The Agency (1×03) Hawk from a Handsaw Review

For our spoiler-free review of the two-episode premiere of The Agency, click here.

After a hectic series premiere that helped to lay the groundwork for where the season could ultimately go, using two episodes to set up pieces and generate some initial tension, it only makes sense that the next episode would take a step back and hunker down to let the story grow organically from there. That being said, it wasn’t that big of a step back as the London CIA office still had to reconcile with their ongoing operations and Martian (whose real name is revealed but no spoilers here) continued to get his life back together post his undercover mission. The latter drama proves to be a much different can of worms as the wall between his personal and professional lives further crumbles while trying to keep each away from one another. A conflict that threatens to bleed into the main narrative, the signs were there and those around Martian grew concerned with his increasing defensiveness and evasiveness. Though for now, it did not appear to be an issue.

It is clear that something isn’t quite right with Sami but Martian still met her at a hotel where he checked in under his former alias’ name, once again shaking his CIA tail. Doing his own investigation, their time was cut short by Henry, who still found out where he was. Not knowing who Martian was with at the hotel, he was nonetheless urged to stop what he was doing immediately which he obliged, at least for now. However, a mysterious figure watching him from afar in a car parked near the hotel, seemingly at the behest of Sami, suggests that there is more going on. Either way, they were not done with each other as another conflicting force emerged, Martian’s estranged daughter Poppy (India Fowler) with a lot of time on her hands.

The other side of the story is the saga involving Coyote and his network in relation to him possibly being a double agent and his role in a series of operations within Eastern Europe and Russia, the biggest being a top secret operation codenamed ‘Felix’ for which Henry’s brother-in-law was leading a small team. Finding themselves in trouble at the end of the last episode, their mission was of the utmost importance therefore their extraction was necessary though having gone dark, according to protocol, would make it difficult on paper but their retrieval was done successfully so they can continue their assigned mission whose details remain unknown.

Wrapping back around to the Martian storyline, the best part of the episode was easily the session (or some would say showdown) between he and Dr. Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris). Tasked to perform psychological testing to assess the mental health of those working with the London unit, it was only a matter of time until she got to him, despite his evasion of her. Knowing this, their session went about the way one would expect. Trying to assess his mental state, Martian was nothing but defensive and evasive, constantly turning the table on Dr. Blake while avoiding opening up about where he stood and what he was hiding. A series so far built on writing and performances, both the writing and a fantastically stoic Fassbender sold the tension and the uncomfortable nature of that encounter.

Meeting up with Sami later on, Martian’s questioning continued but her own evasiveness and then frustration with his interrogation caused some more tension in what was another strong scene propelled by the aforementioned Fassbender and Jodie Turner-Smith, as well as their fantastic chemistry. Once they went their separate ways, Sami entered the same car from earlier thus confirming the possible connection and implication of more going on.

In the end, taking a step back did not hurt this latest episode at all as the story narrows in focus to hone in on the star of the series, the fantastic Michael Fassbender who got to show why that is the case. Slowing down narratively to let threads develop is a better choice, if only to fill out a 10-episode season as it is all about getting those pieces where they need to go in a satisfying enough way and as far as that is concerned, it is too early to tell but with Fassbender, it is worth the ride.

still courtesy of Paramount+ with Showtime

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.