Although Taylor Sheridan is best known for his melodramatic western brand, Season 3 of his underrated spy thriller series, Lioness, is set to premiere on Paramount+ in October 2026. Yet, for all the strides the series made to improve on Season 1 (56% on Rotten Tomatoes) in Season 2 (90%), Lioness remains overshadowed by an equally unheralded tale of covert espionage. With Season 2 of the series also arriving in late 2026, Paramount+ has two rival spy shows battling for supremacy.
With a star-studded cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Jeffrey Wright, Richard Gere, Dominic West, and more, Paramount+’s 2024 espionage series The Agency deserves far more attention than it has received thus far. A granular examination of the toll undercover work takes on a career intelligence officer, The Agency has far more compelling nuance than Lioness.
‘The Agency’ Masters Spycraft & Counter-Intelligence Far Better Than ‘Lioness’
A prestige TV show that premiered to little fanfare or marketing in December 2024, The Agency is a remake of the French series The Bureau and boasts a mega-talented pedigree. Created by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth (Fair Game, Spectre), executive-produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, and directed by Joe Wright (Atonement), Neil Burger (The Illusionist), and others, The Agency is a slow-burning spy thriller that delves into the nitty-gritty of intelligence and espionage work.
The story tracks “Martian” (Fassbender), the code name of Brandon Colby, an undercover CIA operative who returns to London Station following six years in Ethiopia. Once directed to leave his life as a spy behind, Martian is pulled back into an international web of intrigue as a case officer when his former flame, Dr. Sami Zahir (Turner-Smith), enters his life, threatening to expose his true identity and endangering them both.
Whereas Lioness focuses more on counterterrorism to justify its action-driven spectacles and Sheridan’s penchant for high-octane explosions, The Agency is far more interested in depicting the daily routines of counterintelligence, spycraft, and the psychological toll of being a career CIA operative. With more clarity, the show becomes more compelling and edifying about its subject, even if it moves at a slower pace. By taking its time throughout its 10-episode first season, The Agency makes it much easier to follow the often jumbled, kinetic, and confusing Lioness.
‘The Agency’ Is Closer To ‘Slow Horses’ Than ‘Lioness’ in Its Depiction of Espionage
While Lioness leans more into military action overseas ordered by its CIA ops, The Agency digs far deeper into investigative work, strategic planning for long-term covert missions, infiltration and exfiltration, the risk-reward of success versus failure, and the psychological effects on CIA employees. As such, The Agency is a more mature, adult-driven series that deserves to be mentioned alongside Apple TV+’s highly venerated Slow Horses, another spy drama that emphasizes the tension and suspense of quotidian routine over intense counter-terrorism shootouts.
While Slow Horses follows inept MI6 veterans, The Agency takes a similar tack in tracing the thankless, less glamorous, slow-progressing detective work that often defines what true intelligence does for a living. Yet, despite leaning into the romantic angle in the slow first two episodes, The Agency picks up the pace by Episode 3 and has the sprawling international scope you’d expect from a spy series. The story spans from London, Ethiopia, Belarus, Virginia, Ukraine, and Poland to Pennsylvania, Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, and others, presenting viewers with a macro view of the consequences of the micro-work that Martian and his colleagues perform.
Finally, mention must be made of The Agency‘s superlative cast. While Lioness has solid performances from Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman, and Morgan Freeman, The Agency‘s top-tier acting, led by Fassbender, Wright, Gere, and Waterston, is even more convincing. With Season 2 already renewed by Paramount+, The Agency is the place to be before Lioness‘s third season returns in October.
