Editor’s Note: Spoilers ahead for The Agency, Season 1, Episode 3.

The Big Picture

As Jeffrey Wright tells Collider exclusively,
The Agency
delves into the personal and emotional toll of espionage beyond shadowy operations.
Tensions rise between characters in London Station, leading to clashes throughout the series between Wright and co-star, Michael Fassbender’s character.
The show balances international espionage with human dilemmas, focusing on loyalties and emotional complexities.

When it comes to the best spy dramas on television, they’re not just about the shadowy operations and the high-stakes missions. Some of the most intense ones tend to dig past the surface to unravel the personal and emotional costs of living a double life, Showtime’s newest series, The Agency. Delving into the duality of these elements, the star-studded series led by Michael Fassbender delivers a political thriller that feels both timely and deeply personal. It’s also one that has Jeffrey Wright emphasizing to Collider in an exclusive interview how the external political world serves as a sharp backdrop for the intimate and deeply human aspects of these individuals’ lives.

In Episode 3, “Hawk From a Handsaw,” this nature is best exemplified by the tensions that brew between those in London Station. As Wright’s character Henry begins to question Martian’s (Fassbender) judgment, things take a turn for the undercover spy. Following confrontations on multiple fronts and a tense exchange with Sami (Jodie Turner-Smith), a lot is breaking down for Martian and Henry is not convinced his agent has it under control. While a lot comes to a boil and Martian nearly blows his cover, at the heart of the episode is the clash between the two men, driven by duty yet increasingly at odds over their convictions. We spoke with Wright about how the series balances the pulse-pounding stakes of international espionage with the human dilemmas faced by its characters.

‘The Agency’ Finds Jeffrey Wright’s Character at Odds With Michael Fassbender’s
“It focuses on the human challenges for these people, and one of those is their loyalties.”

For Wright, The Agency isn’t just another spy thriller — it’s a resounding exploration of the emotional toll espionage takes on its characters. “This is one of the central themes that our show explores: tensions within the loyalties for all of these characters,” Wright says in our exclusive interview. As Henry, the deputy station chief of London Station, Wright’s character is caught between the demands of his role and the emotional complexities of his personal life, including that of his brother-in-law Charlie (Edward Holcroft) on a very secret mission in Ukraine.

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As the series uses its geopolitical backdrop to heighten these struggles without becoming overly political, Wright admits it’s all “really immediate and timely” for audiences, referencing the show’s portrait of current geopolitical events across Central Europe and the Middle East. “I was drawn to that. But at the same time, our show is not overtly political, but rather what it does is it focuses on the human challenges for these people, and one of those is their loyalties.”

‘The Agency’ Is Operating at a Different Level in the Spy Genre
“How those things collide over the course of this season really is at the heart of things for our show.”

But at its core, The Agency focuses on the humanity of its characters. “They’re very much operating as part of a machine, but at the same time, they experience love and loyalty to family, and how those things collide over the course of this season really is at the heart of things for our show,” he adds. “This world outside really becomes a frame through which we view the very intimate humanness of these characters.

Fassbender touched on similar notions when speaking to Collider about the series and his rather fractured character, admitting the show — based on the French series, Le Bureau des Legendes — raises the stakes for someone like Martian because one “misstep, [and] he’s dead, especially being in the non-official capacity that he is.” As this constant back and forth creates an underlying tension throughout the series, Fassbender admits it can “get pretty bad,” pretty fast. “Just purely as a form of survival, with lies and truth, he doesn’t tell the difference anymore.”

The Agency streams Fridays on Paramount+ with Showtime.

Watch on Paramount+

The Agency is a 2024 espionage thriller following covert CIA agent Martian, who is recalled to London Station, disrupting his undercover life. As a former romance rekindles, Martian’s career and true identity are jeopardized, leading him into a high-stakes world of international intrigue and deception.Release Date November 29, 2024 Cast Jeffrey Wright , Michael Fassbender , Jodie Turner-Smith , Saura Lightfoot Leon , Katherine Waterston , John Magaro , Alex Reznik , Harriet Sansom Harris , India Fowler , Reza Brojerdi , Richard Gere Seasons 1 Network Paramount+ with Showtime Directors Joe Wright Producers Bob Yari , David Glasser , David Hutkin , George Clooney , Grant Heslov , Jez Butterworth , Michael Fassbender , Ron Burkle , Pascal Breton , John-Henry Butterworth , Nina L. Diaz , Grant Heslov Expand