$50M per Episode, and This Spy TV Show Is Still So Bad It Barely Got 50% Rating
Money can’t buy the viewers.
In recent years, luckily for viewers, there have been a large number of movies that were so impressive that people wanted to see a follow-up as soon as they finished. Many of them would make great multi-episode series.
It's much sadder, however, to come across a TV show that would have been better served as a movie. Stretched over too many episodes, predictable, and downright boring, these dramas can cost a fortune and still fail to impress anyone enough to earn enthusiastic reviews.
The Citadel is one of these shows. The massive budget is lost in a mediocre script, and even the top-notch actors are not up to the task of engaging the viewer in a plot that you just want to get over as quickly as possible.
Why Is Citadel Bad?
One of the things that streaming services usually have access to that broadcast networks don't is big budgets. But those budgets have to be spent with great care and attention to detail, because viewers aren't blind and won't be fooled by a bunch of special effects thrown in their face to cover up storytelling flaws.
Citadel's budget was well spent, not only on CGI, which somehow managed to look cheap in a few scenes, but also on A-list actors, lavish locations and great marketing. Seeing Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Stanley Tucci all in one project is exciting enough to give it a try.
Citadel's 51% rating from critics is not because the show is too expensive, but because it gives almost nothing in return. By concentrating on a lot of details, the team behind it fails to address the fact that the story of two agents who lost their memories and were then reunited is simply boring.
The show would have worked better as a movie, limited by a few hours of screen time. But made as a TV series and spread over too many episodes, it leaves the viewer completely empty. They're not happy for the characters, not angry at them, not surprised or devastated, but rather tired and full of regret for wasted time.
Despite the mixed reviews, Amazon Prime Video has decided to renew the show for season 2, which will be released on April 28. So if you think they can learn from their mistakes, give Citadel a chance and stream the show on Prime Video.