‘Citadel’ Team on the Lavish ‘Spark’ Between Richard Madden & Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ Spies

Ileane Rudolph April 27, 2023, 1:00 pm

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Priyanka Chopra, Richard Madden-'Citadel' — Prime Video

Sultry restaurateur Nadia (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) and a man she doesn’t seem to know, Kyle (Richard Madden), stand in her Valencia, Spain, eatery’s kitchen. “Tell me you’ve never seen my face before,” he says, explaining that they were once spies and partners for an independent peace-keeping syndicate called the Citadel.

Sent to retrieve Nadia after the agency abducts him, Kyle is now convinced — by “tech genius” Bernard (Stanley Tucci) — that he wasn’t always a Wyoming family man. And their chemistry makes it clear: He and Nadia know each other.

With that, Citadel, is a lavish action drama that puts the two sexy spies on life-or-death missions, serially bagging sleazy foes. The six-episode first season takes on good and evil, humility and greed, and love’s ability to triumph over guns, ammo and, of course, their amnesia.

Citadel’s purpose, showrunner David Weil says, “is to ensure the well-being of all people.” Its enemy: Manticore, a group steering world events for the financial benefit of eight maleficent founders.

Stanley Tucci and Richard Madden in 'Citadel'

Prime Video

As the good spies reconnect and hair-raising global missions ensue, “We spark together,” Madden says of both the characters and his vibrant mutual dynamic with Chopra Jonas. A big bad adds another suspense element: Known as Dahlia (Lesley Manville), this “diplomat” plays both sides of the net.

'Citadel' Spies Come Back With a Vengeance in Action-Packed Trailer

The Citadel crew has a traumatic past, with plenty of baggage to boot. Kyle loves and must protect a wife and daughter (Ashleigh Cummings and Caoilinn Springall). He and Nadia “must work through that conflict,” Weil reveals, and they share tense moments as well as funny ones. No one ever said spy life was simple.

Citadel, Series Premiere, Friday, April 28, Prime Video

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