The CIA Season 1 Finale Delivers a Lot of Expected Storylines to Wrap a Predictable Season

Critic’s Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

3.5

After finding out that Toni was alive at the end of CIA Season 1 Episode 11, it wasn’t surprising to find out we would get a flashback.

It finally filled in some of the blanks about everything that happened a year earlier.

However, the CIA Season 1 Finale delivered much more than that, bringing answers and closure to the mole storyline.

A Less Than Imaginative Ending to the Toni Story

After a season full of cliches and expected storylines, I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying that none of us really expected a groundbreaking arc for Toni.

The CIA Season 1 Finale quickly got to the reveal that she had been working for Pyramid Securities while out in the Philippines a year earlier.

Her handler there got her out after she was close to being made, and the explosion was a way to get rid of one of the CIA’s assets while making it look like Toni had died.

It does make me question why Colin was so certain that Toni had died, to be honest.

I thought he jumped to that conclusion a little too easily.

There wasn’t much explanation for why he believed she was in there, except that they were supposed to meet the asset there.

Sure, he knew that she should have been in the bar at the time, but wouldn’t he have waited to see if her body could be recovered?

Wouldn’t the CIA have looked into whether her body was actually there?

It already created some plot holes, and the rest of the hour didn’t do much to set up twists and turns.

We got a moment of Colin wondering just how much of the truth Toni had told him, but even that didn’t last long.

As soon as he saw the doves on the roof of the building, he knew that his former partner would have been up there.

There was a lot in this episode that I think could have been done earlier in the season. 

Having a flashback of Colin and Toni in bed together a few episodes earlier would have made the dove reveal a little less obvious.

We would have had a few conversations and cases in between her explaining the doves to then the reveal that she had lived on the roof of a former apartment she had lived in.

From that point, everything played out as you would expect for a show in this genre.

There were bugs in Colin’s apartment, and he knew exactly where to find them and who had left them.

He threatened to kill Toni if he saw her again.

There was a chance she was trying to clean up the mess that had started a year earlier, which was actually why she went after Kevin Turner in the hospital during CIA Season 1 Episode 11.

Every little thing was easy to guess, and it made for a lackluster season finale.

However, I say again what I’ve said all season long: with a consistent showrunner, everything about CIA Season 2 could change for the better.

There Was Something Bigger About Pyramid Security

One thing I found refreshing was the head of Pyramid Security being open about absolutely everything.

When Nikki paid the boss, Joanne, a visit just before some big garden party, there was no shady cover-up.

Everything was laid out in the open.

Pyramid Security doesn’t really see what they’re doing wrong. After all, they’re doing exactly what the CIA does by recruiting people who can help as analysts and spies.

Why can a government agency do it and not a private agency?

Well, we know the nuance in that, but it certainly makes a chance for a big boss to just be open about it all and fear nothing about the repercussions.

However, Joanna probably should have feared some blowback, as it turned out that the people working for her also wanted her dead.

As Toni focused on getting her not-so-surprising revenge against the company, she also decided to protect Joanna.

I’m not quite sure it was explained well that she did that, and I can only imagine it was because Joanne was the best person to be taken in for questioning by the authorities when the full truth came out.

What I did appreciate was that Toni was somewhat rewarded for her actions.

We all think that when people do bad things, they’re punished. Isn’t that how the justice system works?

Well, not all the time. Those who have proven useful end up with some sort of reward.

That’s what Toni gets. While she will be watched carefully, the CIA knows the value of the asset she is, and it’s not all that surprising that she’s being given a chance to redeem herself.

It’s not going to be easy. There are going to be a lot of Ts to cross and Is to dot, but this opens up for her return during CIA Season 2.

This could allow for a little more depth into Colin’s life. We know he loved Toni and that he spent a year investigating her murder, but that’s really been it when it comes to what we know is true.

Maybe with Toni out there and becoming some sort of asset to the CIA, they will have some run-ins, leading to a few more reveals.

What should also help is the fact that Bill is sticking around.

I appreciated him getting the offer of an ASAC position, but we all knew he would turn it down.

The best thing was that Jubal knew Bill wanted to turn it down, making it clear he knows Bill well, even if the show hadn’t had the chance to really cement that in earlier writing.

There’s nothing wrong with saying no the first time, and that’s the way it should be.

I’m excited to see how Bill manages his new job and his personal life during CIA Season 2. 

He’s made it clear that he doesn’t like lying to the people close to him, but he’s had to do so recently due to his connection to the CIA.

What will this do to his relationship with Katie? And can we finally see more of them on-screen together to believe they are actually in love?

Unfortunately, CIA Season 1 didn’t quite end on a high note, but it did reach its conclusion with some hope for the future.

Consistency is important moving forward with this show, along with some better-paced personal arcs.

Yes, I’ll be sticking with the show when Season 2 arrives in the fall. I see potential, and I want to see what the team can do when consistency and a full season order are on their side.

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