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CIA S01E01 "Directed Energy" Preview: Ellis & Gehlfuss-Starrer Debuts

With CBS's Tom Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss-starring CIA debuting tonight, here's our preview for the series opener, "Directed Energy."

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Article Summary

  • CBS’s new CIA premieres tonight, starring Tom Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss as elite agents in a high-stakes drama
  • Get a preview of CIA S01E01: "Directed Energy," with episode details, teasers, and show insights
  • Dive into official episode overviews and sneak peeks for both the premiere and next week’s "Fatal Defect"
  • Cast interviews reveal behind-the-scenes stories and what to expect from this action-packed intelligence series

With CBS rolling out a whole bunch of series returns and debuts over the next week or so, we're getting our best look yet at what showrunner/EP Mike Weiss's (FBI) Tom Ellis (Lucifer) and Nick Gehlfuss (Chicago Med)-starring CIA has to offer. With the series premiering tonight, we've got an official overview, an image gallery, and sneak peeks at tonight's series opener, S01E01: "Directed Energy." In addition, we have an official overview and an image gallery for March 2nd's S01E02: "Fatal Defect." Following that, we've included two recent interviews with Ellis and Gehlfuss, where the duo offers a deep dive into what we can expect.

CIA
CBS Original Series CIA. Photo: CBS ©2026 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

CIA S01E01: "Directed Energy" & S01E02: "Fatal Defect" Previews

CIA Season 1 Episode 1: "Directed Energy"  – When a top-secret weapon is stolen in broad daylight from a U.S. defense contractor, CIA agent Colin Glass is paired with FBI agent Bill Goodman to investigate. Their new partnership gets off to a rocky start, but they soon realize their opposing viewpoints may be their greatest asset. Written by Mike Weiss and directed by Ken Girotti.

CIA Season 1 Episode 2: "Directed Energy"  – When a known smuggler is flagged at the New York border with unidentified cargo, Colin and Bill head upstate to track. To find this smuggler, they must enlist the help of a foreign intelligence officer looking to defect. Written by Alex Berger and directed by Jon Cassar.

When by-the-book FBI Special Agent Bill Goodman (Nick Gehlfuss) is loaned out to a clandestine CIA/FBI task force, he finds himself teamed up with secretive and roguish CIA Agent Colin Glass (Tom Ellis). Together, they will work covert operations in New York, uncovering international plots, terrorist cells, and geopolitical secrets. On CIA, Bill will learn the rules of this murky world on the fly as Colin leads him deeper into spy games where only one thing is clear – their work keeps America safe, even if no one will ever know what they did in the shadows. Necar Zadegan stars as Deputy Chief of Station Nikki Reynard, with Natalee Linez on board as CIA Analyst Gina Gosian.

Stemming from Universal Television (a division of Universal Studio Group), Wolf Entertainment, and CBS Studios, CBS's CIA is executive produced by Dick Wolf, Showrunner David Hudgins, Nicole Perlman & David Chasteen, and Peter Jankowski.

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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