“The Agency” might seem like a nourishing substitute for all the “Homeland”-heads that have been without their fix these last four-and-a-half years, but anyone looking for the same tempestuous mix of high-stakes espionage crossed with exciting character work and moral complexity will be disappointed. Pretty much a 1:1 remake of the acclaimed French series, “Le Bureau des Légendes,” this new American version suffers from a sleepwalking epidemic that appears to have infected almost all of the principal cast. Indeed, conceptually interesting yet practically comatose, “The Agency” somehow makes zero-sum, life-and-death spy shit rather boring.
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The show bounces between several international locations and characters, but the dominant ones in both regards are London and C.I.A. NOC Case Officer Brandon Martian (Michael Fassbender). Martian just returned to the agency’s England office after 6 years undercover in Ethiopia, where he spent his time cultivating “acquaintances” and deep sources. It doesn’t seem that interesting, especially to his nosy young adult daughter, Poppy (India Fowler), who is always trying to learn more about her spy dad, but it’s enough to keep Martian stressed out and detached from the world around him.
A reprieve from this dread comes in the form of a married woman, Sami (Jodie Turner-Smith), who Martian developed a relationship with while on assignment and who is also in London as chance would have it. The C.I.A. burned Martian’s old identity following his extraction, however, making any contact between the two a strict no-no. Martian’s boss, Henry (Jeffrey Wright), is worried about the cumulative effects of such a long assignment on one of his agents and is already on thin ice with his boss, Bosko (Richard Gere), about another agent possibly defecting when all of this begins to come to a head.
The components of the primary story assemble well and are a credit to the writing team that made the original French version such a success. “The Agency” has interesting and engaging stretches that peel back the shroud surrounding the intelligence community’s day-to-day operations, including mission prep, support, and training. The series is at its best when it is more of a procedural about the background players in the espionage world, like agent in training Daniella (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) and asset handler Owen (John Magaro). Both actors bring a sense of wonder and vitality to their roles and episodes that is largely absent from the A-plots anchored by Fassbender, Wright, and Turner-Smith.Support independent movie journalism to keep it alive. Sign up for The Playlist Newsletter. All the content you want and, oh, right, it’s free
Lightfoot-Leon and Magaro are not the stars of this series, however, and that’s the problem. The leads of “The Agency” all come off like their scenes were filmed during off-day breaks from other, more interesting projects. Wright’s character says, “I’m just tired” often (and looks it), while Fassbender and Turner-Smith play all their scenes like they’re at a table-read. It’s a real problem because aside from Lightfoot-Leon and Magaro, only Richard Gere seems excited to be in this thing, and even he appears to be worn down from the experience by the end of episode 3 (episodes 1-3 are all that have been released for review at this time).
The production isn’t a cheap one, though, and directors Joe Wright (episodes 1 & 2) and Philip Martin (episode 3) make liberal use of the primary London setting and a costume department that seems to have free reign to get creative with their work. The outfits and color choices give the audience clues about the level of burnout versus vivacity for each character and are a creative lifeline for a series that is often groping around for one. And while part of this may be intentional, as a means to communicate the exhaustion and mental fragility of these characters by way of leeched vibes, it makes for an awful time and an even worse watch.
It would be one thing if “The Agency” was a difficult show to enjoy because it wrestles with complicated, not-at-all-pleasant realities of the geopolitical landscape as it relates to high-level espionage work, but it isn’t doing this, either. The drama of this series never creeps into any kind of conversation about the work Martian and the C.I.A. are doing, but rather how the characters’ personal drama interferes with that good work being done. That makes “The Agency” the one thing a spy show should never be: boring. It’s a hurdle the show never clears through its opening stretch and makes it a tough one to recommend on any level (except, perhaps, as a way into the better French version). [D]
“The Agency premieres November 29 on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME