The Spy

Sacha Baron Cohen takes a restrained dramatic role as Eli Cohen in The Spy, which follows an intelligence operative building a life under cover in Syria. The performance relies on attention and self-control rather than the comic disruption associated with much of his work.

The interest is in the maintenance of a convincing identity. Making an introduction is one challenge; continuing to belong among the people introduced is another. Ordinary social access becomes valuable, and the separation from home gives that access a personal cost.

Based on a real espionage story, the series is a dramatisation rather than a record of every conversation. It is best approached for the pressure of living a role over time. The Americans develops that problem through a fictional household, while Homeland offers a more sprawling intelligence thriller.