When I first laid eyes on The Agency a few months back, I immediately made it a point to catch the Michael Fassbender spy thriller as soon as it became accessible through my Paramount+ with Showtime subscription. And I'm truly glad I did. The initial two chapters of this captivating and intense series centered around a CIA operative named Martian (Fassbender), who was pulled out of a six-year undercover mission to rescue one of his own. These opening episodes were truly astonishing.

Unravel the Mysteries of The Agency

The First Two Episodes: Martian's Return from Undercover

The primary emphasis of the first two episodes of The Agency, and it seems this will persist throughout the season, is on Martian's return after six years as an undercover agent under the alias "Paul". The premiere episode commences with "Paul" being extracted from Eastern Africa and follows his journey all the way back to the CIA's London office, where he undergoes intense debriefing and is under surveillance by his own agency.The physical, mental, and emotional toll of spending more than half a decade adopting a different identity with minimal contact with the real world, except for his handler (portrayed by Katherine Waterston in this case), must be immense. The "pulling off the band-aid" effect of ending it all in an instant is also a significant aspect.As Martian gets back into the swing of things, he navigates a fine line between his two identities. Particularly when it comes to Dr. Sami Zahir (Jodie Turner-Smith), a professor he fell in love with during his undercover days and continues to have contact with in London after a bombing at her university in Africa.

Is Sami Zahir Up to Something? A Red Herring?

Throughout the first two episodes of The Agency, one thing that stood out was the show's attempt to make the viewer believe that Sami Zahir is involved in something. In the first episode, when Martian (as Paul) told her he was leaving and ending their romance, she was oddly understanding and calm. And when she showed up in London under the guise of attending classes but didn't attend a lecture after the first day, it raised suspicions.All these factors led me to think that Sami might be connected to the massive explosion at her university in Ethiopia or might be a spy from another agency. But having watched numerous spy movies and shows over the years, I've learned that Occam's razor doesn't always apply in this genre. Instead, I'm starting to suspect that this is a red herring meant to distract us from the real goings-on.

Martian's Mental State After Years of Undercover

So, what's really happening? I have a theory that Martian, whether as Paul or his real name, is dealing with a mental breakdown after years of living undercover and adopting a new identity. Six years! Michael Fassbender's character has been living in a meticulously crafted reality where things aren't always as they seem and he's lost touch with his former self.All spies have trust issues and are cautious, but in the first two hours of The Agency, Martian takes it to extreme lengths. Then there's the sudden arrival of Dr. Rachel Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris), a CIA psychologist who shows up at the London bureau just as Martian returns home. The show and conventional spy wisdom tell us that coincidences don't exist in this world.

Martian's Dodgy Behavior with the CIA

Again, spies will be spies, and Martian has shown dodgy behavior when dealing with his superiors at the CIA in the first two episodes. Whether he's withholding information from everyone or going out of his way to lose his fellow CIA agents who are following him upon returning from his undercover work, he's not coming across as the most honest or trustworthy person.I'm confident that these gaps will be filled in over the next eight episodes (or the second season as Deadline reports is on the way), but I can't help but think that Martian is not just being overly cautious but is holding something back, similar to his character in David Fincher's The Killer.

Martian's Dilemma: Hallucinating or Working with the Enemy?

All that said, I think Martian is either experiencing a severe mental breakdown and having post-traumatic stress disorder and hallucinating events, or he's genuinely working with the enemy now. Throughout the show so far, there's been a lot of talk about double agents, and in the second episode, there was an intense scene where Martian tried to figure out if one of his fellow spies was working for the Russians.The final scene in the second episode shows Martian in a hospital bed looking worse for wear. I can't determine if it's because he was beaten up or if he was forced to undergo treatment for a psychotic break or exhaustion. I'll just have to keep watching as The Agency continues to make its mark on the early weeks of the 2025 TV schedule. It feels like this is just the beginning of a thrilling journey.