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The much-awaited Citadel, starring Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden, premiered on Amazon Prime Video with two episodes on Thursday, April 28. As exhilarating as the trailer looked, the Josh Appelbaum, Bryan Oh, and David Weil series did not hold back on the action, the secrets, or the larger-than-life plotlines as it started following the lives of Agent Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) and Mason Kane (Richard Madden).
The first two episodes of Citadel served as a more gentle world-building exercise as the entire story and the entire backstory (hopefully) were laid out in the midst of thrilling action and overused plot twists. But despite that, it managed to remain slick, fast, and easy to watch. The first two episodes established the direction of the story as well.
Citadel is set to be six episodes long and will premiere new episodes every week from now on. Clearly, the story is intricate and long, and two episodes are not enough to judge it. But the start is positive and the series should continue on this path in the coming days.
Disclaimer: The thoughts reflected in this article are purely those of the author, which may be subjective in nature.
Citadel episodes 1 and 2 are just the beginning of a long arc of genre cliches
To take Citadel seriously, viewers need to let go of the perception that it can or will surprise them. Nothing the first two episodes of the new Priyanka Chopra Jonas starrer did was enough to catch viewers by surprise. This is largely due to the overly crowded market of thrillers in recent days, which has seen almost all extremities of spy plotlines exploited and rearranged.
But after watching the first two episodes of the show with no expectations of surprise, it is actually quite a thrilling and well-detailed plot. In other ways, it is be weighed down by genre cliches, but its self-awareness and work around this downside make Citadel quite a worthy series.
The first episode starts with Agent Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) and Mason Kane (Richard Madden) on an adventurous mission when things go wrong. They both realize that their memories were going to be erased, thanks to a special chip installed in them from their spy organization.
The series jumps very quickly to eight years later, where Mason lives a different life, and so does Nadia, both with no memories from their spy days. But of course, the threat still looms large, and the two eventually have to get back to working as top agents to take down the group known as Manticore. They are aided by former Citadel colleague Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci).
The first two episodes pack enough action and stunts to please an average fan. It also dives into complicated and well-concealed details in the same time span to serve the more serious viewers. The stunts are eye-catching, and the fights are thrilling. If one is to completely shed the idea of seeing something new, Citadel is actually a fun watch.
Of course, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden are also excellent in the series. The former's stunt-packed moves are sure to attract a lot of attention from Indian audiences and Madden's role seems to be in the very starting phase in the first two episodes.
There is plenty that the new Amazon Prime show could offer. For starters, it was as good as any decent spy-thriller series.
Citadel episodes 1 and 2 are now streaming on Prime Video.
