If The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power was Amazon’s attempt to give its Prime Video streaming service a homegrown version of Game of Thrones, then the new Citadel spy series is an attempt at Squid Games, Paper Heist, or Love Is Blind: a show with global appeal to match the reach of its platform, and a potential franchise that could support international spin-offs. The idea came not from a writer, director, or producer, but from Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke, who approached AGBO, the production company of Anthony and Joe Russo, with a business plan in search of a creative concept.
As with the stunning Rings of Power, the cart-before-the-horse approach cannot fail to show up in the final product. Also evident is the reportedly chaotic production, which included extensive reshoots, a change in showrunner, and a shortened episode order. There are traces of this turmoil in the credits; the teleplay of the pilot is credited to at least five writers. But even if you’re not the type to read the IMDb page carefully, The Citadel’s origins are clear enough in execution: a volatile, standard nine-figure budget blockbuster that you’ll never notice. from cheap computer graphics.
Not that quality really matters to Amazon, which has already greenlit a second season of The Citadel, as well as satellite shows set in Italy and India. Theoretically, this English-language flagship will become the center of an entire interconnected universe. But a sprawling structure needs a solid foundation, and the one provided by Citadel is shaky at best.
The synopsis of The Citadel seems redundant. Although technically the story is original, it can be derived from a word cloud on the Wikipedia page for “spy thriller”. The official organization is an international syndicate dealing with Cold War threats such as nuclear weapons. His two top agents, Mason (Richard Madden) and Nadia (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), share a sexual tension conveyed by brain teasing instead of chemistry. (Her: “I’ll be gentle.” Him: “I get the feeling you don’t know how to be.”) They are assisted by a witty techie who mostly stays behind the scenes as they go up against the posh, icy Brit. These formulaic roles are played by Stanley Tucci and Lesley Manville, respectively, the only two actors who seem to be aware of all the stupidity around them and embellish it accordingly. If only the show shared their sense of humor.
There are traces of a stronger series in the background. Nation-state intelligence organizations, Tucci explains, “started wars, killed world leaders, and killed innocents,” which is why the Citadel was not founded to serve interests other than those of humanity. If The Citadel wants to get it, there is a vein of socio-political criticism there. However, the setup seems more like a cynical game of transnational appeal than a hard-edged look at actual surveillance work and the media that sugarcoats it. Manticore, a foil to the Citadel, is allegedly funded by a coalition of oligarchs, but acts more as a mandatory antagonist than a symbol of the damaging effects of excessive wealth. What else can you expect from a Jeff Bezos, Inc. product?
An unambitious cliché can at least be entertaining. Here again “Citadel” does not meet the very minimum. The opening scene, a fight on the train, echoes a scene from Madden’s hit series The Bodyguard, which only highlights how this version lacks tension and the actor’s unconvincing American accent. Episodes lasting less than 40 minutes each don’t prolong our agony, but important bits of context seem to get lost on the cutting room floor. Madness is trying to do the same thing and expecting different results; after Ring of Power, Amazon is once again trying to buy a global phenomenon without having the smarts to back it up. The store of everything has gone mad, and Citadel will certainly not be able to save it.
The first two episodes of The Citadel are now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, with new episodes coming out weekly on Fridays.