Eight Years On, Michael Mann’s Condor Still Struggles to Live Up to Its Own Premise

“Condor” is a TV series about a young CIA analyst whose job turns out to be worse than he expected. Max Irons plays Joe Turner, a man who wants to change the agency from the inside. Instead, he finds out the CIA has been using an algorithm he built to spy on American citizens, and that discovery leads to a terrorist plot threatening millions of lives.

The show borrows from Sidney Pollack’s 1975 thriller “Three Days of the Condor,” and it shares that film’s premise: a lone agent caught in a conspiracy bigger than anyone expected. It ran for two seasons, 20 episodes in total, on Audience and later on Epix, and it ended its run on December 26, 2021.

Trailer, via Skydance.

Joe Turner’s Job

Joe Turner starts out believing in the CIA’s mission. He is an idealist, a millennial who thinks he can fix things. That belief gets tested fast. When the killers strike his office, Turner is left alone, hunted by forces he never imagined existed.

The show’s central twist is that the agency itself is the problem. Turner’s own work has been turned against him, used as a tool of surveillance against his fellow citizens. That is the engine of the whole series: a man who trusted the system, and found it corrupt.

The Cast Around Turner

Constance Zimmer plays Robin Larkin, a character close to Turner. Alexei Bondar plays Vasili Sirin, and Isidora Goreshter plays Kat Gnezdy. Kristen Hager plays Mae Barber, Eric Johnson plays Tracy Crane, Toby Leonard Moore plays Gordon Piper, Jonathan Kells Phillips plays Volk, and Rose Rollins plays Eva Piper. Bob Balaban plays Reuel Abbott.

Brendan Fraser, William Hurt, and the rest of the cast were attached early, with announcements made as far back as February 6, 2017, for Irons in the lead and April 2017 for the supporting names. Mouna Traoré and Ellen Wong joined later, in August 2017, in recurring roles.

The Second Season’s Long Road

The second season was already filmed by the time Audience announced in January 2020 that it would end operations in its current format. The series moved to new homes, with the second season premiering on June 9, 2020, on C More and RTÉ2.

Then, in December 2020, Epix picked up both seasons. The second season began airing on November 7, 2021, on that network. That is a winding path for a show that started on one channel and ended up on another entirely.

What Works

The show’s strengths come from its premise. Turner’s journey from believer to skeptic is a compelling arc, and the show handles the shift with some skill. The tension is real, and the threat to millions keeps the stakes high.

The performances carry the weight too. Irons anchors the show, and the supporting cast around him gives him room to react. The villains are well-drawn, and the show does not let the audience forget that the real danger comes from inside the building.

What Doesn’t Work

The pacing drags in spots. Some episodes feel like filler, stretching out the story across a longer runtime than it needs. The show also leans heavily on its predecessor, and while that connection gives it a sturdy foundation, it can sometimes feel like it is simply repeating ground that Pollack’s film already covered.

The final stretch of the second season, especially the episodes after the move to Epix, feels rushed. The resolution arrives quickly after a long build-up, which leaves some threads unresolved.

Verdict

“Condor” is a solid, if uneven, entry in the spy thriller genre. It has a strong core idea, a capable lead performance, and a cast that knows how to fill the screen. But the pacing issues and the heavy debt to its source material keep it from greatness.

Here is how the pieces rank:

1. The premise and Turner’s arc — the strongest part of the show.
2. The performances, particularly Irons and the supporting cast.
3. The production values and visual style.
4. The middle episodes, where the pacing slows.
5. The final stretch, which feels rushed.

“Condor” earns a 6.6 out of 10. It is worth watching for the setup, less so for the finish.

Audience · Condor · Epix · Max Irons · Spy Thriller · TV Review