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Spy TV -- a review

I’ve always loved the paranoid thriller. It’s the type of thriller that sees our hero either go on the run (usually for something that they didn’t do), or try to deal with such a vast, monolithic conspiracy that it makes them want to go on the run. Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest, Oliver Stone’s JFK, and The X-Files all immediately come to mind as the type of paranoid thriller that I love. These are the kind of manic, gotta-keep-moving, paranoid thrillers that leave their heroes unable to trust anybody, even their dogs (“Et tu, Rover? You little Shih Tzu!”).

Three new paranoid thriller TV series are available on streaming right now, and the first of these I’ve watched is The Diplomat, on Netflix, starring the sublime Keri Russell. An explosion aboard a British aircraft carrier creates an international crisis that Kate Wyler (Russell), the newly appointed American ambassador to England, must avert. Wyler is a veteran Foreign Service officer who’s used to doing a lot of running around behind the scenes, but now she’s in the big leagues. Unlike the usual toadies who get the job because of a contribution, Wyler was asked to take the ambassador post because of her prior experience of closing delicate deals by thinking on her feet.

The always good Rufus Sewell plays her husband, who’s also a fellow Foreign Service operative and a real cad who’s always looking out for number one. With England rightfully seeking revenge for its fallen sailors, Wyler must juggle multiple conspiracy theories--all of which can lead to World War Three. The Diplomat is a vastly entertaining series with the solid Russell always keeping her cool, even as she’s racing through the streets of London (and elsewhere) looking for a lead. It’s a sleek and oftentimes very funny series that's never boring, and leaves you wanting more at the end.

The second TV series is also from Netflix, and it’s called The Night Agent. Based on the novel of the same name by Matthew Quirk, The Night Agent is an FBI agent who is stationed by a special phone that’s located in the basement of the White House. The phone rarely rings, but when it finally does, it’s answered by Peter (Gabriel Basso), who winds up getting plunged into a conspiracy wrapped in an enigma when Rose, the young woman who called him (Luciane Buchanan), witnesses her aunt and uncle get murdered by assassins. And these assassins are now after Rose.

Unable to figure out who to trust, Peter and Rose soon go on the run and try to solve the case on their own before they are found and killed. The Night Agent is fast paced and fun, if a little silly at times. For instance, Peter is just a bit too naïve for his own good; he’s sincerely shocked (shocked, I say!) that people in Washington D.C. actually lie and do dishonest things. Still, despite the goofiness, The Night Agent plays up the whole ’young lovers on the run’ storyline very well. It’s an energetic, exciting jaunt that also manages to humanize the villains without making them too sympathetic.

The third paranoia series is on Amazon Prime Streaming, and it’s called Citadel, which is the name of a super secret spy agency that employs Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas as two agents who lack even the most basic chemistry with each other. I haven’t seen the entire first season yet, because Amazon is dropping this series…one…episode…per…week (I admit to being a big fan of the Netflix way of premiering new TV shows, which is to drop the whole season at the same time).

Citadel tries very hard to recreate the super spy vibe that was done much better in previous series like The Avengers and Alias. But what I’ve seen so far is pretty ‘meh.’ A large part of the problem is the aforementioned lack of chemistry between the leads, as well as the poor writing that makes the ultra-super-spy concept feel very stale. Maybe Citadel will get better in their later episodes. But who knows? While watching The Rings of Power, I had the same hope that it would also get better as it went on, and that series still turned out to be a big, heaping pile of Shih Tzu. Here's hoping Citadel avoids that same fate. --SF

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