‘The Agency’ Season 1 Finale: Sudden Eruptions of Violence

Summary

The Prestige TV Podcast Summary

Episode: ‘The Agency’ Season 1 Finale: Sudden Eruptions of Violence
Release Date: January 27, 2025
Host/Authors: Joanna Robinson & Rob Mahoney
Podcast: The Prestige TV Podcast by The Ringer

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Introduction to the Finale

In the season finale of The Agency, Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney delve deep into the intricacies of the show's concluding episodes. They unpack the complex plotlines, character developments, and set the stage for potential future seasons. The discussion provides both praise and critique, offering listeners a comprehensive analysis of the series' strengths and areas for improvement.

Overall Impressions and Season Structure

Joanna and Rob begin by reflecting on the season's overarching narrative and its potential for continuation. Joanna notes, “We're just sort of going to do like a big picture view of the season of television, how we felt about the finale, how we feel about setup for a possible season two” (02:28). They emphasize that the show appears designed with multi-season arcs in mind, particularly highlighted around episode nine where hints of a second season become apparent.

Strengths: Plot Mechanics and Spycraft

Rob expresses significant appreciation for the show's intricate plotting and methodical storytelling. “I had a great time with this season, I think it is intricate and methodical in a way that I really respond to” (04:51). He highlights the realistic portrayal of spy operations, noting the meticulous processes involved in intelligence gathering and asset recruitment. The duo appreciates how the show effectively demonstrates the complexities of clandestine work, making the plot both engaging and intellectually stimulating.

Character Development: A Mixed Bag

While the plot receives widespread acclaim, Joanna and Rob offer a more nuanced view on character development. Joanna remarks, “But I don't think [The Agency] is profound prestige television. I don't think it is like changed the way that I think about people or the way that I think about myself in any sort of way” (28:54). They argue that, despite strong performances, particularly from John Magaro and Jeffrey Wright, the characters often take a backseat to the plot, resulting in a lack of deep emotional engagement.

Naomi and Martian: Love and Blindness

A focal point of their discussion is the relationship between Naomi and Martian. Joanna praises the execution of Naomi’s growing affection, stating, “I really loved how that was executed when she says, you know, that he. That Martian tries to make everyone fall in love with him” (06:48). This evolving dynamic highlights the tension between personal connections and professional obligations within the espionage milieu.

Dany’s Character Arc

Dany's portrayal receives mixed feedback. Joanna feels her character’s presence in the finale is underutilized compared to the French original, Le Bureau. She observes, “Dany in Teyron is exciting to me. I really like that character and I'm excited to see her have to do all the things that she's gonna have to do there” (16:19). Rob concurs, suggesting that while Dany's resilience is highlighted, her on-screen actions don’t fully translate the depth seen in the original series.

Comparisons with Le Bureau

A significant portion of the discussion centers around comparing The Agency to its French counterpart, Le Bureau. Joanna admits to not fully watching the original series but touches upon notable differences. For instance, she points out the cultural and operational disparities, such as the portrayal of CIA agents with a "Texas drawl," which adds a unique American flavor to the adaptation. Rob notes, “I know some people who were fans of the original French series reached out after the first couple episodes of the Agency” (25:07), emphasizing the challenges of adapting a show for a different audience.

Performance and Casting Choices

The hosts commend the casting decisions, particularly highlighting Richard Gere and Dominic West. Rob praises Gere’s performance, stating, “having Richard Gere as a figure of authority, a person in that performance who can realistically sell like a figure who can finesse people” (20:21). Joanna adds enthusiasm for Dominic West, affirming, “he was worth every dollar of Dominic West's salary” (22:12). Their performances are seen as anchors that elevate the show's credibility and engagement.

Final Thoughts and Future Prospects

In wrapping up, Joanna and Rob acknowledge the show’s strengths in plot execution and spycraft but express a desire for more substantial character exploration. Joanna summarizes, “I would recommend it to people. I would recommend it certainly to, like dads out there. This feels like a real dad show sort of thing” (26:16). They conclude that while The Agency stands as a solid addition to the spy genre, it may not reach the profound emotional depths characteristic of top-tier prestige television. Nonetheless, they endorse it as an enjoyable binge-worthy series, especially for fans of intricate plotting and espionage narratives.

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Notable Quotes

• Joanna Robinson (06:48): “I really loved how that was executed when she says, you know, that he. That Martian tries to make everyone fall in love with him.”

