The Agency, which originally aired as The Agency: Central Intelligence, is an American remake of the acclaimed French series The Bureau. The second season recently completed airing on Paramount+/Showtime, but the first season, which aired in 2024, has just made its way onto physical media.

As the first season opens, covert CIA agent “Martian” (Michael Fassbender) has been working undercover in Addis Ababa for the pasbt six years. While there, he fell in love with married Sudanese anthropology professor Dr. Samia Fatima “Sami” Zahir (Jodie Turner-Smith), who believes he’s also a teacher, and only knows him as “Paul Lewis”. When “Coyote” (Alex Reznik), a deep cover CIA agent in Belarus, goes missing, Martian is suddenly ordered to abandon Africa and return to London Station. Martian’s mentor and superior Henry Ogletree (Jeffrey Wright) is heading up the effort to locate and secure the return of the missing agent before he falls into the hands of an enemy who could get him to reveal details about other ongoing CIA operations abroad. Henry is receiving a lot of pressure from station chief “Bosko” (Richard Gere) to resolve the issue quickly.

Upon his return home, Martian is debriefed by his case officer Naomi Ford (Katherine Waterston) and evaluated by psychologist Dr. Rachel Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris). He is also reunited with his estranged daughter Poppy (India Fowler). Martian had fallen hard for Sami, and so when he discovers that she has also come to London, he decides to reignite their romance. However, this puts both of them in a tough position, as he risks his job, potentially revealing his true identity, and putting Sami in a very dangerous position—if someone were to discover who he really is, she could be killed if they believe she has been working with the CIA. Martin has also been assigned to mentor new CIA field officer Daniela “Danny” Ruiz Morata (Saura Lightfoot-Leon), who is preparing to go undercover for the first time, to help identify and expose engineers in Iran’s nuclear program. Her cover story being a Spanish national in an exchange program to Tehran. However, first she must convince Iranian seismology professor Reza Mortazevi (Reza Brojerdi) to select her for his exchange program.

I originally checked out the The Agency when the first season premiered on Showtime a couple years ago, but I recall only watching the first two episodes before abandoning it. For a show about spies, it wasn’t very exciting or thrilling from the start, and was much more of a slow burn. There are a lot of characters that are quickly introduced, many simultaneous things happening in various countries, and a certain level of assumed geopolitical knowledge.

Since the season was sent to me for review, I decided to give it a second chance, and plowed my way through all 10 episodes. I still found the show to be a bit confusing, and quite slow at times—particuarly with the whole love story between Martian and Sami, which I just had no interest in. I want a spy thriller, not a love story.

The overarching storyline of the first season is this hunt for Coyote and trying to secure his return. This takes a lot of twists and turns, and in the process we meet a lot of the various characters at different levels who work at London Station. While this hunt is going on, we also follow Martian’s personal life as he tries to repair his relationship with his daughter, and reignite his relationship with Sami, while also trying to maintain his cover. He fell hard for Sami, and his love for her is real and true, but he worries that if she finds out his true identity, she is going to think that he was just using her all this time. As the season goes along, her storyline also starts to intersect with this hunt for Coyote, further complicating Martian’s relationship. Sami also didn’t come to London alone—she is constantly being tracked by Sudanese GIS operative Osman Abdel-Aziz (Kurt Egyiawan), who starts to suspect that “Paul” may be hiding something. Martian also has his own tail—CIA agent “Grandpa” (Andrew Brooke) is constantly tracking and keeping tabs on him.

Concurrent and primarily separate from the other storylines—and the most interesting part of the series for me—is this other thread that follows the young new agent Danny as she trains to work undercover, learns and is tested on her cover story, and tries to insert herself into an unfamiliar new world. The first season is pretty much setup for this character, laying the groundwork for her undercover mission in the second season. It is this storyline that actually interests me most to continue watching the series.

The Agency has an amazing, highly-recognizable cast, which also includes Hugh Bonneville and David Harewood in recurring roles. Ultimately the first season tells a complete story, culminating in an exciting season finale. The finale also does a nice job of setting up some interesting turns of events for the second season.

Paramount Home Entertainment has released season one of The Agency only on DVD for physical media, despite the season getting a Blu-ray release in other countries. The season is also available in 4K digitally (via Fandango At Home). I was sent the DVD release for review. The picture is decent, but as someone who pretty much only watches HD and 4K these days, I thought it looked a bit dull, lacking that extra detail and sharpness you would get with an HD presentation. While I quickly got used to the picture as I binged through the season, it’s a shame that this series didn’t receive at least an HD disc release, especially since overseas it was released on Blu-ray. These kinds of prestige dramas deserve to be seen in their original resolution! The audio track is more impressive, featuring clear dialogue throughout as well as some noticeable use of the stereo and surround channels to add more of an immersive feel.

The first season’s ten episodes are spread across 3 discs, which are placed on trays in a clear plastic DVD case, which is covered with a glossy carboard slipcover. Unfortunately, the release is barebones and does not include any bonus material.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (8:17:37)

• All 10 episodes of the first season on 3 discs:
  Disc 1 (2:37:53): “The Bends”, “Wooden Duck”, “Hawk from a Handsaw”
  Disc 2 (3:10:51): “Quarterback Blitz”, “Rat Trap”, “Spy for Sale”, “Hard Landing”
  Disc 3 (2:28:53): “Truth Will Set You Free”, “The Rubicon”, “Overtaken by Events”
• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

There is no bonus material included on this release.

Final Thoughts:

The Agency is more of a slow burn character drama than a fast-paced, action-packed spy thriller, though it does take some exciting turns later on in the season. I think it gets a bit too bogged down by a love story, but does have an interesting side story involving a new agent training for her first undercover mission. The first season does set up some interesting things that makes me want to check out the second season. That and the show’s amazing, recognizable cast. I found the DVD’s video presentation to be a bit dull—shows that originally aired in 4K should at least get an HD disc release, especially when it was already released on Blu-ray in other regions! The release also doesn’t include any bonus material. Fans can also check out the series on Paramount+ or own it on digital in 4K (it is listed as Central Intelligence: The Agency on digital retailers).