Amazon Prime Citadel (1 Viewer)

[NeilO]

New spy series on Amazon Prime. First two episodes released last week. Third episode released this week. Only 6 episodes in the first season.

"Everything you know is a lie."

Lots of fun action sequences. One secret spy agency after another. An opening action sequence and then the main story takes place 8 years later.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I've watched the first two episodes. The opening sequence was good but then became somewhat formulaic. I shall persevere but prepared for disappointment!

 

[JamesSmith]

The lady gets her memories back, but not the guy.
--jthree

 

[Josh Dial]

I've watched all three episodes so far. Perfectly adequate. Nothing here is going to blow your mind or reinvent the genre, but the leads have enough charisma and chemistry to drive through the more eye-rolling moments. The third episode had a fun snow chase, and ended in a way I didn't see coming.

I think the show has already been renewed for a second season.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I'm enjoying it too. Nothing we haven't seen before, but everybody's delivering what's required. Like Josh, I didn't see the twist at the end of the third episode coming, though I probably should have.

Loving Lesley Manville's very theatrical villainy as the Manticore middle manager.

Also loving Stanley Tucci's bitchy sarcasm as Citadel's Q.

Some good guest stars too, with Timothy Busfield as the therapist and Moira Kelly as the ex-wife of Tucci's character.

 

[jayembee]

Last night, after watching the lastest episode of Mrs. Davis and Titans, I gave this one a try. Ended up bingeing through all three episodes. As everyone here says, it's pretty derivative, rather like re-doing what the Russos already did with Hydra bringing about the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., but then switching to the arc in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. where they continue down that track for a bit. And the ski-chase was very Bondian. In fact, the whole show seems like James Bond cranked up to "11".

But that said, the action scenes are terrific (the opening sequence reminded me a lot of parts of Bullet Train), and Madden and Chopra's chemistry is quite good. Nice balance of thriller and comedy. An entertaining, even if not groundbreaking, show. I'm certainly in for the three more eps for this season.

And, no, I didn't see the twist at the end of ep3, either. It does kinda make me wonder, though

Spoiler

the "this season on Citadel" scenes after the end" might just be flashbacks for her, but also suggest that Abby will find out who she is. The question is whether knowing will change her back to who she was, or if she'll still be Abby, just as Kyle is still more Kyle than Mason. The thought occurred to me that she might not be amnesiac, but if that were the case, Manticore would certainly have already known that Mason was alive, and they'd've killed him off.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

And, no, I didn't see the twist at the end of ep3, either. It does kinda make me wonder, though

Spoiler

the "this season on Citadel" scenes after the end" might just be flashbacks for her, but also suggest that Abby will find out who she is. The question is whether knowing will change her back to who she was, or if she'll still be Abby, just as Kyle is still more Kyle than Mason. The thought occurred to me that she might not be amnesiac, but if that were the case, Manticore would certainly have already known that Mason was alive, and they'd've killed him off.

I think the bigger question is:

Spoiler: 1x03 Ending

Is Abby really an amnesiac too, or does she remember who she is and came up with the car crash backstory to infiltrate Kyle's amnesiac support group? Her car crash would have happened before Bernard initiated the backstop protocol.

It's seems clear from her tears that she is genuinely in love with Kyle/Mason. But it's entirely possible, even probabe, that she knows more about who Kyle was than Kyle does.

 

[NeilO]

I am looking forward to seeing how it develops in the next episode. I knew that there was something off and I had suspicions, but they were not to the extent of the twist reveal.

 

[David_B_K]

My wife and I watched the third episode last night. We have enjoyed the show thus far. No, it's nothing new, but all the spy movie tropes they are using have worked well. There are some great action sequences, including an OHMSS-like ski chase in ep. 3. I kind of anticipated the twist ending of ep. 3 and was glad to see it. I like the flashback structure which gives us a chance to see Madden alternate between Kyle and Mason rather than seeing him wander around in an amnesiac haze all the time.

The IMDB user reviews really trash the show, with several singling out Chopra. I quite like her in this and will continue with the series.

 

[jayembee]

The IMDB user reviews really trash the show, with several singling out Chopra.

Gee. I wonder why.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The IMDB user reviews really trash the show, with several singling out Chopra. I quite like her in this and will continue with the series.

One thing that struck me here is that while her American accent was passable at best in "Quantico" it's pretty much perfect here. I don't know if it's because she's been living here for the better part of the last decade, or because she's working with a dialect coach, or some combination of the two.

 

[sleroi]

I've watched the first two episodes and I'm struggling with it. It's not bad per se, but it's really not that good either.

I find it really bland, and kind of poorly written. There is no new ground being broken, which I would be fine with if it had more flair or attitude to it.

Storywise it's been pretty generic with a bunch of stock spy movie characters. Only Stanley Tucci manages to be interesting.