• Rob Mahoney (04:51): “I had a great time with this season, I think it is intricate and methodical in a way that I really respond to.”

• Joanna Robinson (28:54): “I don't think this is close to the best thing I watched this year or any year.”

• Rob Mahoney (20:21): “Having Richard Gere as a figure of authority, a person in that performance who can realistically sell like a figure who can finesse people.”

• Joanna Robinson (26:16): “I would recommend it certainly to, like dads out there. This feels like a real dad show sort of thing.”

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Conclusion

Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney provide a balanced critique of The Agency Season 1 finale, celebrating its complex plot and stellar performances while yearning for deeper character development. Their analysis offers valuable insights for both fans of the series and newcomers, highlighting why The Agency remains a noteworthy entry in the realm of prestige television.

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Transcript

[Bill Simmons]

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[Joanna Robinson]

This episode is brought to you by Coffee Mate. I love a good crossover, especially when it's with a show you love. This time the crossover isn't with another character, but with Coffee Mate. Coffee Mate has collaborated with HBO's the White Lotus to bring us two tropically inspired limited time only flavors, Pina Colada and Thai iced coffee flavored creamers. And as a coffee fanatic, I can't wait to try them. All right. Thai iced coffee in my coffee. Pina colada in coffee. I am adventurous when it comes to new flavors, but this sounds truly different. I'm picturing something tropical and refreshing, like a beachside cocktail, but with a coffee twist. Definitely curious to see how it all comes together. Let's try it. Mm. The Thai iced coffee is amazing. It tastes like like an authentic Thai iced coffee with that, you know, the condensed milk sweetness to it. I was very skeptical about the pina colada, but it's surprisingly delicious. The coconut and pineapple notes make it feel like a vacation in a cup. Perfect for sipping while watching the latest episode of HBO's original series, the White Lotus Coffee Mates. The White Lotus flavors are only available for a limited time, so try them now and stream HBO's original series on.

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[Joanna Robinson]

Hello. Welcome back to Press the Youth TV Podcast Feed. I'm Joanna Robinson. I'm Rob Mahoney and we're here to wrap up our coverage of the Showtime series the Agency 10 episodes. We have watched them all. We're here to talk about. We're just sort of going to do like a big picture view of the season of television, how we felt about the finale, how we feel about setup for a possible season two. And just as a reminder before we get into all of that, that we are covering severance week to week on this feed. We're having a great time. Certainly are having a really good time. Everybody's talking about it. Everyone's talking about Burbank. It's great. We're also covering the Pit.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, don't forget the Pit.

[Joanna Robinson]

I couldn't possibly ever forget the Pit. We're covering the Pit. People really like the Pit.

[Rob Mahoney]

The many medical professionals in our emails will not let us forget about the.

[Joanna Robinson]

Pit, that's for sure.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, I say with great affection, by the way. I appreciate. I appreciate their insights.

[Joanna Robinson]

I mean, my dad, who's a doctor, texted about the Pit. So there we go. On the Pit front, I should say the. The extremely gratifying thing, and we'll talk about this when we talk about the Pit again, is like, how many people emailed us to let us know they're watching ER now as like sort of pit methadone between the episodes of the Pit and having a great time with it. So that's. It's a classic for a reason.

[Rob Mahoney]

I assume ER is also on Max.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, it's on Max. I think it's on Hulu. I think it's on Peacock. I think it's on. You can find it all over the place.

[Rob Mahoney]

But the brand synergists are winning. You know, they're getting you to click over to that sweet, sweet ER content.

[Joanna Robinson]

They should just honestly just like, start playing it as soon as the latest Pit wraps up. Okay, so that's all we're here to talk about. We're not here to talk about the Pit. We're talking about the Agency. How are you feeling? So We've watched all 10 episodes. It's very clear that much like the French series that it was adapted from, they're aiming to have more than one season. If you thought, I don't know that, I knew that that was something they were aiming for. So I will say around episode nine, when we only had one episode to go and Dany wasn't even in Iran yet, I was like. I was like, okay, we are pitching season two.

[Rob Mahoney]

That is a back burner plot line.

[Joanna Robinson]

Got it, got it, got it. So, yeah, what are your thoughts? How are you feeling about the Agency?

