SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for CIA Season 1, Episode 3.

The third episode of CIA is a standout because it starts pushing the FBI spinoff’s characters beyond their established types. Viewers see more to them in “Bridge of Lies,” particularly in Tom Ellis and Necar Zadegan’s performances as Colin Glass and Nikki Reynard. Add in some very cool guest actors, and the episode is bursting with potential.

Logistically, this hour of the CBS drama is the first Nikki-centric episode. It involves her going to Hong Kong to rescue an agent whom she’s known for years. This is the episode Zadegan referenced in our interview, and it’s worth the watch for that alone, because it proves Nikki is more than the boss archetype. The audience sees that she isn’t just going to spend the season sitting in her office, and gets to watch how she operates in the field. Zadegan is excellent in showing off this other side of Nikki, with the same toughness that she brings to her role in Mayor of Kingstown. Hopefully, another episode will bring back Eddie, because this story makes people want to learn more about their friendship. Even if they have to sit through some more off-key karaoke.

But to just call this a Nikki episode would be underselling it. “Bridge of Lies” is just as much about Colin Glass, as audiences see how badly he reacts to Nikki’s arrest. It’s fun to see the normally flippant Colin going into a spiral, and Ellis is likewise wonderful playing his character with a broader range of emotions than just wisecracking. It’s just as important for CIA to establish that Colin has depth beyond his persona, because the fun quips and the action scenes only go so far. In this episode, fans can really feel Colin’s pain but also his anxiety. This is more than just a team member in trouble; he’s in a situation that he has no idea how to get his head around emotionally.

“Bridge of Lies” also boasts two great guest stars. Alain Uy, most recently seen wrapping his role as corrupt U.S. Attorney Bill Tseng in Power Book IV: Force, portrays foreign intelligence officer Huang and delivers the perfect level of thinly diplomatic menace. It’s a shame that CIA doesn’t have the screen time to really show the gamesmanship between him and Nikki, because that’s two outstanding actors just in a room together with no real distractions. And Dan Bakkedahl of Legit is on hand as a State Department official whom Colin has definitely driven up the wall on more than one occasion. The guest players in Episode 3 are all definitely worthy of future appearances if the story is right.

The biggest weakness in the episode is, unfortunately, the ongoing mole hunt subplot that CIA is partly founded on. The best part of this is seeing Mindhunter alum Cotter Smith and FBI‘s Jeremy Sisto turn up in the opening to ask Bill Goodman how the mole hunt is going. But the need to push that plot forward undercuts what could have been a strong emotional arc for Bill. Everyone knew that CIA would have some episode where Bill would cross the proverbial line and do something bold, because that’s how the “odd couple” dynamic works. That happens here, when he asks Jubal to let the task force take over the case of a Chinese spy in order to use that person to get Nikki back. And that should be the subplot—Bill putting his own morals and his reputation with the FBI on the line, in order to help out Colin and Nikki, therefore establishing that true friendship with them that CIA will need to survive.

But instead, viewers are made to feel like Bill is doing this more for his mole hunt than actually caring about either Colin or Nikki. The episode’s last scene, in which Bill phones Jubal to say “I think I’m in,” undercuts the moment that Bill and Colin have shared just a moment before. CIA would have been wiser to just put the mole idea aside for an episode, let Bill make the same choice clearly out of caring for his newfound team, and let his and Colin’s relationship grow because of it. This was the chance to have them truly connect with Bill seeing Colin in such a vulnerable state—and not one he might have fudged like the story about his parents. Yet Bill’s conversations with Jubal make him seem more manipulative than he probably is.

Honestly, CIA has already proven it would be a stronger show without the mole idea. It doesn’t need an ongoing mythology to be interesting. It finds ways to be unique, such as essentially sending up Office Space when Bill and Colin pretend to be auditors. Ellis’ American accent is a treat and he and Nick Gehlfuss come off almost exactly like the Bobs. That creativity, mixed with these more emotional scenes, is what will get this show to Season 2. It can be incredibly fun but it’s also not going to rest on its laurels and only serve up the fun stuff.

“Bridge of Lies” hits everyone in the feels, too, and has so much potential to bring back not only characters, but things viewers learn about those characters. Fans leave wanting to know more about Nikki and Eddie, wanting to see more of Colin trying to be the leader that he clearly isn’t comfortable being, and wanting to see if Huang finds a way to get back at the team eventually. CIA still has plenty to do but this is the episode that opens the doors to so many extra possibilities.

CIA airs Mondays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Photo Credit: Courtesy of CBS.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.