Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas in 'Citadel'

The two shows reviewed today take action and suspense in hand. One is the big-budget Citadel, and the other hails from Denmark, The Nurse.
Citadel (Amazon Prime) - With the Russo Brothers attached to this spy action series, we’d expect a lot of things blowing up, and action sequences that would rival that of the Marvel canon of films. You have Richard Madden playing Mason, and Priyanka Chora Jonas as Nadia - two spies in the Citadel organization who when we first meet them, are on a mission on a train in the Italian Alps. It seems Citadel has been compromised, and there’s a rival outfit called Manticore, ready to sweep up the crumbs that remain of their competition. Lesley Manville and Stanley Tucci as Bernard are along for this ride, and it would seem that the Russos are using casting choices to ratchet up the prestige elements of the series. There are two episodes now available; and to be honest, they left me feeling ambivalent about whether I’m ready to be counted in for the long haul. It’s slickly packaged, and perhaps too slickly for its own good. After the gritty, in-the-trenches feel of Bodyguard (2017), Madden seems lost in this sort of approach to action. As for Priyanka, I still question how someone with her looks would even be considered as a spy, where anonymity and not always being noticed, should be prerequisites for the job. It’s like Priyanka said I want to do action, and yes, I’ll do fight sequences (or my stunt double will), but I always have to look glam. As a result there are moments when you’ll wonder if this is all supposed to be dumb fun - like the recent True Lies series; or if we are to believe this is all in earnest.

A scene from 'The Nurse'

The Nurse (Netflix Denmark) - Coming on the heels of last year’s The Good Nurse, which chronicled the career of US nurse Charles Cullen and his killing spree, one may be forgiven for initially thinking this is just some Danish copycat series. But it would seem that this original story means Denmark has it’s own history of nurses in hospitals playing God and executioner. And I’ll right away give credit to the producers for opting to go four episodes with this tale, making it a leaner, much tighter recounting of the criminally career of nurse Christina (Josephine Park). There’s not much stretching, and it gamely offers us the sensation of wishing there was more - and that’s saying a lot for limited series, where more often than not, we sense the producers are stretching the narrative.
Pernille (Fanny Bernth) is the new nurse on the block, and it’s through her perspective that we get our first impression of the Danish health Center; and of nurse Christina, who becomes Pernille’s mentor. This is a gripping way to unfold the story, and it works as we’re given first a favorable impression of Christina. She has a unique profile, and not your traditional serial killer. How Pernille first gathers her suspicions, and how she goes about exposing Christina becomes the narrative flow of this series. While some may harp on the parallel similarities with the Cullen case, I would say this is nothing more than surface symmetries, and it’s rewarding to watch this series and how it evolves into a crime procedural of its own merits.