The FBI franchise is growing with the new series CIA, and Tom Ellis’ new reveal makes me more excited about it. The series already had me by casting Tom Ellis in the lead role, but this character sounds more interesting as details come out. At the same time, it also sounds that this isn’t just another FBI TV series, which adds to its appeal.
CIA will have a different tone and feel simply due to it not just focusing on another branch of the FBI. The CIA has always felt like a darker and more intrusive agency, and this new Dick Wolf universe TV series will offer a chance to delve into that, creating a slightly more peculiar show compared to what we have seen in the ever-expanding TV franchise thus far. Aside from that, Ellis’ new comment about CIA makes it all the more intriguing.
Hart Hoxton Isn’t A Person We’d Like In Real Life
Tom Ellis shared a little bit about his character, Hart Hoxton, with TVLine, going into details of his morally ambiguous personality. This is clearly a guy that we wouldn’t want to meet in real life, but when it comes to a TV show, he’s everything we need to see. Hart is willing to lie and deceive to get the answers that he wants, which is perfect for a CIA case officer.
So, my character is called Hart. He is an experienced field officer from the CIA, but he finds himself stuck in what some CIA agents might think was the boring end of the job in, you know, on home soil in New York. But he’s someone who, like many people who work for the CIA, has to use guile and deceit and lies to get what he wants. So there’s a large dose of moral ambiguity that comes with him, but that’s part of his job. So whilst that is, you know, not great for people in actual life, for a TV audience, it’s wonderful entertainment. So, yeah.
It’s worth noting that he says “has to use” lies and deceit as part of the work he does, which could suggest that he doesn’t use them in his personal life. Of course, most people who have to be a certain way to work struggle to turn that off when it comes to being at home, and it adds another layer of questions about who Hoxton is when he’s not on the clock, adding even more intrigue to his character and the series.
Exploring An Intrusive Agency In The FBI Universe
The CIA is known for its more ethically dubious actions, such as hacking into systems and spying. While the FBI can do some of this, there are a few extra steps that they need to do, while the CIA seems to be able to act outside the law a little bit. There’s an element of espionage to the CIA’s working day, and the new series will get a chance to showcase that and create a different feel to the series in the FBI universe.
What’s even more interesting is that a CIA agent will need to work with an FBI agent, combining two agencies that don’t always like to share information. This opens the door for debates over the ethical practices of the CIA, exploring a darker world of criminal organizations and even more black market crime. The only way that this would work well is to have a morally gray character at the forefront of the series, and that’s what Tom Ellis is going to offer.
Tom Ellis Is No Stranger To Characters Making Questionable Decisions
When it comes to the roles Ellis has played in the past, Lucifer is always going to come to mind, and Ellis can use this experience to build on his CIA’s Hart Hoxton character. During the six-season series, Ellis brought a character with some loose morals to our screens. He would manipulate situations to get what he wanted, and he would use his powers to get people to tell him their desires to help find answers. These were lines that some people would consider wrong to cross, and they’re personality traits that Ellis can bring into the new series.
CIA will air on Mondays at 10/9c on CBS, straight after new episodes of the flagship FBI series.
There will be a difference between Lucifer and Hart Hoxton in CIA, though. Hart is willing to lie to get what he wants, which Lucifer never did. However, Lucifer was always able to twist the truth and blur the lines now and then, which is something Ellis can build on to create his new character. We’ve also got the fact that Hart has been described as “a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon,” which brings up a lot of memories of how Lucifer acted in situations that Ellis can use to develop his new CIA character.