[Rob Mahoney]

I had a great time with this season, I think it is intricate and methodical in a way that I really respond to. That said, like, the best parts of the show, I think, set such a high standard in terms of detail and pacing and overall, like, the spycraft process that when things do feel, like, a little oversimplified or do feel a little rushed, in the case of some of the back part of this season, you feel it more. And that's like. It's tough when you have to hold a show against the standard of itself. But I think it shows what the Agency can be at its best. And ultimately, this is a season I really enjoyed.

[Joanna Robinson]

What do you wanna talk about, like, the things that worked the best for you first, or sort of dig into some of those things that slowed down for you?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think. Let's talk about the things that worked better first.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

And ultimately, I think most of them were the things that were given more time to percolate and more time to work. And so some of the developments didn't seem like a sudden left turn from the thing that we knew. It's.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is the continued evolution of what, for example, Paul Lewis and Samia mean to each other and how they are trying to have a continued relationship. And really all of the ways in which the personal and the professional are sort of interacting for these two people.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. And I think for everyone, like, if this season has a thesis, it's that, like, you know, Naomi is the character. Katherine Waterson's character is the character who is constantly banging the drum of, like, there's friends and then there's targets. You know, like, you don't care. You don't get personal. You don't care. And then, of course, we see her care very much.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yep. You called out very early, Jo, that she seemed to be making some eyes at Martian in a way.

[Joanna Robinson]

This is genuinely my favorite thing that happened. And it's not just because I was right. It's because Dr. Rachel Blake calling out Naomi to be like, oh, is that because you're in love with him too?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, it's almost like. Like love. Like love is what's. What's the word I'm looking for?

[Joanna Robinson]

Nearsighted.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's. It's one of those. But not quite that one.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay. It's blindness, guys. Oh, love is blindness.

[Rob Mahoney]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Joanna Robinson]

I actually. I loved how that was executed when she says, you know, that he. That Martian tries to make everyone fall in love with him. That that's, like, his thing. I was like, you're right. And Fassbender does It too.

[Rob Mahoney]

He certainly does.

[Joanna Robinson]

But then to watch Naomi go through this and like rewatch footage of herself talking to him and what she was or was not actually absorbing at the time, I thought was really. I thought that was really well done. And also I was right, but really well done. That stuck out to me. I think some of the wrap up of, you know, like the Felix wrap up, the way that some of those tales come together. I'm going to talk in a bit about. We had a bunch of listeners write in to say like, hey, you guys should really watch the French series that this is based on, Le Bureau, which fair enough. Rob and I were like, yes, yes, yes. As soon as we're done with Squid game and rewatching all of severance and doing this, that and the other thing we will watch.

[Rob Mahoney]

Remember that time we agreed to do like eight podcasts in the last working week of 2024? Remember when we did that?

[Joanna Robinson]

So smart.

[Rob Mahoney]

We signed up for that.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, we are brilliant. Anyway, here we are. I did not watch all of Le Bureau, but I did watch the season one finale of that show just to sort of compare and contrast. So we can talk about that in a second.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, can I ask you one first blush impression based on that? Who wore it better? Like who? Which finale? I know you didn't see the full season of labiro, but like, do you feel like it? There's so many bow on some things in a different way.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's so many decisions that the. That this version made that are somewhat bastard. Here's what the. A core difference that is a sort of insurmountable problem for this adaptation is the French version. We are following French spies and when the Martian counterpart defects, he's defecting to the CIA, which just feels more insidious that. Oh, and I need to tell you, I'm so excited to tell you. Rob Mahoney, sports enthusiast, Texas native son.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, wow.

[Chris Ryan]

It's all.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's all coming together.

[Joanna Robinson]

So inside of this, inside of the agency, it's Hugh Bonneville of. Of Downton Abbey fame, who is sort of the. The MI6 official who is. Okay, the. His counterpart in Libero, who is a CIA agent is Buddy Garrity from Friday Night Lights.

[Rob Mahoney]

Whoa.

[Joanna Robinson]

And the scream. I scrumpt when that happened. I cannot even begin to tell you. So imagine like, like just the good old boy Texas drawl.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Of Buddy Garrity as a CIA agent who's like, we own you now.

[Rob Mahoney]

Can you defect from French intelligence to East Dylan, please?

