Year Released: 2023
Directed by: Director: Newton Thomas Sigel, Jessica Yu
Executive Producers: Executive Producers: The Russo Brothers (Anthony and Joseph)
Starring: Starring: Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Stanley Tucci . Lesley Manville
(6 episodes, 40-43 min. each)
Genre: Action and adventure, Spy Thriller

“You need to remember the past to save the future.” Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) of Citadel

It aspires to be a combo of James Bond and Mission Impossible, but the Russo Brothers seem more intent on creating a money making franchi$e with multiple spin-offs rather than paying homage to classic spy thrillers.

It certainly is witty and slick, with the twists and turns coming hard and fast starting in episode 3, but the jigsaw puzzle framework gets us a bit dizzy. Even the actors themselves confess to finding themselves getting confused about their character reversals. A lot of that has to with the memory wipe:

Global spy agency Citadel has fallen, and its agents' memories were wiped clean. Now the powerful syndicate, Manticore, is rising in the void. Can the Citadel agents recollect their past and summon the strength to fight back?

We shift back and forth in time abruptly without much notice – not to mention the vivid dreams that interrupt the sleep of our two ex-spies, Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) and Mason Kane (Richard Madden) in their now somewhat dully normal lives.

I guess the writers want all of us off balance and confused. The fast cuts and rapid action spin around like a whirling dervish, a recent craze in movies that seems intent on spinning them off the edge. We’ve seen the same frenzy in The Glass Onion, a devolution from the more sedate and cerebral Knives Out, as well as the Enola Holmes franchise where Sherlock’s breathless little sis is always on the run and ahead of her more methodical brother.

Four of the Citadel’s six episodes have aired, and what was at first intriguing is getting a bit old now. Maybe part of that is that Citadel, a stand-alone spy agency “loyal to no nation,” does not exactly inspire. It seems, to Different Drummer at least, just a bit less ruthless than its Nemesis, Manticore.

But the two leads of those agencies are deliciously villainous. Stanley Tucci’s Citadel survivor Bernard Orlick spars with Manticore’s Lesley Manville’s Dahlia Archer with wit and just a hint of respect for her over the top ruthlessness.

Dahlia Archer: Nice to see you, Bernard.
Bernard Orlick: It’s horrifically f**ing terrible to see you Dahla. Couldn’t be worse.
Dahla Archer: I imagine it’s a shock to see me at this end of the table.
Bernard Orlick: Yeah. I thought you might be at a blood-feed, or an animal sacrifice, or your weekly coven meeting.

Even her name Dahlia, suggests The Black Dahlia, that notorious and grotesque murder from the 1940s. Her opening scene shows Dahlia tending her roses, gently dead-heading them. Soon we find out that roses are not the only victims of her oh so civilized snipping out spent blooms.

Our younger spies have a shared past that is intriguing and secret, even to themselves in their now memory wiped states, but that changes as do the romantic couplings – if I can use that euphemism for what are actually mostly carnal liaisons with the commitment and longevity of Middle School melodramas.

Their banter is witty, but some critics have also noted that that gets old as well. The first scene on a train sets the tone.

Nadia: Seat’s taken. I’m waiting for a friend.
Mason: Well, how about I keep you company till they show?
Nadia: The thing is, he’s far more attractive. And I’m a girl who paid a fortune for a good view.

And then later on, say close to a decade later:

Mason: Were we together? Because from what I remember it felt like we were close.
Nadia: Says an amnesiac.
Mason: Were we?
Nadia: It was brief. It was nothing.
Mason: Lightning in a bottle?
Nadia: Flash in a pan.

The physical sparring with friends and enemies alike is well done in this very expensive Prime production, much like John Wick’s slickly choreographed killing sprees, exotic and glamorous foreign locales a la a James Bond backdrop, as well as the armed combat performed with martial arts finesse.

But like James Bond, especially about the time Pierce Bronson took over that role, and the franchises changed from hand to hand fighting and cleverly executed getaways to battles with automatic weapons, the relentless killing in Citadel takes up too much screen time.

Not to mention the hypocrisy with a capital H for the usually gun-shy public personas of film stars.

Different Drummer will certainly stay tuned for the last two episodes, just to watch the romantic explosions, betrayals, and double crossing until we find the Citadel mole who wiped out almost the entire organization.

What about you? Go for it, but don’t expect anything near The Spy Who Came Out of the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, or From Russia with Love .

A slick and rather heartless replica out for the cash and not the class.

–Kathy Borich
🥁 🥁 🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

In flash backs we learn of better times for our two young spies, an intimate night in a glamorous Paris hotel with views of that oh-so-romantic city. Somehow the scene recalls that line from Casablanca, “We will always have Paris,” the melancholy goodbye between Bogie and Ingrid Bergman.

A cocktail with its own cheer; you’ll shout its name upon tasting! This noisy number hails from one of the most glamorous hotels in the world: The Ritz, Paris. A refreshing, fruity concoction with added bubbles, it’s elegant and sophisticated—just like the place itself. If getting hold of one of the Ritz’ world class cocktail recipes isn’t a reason to shout, I don't know what is! Serendipiti!

“Serendipiti” Cocktail

Ingredients

1 oz Calvados (or Apple Brandy of choice)
1 oz Apple Juice
Champagne to fill
Spring of Mint

Directions

Add Apple brandy and mint to a tall tumbler, mashing the two to mix and bruise leaves. Fill with ice, then pour over apple juice. Top to brim with Champagne, garnish with mint et voilà!

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