SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for CIA Season 1, Episode 11.
Give CIA Season 1, Episode 11 some credit: the CBS show got to its endgame reveal an episode ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, viewers are also ahead of the plot twists throughout “Forbidden Eye.” Are they dramatic? Yes. Do they get the job done? They do. But in a show that’s founded on surprises, this pivotal episode doesn’t have many of them.
“Forbidden Eye” is another opportunity to examine Colin Glass’ enigmatic backstory, as the man who recruited him into the CIA is missing. It’s an easy way to reveal a little more about Colin, by combining his past (in the person of Sandy Harrison) with the present (the mole hunt slash Pyramid Security problem). The episode is aiming to kill two birds with one stone, and it does, as a mistranslation reveals that Sandy’s problem is connected to Colin and Bill Goodman’s mole problem. The bigger issue is that the fans are smarter than the characters by the time the final bombshell drops.
It’s no surprise that Sandy is located alive; his real function in the story is to act as a mirror for Colin, to show him what he could turn into decades from now. And that part of the episode works. Tom Ellis doesn’t quite get all the respect he deserves for the emotional scene work he does. Yes, he’s witty and charming and plays these larger-than-life characters, but this is one more example of what he can do in quieter moments. It’s when the mole storyline creeps in that CIA wanders off the mark.
With an assist from FBI recurring character Ian Lim, our heroes (and the whole show) are quickly able to narrow down the mole from “we have no idea” to three candidates. But those choices are far too obvious. It can’t be Nikki Reynard, because CIA needs actor Necar Zadegan for next season. Even Colin and Bill’s brief discussion about whether or not Nikki is a valid choice doesn’t feel intense enough. The other two are predictably the two tech experts in CIA, Kevin and Zeeb. Audiences will already have them on their bingo cards, because both Kevin and Zeeb are easily expendable, and because in mole storylines it’s usually an ancillary character, often the tech person. The most famous example being 24‘s Jamey Farrell.
At this point, there’s a little reason to compare CIA to 24. Not only that very similar mole choice, but in their handling of this plot point. Everyone knew from the pilot that CIA had to resolve its mole storyline by the end of the season. Stretching it past one season would just test people’s patience and make the main characters look ignorant. In “Forbidden Eye,” Colin ends up chasing Kevin, who briefly takes Colin’s girlfriend Sarah hostage. Remember that in 24, the second and even bigger mole was Nina Myers, who actually killed Jack Bauer’s wife Teri in the Season 1 finale. Well, CIA might be going a sort of similar route.
Kevin being killed by a mysterious “doctor” while in the hospital is a plot twist fans will see coming from a mile away. It’s been done many times on several different shows, and it’s just been repeated to the viewers by Nikki that Kevin obviously wasn’t working alone. Plus, as mentioned above, CIA can kill Kevin without any kind of plot damage. What’s meant to be a massive shock at the end of “Forbidden Eye” is that the killer appears to be Colin’s presumed-dead girlfriend Toni—suggesting that she, too, is now working for the other side. Not unlike Nina Myers.
The big difference is that with Nina, 24 viewers had a whole season to bond with her as a good guy. Plus, her previous romantic relationship with Jack Bauer was so brief that it barely mattered as a plot point. With CIA, while Colin has talked about Toni an awful lot, the audience doesn’t have any kind of connection to her. They know that this is really bad for Colin, and they care about Colin, but they also know that this is the most obvious fourth-act “gotcha” that CIA could do. The creative team has spent all season bringing up her death, so of course they’re going to say that she’s alive.
CIA Season 1, Episode 11 thus creates both dramatic and emotional stakes for the finale. Colin will wind up going head-to-head with Toni, likely in an emotional final confrontation, or at the least an emotional conversation as the dust settles. That will in turn firmly establish Bill as Colin’s new and real partner, clearing the way for Season 2. It all makes sense but it’s also all too easy to deduce. With so much secrecy in the world that it’s established, CIA will be even better if it’s able to genuinely surprise the audience more than it does here.
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.
