01x07 - Stranger in a Strange Land

[bunniefuu]

Katya voiceover: Previously on Allegiance...

The moment we have enough information to prove that Black Dagger is real, we go straight the FBI.

We work together as a family.

Victor: The money for Black Dagger will end up in Italy.

Natalie: The transfers arrive at a bank in Rome in three days.

Someone must be there to identify who picks it up.

Victor: If we can't get Alex to Rome, we lose the trail on Black Dagger, and it's the only trail we have.

The drive.

The documents on the flash drive you found at the apartment were SVR-encrypted.

The SVR believes Mikhail passed the stolen files to a broker.

Where's his broker?

Rome, Italy.

Why send a a task force halfway around the world chasing files that don't even exist anymore?

It wasn't our call.

Whose call was it then?

Mine.

It's nice to finally meet you, Alex.

[tense music]

[labored breathing]

[vomiting]

Alex, talk to me. What's going on?

Katya: Alex, stop. Go back.

Alex, Alex, go back.

[g*n cocking]

Alex, can you hear me?

Please tell me what's going on.

Alex, talk to me!

No, no, no.

Alex, what's going on? Alex!

I have to go.

Alex, can you hear me?

Katya: [speaking Russian]

What's going on?

What's wrong? What happened?

I don't know.

[tense music]

[Alex speaking Russian]

[man, indistinct]

[voice echoes]

[coughs, gasps]

It's nice to finally meet you, Alex.

I'm Victor Dobrynin.

Please excuse us.

We all need to find...

Katya.

I've been wanting to talk to you for a long time.

I do not like shadow games.

I thought that we...

What's Black Dagger?

Black Dagger?

It's a nuclear accident.

It's an Ebola outbreak.

It's a cyber virus... it knocks out the power grid for a month.

Or cuts off fresh water to the East Coast.

It's the thing that can't be traced back to Russia.

It makes the neighborhood kids afraid to go outside.

What is it specifically?

You don't know. You're just a foot soldier.

The SVR will wire a payment of $50 million to someone in Rome.

It's an operation payment to a very high-end contractor.

If we mark the triggerman there, we can stop Black Dagger before it starts.

You keep saying we, but you can't go, and neither can my parents.

That's right, we can't.

The SVR would track that and the moment they realize we were in the same city as the triggerman, they'd k*ll us all.

You planted those documents the task force just found, the documents saying Mikhail's files were in Rome, all as an excuse to get me there?

That's right.

And then what?

I just slip away from my colleagues, all trained spies and spycatchers, and go and track an SVR contractor skilled enough to command a payment of $50 million?

Yes.

Endo: I cannot promise it will be available for long.

I have many suitors.

[imitates Chinese accent] I'm sure you do, Endo, but I want it more.

For yourself or for the Chinese MSS?

Sam: Does it matter?

If you have secondary market plans, it matters a great a deal.

The MSS wants it and we want to keep it for ourself.

Endo: Meet two days from now.

We will contact you when you're here.

[click]

Rome.

Two days.

Nice. Close.

You Hoovers even have passports?

And it says I work for the FBI on it.

Think that's a problem for a covert-op?

Endo's no dummy, so build legends.

Keep them tight.

Do we get to do one of those fancy accents like yours?

Only if you can k*ll it, like me.

You know what I'm talking about, O'Connor.

Sir.

Rome, kid.

Get ready.

[tense music]

You now have two different missions.

Mark: The cover with the CIA, collecting the bogus files from the Italian broker, and the real one to see who picks up the SVR's money.

This is crazy. I'm not an operator. I don't... operate. I just tag along with people who do.

And now I'm putting my mentor at risk for no reason.

This is a limited mission.

We can teach you everything you need to know.

And Sam Luttrell has 25 years in the field.

He can take care of himself.

But you're going to need to slip away from the CIA.

We'll be on comms to help and a contact in the field will assist you.

Who?

His name is Fadi.

He's crossing in from Beirut to back you up.

I've known him a long time.

He's somebody that we can trust.

You're gonna need field backup.

All you're doing is marking the target and reporting back.

We'll make a plan to detain him at a later time.

And if he makes us, what do I do?

You call it off.

You disappear immediately.

Okay.

Okay, I can do this.

If you need an excuse to get away from your colleagues, this is a last resort if you need to leave in a hurry.

The green pill is a tartar emetic.

