The Dick Wolf franchise machine is pretty efficient. Now that he and his producers have mounted a fair number of entries for the FBI franchise, why not turn to the inevitable next step, the CIA?
CIA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: As people in a New York office building work at night, the camera pans back. Across the street, a man watches that office.
The Gist: The man fires up a weapon that lets off sound waves that crack the window and physically disables everyone in the office in the other building. The man goes to that office, downloads software from one of the computers on a flash drive and leaves.
From the New York FBI office, ASAC Jubal Valentine (Jeremy Sisto) investigates; among the team is special agent Bill Goodman (Nick Gehlfuss). Also there is CIA operative Colin Glass (Tom Ellis), who knows his asset was in the building across the street. When Goodman sees Glass at the scene, Glass puts on an American accent (he’s a Brit who moved to America when he was a kid) and said he was DOD.
Glass is required to partner with an FBI agent to execute any ops on U.S. soil, and the partners he’s had in the past have been yes men. His boss, chief of station Nikki Reynard (Necar Zadegan), consults with Valentine to find a new FBI liaison for this case; Valentine recommends Goodman.
Of course, when Goodman meets Glass and recognizes him from the crime scene, the distrust between the two is immediately apparent. Goodman is a by-the-book agent, and Glass works in the “grey,” where he claims most of the best work is done. Glass’ distaste for the FBI is apparent, when he sneers that an agent’s goal is to merely close cases.
The two of them are trying to find Glass’ asset, and they figure out that what was used was a “directed energy” weapon. The agents race to figure out who has the weapon, and what they’re trying to do with it.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Given the presence of Sisto, it’s pretty easy to figure out that CIA is a spinoff of the mothership of Dick Wolf’s FBI franchise.
Our Take: CIA is some pretty standard procedural stuff, with a case that is a bit confusing, and has a conclusion that is only moderately satisfying. You know that the straight-laced Goodman and the unorthodox Glass are going to clash, but that when they end up being permanently paired together, they’ll learn to trust each other’s instincts.
The show, at least at this early stage, feels more like a vehicle for Ellis, given that he’s more of a known quantity as the lead of a show and his character is the more morally ambiguous of the two. Sure, Gehlfuss has put in his time on Chicago Med and the other pieces of Wolf’s One Chicago franchise. But Goodman feels like he’s the character who is going to have to go the furthest to become more than just a suit following Glass around and telling him he has to follow protocol.
It’s not a particularly unique show, but Ellis’ charm, plus the authoritative figure of Zadegan as Reynard (she replaced Michael Michele during an early-production recast) should carry the show until the writers figure out just who Goodman is.
Performance Worth Watching: Like we mentioned, Ellis is the suave, rule-breaking CIA operative who is trying to impart onto Goodman that knowing everything about the lives of assets helps him during ops.
Sex And Skin: None.
Parting Shot: Valentine transfers Goodman to the “task force” permanently, and tells him there’s a mole at the New York station that he needs to root out.
Sleeper Star: Natalee Linez, who is CIA Analyst Gina Gosian, does most of the “typing and reading off the screen” work in the first episode; let’s hope she gets more to do going forward.
Most Pilot-y Line: “Why don’t we all put everything back in our pants and focus on the facts?” Reynard tells Goodman and Glass get in each other’s faces.
Our Call: STREAM IT if you like FBI or are a big Tom Ellis fan; CIA should scratch the itch of both sets of viewers. If you’re looking for an interesting procedural, SKIP IT.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
