6 TV shows to watch that add a new twist to the spy genre

Paranoia reaches a fever pitch this Emmy season with spy thrillers that imagine intelligence agencies as semicompetent puppet masters orchestrating nightmarish scenarios in opposition to, or in cahoots with, megalomaniac billionaires bent on ruling the world. Where the War on Terror once fueled such post-9/11 hits as “24” and “Homeland,” recent series navigate less familiar conflicts that include CIA-employed lawyer versus yakuza (“The Rookie”); NSA versus code-cracking mathematician (“Prime Target”); and CIA veterans versus murderous mineral rights-seeking consortium (“The Old Man”).

This year, conspiracy theories that once might have seemed outlandish resonate as entirely plausible, especially when dramatized by the formidable casts charged with bringing these stories to life. Here’s a dossier summarizing this season’s notable espionage series and the stars who drive them.

‘The Agency’

Michael Fassbender and Jodie Turner-Smith in “The Agency.”

(Luke Varley / Paramount+ With Showtime)

Hook: Self-loathing spy. Two-time Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender plays the icy CIA agent nicknamed “Martian.” Quietly traumatized after six years undercover in Ethiopia, he’s now back at London Station, lying to his bosses about an affair with former source/current lover Samia (Jodie Turner-Smith) and trying to trick the in-house psychologist into thinking that he’s fit for duty.

Mission: Ambush a Russian general in Ukraine to rescue undercover agent Coyote and, for field agent Danny (Saura Lightfoot-Leon), gather intel on Iranian nuclear weapons by posing as a scientist.

Spy line: “I believe there is only one type of agent: the insane,” Martian says. “The CIA sends us out into the world to behave in entirely unhealthy, deviant, dangerous ways.”

Fake interrogation: Danny is kidnapped, beaten and questioned by a man acting on instructions from Martian to make sure she won’t crack under pressure. Danny passes the test and promptly sleeps with her interrogator, Edward (Elham Ehsas).

Infighting: Martian clashes over tactics with his superior (Jeffrey Wright), who tussles with his superior (Richard Gere) while their superior, the director of the CIA (Dominic West), periodically beams in from Washington, D.C., to cast doubt over the entire high-risk operation.

‘Black Doves’

Ben Whishaw and Keira Knightley in “Black Doves.”

(Ludovic Robert / Netflix)

Hook: The killers are besties. Two-time Oscar nominee Keira Knightley is Helen, a London mother of two who steals state secrets from her U.K. defense minister husband. She and Ben Whishaw’s wry hit man Sam, old friends, both work for the private Black Doves company run by steely Reed (“Happy Valley” star Sarah Lancashire).

Mission: Helen seeks to avenge the murder of her secret lover, a government employee eliminated because he knew too much about the accidental murder of a Chinese diplomat.

Twist: Crime family matriarch Alex (Tracey Ullman) secretly works with MI5 to cover up the would-be scandal, and too bad for anyone who gets in their way.

Spy line: “This is much bigger than we thought it was,” Sam tells Helen.

‘Lioness’

Zoe Saldaña in “Lioness.”

(Ryan Green / Paramount+)

Hook: Wonder women at war. Oscar winner Zoe Saldaña portrays Joe, leader of the CIA’s covert “Lioness” program for female assassins, who hates being told what to do even more than she regrets leaving her kids and husband behind for weeks at a time.

Mission: Infiltrate a Mexican cartel by training Army helicopter pilot Josie Carrillo (Genesis Rodriguez) to spy on her money-laundering father.

Whoops: Dozens die south of the border when Joe leads an off-the-books attack on human traffickers.

Infighting: For Joe’s testy overseers (Nicole Kidman, Michael Kelly and Morgan Freeman), everything’s an argument.

Spy line: Joe yells at an intrusive bureaucrat, “I choose the assets. I choose the cover. I build the plan. And I run it. Me!”

‘The Madness’

Colman Domingo in “The Madness.”

(Netflix)

Hook: It’s not paranoid fantasy. It’s real life. Oscar nominee Colman Domingo plays TV pundit Muncie, framed for the murder of a right-wing militant in the Pocono Mountains, who comes to realize he’s just a pawn in a game controlled by Big Tech moguls and their sociopath hit lady.

Mission: Prove he’s innocent and protect his family.

Spy line: FBI agent Khalil (Ennis Esmer) tells Muncie, “When you stir up the madness, sometimes the madness comes back and bites you.”

‘Slow Horses’

Gary Oldman in “Slow Horses.”

(Apple TV+)

Hook: MI5’s island of misfit spies. Oscar winner Gary Oldman’s slovenly Jackson Lamb runs Slough House, where bickering loser agents compete to redeem their trashed reputations.

Mission: Catch the terrorists responsible for killing dozens of civilians in a London car bomb attack.

Twist: Alpha Slow Horse agent River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) unravels the connection between himself and the former CIA operative-turned-mercenary (Hugo Weaving) who’s raised an entire brood of psychopathic assassins.

Infighting: Oscar nominee Kristin Scott Thomas, as MI5’s “Second Desk” deputy director Diana Taverner, constantly undermines Lamb in order to bolster her own power.

Spy line: Lamb says, “We’re all targets. Just like old times.”

‘Zero Day’

Robert De Niro, left, and Dan Stevens in “Zero Day.”

(Jojo Whilden / Netflix)

Hook: Dementia at the top. Two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro plays ex-president George Mullen, who comes out of retirement to head the Zero Day Commission while hiding his cognitive decline from wife Joan Allen, aide Jesse Plemons, ex-chief of staff Connie Britton and congresswoman daughter Lizzy Caplan.

Mission: Hunt down the perpetrators of a cyberattack that killed thousands of Americans, even if it means torturing suspects with “enhanced interrogation” techniques.

Twist: Big Tech billionaire Monica Kidder (Gaby Hoffmann) executed the cyberattack — in collusion with congressional leaders and their CIA-developed code.

Spy line: “You’re just going to grab people off the streets without warrants?” Mrs. Mullen asks her husband. “This is the greatest affront to civil liberties ever attempted.”