[Joanna Robinson]

Is is a different proposition altogether it just seems much. And then there's like, there's a. Yeah, I'll. I'll get into all the differences here. There's a big twist that I'm not going to get into because I, I guess they're saving it for season two. So I guess I did spoil myself.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

But it is such a massive. I was expecting some sort of turn of the screw here at the end of the season and I of the Agency and I'm not really sure. I feel like we got it. Like we got Coyote back and, you know, two out of the three hot Doctors Without Borders are okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

I know. And I have to say pulled a very smooth grenade pull. That was, that was some artful stuff.

[Joanna Robinson]

When they were like, we're going to do this, I assumed they were going to blow themselves up. But no, it's just like we're going to drop a grenade in this helicopter.

[Rob Mahoney]

And walk away in slow motion as it burns to the ground.

[Joanna Robinson]

And Danny got to Iran and like all this sort of stuff. So like I was expecting something like bigger. And the fact that he's going back to work as now a double agent for British intelligence is in pretty big. But I will say le Bureau had like an something on a cherry, a big cherry on top of that. That sort of made that finale feel a bit more intensive.

[Bill Simmons]

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[Joanna Robinson]

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[Rob Mahoney]

I participate in restaurants for a limited time.

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[Joanna Robinson]

It, a thing that the Bureau has on its mind is like, maybe like. A slightly closer examination of Martian's personality in terms of, like, is it just love for Samia that is motivating him here, or is it this idea of, like, he can't retire from the field. He needs to be sort of, like, in it. He needs to be wearing a mask. He needs to, like, he doesn't want to be himself out there. He wants to be some sort of, you know, undercover version of himself at all times. And so that. Which is more compelling to me than, like, true love conquers all. At the end of the day, though, I do love a true love story anyway. Do you have any thoughts about that?

[Rob Mahoney]

I do think they hint at some of that in terms of the. There's the line about all of the appeals of being out in the field, but the comforts of home. It seems like that's kind of where we're headed for season two of him getting to exist in both worlds. One thing I really admire about this finale and the way that a lot of the resolution wrapped up is almost all of our core characters are sidelined by the end, and they are observers of the main action. They are watching on a screen what happened. Martian himself is, like, up in the hospital, basically being interrogated by the other government that's trying to recruit him. They are not, like, active participants in rescuing Coyote, for example. The cards have been dealt, and they're just kind of waiting to see what happens and who wins. And ultimately, these are characters, especially in Martian's case, who want to be active, who want to be in the field, who almost doesn't know what to make of himself in an office in a lot of ways, and has been trying, as he might, including dropshipping into Belarus at one point in these final episodes, just to get back out there again. He has succeeded in doing that.

[Joanna Robinson]

I understand. I know I need to think of this in terms of the fact that, like, Europe is much smaller than we think, but they are just, like, back and forth to Belarus with much frequency. On the one hand, that's super interesting. I think that's really interesting. On the other hand, Dany, for instance, like, her presence in this finale felt quite inert to me when she was, like, one of my favorite characters to follow. Yeah, I felt that. And then I watched the French version of this, and in that version, her character has been, like, taken, put in A hotel room. She's being held there. She doesn't know what's going on. She, like, breaks out using, like, a spoon from her room service. She barters her, like, underwear for a cell phone. There's like all this stuff that she's like, actively doing to try to get herself out of the situation. But ultimately she does what our version of Dany does, which is not break.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Which is only what she has to do is sort of like, do not under any circumstances break your story. Like, that's the lesson that Naomi tries to teach Dany early on. So that is still true for our character, the Fresh. She just gets to do more than sit in a room and look like tired and hapless, you know?

[Rob Mahoney]

But honestly, the doing, I think is really important for a show like this because the reason that some of the denser plot lines work is that the show lays out like, these characters need to accomplish A, B and C in order to bring Coyote home. Whatever it is they want to do. We're told very early and set up very early to understand Dany needs to beat interrogation. Like, she's going to be questioned and she's going to need to stay strong and overcome it and not give up her alibi, her alias. She's going to need to be resilient in that moment, and she's gonna have to learn how to do that. But because she's not given a lot to do, it just kind of happens A to B every time it's like she learns what the horse race is that happens near her supposed home time, that gets questioned on it immediately.

