Spoilers for Citadel lie ahead, so read at your own risk.
Citadel – one of the latest shows to hit the 2023 TV schedule – is moving right along. The espionage thriller has already dropped four of the six episodes that make up its inaugural season, which means the finale is just around the corner. So far, its delivered on its promise to provide entertaining fight sequences and general spectacle. But of course, the action scenes performed by leads Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden (who’s learned a lot about stunt work) are just part of the equation. You also have to consider the story itself, and there’s something about it that’s bugging me.
Citadel Spends Too Much Time Dwelling On The Past
At the center of the story is family man Kyle Conroy, who was known as Mason Kane. Mason was an operative of the titular agency before he had his memories wiped during a failed mission eight years earlier. Because of this scenario, much of the story flashes back to Mason’s career with the organization as well as his romance with Nadia Sinh. It’s totally understandable that the writers would want to fill on the blanks on Kane and Sinh and their professional and personal relationships, given the narrative. However, I’d argue that at times, the show leans too much on the material set in the past.
Now, in fairness, I can’t be critical of all of these flashback sequences, as a number of them are definitely necessary. For example, the opening portion of the pilot, which depicts Mason and Nadia’s last official mission as agents, helps establish the premise. It also gves viewers a sense of what the show wants to accomplish with its action-heavy moments. However, a lot of narrative real estate is wasted by extensively tackling some past-set plot points. For instance, the third episode spent far too much time detailing the two former lovers’ early interactions.
Citadel Cast: Where Else You've Seen The Stars Of Amazon Prime's Spy TV Show
This approach is only amplified in the latest episode, “Tell Her Everything,” which reveals how Ashleigh Cummings’ Celeste Graham gets involved with Citadel. That story takes up about 90% of the entire installment and, as a result, little narrative progress is made with the present-day material. The only major development there is that Nadia and Kyle infiltrate a facility and locating Carter Spence (Osy Ikhile), who doesn’t trust Sinh. It simply feels like more could’ve been done. Even a scene involving Stanley Tucci’s captured Bernard Orlick would’ve been a nice change of pace.
Yes, writers should ideally aim to “show and not tell,” but the creative team seems to have taken that notion and run away with it. All in all, it’s just hard to shake the notion that the series hasn’t made as much forward progress at this point as it should’ve.
Why Is This Storytelling Strategy A Problem For Amazon’s Show?
It’s true that there have been a number of TV shows that rely on flashbacks to some degree. However, this could be detrimental to Citadel’s narrative for the simple fact that the first season only contains six episodes. We’re not talking about a network series that has the privilege of dropping 22 episodes during a given year. Heck, even 13 would give the scribes room to add plot threads set in the past. Yet with only six in play here, one would think that the producers would want to keep things moving full steam ahead. What’s arguably the biggest concern to draw from all of this is that viewers could witness a rushed conclusion in a few weeks.
Series co-creator David Weil is a proven storyteller as is true of his fellow EPs, Joe and Anthony Russo, who taught him a lot. It’s certainly possible that the group is able to wrap up this season in a neat and satisfying way. Though there’s little reason to be confident at the moment. Let’s hope things turn out for the best and that if the show has actually been renewed for a second season, it’ll change up its story structure in the future
New episodes of Citadel premiere on Fridays and can be streamed using a Prime Video subscription, which will also allow you to access some of the best shows on Amazon.
