Spies just photograph well, don’t they? At least onscreen, the world of international espionage seems full of beautiful people in beautiful locations. And a lot of butt-kicking, too! That’s certainly what Prime Video’s big, splashy new series delivers. Citadel has yet to reward audiences with much depth or emotion but episodes 1×01 and 1×02 lay the groundwork for intriguing future possibilities, while the chemistry between the leads starts sparks.
The Russo Brothers, of Marvel movies and The Gray Man, executive produce this series. The ambitious plan is for the show to be the beginning of a large, multi-show universe. So far, this world is not fleshed out enough for that. However, there are a couple of interesting ideas stemming from the premise that have some potential, and if the writers take advantage of those ideas in a fresh way, then the whole project has a chance. The same goes for some story details. They may be derivative at first glance, but they can end up feeling like comfortable tropes if executed from a new perspective. The first two episodes of this series make me want to see if this happens.
There is a lot in Citadel 1×01 and 1×02 that we’ve seen before but there is also fun here, too. The story has just gotten started but the action beats are strong and the appeal of the cast cannot be ignored.
“I thought your habit was lying.”
The spectacle begins immediately, as operatives Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) and Mason Kane (Richard Madden) meet on a train through the Italian Alps. They are there to retrieve stolen uranium. At least, that’s what they think. They work for Citadel, a covert organization not affiliated with any government, working for global security. And they’re the best at what they do. But even they don’t anticipate that there is no uranium. All of Citadel is being ambushed and eliminated by Manticore, a new group that is like Citadel’s evil opposite. They are funded by those who want to grow their wealth through war and suffering in the world.
Nadia and Mason fight valiantly but Manticore succeeds in bombing the train. The fact that they both survive but end up forgetting their past… well, that’s called an inciting incident, honey! It’s also a dramatic one. The way Mason and Nadia banter and then fight so well side-by-side tells us there is much more to their relationship than we’ve seen so far. They clearly have a history, and it’s almost certainly romantic given the looks and kiss between them on the train. One priority of the plotting of these two episodes is to make these two aware of who they used to be.
“Tell me you’ve never felt like you should be somewhere else.”
The writers choose to go about this in ways that are both predictable but also a little interesting. Mason has married and had a child in the 8 years he’s had no memory, so that’s a typical obstacle. His relationship with his wife seems to be a good one and he’s honest with her. When Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci), a Citadel colleague, finds out Mason is alive and reveals the truth to him, he tells her. When he has to leave with Bernard to get back a case containing Citadel’s secrets, he tells her. It seems the only thing he doesn’t tell her is the memories he’s been having of a woman he doesn’t know, who is, of course, Nadia.
Less expected is how Nadia gets her memories back. All Citadel agents had a chip implanted in their brain that recorded and stored their memories. The injection that would return their memories is one of the things in that Citadel X case. A skirmish with Manticore agents ends up destroying Mason’s vial, so he’ll never get his back. Nadia, however, does. After an amusing reunion where she doesn’t believe him at first, they win a fight together and she uses her injection. This sets up a nice situation of dramatic irony in which she knows everything but he (and we the viewer) do not. In her flash of memories, we see Nadia tell someone, “Mason can never find out.” If you don’t immediately shout, “FIND OUT WHAT???” then you’re stronger than me.
“I remember everything.”
The Mason and Nadia interaction is the distinctive thing about this show for me. We care about them as a unit and we already hope for a satisfying progression in their relationship. The chemistry between Chopra Jonas and Madden is the strongest reason for this. When their eyes lock, it works. When you’ve got veteran talents like Stanley Tucci and Lesley Manville also around, that’s a good bonus.
Manville plays the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. who is also a member of Manticore. You’ll just really love to hate this woman and I appreciate that she has no redeemable qualities whatsoever. The writers use her for a sly comment on current events when she heavily hints that the reporter pushing back with hard questions while interviewing her is a Russian asset. Did I mention you’ll love to hate her?
I don’t hate the Jason Bourne reference here, though. Come on, with that premise, you knew it was gonna happen. I mean, Citadel, Manticore…Treadstone sounds like it would fit right in, doesn’t it? More Bourne references would be a fun running gag if the writers thought to do it. I want to find that out, along with many other things, after the first two episodes of this show. Citadel 1×01 and 1×02 need improvements but the story does entertain and the lead actors’ chemistry draws the viewer in. I, for one, am ready for the next episode.
Citadel is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