It simulates food poisoning.

The blue pill, the calming blue, that's the antidote.

It's a cyclizine antiemetic.

Okay?

I'm subverting the CIA, running an off-book mission, intentionally giving them false leads.

What I'm about to do is treasonous.

[plane engine humming]

The little green man still out there on the wing tearing apart the hydraulics?

Sharp claws, fangs.

No.

Alex: We're married.

It was a lovely ceremony.

I made associate at my firm by 25.

That's why I fell for you, big boy.

You're a star.

[light music]

Sam: 1998, History, magna cum laude.

Summa. You memorized all our legends, didn't you, freak show?

I read them.

Do we know the restaurant layout?

We're getting pictures.

I'll meet with Endo, he'll do his little broker dancer, try and show me how big his huevos are, then give me a price.

You two are strictly backup.

Man and wife.

Okay, we got at 9:00 a.m., so easy on the mini-bar tonight.

I'm looking at you, Rain Man.

I don't drink alcohol.

Holy balls.

Alex, recognize when someone is yanking you.

Now get the hell out of my room. Go.

[dramatic music]

Fadi?

I knew you were Katya's child from 50 feet.

I only have a few minutes before my colleagues know I'm gone.

I was told you'd have a w*apon for me.

Where's the bank?

I have someone inside waiting for the operative in charge of Black Dagger to arrive.

Whoever the money's intended for, we don't want it sitting there long.

Yes.

But he'll need to know it's safe before he withdraws it.

We don't need to assume it's a man, or even just one person.

[chuckles]

Have you used one of those before?

Sig Sauer P226 double-action 9mm.

Picatinny rail, vertical front strap serrations.

[chuckles]

Not once, while sh**ting a man, has it occurred to me where the grip of my g*n is made.

Why are you doing this?

Taking all these risks for us?

Dental floss.

Beirut, in the late '80s, I led an Op straight into a scouting patrol.

I took two of your Sig 9mms below my ribcage.

We were cornered. No evac.

I would've bled out, but a young recruit cut out the b*llet, took out a twine of dental floss, and sewed me up.

She sat with me through the night.

My mother did that?

She was on an Op that got into a firefight?

She's an extraordinary woman.

Katya doesn't have to mention the risks when she asks for a favor.

Now, go back and help your CIA friends with their wild goose chase.

Don't worry. I will watch the bank.

[speaking Mandarin]

I don't speak Mandarin, so I assume you said I look beautiful.

All clear. No signs of Endo.

You know, the Tempietto Del Bramante is considered one of the great architectural pieces of Europe.

If there's time...

What, you want to culture me?

I would like to see the Tempietto Del Bramante.

So you don't want to culture me?

I would like to.

Yes.

Excuse me, sir, it's for you.

Endo: I told you to come alone.

[imitates Chinese accent] I am.

Endo: Then who's the couple in the corner?

They finished breakfast an hour ago.

The deal's off.

[click]

[phone beeping]

[phone vibrating]

[phone beeps]

Let's go back to the hotel.

[muffled yell]

[dramatic music]

[tires screeching]

I have an agent gone dark.

.

I apologize for the abduction.

But you did break my rules.

[imitates Chinese accent] Would you ever go to a buy without backup?

I would never buy.

I only sell.

Well, it's good to be king.

Better to be a king-maker.

Which is why it's so important I know who my buyers are.

The MSS wants your SVR Intel.

And they sent you from London?

Closer branch.

You went to Qingdao for your training?

Of course.

[g*n cocking]

Who was your instructor at the base in Qingdao?

Shu Chen.

His rank?

Leftenant Colonel.

What color was the outdoor track?

There was no outdoor track on base.

[exhales]

Now I can take you through primary school and get you a copy of my mother's last angiogram, or we can just get to it, and tell me your price.

Have you tried the saltimbocca?

Meat so tender, you'll swear it's alive.

Be sure to try it.

[suspenseful music]

You didn't miss a background cue?

If I had, local PD would be pulling a very handsome Asian floater out of the Tiber River.

You said he was drinking tea.

Do you remember if it was loose leafed or bagged?

Loose.

The chair was wood and the wall was stone.

Now stop trying to debrief me.

Look, maybe we should go back to the restaurant and do a sweep for any...

There's nothing to do until Endo calls.

Now...

