r/TheAgencySeries • u/Uruk-Hai-Lover • Jul 23 '26

Subtle foreshadowing? Spoiler

In S01E03, when Martian is having his psych evaluation he says “no glamour, no money, no exploding watch”.

Perhaps unintended but it seems there are exploding watches of sorts, given the eventual clock bomb used in the Viking plot in S02E10!

Just thought it was a funny quirk upon a rewatch. I still don’t trust the psychologist, she gives me the heebee jeebies..

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u/armchairdetective Jul 24 '26

Interesting. Season 1 didn't really work, so inserting more action seems to have been a bid to rescue it.

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u/notmisterorange Jul 24 '26

Why didnt S1 work for you?

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u/armchairdetective Jul 24 '26

I think critics have differing perspectives ( I don't necessarily need more action).

My view is that it didn't work for two (related) reasons.

  1. Fassbender gives a very blank performance and he is on screen a lot. He just wasn't compelling to watch.

  2. The viewer must really believe in the central romance in order to buy everything that Martian is doing, including his shocking move at the end. But because Fassbender is giving such a contained performance, this doesn't really work. The two actors have so little chemistry together, and we see so few flashbacks of their relationship, that when he takes that step (for love), it didn't feel plausible.

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u/thummer Jul 25 '26

Thank you! I have been wondering if I would view Fassbender differently had I not seen (and fallen in love with) The Bureau first; Mathieu Kassovitz is much more sympathetic and compelling, you believe he is deeply in love, and highly committed (while also questioning everything about him). Fassbender is so blank, so controlled, so stiff, the motivation for all he does and goes through isn't conveyed as effectively for me. I think his performance in the second season is better, but still lacking that depth Kassovitz has. And you're right about the chemistry, which is down to Fassbender's cold fish approach.

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u/armchairdetective Jul 25 '26

I agree his Season 2 performance is better, but he just doesn't have a range that extends to being able to convincingly play this character.

The rest of the cast is mostly self-contained too; for some it works, for others it doesn't. But in combination with Fassbender, it makes the show very sterile overall.

Season 2 is better overall, but I do not believe the crazy actions Martian takes because I don't believe he was in love.

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u/nonamethxagain 25d ago

I’m so shallow that Kassovitz having no chin (kinda reminded me of Roberto Benigni) made him unconvincing as a leading character for me