The Agency

2001

Seasons & Episodes

  • 2
  • 1

EP16 Unholy Alliances Feb 22, 2003

7.3| 0h30m| en
Synopsis

The Agency is a CBS television drama that followed the inner-workings of the CIA. The series was created by Michael Frost Beckner and was executive produced by Michael Frost Beckner, Shaun Cassidy Productions and Radiant Productions in association with Universal Network Television and CBS Productions. It aired from September 27, 2001 until May 17, 2003, lasting two seasons. It featured unprecedented filming from the actual CIA headquarters. The show was controversial regarding its exploration of current international affairs and its treatment of the ethical conflicts inherent in intelligence work. Beckner's pilot script, written in March 2001, posited a re-invented CIA tasked with a "War on Terror" after Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorist organization plots a lethal attack on the west. The pilot was to premiere at CIA Headquarters on September 18, 2001 and set to air on CBS September 21, 2001, however, the actual 9/11 attacks convinced the network to hold the pilot and instead air a later episode. That first episode was aired later as the third episode of the first season. The September 11, 2001 terrorist events changed the way Americans viewed topical entertainment and "The Agency", at the time, was one of the most topical offering on network television. The producers of the series quickly responded to this new American perspective on world affairs, but CBS chose to cancel the show shortly after the second season's final episode.

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Trailers & Clips

Reviews

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life
Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
bflavin I'm really afraid that the last episode of The Agency was broadcast tonight. I will miss this show. Yes, the storylines were good and contained just enough suspense and humor, but the real strength of this show was the character development. As I'm a veteran government bureaucrat, it was such a treat to watch The Agency. Unlike in so many Hollywood action shows, the characters here were not superhuman. You could easily picture Jackson Haisley at a Sat AM kids soccer match, Lex & Stiles watching a Skins game at the sports bar, Terri & Joshua doing some lunchtime shopping at Tyson's Corners or Georgetown, or Carl at Kennedy Center. Even the satanic Robert Quinn was just a guy trying to do the best job he could for his country. And who wouldn't want to have a boss like ex-Senator Gage. That collection of characters and the actors who portrayed them would have fit well into scores of offices around the beltway. Stiles was borderline at first, but even he became real. Not supermodels, not superbeings. Just normal folks. They and the show will be missed. Please smarten up, CBS!
herbqedi I rarely watch network TV for anything more than an occasional graze, but since Daniel Benzali joined the cast, the Agency is my one unbreakable weekly appointment with a network show. The three-way relationship between Bridges, Carroll, and he has just the right edge. And, Carroll works so much better with both of them than he did with the holier-than-thou Pierce (insipidly played by Ronny Cox, a normally fine actor in the wrong role). In fact the series has improved markedly with every addition AND DELETION. The feckless Gil Bellows was the only agent who seemed not to belong, and he left in a fitting and dynamic demise. Speight gets better and better, and works well with Clennon and Turco. But, what really rocks me is the even-handedness of the scripts, dealing head-on with terrorist issues more objectively and evenhandedly than our media dare to, and not a false note has been struck all year since this show came to be. Any show boasting Wolfgang Peterson and Shaun Cassidy as co-producers can be expected to be unusual, and the Agency succeeds in being anything BUT run-of-the-mill. Long may it run!
slspecter I have recently caught this show on Saturdays (Yes, I have no life) and I have found it very amusing and interesting. I mean, in "French Kiss" four men in a MBE pull guns on each other thinking they are all terrorists only to find out they work for the CIA, FBI, INS and Secret Service respectively--that's a classic, especially since they really don't ever know what the other is doing. However, I find it remarkably amusing because, well, when you know enough about thebackground of a show like this or the West Wing, it's interesting to see the little coincidences and foibles in the show. This show is funny, even at times when I think it should be dead serious I find it humorous. BTW, I noticed that Jennifer Brandes and Chris Hepler have written a couple of episodes this season--both of which I found to be very cool. Jennifer and Chris wrote a book that I thoroughly enjoyed because while it was factually accurate and intriguing, it was also written with a lot of humor and wit to it (except where certain parts were obviously injected by the editors for apparently no reason). Good work guys.
JnB987 After seeing episodes on Al Qaeda and Anthrax, I am convinced that The Agency is true "must-see" TV. After Sept 11th, The Agency's plots became more real than they had expected, and the topics more surreal. Viewers may get the same enjoyment out of the CIA's intelligence-gathering techniques that they do from "CSI"'s evidence-gathering techniques. The Agency is very similar to it's lead-in, and it has better acting (something CSI isn't known for.)Will Patton is the real star, I love everything he's done and he doesn't disappoint here. Gil Bellows has been equally fantastic as the new agent following in his brother's footsteps. Paige Turco and David Clennon are fun to watch together, and I like the stuff they do (photograph and passport editing) more than the field agent's stuff. Glorea Roth and Rocky Carroll are good but not great, and Ronny Cox is variable. Overall, it's a very enjoyable show that, when it works (about 80% of the time), is some of the best TV out there.