I feel like I have an ice pick in my eye, so if you don't stop talking and go away, they'll be putting up a star for you at Langley.

[Sam sighs]

[knock at door]

Hey.

After all that with Sam, I thought you might've forgotten your legend.

Want to run over it again?

No, I know every word of it.

Why would you think I would need to...

Easy, Gunpowder, I'm kidding.

Oh, your view is better than mine.

I doubt that.

I just said it was.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Like what?

Like that.

I don't know any other way to look at you.

Really? Because I could get the wrong idea of what you're thinking.

What does it look like I'm thinking?

That you want to put your hands on me.

I want to put my hands on you every time I see you.

So do something then.

[soft music]

Here.

[camera lens clicking]

[lens clicking]

Alex: I did not see this happening.

Well, that's part of your charm, Alex.

And we're in the city of romance.

I think that's Paris.

Shut up.

No, you're... you're right. It's... it's probably Rome.

Better.

[phone rings]

Yes?

Fadi: He's here... your Black Dagger operative.

He's draining the account.

I'll try and get away.

I'll have my inside man stall, but you must hurry, my friend.

[phone beeps]

We probably shouldn't say anything about this.

Which isn't saying it was a mistake.

[suspenseful music]

[lens clicking]

Fadi: He's on the move.

Alex: I'm coming.

Hey!

Fadi: He's in a black range rover.

Alex: Is anyone with him?

Fadi: Just his driver.

Do you have the tracking device ready?

Alex: Just get me close enough!

[suspenseful music]

[tires screeching]

[speaking Italian]

[woman shouting]

[overlapping shouts]

Where are you?

Villa Nardone, by the tower.

No, rear-end him. You have to stall. I need to catch up.

Stall the driver!

[phone beeps]

[crash]

Fadi: Excusi.

[both speaking Italian]

[continues [in Italian]

Excusi.

[Fadi continues in Italian]

Momento, momento!

Signore, per favore... [speaking Italian]

Momento, momento!

[continues in Italian]

[tracker beeps]

Per favore.

You're okay?

Yeah.

[suspenseful music]

You sure we shouldn't get a little closer?

This is a world-class operative.

Any closer, he'll make us.

That's a chop shop for stolen cars.

Your man is with Camorra Italian Mafia.

This is a front.

There's no way a Camorra mobster would be carrying out an att*ck for the SVR.

He's likely a cut-out.

A middleman delivering it to someone else.

They've carried out bombings and assassinations before, supported, at times, by your own CIA.

Not that your history books will admit it.

That's an exaggeration.

Oh, we all start out as idealists.

Then we see how the world actually works.

I'm not as naive as you think.

[laughs]

What?

I'm just remembering when I was your age.

Beginning this life.

What was she like back then, my mother?

She didn't choose this like you did.

Her father made the decision for her.

She was determined not to live her life defined by it, which is not always so easy.

I will wait for our target to move and see if there's another triggerman.

You go back and join your American CIA friends.

[chuckles]

I just hope your genius brother doesn't outsmart himself.

Give himself away.

It's all going to escalate quickly.

The Rezident isn't stupid. He's worse.

He's paranoid.

We know the risks.

So does Alex.

Alex isn't who I'm worried about.

When we have to, when there's nothing else, we run.

[chains clanking]

[hinges creaking]

Emergency stash.

If we have to leave suddenly, this is the meeting spot.

[car horns honking]

[tires screeching]

[suspenseful music]

[imitates Chinese accent] You ever think of putting in some carpet?

It will open the place up.

The price is 15 million euros.

You've got to be kidding.

That's three times its worth.

I agree.

But you will pay it, if you want it.

I have other interested parties.

Not for that rate.

Maybe, but I give you first right to match.

Say, five hours.

There is no bargaining room here.

Five hours from...

Sir...

Well, Endo's no dummy.

He'll check and I guarantee you, he will get violent fast if he realizes...

Yes, sir.

[phone beeps]

They don't want to risk that much money.

So, what, we just walk away from a huge cache of SVR documents?

No, they want me to buy it.

Just with a suitcase full of counterfeit bills.

But Endo's been around the block.

He'll check the bills and if he realizes they're counterfeit, he'll definitely try to sh**t me on the spot.

Wait, what? That's... that's not worth it.

Thanks for your concern, kid, but that's what Uncle Sam pays me for.

Look, what if this cache isn't what we think it is?

Well, there's only one way to find out.

