Citadel – Season 1 Episode 2 “Spies Appear in Night Time” Recap & Review

Spies Appear in Night Time

Episode 2 of Citadel starts with a flashback. We see Nadia pull herself out of the water in Italy, where she manages to contact Bernard and tell him what happened. He’s initiated a backstop though, and tells her he had no other choice. Nearby, Nadia just manages to stop a car for help before she collapses.

Nadia wakes up to find herself handcuffed to a bed. Her wound has been dressed and a man with a gun sits watching her. When she realises he means to keep her there, she manages to use his gun to break the handcuffs and fight him till he passes out. Something red flashes on her neck and an announcement is heard saying “backstop is commencing”.

In the few seconds she has, Nadia writes the words “go to Valencia Asha” on her arm before she passes out. When she wakes up, she’s shocked to see where she is. She takes her passport and the man’s car keys and leaves.

In Wyoming, Abby finds it hard to believe Kyle’s a spy. Kyle tells Abby he just wants to keep her and Hendrix safe. Bernard arrives and tells him it’s time, so Kyle says his goodbyes and they leave.

Bernard takes Kyle to a building in New York City where he says the case is being decrypted at the top floor. He’s hacked Kyle’s biometrics to get him into the building. Bernard guides Kyle into the room with the case and even instructs him on how to fight a guard off. Kyle makes it back with the case and they leave.

At Ambassador Dahlia’s home, she gets a call from the Davik brothers who tell her the case was stolen by none other than Mason Kane. She tells them to bring both to her.

Bernard tells Kyle to open the case using his wrist, and upon doing so, wants to use the case to find other active agents. Bernard reveals they aren’t going back to Wyoming; they can’t because Kyle is now a target for Manticore, something Bernard conveniently forgot to mention earlier. Kyle can only return to his family once Manticore is dealt with now.

He then reveals what the backstop did and tells him to use the vial in the case with his name on it to get his memories back. Before he can do so, the Davik brothers shoot and hit Bernard. The car crashes to a stop and Kyle manages to take the case, get into another car and drive away.

Kyle stops the car at a clearing and looks for the vial, but it’s broken and the fluid has leaked. He screams in frustration but the X Case shows him it’s located one active agent – Nadia Sinh in Valencia, Spain.

On his way to Valencia, Kyle leaves a message for Abby explaining what happened. He enters a restaurant and bumps against Nadia but she doesn’t remember who he is. When he mentions Italy, she takes him aside. She assumes he’s talking about the man she killed but he tells her everything about Citadel. As she denies it, he brings the X Case close enough to identify her from her wrist.

The Davik brothers enter the restaurant. Just as Mason tells Nadia about the vial, one of Davik’s men shoots at them. Nadia knocks him out with a pan and they head outside the kitchen where they are ambushed by Davik. While they’re both getting beaten, Nadia uses the vial. With her memories back, Nadia takes Davik down easily, and she helps Mason up too, telling him she remembers everything.

Dahlia is annoyed when Davik tells her about Nadia. She tells Davik his ‘gift’ is here, and as she sits down for dinner, across the table from her is Bernard.

The Episode Review

The second episode of Citadel is pretty much plays out in the same vein of the first — plenty of action accompanied with twist and turns. Bernard’s subtle manipulation of dragging Mason into the game was a good twist, highlighting the idea that nobody’s entirely a good person in this show. And Bernard, skillfully played by Stanley Tucci, makes for an enigmatic ‘greater good’ kind of spy.

Mason and Nadia both continue to be compelling characters with Madden and Chopra Jonas having some incredible screen presence and sparky chemistry. The pace does make me wonder how much they will really cover in this first season’s six episodes. Needless to say though, there is more than enough mystery to have us hanging on for more of this show.