[Joanna Robinson]

Immediately. Yeah, but. And the also thing is, like, we saw her not break earlier when she was like, tormented by the guy. She ends up like, fucking like that. She already wasn't breaking. She broke in this exercise with Naomi, but it wasn't like a season long thing that she needed to learn and finally conquered. So that was a little funky to me. But I'm excited. Like, Dany in Teyron is exciting to me. I really like that character and I'm excited to see her have to do all the things that she's gonna have to do there.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then you mentioned in terms of the sidelining, that's the other. That's another major difference which I think is really interesting is like, you saw a lot of. We talked about this earlier in the season when they had a sort of shootout scene that we actually thought looks like quite good. And we were like, impressed with it. You can see a lot of the money on the screen in this. Like we've got the, the standoff on the road outside of the medical camp and then we've got the exploding helicopter and all this stuff. Like all of a sudden we're in like an action film. I'm going to tell you, in the French version, it's like night vision goggles on one monitor that they are watching and it's like one convoy and we don't even have the other part with the medical camp. Like, you know, with the. Anyway, all that other stuff is not happening and it's a much, much smaller scale. And so I understand the impulse in an, in a glossier. We've got more money where American sort of adaptation.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah. I think the American part's pretty important.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. To do like big. But I thought that was a really interesting difference between the two and I kind of. I don't know. I. I'm not sure exactly which one I like better. It's possible that if I had been with the French counterpart for Owen, John Magaro's character, who I love so much. I think John Magaro is like one of my favorite things in this whole thing.

[Rob Mahoney]

And he's getting win after win after win in these, these back episodes. He's getting post it note booty calls. He' the control room. Like he's, he's, he's making it happen.

[Joanna Robinson]

He's doing it. But like I think if I hadn't cheated and just watched the finale of the French version and been with that like that French Owen.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

I would have been more invested in his investment in like what's going on in this like weird little night vision goggle monitor. So that was like. And he's watching like two dots on a screen at one point. Like it's so lo fi. Oh and also the French version doesn't have the whole thing where they hit him with a car and like he's injured. That all that stuff is so convoluted for no reason. And it's a big why dissatisfying payoff for this season long mystery of like why is he injured and who is he talking to? I just didn't. I. I don't think it was worth that sort of twisty, torturous journey to get there.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, that part didn't work. Like ultimately getting to the point where Martian becomes a double agent for the British is an interesting place to land the season.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yes.

[Rob Mahoney]

As you say, teasing out the who is interrogating him question to be that not that satisfying doing the head fake of. I actually really like the first conversation with Richardson is the name of that, the British operative, right? Where he basically like tests whether Martian will defect and then pulls the rug and says, actually, who cares? I don't going to help you.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. When they're on the street by his total getting into his car.

[Rob Mahoney]

And that is interesting. Like the head fake is interesting. Taking this desperate person and seeing how far they're willing to go, that's. That's good tv. When they just like manufacture a situation to hit him with a car for absolutely no reason so they can get him in a room to have a conversation. We all know has happened, that that's where they lose me a little bit. And for that matter, you don't need to do the tease, like show that as the open of the finale and then do the six hour early loop back. Like I just don't need any of that.

[Joanna Robinson]

I really agree with you. How do you feel like Richard Gere was used this season at the end.

[Rob Mahoney]

Of the day pretty effectively. I actually really like him in this show and I like him as someone who helps us understand really the fundamental tensions of Martian's character and of this kind of work, which is the matters of scale depending on who you are within the CIA or within an intelligence organization. You know, he has this big speech about how he has to be conceptualizing the board in terms of decades and eras. It's not about this person, it's not about this year. It's a long timeline of international conflict. And meanwhile you have Martian, who's trying to save one woman's life because I do think he loves her first and foremost and is trying to get her out of a black site prison effectively. And to Bosco, as he says, she's less than a pawn. She is a non factor on the board that he is operating with. And so I think having Richard Gere as a figure of authority, a person in that performance who can realistically sell like a figure who can finesse people, who can manage up in particular and manage the director of the CIA, the president of eatu, who can be exactly as charming as Richard Gere can be, who can deliver these big ideological speeches and also have like a haggard, like grizzled kind of feel about like I've been doing this shit for too long and I'm kind of tired of having to herd all these cats.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think it's a really important and potent combination between like the hazard, the haggard, grizzled, I'm tired and also the like dick swinging. I buy and sell information that's What I do, that whole sequence I thought was really, really good. And to your point about like in terms of casting, casting him and then also casting Dominic west as like just the head on the screen, like who we sometimes just like are watching from outside inside the room that Dominic west is on the monitor inside the conference room.

