Paramount+ has thrived in the streaming base by doing the thing that a service needs to do in order to stand out in such a crowded arena: it has niches. In addition to all the kids programming from Nickelodeon, Paramount+ knows what its subscribers really want, and it satisfies that with its tentpole franchises. Star Trek is one of these, with new shows and seasons arriving every year, but without a doubt the biggest pillar for Paramount+ is the larger Yellowstone franchise, and the works of Taylor Sheridan beyond that. Though they’ve gone well past the Kevin Costner original, these are the shows that define Paramount+.
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Sometimes, though, a series arrives on Paramount+ that defies these franchises and still manages to be a hit, and it’s happened this week. Yesterday saw Season 2 of The Agency premiere, the espionage-thriller series produced by George Clooney and starring Michael Fassbender. Without wasting even a minute, the audience showed up for the show too, propelling The Agency up the charts and making it one of the most-watched shows on Paramount+, but there could be trouble brewing for the show’s future, which isn’t good news for those who already watched. (Potential spoilers follow)
The Agency Returns as Streaming Hit on Paramount+
The Agency, which also stars Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Richard Gere in addition to Fassbender, pulled a surprise move on fans. Though the first season of the series aired new episodes weekly on Paramount+, Season 2 dropped every episode at once. As a result, ten new episodes of The Agency premiered yesterday, which no doubt helped propel the series to the top of the charts.
According to FlixPatrol, The Agency premiered as the #2 TV series on Paramount+ in the United States, leapfrogging hit shows like Criminal Minds, South Park, and Marshals. The only TV series that currently stands in the way of The Agency being the top series on the platform…is one of the most popular shows on Paramount+, the Yellowstone sequel series, Dutton Ranch.
As of this writing, there are seven episodes total of Dutton Ranch, compared to The Agency‘s ten, but the show has been consistent in terms of charting for Paramount+. Since its debut, there have been few times where a show eclipsed it, with Dutton Ranch holding on to the #1 spot for weeks now. That in mind, it’s not the worst thing in the world that The Agency couldn’t beat Dutton Ranch, which is a juggernaut for Paramount+.
The first season of The Agency arrived to a mixed-positive critical reception, with a 66% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its look but noting it gets lost in the weeds of being a spy a bit. By comparison, though all of the reviews for The Agency Season 2 are positive (which would, in theory, give it a 100%), it’s worth noting that as of this writing…there are only four, including a 10/10. Even its lowest rating, a 3 out of 5, praised the new season for being an improvement over the first.
There’s one problem for The Agency Season 2. Thanks to the binge model that the new batch of episodes has been given, it’s possible that the ratings will be high at first and then crash after fans have already watched all the episodes; this is where the trouble starts (again, spoilers). The Season 2 finale of The Agency ends on a cliffhanger, which is a bold narrative move when the future of your show isn’t guaranteed. As a result, though the ratings for The Agency Season 2 are immediately impressive, it’s unclear if it will be enough to keep it going for a third season, which would be the ultimate gut punch for fans that already binged the entire thing and were left dangling.
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