from his assignment and breaks up with his girlfriend, Sami (The Acolyter’sJodi Turner-Smith).
Martian returns to meet his daughter (India Fowler) and his long-time handler (Katherine Waterston). As he transitions to desk duty, he works with the CIA Director of Operations (Jeffrey Wright) and the London Station Chief (Richard Gere) on the fallout from an undercover operative with a drinking problem. Martian also takes a new agent (Master of the Air’sSaura Lightfoot-Leon) under his tutelage who is about to embark on her first mission.
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Showtime and Paramount+’sThe Agencyis a Stagnant and Boring Spy Thriller
And that sums up the first three monotonous and borderline tedious episodes ofThe Agencymade available for critics. The series has such a lack of compulsion that I want to prescribe a healthy dose of Ritalin. The series obsesses itself with an under-the-radar romance betweenFassbender’scharacter and Jodie Turner-Smith’s Sami, which is listless at best. There is simply nothing exciting, even torrid or genuine, in the subplot.
Is this “The Spy Who Loved Me” or a CBS procedural? If you answered both, you would be correct. The small handful of episodes has a single story the agency tries to solve instead of building up to a central mystery. This is a workplace series without any trust issues or loyalties being tested, which, in turn, lacks suspense. Also, make no mistake, this is not a critic writing about a different show. The writers and directors genuinely fail in this regard.
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IsShowtime and Paramount+’sThe AgencyWorth Watching?
Considering the lack of episodes made available to critics, it’s hard to callThe Agencya failure. However, the fact is, the chapters offered make the series not worth watching. This is surprising, considering the series is fromGeorge Clooneyand Grant Heslov’s production company. Not to mention, Joe Wright (Atonement, The Darkest Hour) also directs the first two chapters.
Sadly, the series, fromFair Game’sJez and John-Henry Butterworth, is predictable, and its underwhelming setup cuts the series off at the knees. The pacing is slow. The cast, particularly Fassbender (with the exception ofThe Killer), needs career intervention when picking out scripts. His performance is obvious, heavy-handed, and offers little surprise.
Simply put,The Agencyis one of the year’s most disappointing series.
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You can stream/watch The Agency on November 25 exclusively on Paramount+!Three out of ten episodes reviewed.
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M.N. Miller
Film & Television Critic
Articles Published :336
M.N. Miller is a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Mansfield University and a Master’s from Chamberlain University. However, he still puts on his pants one leg at a time, and that’s when he usually stumbles over. When not writing about film or television, he patiently waits for the next Pearl Jam album and chooses to pass the time by scratching his wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. M.N. Miller was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs but chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. you may also find his work on Hidden Remote, InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Geek Vibes Nation, and Nerd Alert.
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