After all the years of mole storylines, you would think a show like CIA would look at the twists done before.
Yet, here we are with CIA Season 1 Episode 9, and we get one of the most predictable storylines going.
It’s so predictable that I called it weeks ago, and absolutely nothing at all was surprising.
I wanted to expect more in this day and age, and yet, here we are with a storyline that just doesn’t inspire much.
A Case of the Week That Felt Like It Comes from the 2000s
I’ve felt a lot of nostalgia for the Y2K era over the last few months, whether it’s from dance competitions my children are in or just the current fashion.
The news has also felt like I’ve been back in the early 2000s.
Whether it’s the war in Iran or the focus on being skinny again, there’s this call to the past that doesn’t need to make a comeback.
I thought TV had moved on from all the stereotypes, and here CIA brings us a storyline that feels like it was written for that time.
It’s not even just been this latest hour. We open with a reminder of CIA Season 1 Episode 6, the first time I felt I was back in the ’00s with storytelling.
It’s in this that Bill gets the confirmation he needs about Pyramid, connecting Colin to his mole investigation.
But it’s more than this that makes the installment feel like a blast from the past.
With a Turkish family thrown into a Syrian terrorist regime, CIA delivers an eye-rollingly predictable storyline.
If you couldn’t tell that it was going to be Ali who was going to turn out to be the traitor of the family, then you haven’t watched enough of this genre.
Those who have watched spy dramas throughout the years will know that an alcoholic and drug addict would never be used as an asset.
There was a reason Gina told Karim to stop drinking — loose lips sink ships, and alcohol and drugs certainly loosen those lips.
While I guess it could have been the sister, was that really going to be the case when you consider the patriarchal system that the Middle East operates within?
It was always going to be the brother-in-law.
There isn’t even that much to write about the episode itself, except seeing just how unbelievably easy it seems to be for the CIA agents to fit into particular roles.
This hour showed how much time is spent on the buildup to the story compared to the end.
I want to see a show that is going to test what we know of the world, and so far, CIA hasn’t offered to do that.
Instead, it fumbles the end with a somewhat laughable conclusion.
Part of me thinks I’m mean, as being ex-military, I’ve spent time on exercises, where we’ve pretended to be the enemy.
The only difference was not having the bright yellow blocks at the front of rifles to prevent the flashes (known as the flash-bangs).
However, I’ve often wondered how anyone can believe the play-acting in these exercises, because I watched that airplane scene and just laughed the whole time at Bill’s bad play-acting.
I Said Colin Wasn’t the Mole
The case of the week was wasted, as well.
Was CIA Season 1 Episode 9 really about the case, or was it about offering a filler for the mole storyline?
That mole storyline bookends the episode, delivering an outcome I think every single viewer could have guessed.
Making Colin a potential mole was laughable at best and insulting to us, the viewers, at worst.
There was no chance in hell that one of the two leading characters was going to be the mole.
I wrote about this weeks ago, making it clear that Colin way was too smart not to realize that something bigger was going on.
If he really was the mole, why would he even bother getting into a relationship with someone working at Pyramid?
Do I believe Sarah is working with the mole? Not exactly.
I think she’s some sort of way in at this point. By dating Sarah, Colin can meet her colleagues and get easier access to the building.
However, this could be the huge twist at the end of CIA Season 1.
What I do know is that Colin knows that spies lie, and despite all the talk about trusting the people he works with, he knows that he’s lied to them. If he has, then they’ve lied to him.
I also called that Colin wouldn’t even be mad with Bill once he learned that Bill was onto the mole.
Sure enough, Colin has resigned himself to the fact that he’s been made, not as the mole, but as someone trying to sniff out the mole.
Look, I love that my theories are all playing out, but I’m insulted at how easy it was to figure it out.
I know I think like a writer. I will always look at what the twists can be.
Those who know me personally know how I can quickly guess the plot of a Dan Brown book, because I’ve learned how he thinks.
That doesn’t mean I enjoy it as someone who watches the shows and reads the books.
I want to be surprised and thrown off my game, and CIA had that opportunity.
Yet, it’s following a game plan that we’ve seen time and time again, and I can’t tell if this is insulting to us or if it’s just the fact that the show went through so many showrunner changes that everyone had to work with whatever they had when the series finally got into full development.
All I can hope for is that there’s a realistic reason for Bill to even trust Colin. Isn’t claiming you know there’s a mole pretty basic when it comes to tricking a non-spy like Bill?
Bill isn’t dumb, and Colin has to know that. I want to see Colin have some respect for the man he has called his partner for the last few months.
While it’s frustrating, we have three episodes left — yes, three, as CIA has quietly added two episodes to the season — so there’s hope that there can be a twist that isn’t as predictable as it initially seems.
Right now, my money is on either Nikki or Gina, because we haven’t gotten to know anyone else who matters for it not to be one of the two women.
This is where we turn it to you — and I have one question!
Is anyone else getting frustrated with trope-ish storytelling that doesn’t seem to add anything new? What are your thoughts on the cases of the week on CIA? Be honest, and sound out in the comments below! It’s a safe space here!
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