I Was Addicted To Watching Michael Fassbender’s Martian Jeopardize His Double Life By Getting Sloppy

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Agency episode 6.After a slow start to the series, The Agency‘s last couple of episodes have been picking up the pace considerably. I guess that’s the whole point of a slow-burn TV show — setting up many threads to be unraveled as the season goes along. Well, I can definitely say that it’s working for The Agency. Last week’s episode 5 brought an exciting new dynamic to the show. Michael Fassbender’s Martian was still at the center of the hour, but The Agency also focused on two other characters, and I loved it.

Both Danny and Owen got their time to shine in episode 5. Danny passed a CIA test while Owen performed terribly in an undercover mission but still found the missing piece of Coyote’s mysterious disappearance. The Agency episode 6 expands on those storylines. Danny gets a final round of gun training from Naomi, playfully commenting on her new relationship, and Owen’s discovery of Valhalla and Coyote’s unknown psychiatrist plays a major role in the story. Still, episode 6 is not a three-hander, with it firmly focusing on Martian.

Paul Lewis Or Martian? Michael Fassbender’s Spy Faces The Impending Collision Between His Two Lives

The Stakes Have Never Been Higher For Martian

The last episode saw Osman prepare to move against Martian after realizing that Paul Lewis never reported getting robbed to the police despite having entered the station. The Agency episode 6 shows what that looks like, as Osman gets dangerously close to the secrets behind Fassbender’s character. The intelligence agent follows Martian’s daughter, Poppy, into a coffee shop. He pretends to have gone to her university, and when she tries to leave after some small talk, he presses her about Paul Lewis. As soon as Osman appeared at the coffee shop, I tensed up.

This is a man who has been built up to signify danger and has no problem making people disappear if needed. As such, I feared for Poppy’s fate, even if they were in a shop with many people coming and going. Thankfully, nothing happened to her, but Osman did confirm that Paul Lewis was not the name of Poppy’s father, as he asked her point-blank if she knew him, and Poppy denied it. I believe he clearly saw through her answer, and later in the episode, he tells Martian directly that he knows Poppy’s surname is Cunningham, not Lewis.

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Poppy is not the only one who has to deal with being followed in the episode. Martian has to lose two men tailing him multiple times. He even uses a CIA operative, who was among the “dry cleaners” that extracted Owen in the last episode, to help him get out of a possible ambush by entering a garbage truck, leaving his tails to believe Paul Lewis was still having a meeting with his book publisher for an hour. Later, Martian gets very close to being caught, having to run for it and barely escaping.

The CIA Makes A Breakthrough On The Coyote Case

Martian’s Mistakes Start To Impact His Work

Martian was never supposed to contact Sami after his time undercover in Ethiopia ended. But he did and now his cover is crumbling, leading to his real life and the CIA’s work being in danger. I find it fascinating to watch how Fassbender approaches both sides of his character. When he is in the CIA, Martian does not let any of the drama going on in his personal life show up on his face. Fassbender assumes a place of authority as the character and drives the plot forward with great momentum.

However, with Osman getting closer to Martian’s true identity, that facade would never last forever. In Episode 6, he starts to make mistakes. Due to almost being caught, Martian ends up being late for a deal he set up and is crucial to finding out where Coyote is. His personal drama is starting to make him sloppy, and in his line of work, he will not get lucky all the time like he did in the episode. Martian ends up making the deal work and the CIA discovers that Coyote is behind enemy lines in Ukraine.

The organization has a tight four-day window to retrieve Coyote before he is handed over to the Russians in Moscow. This is where Martian’s issues bleed into his work, as he makes a promise to the White House that they will get Coyote back before then. Bosko and Henry are livid about that decision, as he now puts the organization in a tight spot. With Martian’s two lives facing issues, I want to see if the character will be able to find a way to turn things around or if he will plummet as season 1 continues.

New episodes of The Agency drop weekly on Paramount+ with Showtime every Friday.

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Pros

• The tension could be felt at every corner
• Both the Paul Lewis and Coyote plots get developed in exciting ways
• Michael Fassbender delivers a nuanced performance