And I think he'll try to sh**t me.

I didn't say he'd succeed.

How do you avoid a b*llet fired at close range?

Quick reflexes.

Plus, I'll spike the guy's tea so his reflexes are slow.

No, but there are two of them.

Him and his guard...

Alex, calm down.

Italian Intel will provide backup.

Along with a couple of our own GRS guys, I should have at least eight friendly g*ns around me.

How far away? They're not gonna be in the room with you.

Alex, your concern for me is touching, really.

I'm touched.

I am.

Look, it doesn't matter how many g*ns are around you if you can't stake out the place in advance.

How are they gonna do that if you don't know where he's gonna take you?

They took me to the same place twice.

You don't know where that is.

Well, we're gonna have to figure that out, aren't we, Einstein?

Sam: Okay, we drove for about 40 minutes across two sets of tram tracks.

About five minutes before Endo's, I smelled... boots.

Leather.

Conceria.

Well, there's a tannery across from these tracks.

The Trastevere region. What else?

Um...

[bells tolling]

Sam: Bells, I heard church bells.

Luckily, there aren't a lot of churches in Rome.

I'm not done. There were dozens of church bells playing some kind of a melody. It was, uh...

Carillon.

They're rare. Especially rare in Italy.

Did you learn that in your Ecclesiastical Music of Southern Europe class at Princeton?

I mean, how the hell do you know that?

I...

I'm not sure.

I used to read a lot as a kid.

And it's the heaviest musical instrument in the world, and I thought that was interesting.

That carillons are heavy?

That they're very rare in Italy.

As in, only one.

[bells tolling]

Michelle: St. Paul's.

Sam: Now we're getting somewhere.

Just before we stopped, we went over some bumps.

Potholes?

Sam: No, it went from asphalt to cobblestone.

Then I heard, like, a... a drone sound. Like a foghorn or something.

Alex: Foghorn? There's no harbor here.

Sam: I don't know what to tell you. Uh...

All right, well, aside from the foghorn, I'd say you were somewhere in this three-block area.

In a restaurant. How do you know it's a restaurant?

You said Endo was drinking loose leaf tea.

That suggests he was somewhere that serves food.

Otherwise, the tea would be in bags.

No foghorns, no... hidden waterways that weren't on our maps.

Maybe Sam had wax in his ears.

Alex: Can I ask you what your tattoo means?

It's for Jillian, my sister.

She loved cats.

Loved?

Michelle: She only made it to 18.

Alex: What happened?

Michelle: Car accident.

I stopped praying for a better life after that.

I just try to live each a day as it comes.

I'm sorry.

When I got the ink, I thought maybe it would make me feel closer to her.

Sometimes it does.

[foghorn blowing]

Michelle: Sam's foghorn.

Alex: He's late.

Michelle: A lot of paperwork to get something like this approved.

Especially in Italy.

Alex: That, or somebody made him.

Grabbed him off the street.

Michelle: Somebody's going to make us if you don't start living your cover, Alex.

What?

You're on vacation with your wife.

Look at the scenery. Take some pictures.

[camera phone clicking]

Where did you come from?

Behind you.

What did I tell you about always looking forward?

This is Magda, with GRS, and Fernando, with AIASI.

Walk with us.

Certainly would fool me.

The application device.

[fizzing]

This is the best tech services could come up with?

On short notice, yes.

How fast will it work?

Maybe a minute.

They most likely had you in the basement here.

And those g*ons play cards by the back exit.

So you'll have to go 40 feet through the main bar and out the front doors if things go south.

Okay.

We'll be outside, too.

I am pleased the MSS decide to meet the price.

[imitating Chinese accent] I must tell you, you were right about the saltimbocca.

Delicious.

Yeah.

Sirva here will oversee the terms for your funds.

[tense music]

That's more people than he expected in the room.

He can handle it.

Magda: We're ready at the back exit.

[scanner buzzing]

So?

They're excellent quality.

But they're counterfeit.

Magda: Prepare to engage.

Sam: Excuse me, where the hell did you find him?

Because he has no idea what he's talking about.

Test them again.

What were you thinking?

Honestly, I was hoping...

[American accent] that you would've pitched forward, lights out by now.

[tires screeching]

The good news is, Intel is matching up to known SVR officers.

We seem to have a Russian Easter egg on our hands.

