Tom Ellis' CIA: Ratings Rise Despite Poor Reviews

Tom Ellis had a successful run with the long-running fantasy police procedural Lucifer, but now he has another show: CIA. A spinoff of the FBI franchise, the show premiered on Feb. 23.

CIA was not without its issues. The police procedural is now making its way up the charts two days after release on streaming on Paramount+. Per FlixPatrol, CIA has just risen to No. 3 after an underwhelming reception.

On its first day, Ellis’ new series debuted in ninth place on the U.S. Paramount+ charts. One day later, it had climbed up to third place, just behind longtime chart-topper South Park and NCIS. it has also debuted in sixth place on digital charts on Amazon.

What Is CIA About?

Dick Wolf is a TV veteran, and he created the FBI franchise in 2018, which further expanded with the spinoffs FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International. While the original is still thriving, the two spinoffs have since ended. In 2025, it was announced that CBS was working on another spinoff, CIA.

The series was originally supposed to premiere as a backdoor pilot in an episode of FBI. However, casting delays led to the plans’ cancellation, and CBS officially agreed to a straight-to-series order without a backdoor pilot.

CIA follows agency case officer Colin Glass, who is forced into collaboration with an FBI special agent, Bill Goodman when national security is at risk. The drama pairs case-of-the-week investigations with the tension and secrecy of global-intelligence operations.

The duo couldn’t be more different, as Colin is a bit of a loose canon, while Goodman is an agent strictly by-the book. Ellis plays CIA officer Collin Glass, with Nick Gehlfuss playing Bill Goodman.

The main cast also includes Natalee Linez as Gina Gosian, a CIA analyst and Necar Zadegan as Nikki Reynard, the Deputy Chief of the CIA’s New York station. The show also features several crossover characters from FBIincluding Jeremy Sisto as Jubal Valentine, Missy Peregrym as Maggie Bell, and Alana de la Garza as Isobel Castille.

CIA Had a Rocky Start

CBS

The casting delays that prevented the show’s backdoor pilot weren’t the only issues CIA encountered. The show’s co-creator, David Hudgins, was also initially planned to be the showrunner, but left the series in July, leading to new delays as Warren Leight took over.

Director Eriq La Salle also joined the series the same month, only to leave the show while in production, followed by Leightas both stepped down as executive producers. FBI showrunner Mike Weiss eventually took over. Just weeks after filming started, Michael Michele left CIAand her role was recast and filled by Necar Zadegan.

Considering the delays, CIA missed the fall release schedule and scored a mid-season release. It debuted with an underwhelming score, holding a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes out of eight reviews. While that is enough to keep a “positive” badge, the show didn’t break any new ground and didn’t impress the critics too much.

There is no audience score available at the time of press, but the early reviews are mixed. Some people called it an “interesting beginning, with others called it “Brutal…terrible acting and cheesy storyline” with “the same old cliche.” The early reviews are based on the pilot, and they’re likely to change as more reviews come in.

CIA airs new episodes every Monday on CBS, and the next day on Paramount+.