I got hooked on watching Michael Fassbender's The Martian risk his double life by getting sloppy

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for episode 6 of The Agency.After a slow start to the series, The AgencyThe last few episodes of have accelerated the pace considerably. I guess that's the point of a slow-burn TV show – to set up lots of threads to unravel as the season progresses. Well, I can say for sure that it's working for The Agency. Last week's episode 5 brought an exciting new dynamic to the show. Michael Fassbender's The Martian was still front and center, but The Agency I also focused on two other characters, and I loved them.

Danny and Owen got their time to shine in Episode 5. Danny passed a CIA test, while Owen performed poorly on a covert mission, but still found the missing piece in Coyote's mysterious disappearance. The Agency episode 6 expands on these stories. Danny receives a final round of weapons training from Naomi, playfully commenting on his new relationship, and Coyote's discovery of Valhalla and Owen's unknown psychiatrist plays an important role in the story. Still, episode 6 is not a three-player game, focusing firmly on Marciano.

Paul Lewis or Martian? Michael Fassbender's spy faces the impending collision between his two lives

The stakes have never been higher for Mars

The last episode saw Osman prepare to take action against Marciano after realizing that Paul Lewis never reported being robbed to the police despite walking into the police station. The Agency episode 6 shows what it's like, as Osman gets dangerously close to the secrets behind Fassbender's character. The intelligence agent follows Marciano's daughter, Poppy, to a coffee shop. He pretends to have attended 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 was built to mean danger and has no problem making people disappear if necessary. As such, I feared for Poppy's fate, even though they were in a store with lots of people coming and going. Fortunately, nothing happened to her, but Osman confirmed that Paul Lewis was not Poppy's father's name, as he asked her point-blank if she knew him, and Poppy denied it. I believe he clearly sensed her response, and later in the episode he directly tells Martian that he knows Poppy's last name is Cunningham, not Lewis.

Poppy isn't the only one who has to deal with being followed in the episode. Marciano has to lose two men who follow him several times. He even uses a CIA agent, who was among the “laundromats” who extracted Owen in the last episode, to help him get out of a possible ambush by getting into a garbage truck, letting their asses believe that Paul Lewis was still having a meeting. with your publisher for an hour. Later, Marciano comes very close to being caught, having to run and narrowly escape.

The CIA makes a discovery in the Coyote case

Marciano's mistakes begin 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 falling apart, putting his real life and the work of the CIA in danger. I find it fascinating to watch how Fassbender approaches both sides of his character. When he is at the CIA, Marciano does not let any of the dramas that happen in his personal life show on his face. Fassbender assumes a place of authority as a character and drives the plot forward with great momentum.

However, with Osman getting closer to Marciano's true identity, this facade would never last forever. In episode 6, he starts making mistakes. Because he was almost caught, Marciano ends up being late for a deal he made 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 won't have luck 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 deadline of four days to recover Coyote before he is handed over to the Russians in Moscow. This is where Marciano's problems show up in his work, when he makes a promise to the White House that they will get Coyote back before then. Bosko and Henry are furious with this decision as it now puts the organization in a difficult situation. With both of Marciano's lives facing problems, I want to see if the character will be able to find a way to turn things around or if he will spiral downward as the first season continues.

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