Cia Cast Reunion: Tom Ellis and Aimee Garcia Appear as CBS Spy Drama ‘CIA’ Debuts
Tom Ellis returns to U. S. network television in CIA, a new series that premiered on Feb. 23, 2026, and already released its first episode for free in Canada. The cia cast pairing of Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss matters now because the show is being rolled out across multiple platforms and builds its drama around a joint CIA–FBI task force that shifts how crime procedurals resolve cases.
Cia Cast Reunion on Set with Aimee Garcia
Ellis received a surprise visit from former Lucifer co-star Aimee Garcia on the CIA set, where Garcia posted behind-the-scenes photos that included Ellis at his character’s desk and him in hair and makeup. Garcia’s caption highlighted the series’ Monday 10 p. m. ET/PT timeslot and encouraged viewers to tune in; the interaction underscored the continuing audience interest rooted in Ellis’s prior work together with Garcia. The cia cast moment drew attention to the series’ early fan response, with Episode 1 described as having won rave reviews following its Feb. 23 release.
Tom Ellis as Colin Glass and Nick Gehlfuss as Bill Goodman
Ellis stars as Colin Glass, introduced as a CIA case officer who relies on charm and improvisation. He is matched with Nick Gehlfuss’s Bill Goodman, an FBI Special Agent characterized by strict adherence to rules, paperwork, and decisions that must withstand scrutiny. The pairing creates a clear personality contrast that drives the show’s procedural tension.
Premiere Timeline and Where to Watch
CIA premiered Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, and is scheduled to air weekly at 10 p. m. ET/PT on CBS. Episode 1 is currently available to watch free in Canada on Global TV. Platform availability elsewhere includes CBS and Paramount+ in the U. S., Sky Witness listed as to be confirmed in the U. K., and Paramount+ in Australia. The rollout notes that viewers abroad can use a VPN service; one suggested option is NordVPN, advertised as 100% risk-free.
Show Structure: New York Fusion Cell and Post-9/11 Friction
The series centers on a New York–based “fusion cell, ” a joint task force that must continue operating despite institutional friction between the CIA and the FBI—tension that is said to have intensified after 9/11. That structural choice changes story outcomes: showrunner Mike Weiss highlights that FBI cases often conclude with arrests, courtrooms, and public closure, while CIA operations frequently remain concealed, with no arrests announced, no press conferences, and no public hint that a domestic threat was averted. Because the narrative world of CIA mandates secrecy, many episodes close without the public ever learning what was prevented.
Plot Focus and Stakes
The series synopsis frames the work as covert operations in New York that uncover international plots, terrorist cells, and geopolitical secrets. Bill Goodman is positioned to learn the rules of this murky world on the fly as Colin Glass leads him into spycraft and deception; the stated mission is that their work keeps America safe even when the public will never know what they did in the shadows.
Lucifer Connections and Series Background
Ellis’s casting invites comparison with his earlier role as Lucifer Morningstar, which he played beginning in 2016 alongside Lauren German, Kevin Alejandro, D. B. Woodside, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Rachael Harris, and Aimee Garcia. Garcia had played Ella Lopez, an LAPD forensic scientist. That series originally aired on Fox, was canceled after three seasons, and was later picked up by Netflix for an additional three seasons before concluding in 2021; it became one of the streaming platform’s highest-viewed shows at the time. Ellis has said he kept his knowledge of the FBI to a minimum and described CIA as complementary to his previous work rather than strictly a spinoff, even as the program is positioned within Dick Wolf’s FBI franchise as a spinoff.
What makes this notable is how the casting and creative choices aim to shift familiar procedural beats: pairing a rule-bound FBI agent with a cavalier CIA operative in a tightly secretive task force changes the nature of closure and viewer payoff.
Additionally, the promotional rollout encourages reader engagement: the site hosting early coverage offers a membership option requiring an email confirmation, asks entrants to confirm they are 16 or older, references a Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions, notes geographical rules, and advertises member rewards. Editorial material on that site also states that purchases made through its links may generate affiliate commissions and that it publishes newsletters covering streaming and related topics.
The series is distributed across defined regional platforms and will continue to air weekly at 10 p. m. ET/PT on CBS, with further episodes following the initial Feb. 23 debut.