[Rob Mahoney]

Like, I just want to say it was worth every dollar of Dominic West's salary to have him say no. Nut, dick, clowns. Money well spent.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. You will always be famous, Dominic West. You're the best. So. So all of that really works for me. And I think also just sort of the gradation of like you go from a Catherine Waterson to a Jeffrey Wright to a Richard Gere. I wouldn't put Dominic west above Richard Gere necessarily. But like, you know, all of that sort of stuff. Henry, that whole resolution with his brother in law again there just feels. It felt like it didn't really work for me personally.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm with you. I think there's some things about those plot lines that are satisfying and there's some things that just didn't pay off. And you can tell what they're trying to do. Right. They're trying to put a face to this, this arm of everything that's happening. Right. Like there's a personal investment in his brother in law being there. I love what Jeffrey Wright is doing. I love as far as all these characters who have to kind of sit idly by and watch as things happen in front of them in the finale. Jeffrey Wright knows how to furrow a fucking brow, you know, like he knows how to sell us the relief of the moment of seeing his brother in law alive. Those are powerful things and I'm not immune to them. Did it make the Felix plotline feel any more satisfying? I wouldn't say so, but I also, I want to be like a little measured in that because one thing I do like about the Agency a lot is that you never really know which are the head fake plot lines and which ones are, aren't right. Like we get a lot of false starts in the kind of intelligence gathering they're doing and in every, every like screw that they're trying to turn. Sometimes they just screw too tight and it blows up and then they move on to the next one. And I like that not everything is not the boots. Well, the boots. The boots did not go great, you.

[Joanna Robinson]

Know, not play at all. Yeah, yeah, no, no, I think that, I think that's a really good point and I think it's a really good way to compliment the show to say that, like, yeah, we'll. We'll be introduced to a character. You know, we're with Richardson for a lot of it. Then we meet this woman who's sort of like his second, and is she gonna be more important in season two? Or how much am I supposed to invest in this character or this truck driver or this secretary or this, that and the other thing? So I do think that that is interesting. So it forces you to pay close attention to everyone, because is this person gonna come back and be important in a later plot? How is all of this going to work?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think that ties into the John Magaro element of this, too. Where I know some people who were fans of the original French series reached out after the first couple episodes of the Agency and said that one of the things that they were bumping on was the awareness of the cast. Right. Like, they knew who John Magara was, they knew who Katherine Waterston was. And so it was telegraphed to them in a different way, like, oh, these are going to be important characters. Whereas if you're. If you're dropshipping in to an acting scene, you may not be as familiar with, like, a stable of French actors. You can't so quickly identify, oh, Owen's gonna have huge moments this season versus, like, what would John Magaro be doing here if he wasn't gonna have some kind of moment?

[Joanna Robinson]

I love the respect we put on John Magaro's name. And it's important to me. Yeah. And I think that's why someone like Sarah Lightfoot Leone, who plays Dani, was, like, really good, because, like, we don't know her. We don't have any associations with her. And I agree, like, watching Le Bureau, and, like, I know the actor who is playing Martian, Matthew Kasovitz, who I know from Amelie, et cetera. And I know that, like, Matthew Amaruk is in a later season, I think, but I didn't see him. I only saw one actor, basically, that I recognized, plus Buddy Garrity in. In the Miro finale. And I agree that it, like, it changes your. The way that you imprint on. On those people. You don't come with expectations. That is a joy of watching, you know, like a squid game season one or something like that, where we, as American audiences, are largely unfamiliar with some of these performers. Yeah. I mean, overall, I would say I had a great time with the Agency. It's something that I like that we checked in on, but also. And I usually rail against it, I could see this as a very pleasant binge experience.

[Rob Mahoney]

Sure.

[Joanna Robinson]

I could see just like, like mainlining is. I don't feel like I needed to marinate in the themes or intentions or character studies of anyone in the Agency. That it is like top tier spy shit. And I love spy shit, but spy shit, I don't think I need to, like, you know, soak in. I, I, I feel fine, sort of clicking next. Next. Next what? How is Danny gonna fuck over this colleague in order to get to Tehran? You know, sort of thing.

[Rob Mahoney]

So, yeah, just kill a grandmother or two. It's no big deal.

[Joanna Robinson]

No, she's letting Swiss doctors do it.

