Prime Video's 'Citadel' Corporate Motive is Shockingly Blatant

Who needs art made by AI? With programming as derivative, uninspired, and mechanical as Citadel, the Russo Brothers show us that flesh-and-blood human beings are just as capable of mimicking all procedurally generated content themselves. The spy thriller stars Richard Madden (Bodyguard) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Quantico) as super-secret spies for the global espionage agency Citadel, but after the evil syndicate Manticore lures them out of hiding and stages a devastating attack on the spy network, the remaining agents have their memories wiped to protect Citadel’s secrets.

We pick up eight years later with top spy Mason Kane (Madden) now living as the unassuming family man and amnesiac Kyle – but he’s soon thrown back into the fray by the devilish Manticore. After the first two episodes, it wouldn’t be fair to say Citadel should be wiped from our memories, but so far, the series has been cleaned of all unique personality and identity – like a merciless, unfeeling agent in streaming’s ongoing cutthroat mission of cultural sabotage. But hey, at least it only cost $300 million!

The biggest problem with the series, led by showrunner David Weil after original writers Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec left mid-production, is that the actual show seems like an afterthought. This might seem impossible for something that, thanks to extensive re-shoots and changes to key creative leads, ranks as the second-most expensive season of television ever made, but Citadel has yet to make the argument that it cares about being actual drama and not just a calculated marketing ploy.