Television series

Condor

Name: Condor
Genre: Drama, Action, Espionage
Released: 2018
Cast: Max Irons, Bob Balaban, Kristen Hager, Leem Lubany, William Hurt

A sharp, morally conflicted CIA analyst becomes the sole survivor of a targeted office massacre and must go on the run to uncover a conspiracy. Condor is a taut, paranoid thriller that trades spectacle for intimate character study, following one man's crash course in the gap between the job you thought you had and the moral quicksand it really is. For viewers who want espionage that actually thinks.

TVMaze rating

3.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love paranoid spy stories where the real tension is a man's conscience, the sort of slow-burn intrigue that trusts you to keep track of who is lying to whom.

Skip it if you want a fast, action-driven thriller, because much of the running time goes to talk, doubt and sitting in rooms weighing who to trust.

What it asks of you: Expect fifty-odd minute episodes, twenty of them across two seasons, with a patient rhythm that lets scenes breathe and a dark, wary mood rather than anything bright.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Americans2013

Two Soviet KGB officers pose as an American couple during the Cold War, their cover identity gradually consuming their real selves. It's the gold standard for espionage drama: tense, psychologically devastating, and interested in how ideology corrodes the people who serve it.

But Fifty episodes across six seasons is a serious commitment, and the middle seasons demand patience. Some viewers find the repetitive cycle of close calls exhausting rather than gripping.

The Lives of Others2006

A Stasi surveillance officer monitoring a playwright begins to question everything he's been asked to do. Haunting, beautifully composed, and devastatingly quiet about how complicity works and what it costs. Oscar-winning for good reason.

But Deliberately paced and emotionally austere. If you need action beats to stay engaged, this will feel glacial.

Slow Horses2022

MI5 agents relegated to a dumping ground division stumble onto a genuine threat. Gary Oldman is brilliant, the plotting is elegant, and it understands that the real spy game is about parsing information and second-guessing motives, not shootouts.

But Very British in tone and structure. The first episode's pacing is deliberately unglamorous, and some viewers mistake that for slow.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Condor

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Conversation1974

Both center on intelligence professionals undone by the gap between what they're told they're doing and what they're actually enabling. Both are slow-burn studies in moral vertigo.

Francis Ford Coppola's paranoid masterpiece about a surveillance expert who records a conversation and becomes obsessed with its meaning. Propulsive despite its 1970s pacing, it's the spiritual ancestor of every spy thriller about doubt and complicity.

But Gene Hackman's protagonist is passive and neurotic, which frustrates viewers expecting a man of action. The ambiguity extends to the ending itself.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy2011

Gary Oldman as le Carré's George Smiley, hunting a Soviet mole embedded in British intelligence. Gorgeous, intricate, and trusts you to keep up. A masterclass in how to adapt literary spy fiction without dumbing it down.

But Demands active attention and rewards rewatch. If you want exposition spelled out clearly, you'll find it frustratingly oblique.

Bridge of Spies2015

Spielberg and Tom Hanks on a Cold War negotiation thriller about a lawyer trading a captured Soviet pilot for an imprisoned American. Humane, methodical, and interested in how principled people navigate impossible choices.

But Deliberately restrained. Some find it emotionally distant or too concerned with process over drama.

Our Kind of Traitor2016

A couple becomes entangled with a Russian money-launderer trying to flip sides, and the British intelligence apparatus that wants to use him. Stylish, morally murky, and Ewan McGregor carries genuine uncertainty throughout.

But Convoluted plot that occasionally sacrifices clarity for atmosphere. The third act loses some momentum.

Le Bureau des Légendes2015

A French intelligence series about an undercover agent reintegrating into normal life after years in Syria. Grounded, character-driven, and unsentimental about how espionage warps the people it touches.

But In French with subtitles. Pacing can be deliberately slow for atmospheric effect.

Body of Lies2008

DiCaprio and Crowe navigate post-9/11 intelligence operations in the Middle East, where the line between strategy and deception collapses entirely. Smart action-thriller about how paranoia becomes doctrine.

But Secondary to the two leads' dynamic. If you're not invested in their partnership, the plot can feel mechanical.

Red Sparrow2018

Jennifer Lawrence as a prima ballerina turned Russian spy asset, weaponized by her own government. Slick, morally complicated, and interested in how the body itself becomes a tool of espionage.

But The sexual elements feel gratuitous to some viewers. Plot mechanics occasionally strain credibility.

A Serious Man2009

Both protagonists are trapped in systems (CIA, suburban Judaism) that promise meaning but deliver only entropy. Both films ask: what do you do when the machinery reveals itself as meaningless?

A Coen Brothers meditation on a man whose orderly life disintegrates for reasons he cannot control or understand, leaving him grasping for meaning in a fundamentally indifferent system. Darkly funny, philosophically restless, and built on mounting dread.

But Bleak and digressive, with no cathartic resolution. Viewers seeking comfort or closure should look elsewhere.

Homeland2011

Both explore intelligence work as a form of justified paranoia that quietly eats the person from inside. Both pit internal psychological fragmentation against external institutional pressure.

A bipolar CIA officer becomes convinced a returned American POW is a turned asset, but cannot trust her own mind. Seasons 1-2 are extraordinary—paranoid, intimate, and genuinely uncertain whether she's brilliant or delusional.

But The show loses its footing after season two and becomes increasingly melodramatic. Commitment to eight seasons feels punishing when the first two say everything that needs saying.