[Rob Mahoney]

It, it's a meaningful distinction. I suppose I'll disagree with you a little bit on that just because I think the whiplash of the plot lines might be a little intense if you're watching four episodes in a night. And so having a little bit of space for these things to marinate. And again, it works better on some sides of the board than the other. But just taking how the threads come together in Ukraine, for example, is a very intricate process. At the risk of over recapping our recap show, this is the chain of events that leads things to tie up in Ukraine. We have the bike auction, which is run by someone named Kasek, who is selling information about Coyote. That guy turns out to be a retired KGB general who tells the Americans that Coyote's being held by this General Volchak, who's guard, who's like, has this mercenary group Valhalla. The CIA then goes to Alexei, who's the guy we knew earlier in the season from the Wooden duck situation. They re recruit him, basically force him to help. And all he really does is get in the room with Volchuck, sell him some lies, and be able to say who else is in the room, which points them to Sylvia the secretary. And the whole boot debacle that we laid out does not go great. Vulchuk sees right through it. He sees right through Alexei, for that matter. Not everything is going well. They lose the beat on what was supposed to be a tracking device, but they know he's on the move because they recruit another asset in Leo Krivitsky, who's like, just disgruntled enough to be exploitable. They do that in a matter of hours by identifying that he's like, been in the business for too long, effectively.

[Joanna Robinson]

And that brings Martian WhatsApp groups.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, look, a WhatsApp group and you just like, put a picture of a hot woman in there and all of a sudden you can pose as a Russian general is what I've learned.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then you put some poetry in there.

[Rob Mahoney]

Look, I haven't tried it, but it might work. All of which is to say, like, that's just how we get to the information of where Coyote is, much less actually get to him. And I am a sucker for the legwork of that. That's a process I really enjoy watching unfolding. And I think it's ultimately a show that's probably thus far much more successful on plot than it is on character.

[Joanna Robinson]

I was gonna say exactly that. What you just described, which is really fun to listen to. Thank you so much, Rob Mahoney. It's also really fun to watch. Like plot, plot, plot, plot, plot is really fun. But I'm not feeling like character, character, character inside of all of that. And so I think that's why it feels like. Is this prestige television? Yes, absolutely. Based on the caliber performer we talked about, Joe Wright as a director, set deck, visuals, all this other stuff. Like, I would call this prestige television, but I wouldn't call it profound prestige television. I don't think it is like changed the way that I think about people or the way that I think about myself in any sort of way, which is, I think, an ideal. You know, we're, we're covering severance at the same time. Severance makes me think about a lot. You say a lot. In our most recent severance pod that made me go, oh, do I need to look in the mirror about my own work life balance? Like, that's, that's like the prestige of the prestige. That's the, that's the ideal. This is glossy. This is good. Yes, but I, and I would recommend it to people. I would recommend it certainly to, like dads out there. This feels like a real dad show sort of thing. But I, but I wouldn't say this is close to the best thing I watched this year or any year.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, I'm inclined to agree with that. Like, I really enjoyed it. Again, I enjoy the plot mechanics a lot. The character stuff. I don't even know if it's ever going to quite. And I'm curious for fans of the original series if they felt that that's like a very character rich show or just one where they enjoy the spycraft. Because as Martian lays out earlier in the season, to do this job you have to be pretty insane. You have to be kind of on the edge of a kind of sanity. And because of that, the problems that they run into are not very relatable to people like you and I. They are very understandable. Within that world. And I enjoy learning more about the psychology of what it takes to be a spy. And in particular, I would say that the back half of the season does a really great job of this. Of it's just time after time after time. Every time they need to recruit a new asset. It's who is vulnerable, who is compromised, who can we compromise, and how do we twist them and turn the screw. And so to contrast that with a character in Martian who is himself incredibly compromised and now we see by the end is being turned by another government. Those things, I love the way they tie together. I'm just not sure it tells me a lot about human nature so much as the difficulty of doing this exact kind of work.

[Joanna Robinson]

I guess you're right. I guess when we think about severance and lumen, I can relate to certain. Certain jobs I've had. Whereas if we watch Danny get her colleague cooked up in a bathroom so she can talk about her ill mother, I never done something similar, unfortunately.

[Rob Mahoney]

What makes you sad, Joe?

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm not telling you. On coke in a bathroom, in a club, that's for sure.

[Rob Mahoney]

That is wise.