Bad news is, Langley is not happy that this thing ended in a firefight.

They're the ones that insisted on using counterfeit, you...

You warned them.

Well, you can tell the director that in about five minutes.

He and DNCS [phone vibrating] want a full debrief from us, pronto.

The operative is on the movie, Alex.

You must hurry.

I'm about to go into a debrief with Langley.

I can't just walk aw...

I don't think the man who's going to execute Black Dagger cares about your debrief.

Fadi: Move.

[phone beeps]

[stomach grumbling]

Are you okay?

[exhales] I think, uh... [burping]

I'm not sure.

You look like you should go get some fresh air.

Yeah, you look really pale.

[stomach grumbling]

[vomiting]

Yeah, okay. Uh...

Look, why don't you just go back to the hotel room?

We'll field the call.

Don't worry. Langley knows it's your baby.

Work's done here. So just, really, don't throw up in front of people. Mainly me.

Are you sure you're okay?

I'm okay. I... I just... [gags]

I just need to lie down.

Yeah, go back to the hotel and rest.

I'll check in on you later.

Via Gallia. Hurry.

[thud]

No! Oh, God, no! No.

No!

[phone rings]

It's him. Alex?

I lost the antidote pill.

It's somewhere inside the seat.

If I ask the driver to stop, I'll never make it.

What?

How bad is this going to get?

You're gonna be in agony for about six hours.

[phone beeps]

Where is the triggerman now?

He's on the move.

Fadi just called.

Alex, get out of there.

Just leave it.

No.

No, I can't. We already recovered the planted SVR data.

We'll be wheels up by tomorrow.

No, Alex.

This man is highly, highly trained.

You're not gonna be able to stand up in about ten minutes.

You gotta let it go.

There's too much at stake.

No, Alex. Don't be stupid.

[phone beeps]

I have to go.

[phone beeps]

No, Alex.

[phone beeps]

The operative...

He's meeting another man.

Who?

I don't know. I can't hear.

[suspenseful music]

Fadi: He's exchanging the money for diamonds.

Easier to transport.

[labored breathing]

Hurry, my friend.

This is no cut-out. This is our man.

He just released the driver.

He's on foot now.

Where are you?

Next to the Castel Sant'Angelo.

Heading north of small building.

I'm following him now.

[phone beeps]

[thud]

[man speaking Italian]

[phone rings]

Katya: Alex, talk to me. What's going on?

Alex, stop.

[g*n cocks]

Go back.

Alex: Fadi's trailing the Black Dagger operative.

I have to help him.

[both men grunting]

[cr*ck]

[ominous music]

[grunting]

g*nf*re.

[g*n cocks]

[labored breathing]

Katya: Alex, can you hear me?

Please, tell me what's going on.

No! No. No. No.

What, what? God, what? What is it, Alex?

What's wrong? What's wrong? Where are you?

No. No.

No, no... ah!

What's going on?

He's not saying... I can't hear him.

He sounds far away, like he's drop... he's dropped the phone.

He's not the triggerman.

[footsteps in the distance]

[ominous music]

The driver.

I have to go.

Katya: Alex!

Can you hear me?

[Katya speaking Russian]

Mark: Alex, can you hear us?

Alex. Alex can you hear us?

Katya: He dropped the phone.

[grunting]

[coughing]

[suspenseful music]

[distorted, muffled sound]

[speaking Italian]

[man shouting in Italian]

[coughing]

[knock at door] Alex.

Hey, did you make it back okay?

Michelle said you didn't answer her texts.

Alex?

Okay, I'm courtesy-checking now to make sure you didn't stroke out in the bathtub.

Alex.

[suspenseful music]

O'Connor.

[man speaking Italian]

[coughs]

[speaking Italian]

The driver.

[grunting]

[phone dialing]

[phone rings]

It's Alex. Alex.

I'm okay.

He's okay.

Fadi's dead.

It was the driver the whole time.

He was escorting his own cut-out.

I let him get away and Fadi's dead.

I screwed up everything.

Alex, it's not your fault. It's not your fault.

Alex, you are alive.

You are alive.

Was there anything...

Did you at least see him? Anything about him?

[ominous music]

[phone rings]

[phone rings]

[phone rings]

man on phone: Mr. Kristoff, did you receive our package?

I did.

man: Are you inbound?

I have one more stop to make.

I can be there in two days.

And then I will be ready to start.