The Spy is an English-language French espionage streaming television miniseries, created and directed by Gideon Raff, based on the life of Israel’s top Mossad spy Eli Cohen, who is portrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen. The series is a production by French company Légende Entreprises for Canal+ and Netflix. OCS is airing the show in France and Netflix is streaming the show internationally outside France. The six-episode miniseries, released on September 6, 2019, on Netflix, was inspired by real-life events. It is based on the book L’espion qui venait d’Israël (English: The Spy Who Came From Israel), written by Uri Dan and Yeshayahu Ben Porat.The Spy Season 1 Download
The series has received “generally favorable reviews” according to Metacritic, with Baron Cohen’s performance being praised. However, the series has been criticized for lapses in historical accuracy. There is no independent verification about whom Cohen met with in the Syrian elite while working undercover in Buenos Aires or Damascus. At the 77th Golden Globe Awards, Baron Cohen received a nomination for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film.Eli Cohen is recruited as a spy and receives accelerated training for a mission in Syria where Israel is desperate to have an agent.In Argentina to establish a cover, Cohen masquerades as Kamal Amin Thaabeth, an unmarried import-exporter of Syrian descent and socializes with Syrian businessmen. Cohen is supported in Buenos Aires by Julia, a female agent who gets Cohen an invitation to a party at the Syrian embassy. Through local Syrian contacts, Cohen is introduced to a high-ranking diplomat and future potential Syrian leader, General Amin al-Hafiz. Seeing classified documents on General al-Hafiz’s desk, Cohen instinctively breaks in to the office to photograph the documents. Cohen and Julia fight and kill a Syrian bodyguard who was tracking him. Peleg reports to Shimoni that Cohen is too impulsive and should be recalled, but Shimoni likes the positive operational reports and overrules Peleg. Against orders to go to the Syrian embassy, Cohen delivers gifts to the General and his wife, and obtains a necessary letter of commendation for entry into Syria. After Nadia gives birth to Sophia, Eli returns to Israel and expresses reservation about continuing the operation.