CIA
When by-the-book FBI Special Agent Bill Goodman is loaned out to a clandestine CIA/FBI task force, he finds himself teamed up with secretive and roguish CIA case officer Colin Glass. Together they work covert operations in New York, uncovering international plots, terrorist cells, and geopolitical secrets.
Metrics
The Signal
The LA Times dismisses "CIA" as another formulaic entry in Dick Wolf's procedural empire, noting it "sticks to the usual procedural plot" and relies on the "time-honored, time-worn conceit of clashing personalities forced to work side by side." RogerEbert.com delivers a harsher verdict, arguing the show fundamentally misunderstands its purpose: "An important part of quality is understanding the audience, moment, and subject matter. 'CIA' does none of that." Yet viewers seem more forgiving than critics. Despite launching with a tepid 63% on Rotten Tomatoes, Tom Ellis's new series quietly climbed from ninth to third place on Paramount+ within 24 hours, trailing only "South Park" and "NCIS." The show also landed in sixth place on Amazon's digital charts—suggesting audiences are hungry for exactly the kind of familiar comfort food critics find stale. If you're someone who puts on procedurals for background noise or genuinely misses the heyday of network TV's formula-driven cop shows, "CIA" delivers exactly what's promised. Just don't expect it to reinvent the wheel that Dick Wolf has been spinning for decades.