In real life, being a spy is probably not that thrilling and mostly involves sitting in front of a computer processing paperwork.
On TV, though, spies are pretty much always plunging headlong into risky situations, taking on deadly adversaries and looking great while doing it. That’s been the case since the earliest spy movies, and TV series offer more time for characters to get deeper into trouble and then pull off miraculous escapes.
‘The Night Manager’
No author is more synonymous with spy stories than John le Carré, and this series is one of the best adaptations of his work. Tom Hiddleston plays the title character, a seemingly unassuming overnight manager at a hotel in Cairo, who’s recruited by British intelligence to infiltrate the organization of a black-market arms dealer.
Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine uses his military experience to help take down an international smuggling operation, but of course, he can’t avoid getting personally entangled with his targets. Hugh Laurie plays the ruthless, charismatic kingpin, with Elizabeth Debicki as his girlfriend, who obviously becomes romantically involved with Jonathan. Olivia Colman holds things together as the no-nonsense (and very pregnant) handler who keeps Jonathan in line ... or at least tries to.
Watch on Prime Video
‘Butterfly’
Parent-child relations in spy thrillers are always fraught, and that’s especially true for former covert agent David Jung (Daniel Dae Kim) and his daughter Rebecca (Reina Hardesty), who followed in her father’s footsteps after being told he died on a mission. David re-enters Rebecca’s life nearly a decade later to save her from what he believes is the dangerous influence of her boss and his former partner, private espionage contractor Juno Lund (Piper Perabo).
“Butterfly” mixes family drama with exciting action, as Juno tracks David and Rebecca across South Korea, while trying to keep her agency from being taken down. Kim and Hardesty have great chemistry as the wary father and daughter figuring out how they now fit into each other’s lives, and Perabo makes for a devious and complex villain.
Watch on Prime Video
‘Chuck’
The title character is not the kind of guy anyone would expect to be a high-level spy, but that’s what makes “Chuck” so much fun. Zachary Levi plays hapless electronics-store employee Chuck Bartowski, who’s accidentally imprinted with top-secret information and abilities thanks to a high-tech message he receives from his former roommate, now a CIA agent. It turns the nerdy Chuck into a sort of superhero, and it also makes him a target for nefarious factions who want what’s now in his brain.
Despite the constant peril, “Chuck” maintains its goofy tone, spending as much time on Chuck’s retail job and the characters’ personal lives as it does on covert missions, with an endearingly offbeat supporting cast. Levi gives Chuck an affable everyman charm, and he has sweet chemistry with Yvonne Strahovski as his CIA handler and eventual love interest.
Watch on Prime Video
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