[Joanna Robinson]

They. That was a great. I really liked it. Okay. To that end, in terms of talking about Martian's vulnerability and his exposure to being turned, should we talk about Dr. Rachel Blake, Harriet Sansom Harris character who's been here all season, sort of to give us wry commentary on the psychological inner workings?

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm not sure what she's here for anymore. It's very confusing. Her role in the show.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's a question. At the end of the day, do you feel like this was utilized beyond. I don't know. You know, she played an important expositionary role in terms of people had to explain things to her about how these things work. She played an interesting, not always interesting, sort of somewhat overbearing, sometimes, like, morality role, like when she's shaming the agent about, like, the secretary and all this sort of stuff like that. So, like, yeah, how do you feel about this character and how she is?

[Rob Mahoney]

And also, why would she be in that room to question the agent about the secretary in the first place if.

[Joanna Robinson]

She'S doing, like, a psychological debrief, I suppose, but, like, it doesn't make any sense.

[Rob Mahoney]

But in the war room as an operation has happened, it doesn't make any sense.

[Joanna Robinson]

Don't understand her role in the office and what her level of authority is versus, you know, like, she can't get Martian in a session. So does she not have the authority to do that? What is her level of Authority inside of this organization. I don't. I felt like that was quite nebulous. At the end of the day, I.

[Rob Mahoney]

Understood her when she was the POV character, the kind of fish out. Not fish out of water, maybe unkind, but like someone who has no field experience and is having to learn the realities of this stuff for the first time. And I found her role in that much more credible than, say, when Henry explains to Naomi, like, how it works when you land in Iran and like, what. Like, in what ways you would be abducted or not. Like, Naomi would know that information. Dr. Blake might not. And so she has a useful storytelling purpose to be explained to periodically. I understood that value. I understood her as a foil for Martian in session and as a way to explore some of those ideas and the performances. And I was actually really engaged by a lot of that stuff. I do not understand what she became. And I think it's frustrating because if you watch individual scenes of Dr. Blake, it's like, I like this scene. I like that scene. I like this third scene.

[Joanna Robinson]

The performance is really fun.

[Rob Mahoney]

The performance is good. And she's given some interesting things to do within those discrete scenes. But those three scenes, the character in them has nothing to do with the other two.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And so I don't know which. I don't know what purpose she's supposed to provide or, like, who she is relative to these people.

[Joanna Robinson]

Especially if you're going to. If you're going to not nail that, to give her. To have her share this lingering look with Martian in the finale, this, like, final moment sort of look, without really solidifying her place in all of this leading up to that. That it. It didn't really work for me. Okay. I keep. I keep saying negative things. I did like the Agency. I did enjoy it. I'm glad we covered it. Is there anything else you want to say about it before we go?

[Rob Mahoney]

I would say on the positive front, I enjoyed. And again, this is more like plot, practical stuff in terms of the way the story is constructed. How much of this season turned out to be about how spies communicate and how much back channeling has to be done, which is an obvious thing that I think you understand implicitly about when you work in clandestine operations like the cigar lounge move. The cigar lounge, the bike auction, posing as a retired KGB general's oncologist. Like, all of the ways in which people are not allowed to speak to each other. And so when you mirror that with someone in Martian, or in this case, Brandon, who is posing as Paul Lewis, but is in love with this woman Samia, but can't be honest with her about literally anything until it's basically too late. I like the kind of juxtaposition of those ideas, and I love seeing the practical execution of literally, how do, like, a bunch of Belarusians get in contact with the CIA when they have information about one of their operatives that's been, like, lost on the map? You know, that stuff is, I think, very fun.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's true. And that's a great shout about the parallels between the two. Rob, you're a joy to talk to you as always. Likewise, Joe, thank you for going on this agency journey with me. We'll be back with the pit and severance. And thanks to all of you for writing in prestige. TVOTify.com is where you can email us and harass us for not having watched the original version of any other show that we cover. Anything else you want to say? Thanks to Kai Grady. Thanks to Justin Sales. Rob, you want the final word?

[Rob Mahoney]

I got none, actually. No. In addition to prestigetvotify.com you can email us at our original the agency email address tip topinthepinkmail.com which we have to say. Nobody's tip. Topping the pink. The end of this thing.

[Joanna Robinson]

Really True. Okay, we will see you soon on this feed.

[Rob Mahoney]

Bye.