Action wise the fight scenes have too many pans and happen too fast. You know what's happening but you don't see it all, and there isn't much tension, because of the poor writing and poorly developed characters. For instance episode 2 opens with a cool pan around the room showing Chopra bound that ends with a menacing figure in the mirror. But we don't know who he is, if he's protecting her or a threat. Then a fight ensues and she's out of her bindings so fast you can't really appreciate what's happening.

And the second episode felt really short, and not in a good way. And by the end of the episode I still don't know what any of the characters motivations are or who I'm supposed to be rooting for.

I'll give it one more episode based on the comments regarding episode 3, but overall there's no sense of mystery, wit or drama that has hooked me and the action was just so-so.

 

[jayembee]

Action wise the fight scenes have too many pans and happen too fast. You know what's happening but you don't see it all, and there isn't much tension, because of the poor writing and poorly developed characters. For instance episode 2 opens with a cool pan around the room showing Chopra bound that ends with a menacing figure in the mirror. But we don't know who he is, if he's protecting her or a threat. Then a fight ensues and she's out of her bindings so fast you can't really appreciate what's happening.

I disagree. Yes, at the beginning you don't know what the man's intentions are, other than that he obviously removed the bullet in her leg. But as he begins to talk with her, it becomes clear -- at least it did to me -- that he had some nasty designs for her. The fight that ensues was pretty clear to me.

I get what you mean. I find too many fight scenes in TV shows look like they're being "choreographed by the editor", probably because it's easier on the budget. Some parts of the train fight that started off the first episode felt a bit like that, as did her fight against the Whichever Evil Brother That Was that she fought, but not her fight in the cabin.

 

[Keith Cobby]

My wife says I have an annoying habit (probably not the only one) when we are watching a film or tv show together of announcing that it is a dud, sometimes 5 minutes in, sometimes longer. After watching episode 4 I have concluded that Citadel is indeed a dud. It's very dark (usually the sign of a low budget), too much backwards and forwards in time, too formulaic, with too much exposition. Chopra is OK but Richard Madden definitely isn't the next Bond.

 

[jayembee]

I liked this episode. It was nice seeing Madden really being Mason Kane instead of being Kyle Conroy faking at being Mason Kane. Formulaic? Sure, but still entertaining (to me).

One thing, though. "It's very dark (usually the sign of a low budget)". Citadel may be accused of a lot of things, but I don't think "low budget" is one of them. It's one of the most expensive TV series done to date.

 

[NeilO]

I liked this episode. It was nice seeing Madden really being Mason Kane instead of being Kyle Conroy faking at being Mason Kane. Formulaic? Sure, but still entertaining (to me).

One thing, though. "It's very dark (usually the sign of a low budget)". Citadel may be accused of a lot of things, but I don't think "low budget" is one of them. It's one of the most expensive TV series done to date.

From the wikipedia page: "As of 2023, Citadel was the second most expensive series of all time with a budget of US$300 million" But "This is largely due to the extensive reshoots which took place with the hiring of David Weil as showrunner."

I was a bit disappointed that we only got a few minutes of the present day story, but it was an interesting flashback with more intrigue and some of the secrets that were referenced earlier might have been revealed. And of course there is ton of irony looking at the events of this episode and what happened to Mason/Kyle.

2 more episodes left in this season. It was reported back in March to have been renewed for a second series.

What is more intriguing is that "Citadel will include spin-off shows in different languages set in the Italian Alps, India, Spain, and Mexico." They are building up the world of the show.

It isn't anything deep, but I am interested in seeing how it plays out.

 

[TonyD]

I'm enjoying it too. Nothing we haven't seen before, but everybody's delivering what's required. Like Josh, I didn't see the twist at the end of the third episode coming, though I probably should have.

Loving Lesley Manville's very theatrical villainy as the Manticore middle manager.

Also loving Stanley Tucci's bitchy sarcasm as Citadel's Q.

Some good guest stars too, with Timothy Busfield as the therapist and Moira Kelly as the ex-wife of Tucci's character.

I did not recognize either of them.

 

[TonyD]

I liked the first two eps so far so I’m sticking with it.

My only issue is more of a pet peeve I guess.
I don’t believe for a second that someone can bump into another person and magically take their wallet away from them as it happened in the first show.

He even checked his pocket to see if she picked him.

 

[NeilO]

Watched the 5th episode last night. Lots of information in present time and flashback. I have no good feel for how they are going to leave us after the 6th episode

By the way, the Citadel Declassified Bonus videos are interesting to see the interpretations by the actors and producers of what is going on.

 

[jayembee]

One thing I have to say though...I wish Thomas Newton Sigel (the director) would stop it with the trope of starting a scene upside down, and slowly rotating the view to right-side up. Starting the first episode that way was fine, but he's overusing it.