Moksha World

I ignored my brother’s recommendation to watch this series for several months. After several brotherly nudges, I finally decided to check it out. It is one of the most fantastic and addictive shows I have ever watched. One season finale is now my top television cliffhanger of all time.

There have been numerous films and TV series with storylines around the CIA or the FSB such as Jack Ryan or Jason Bourne. This time, the DGSE of France (Directorate-General for External Security) is the central focus; its missions and its agents. The relationships between the undercover agents and their handlers are fascinating and complex. Unsurprisingly, office politics are high-level and potentially threaten the lives of the agents and civilians involved in various missions worldwide. We are introduced to an agent returning to Paris after being undercover in Syria, Paul Lefebvre. He is a legend in the office and each episode reveals new pieces of his history with the DGSE. 

The characters in this series are some of the most complex I’ve come across on television. I still wonder how I would feel about them as real people. What would it feel like to find out someone you knew was an undercover agent? Would I see that person differently if their name was something other than what they had told me? I believe I would feel more betrayed by the misrepresentation of their character than by being told a different name. People often misrepresent themselves, even people who are not spies. Is it because so often we see only what we want to see? Or do they do it intentionally? Perhaps we are easier targets than we like to believe. Despite the high-stakes relationship these characters would pose, I remain fascinated by them.

Seeing the spy world from a French perspective was refreshing. There are layers to international events that are filtered for national consumption. I first realized this while watching a series of documentaries about human trafficking that had been entered into the International Emmy Awards. The factual presentation differed dramatically between Japan and Spain, for instance. The information they chose to include was very different in each version and gave me different points of view to contemplate. That experience is a big part of what motivates me to keep exploring international television series to continue adding new perspectives to my life experience. We are lucky to live in an age in which technology has made this so easy to accomplish.

Variety recently announced an English-language adaptation called The Agency. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and watch this series on AMC+.