“The Agency” is back for Season 2, and the exploits of the CIA station in London continue in fine form. A mixture of international action and intrigue mixed with great amounts of traitorous subterfuge, of devious plots predicated on almost blind love and supported by an extraordinary cast are offered up in ten episodes all available on Paramount +. If the bountiful array of summer feature films skips a week on your schedule or a rainy weekend presents the allure of bingeing in the comfort of home, “The Agency” beckons.
Executive Producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov have cobbled together a dream team of actors who have seamlessly carried over the intrigue from the first season. To fully capture the ebb and flow of the series, if you’ve not done so then taking the time to view the first season with its Ukraine engagement is encouraged. Even with the ample plot refresher at the beginning of Season 2, episode one, having gone through the whipsaw action of the first season is a welcome foundation.
With scripts crafted by Jer and John-Henry Butterworth the stars don’t simply act, they inhabit their characters. Michael Fassbender, who has emerged as a major dramatic force (his star turn with Cate Blanchett in 2025’s “Black Bag” deserves attention if missed) leads a cast that features Richard Gere, Jeffrey Wright, Katherine Waterston, Jodie Turner-Smith and Saura Lightfoot-Leon. Should any of those names not ring immediate recognition, once a few episodes have unfolded, one will be in awe of their intensity. Supporting cast members are equally facile.
The plot, established int he first season, pivots on Fassbender’s character, Martin, who has returned to administrative office work in London after years in the field in Africa. He’d fallen in love with a visiting scholar, Turner-Smith’s Sami Zahir, only to have her kidnapped and taken hostage back in Africa. Set against his fevered, compromising attempt at winning her freedom and return is the effort to destabilize the international terrorism organization funded out of Russia and wreaking havoc on the continent while newly minted field agent, Saura Lightfoot-Leon’s Danny, is sent to infiltrate the Iranian government funded efforts to build up and store enriched uranium. Ukraine … Iran … Africa. Sound familiar? Scripts and production occurred two years ago, but the uncanny resemblance to current affairs is nothing short of eerie.
With the ample production financing provided by Paramount, the scope and scale of the series mimics the most ambitious feature film. Unlike earlier years of streamed series, the massive growth of Apple TV, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount+ and HBO as widely streamed services gives producers the latitude to not only simply use stock footage to visually hop-scotch from continent to continent, city to city and mountain top to verdant valley, but actually drop their cast and crews into those locations. “The Agency” becomes a dramatic travelogue with a story line so infectious that consuming three or four episodes in a single sitting is very much par for the course.
New episodes of wildly popular streaming series are on the horizon. “Ted Lasso” will be back, as will “Department Q” and “Slow Horses.” “Sugar” has already resurfaced on Apple TV+ with a second season of episodes. There will be ample fare to entice the stream-viewing audience well into the fall and winter seasons when the offerings from major studios and distributors make big screen selections a bit more difficult. Getting the rhythm of the return of a brilliant series can well be started by becoming immersed in the dramatic bounty of “The Agency.”