The Agency (1×06) Spy for Sale Review

For our review of the last episode of The Agency, click here.

This week’s episode of The Agency saw the United States potentially be on the brink of war with Russia as the only thing keeping that from happening was the London station. Letting Coyote fall from their grasp, the prospects of getting him back grew increasingly improbable but they weren’t ready to give up. That being said, the issues persisted with Martian as he is arguably hanging on by a thread. Juggling more than enough, this episode had him taking hits from all sides as he started to feel the pressure at a moment where he was needed most. Once again putting Fassbender to the test, he delivers as Martian’s character arc remains the best part of the series so far. However, that arc sometimes get lost in the plotting of the season.

The spycraft continued as the London station were still hunting for Coyote. Little did they know, they found themselves in what appeared to be a treasure hunt organized by a non-government agency or maybe a splintered faction. At this point, the task was to dive deeper into who was really responsible. In what was clearly not about money, it was all a game where they had to prove themselves.

Meanwhile, following concerns from the group responsible for the Sudan deal, or just Osman’s, the grip on Sami has tightened as the walls kept closing in on Paul Lewis thanks to some extra help from the Chinese, working under Osman’s orders. Meanwhile, the boundaries Martian had created between his separate lives further weakened as his MI6 contact James Richardson (Hugh Bonneville, who you may have noticed in last week’s episode) shared information about the Sudan deal with the London station while Poppy was officially made a target once Osman’s soldiers found her student ID.

In one of the most tense sequences of the series thus far, all of Martian’s ongoing subplots converged in what was a perfect storm, besides the earlier reveal. Late for a meeting back at the station with a General Novikov of the Russian army, a man with information about Coyote, he found himself chased by the Chinese while dealing with the added concern that his daughter became a target of Osman. Jumping back and forth between Martian and the Chinese, the chase was on as the latter were tracking his location but in the end, Martian is still a pro who knows when if he is being tracked. Ultimately, Novikov provides a chain of events detailing Coyote’s whereabouts and the fact that he was sold by the Belarusians and is about to be handed off to the Russians behind the front lines in Ukraine.

Once the Russians have Coyote, what they will surely do is to trot him out publicly and use him as a means to justify a war with the United States. Seemingly unable to stay out of trouble, Martian spoke out of turn and made a promise that the London station could go into Ukraine and save Coyote before he was to be delivered to the Russians. An already difficult mission, Henry and Bosko were not thrilled about a promise they couldn’t keep but more so, being put in that position in the first place.

Finally, appearing just long enough to remind viewers that it is another subplot that still exists for some reason, Naomi trained Daniella on the kinds of guns she could expect while in Iran. However, most importantly, the final hit to Martian came as Osman was as close as ever to cracking Martian’s true identity while unexpectedly answering Sami’s phone.

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.