Citadel Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Infinite Shadows

Citadel Season 1 Episode 3, “Infinite Shadows,” showcases more of Nadia and Mason’s past relationship while also progressing the current mission along.

It’s a decent episode. We get some background while also setting our team up on their next mission. Citadel isn’t doing anything earth-shatteringly new in the genre, but it is keeping us engaged and wanting more. 

As crazy as it sounds, we’re already halfway through the season. While the flashbacks in this episode are useful and give us a better sense of Nadia and Mason’s relationship, it would be for the best if the show sticks to the present day from here on out.

It’s a short season, and we need to start focusing more on what’s currently happening, so we can build momentum going into the back half of the season. At this point, Mason and Nadia’s prior relationship is pretty clear — they were a thing but had a falling out.

If Citadel wanted to tell the story of Nadia and Mason and how they drifted apart, then the series should have started back then. But it didn’t, so let’s shift our focus back on the mission.

There can still be brief memory flashes where maybe Mason starts to put things together, but the show should stop with longer flashback scenes. This one is also useful to establish more of how Citadel was run and operated, but there’s nothing more we can really learn on that front.

One benefit of the X-Case is that it gives Nadia and Mason an objective: finding Carter Spence.

Mason and Nadia need something to focus on because taking down Manticore is too much of a big operation to jump into immediately. There’s a lot of planning and training that would need to happen, and without Bernard, they don’t have a wealth of Manticore knowledge (that we know of).

Going on a rescue mission is something that, you’d assume, any Citadel operative could do on their own without a lot of assistance. It’s a realistic first mission for them, and maybe one that Mason can help with despite his lack of skills — at the very least, he can drive the getaway car.

The twist about Mason/Kyle’s wife, Abby, is so well done. It’s completely unexpected, and it suggests that Citadel had a bit more tricks up its sleeves than Manticore or anyone else thought eight years ago.

We don’t quite know when Bernard became aware of Mason’s connection to Abby, as he seemed surprised to locate Mason via the DNA match on Citadel Season 1 Episode 1, “The Human Enigma,” but somewhere along the way, Bernard knew who Abby really was.

There’s still a lot to learn about Manticore and Citadel’s relationship pre-destruction of Citadel, and perhaps this twist with Abby can be our way in. Plus, our knowledge of Manticore is pretty slim as well, so this reveal could allow the show to provide more information on Manticore’s organization.

Not only would it be good to know how aware Citadel was about Manticore’s operations back then, but it would help us better understand how evenly matched, or not, Manticore and Citadel are. Right now, Citadel appears to be the underdog up against a goliath.

Stray Thoughts

• I could do without the torture scenes.
• Seriously, Mason, stop calling your wife and telling her EVERYTHING.
• Also, his inexperience stresses me out. Nadia needs to get Mason on a training regimen.
• The shots where the camera is slowly spinning are strange and not my thing.

What did you think of this episode of Citadel? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of Citadel premiere Fridays on Prime Video.

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