01x02 - The Wooden Duck

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "The Agency". Aired: November 29, 2024.*
Watch/Buy Amazon


An espionage thriller set within the department responsible for training and handling deep-cover officers on long-term missions who live under false identities for years, aiming to identify and recruit intelligence sources.
Post Reply

01x02 - The Wooden Duck

Post by bunniefuu »

- Are you going somewhere?
- I'm leaving.

[NAOMI] When did you tell her?

This morning.

It had to happen, I guess.

[MARTIAN] She never wants
to see my face again.


Who pulled me out of Addis
in such a hurry?


I mean, who do I have to thank

after six years for the 48-hour notice?

Coyote was arrested.

Shit.

Coyote knows of operations
currently ongoing in Ukraine.

[OWEN] Felix, Rattlebox in L'viv.

[BOSKO] Suspend upcoming operations.

All covert activities
in Russia and Ukraine

may be compromised.

[MARTIAN] That why I'm back?

[HENRY] I want you to train

a new agent before we ship.

- [MARTIAN] Where to?
- [HENRY] Iran.

In at the deep end.

There's a shallow end?

- How are you settling in?
- [MARTIAN] Good.

Saw my daughter,
followed everywhere I go.


Phone's probably tapped.

[SAMI] You calling because of
the attack at the university?


- [MARTIAN] Yes.
-
[SAMI] I'm alive.

- [MARTIAN] I'm in London.
- [SAMI] Me too.

[GRANDMA] We should have
told him about
the backup tracker.

["LOVE IS BLINDNESS" BY JACK WHITE]

♪ Love is blindness ♪

♪ I don't want to see ♪

♪ Won't you wrap the night ♪

♪ Around me ♪

♪ Oh, my heart ♪

♪ Love is blindness ♪

♪ Blindness ♪

♪ Love is blindness ♪

♪ I don't want to see ♪

♪ Won't you wrap the night ♪

♪ Around me, yeah ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ My love ♪

♪ Love is blindness ♪

♪ Oh, love is blindness ♪

♪ Blindness ♪

[MARTIAN]
When you live undercover,

there's all these voices.

Loud voices, quiet voices.

[DOUR, ELECTRONIC MUSIC]



[BIRDSONG]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

This is everything we could grab.

Great.

What is this stuff?

They're medical packs.

You know, we hand them out to civilians

who come this way trying
to escape the front lines.

- You have kids?
- Two.

I got these, uh,
great coloring books and pens.

- Here, take a few, eh?
- Thanks.

Yeah.

[BABY CRYING]

Amber light.

Felix is amber.

- Is our cover blown?
- Negative.

Stand by.

- [SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]
- Hey.

What does this mean?

[SPEAKS UKRAINIAN]

Ukraine.

Forever.

Free.

[SOMBER MUSIC]



[LAUGHING]

[SAMI] Back home,
the law would have me...


buried to my neck and
stoned to death for adultery.


When I left, I told myself
it was for the best.


I thought I could let you go.

Make it all easier for you.

For me.

I have to go.



Do you remember
what we said to each other

when we said goodbye?

Yes, I remember.

It was corny.

No, it wasn't.

Not at the time.

You and me, forever.

You and me.

[GRANDPA] [CHUCKLES] Out of his league.

Not if he's paying for it.



Maybe they had a fight.

[GRANDMA] She does not look angry.

[GRANDPA]
She doesn't look like a hooker.

[GRANDMA]
Maybe she has a plane to catch.

[GRANDPA] With no luggage?

[GRANDPA] Hey, hey, hey. Wake up.

Here's your bugs. Breakfast.

I'm going home now.

Shower, then work, via the Airlock.

♪ inquisitive music ♪



[BLAKE] Dr. Rachel Blake.

I'm here to see Foreign Service
Support Attaché Henry Ogletree.


[PAPER RUSTLING]

Thanks.

[QUIET, INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[MARTIAN] Scenario one.

Coyote got drunk, blew his cover.

They take him straight
from the police station

to a counterespionage unit.

Now the Belarusian
intelligence service has him.

He sobers up.

Says it's bullshit, he was hammered.

What if while he was hammered,
he spilled his guts?

Evidence, contacts and...

Or worse, what if he did
but he doesn't remember?

Then they would've put him back
out in the field as a flytrap,

but they didn't, they made him vanish.

Oh, great. So-so, uh, Coyote...
he got drunk

and he either did or didn't do
something he meant

or didn't mean to do that
he does or doesn't remember.

Yeah, I've had that hangover.
It's brutal.

How long was Coyote at the
Department before being deployed?

Uh, 16 months.

[MARTIAN] So, 16 months of access

- to classified operational data,
- [GROANS]

protocols, current covert ops.

I'm gonna puke.

Let's go over his legend.

Right. Yeah, so he lives alone,

uh, one-bedroom duplex
bought on a mortgage, no pets.

Works for a financial
consulting firm in Upper Minsk.

Uh, a lot of legit activity,
real clients.

A break and sweep
would totally stand up.

This guy has a real life out there.

How many of his current sources
have we notified?

Uh, three, all on standby.

I contacted a fourth
who sounded spooked.

How spooked?

Look, it's
a precautionary measure.


- Is my cover blown?
- No, no, no,


not at all, you're safe.

It's Alexei Orekhov. 34 years old.

Manages a trucking company
linked to Russian mercenary groups.

So why are we stopping?

- You don't want to tell me.
- It's protocol.


Protocol.

Yeah, it's protocol.

- It's protocol.
- [LAUGHS] Protocol.

Proto... Protocol.

You know who I work with.
One false move,


they cut my eyes out
and leave me in a ditch.


- How the f*ck...
- All right.

We need to exfiltrate him now.

That'll be expensive.

Game it out. I'll talk to Henry.

You really think he's that unstable?

Nope. I think we can use him.

[RADIO STATIC, BEEPING]

[HENRY] So, uh...

he broke three trackers,
spent the night in a hotel

and in the morning, gave you the slip.

Anything else?

- He bought us Danish.
- They were amazing.

Was he alone?

[GRANDPA] Hard to say.
People come in and out.

It's a hotel.

I know what a hotel is.

Our brief was to make sure

no one tails or IDs him. Okay?

If you want more,
this becomes surveillance.

And then you get everything.

Who he fucks, how many times,

- does she like it in the ass.
- [KNOCK ON DOOR]

Henry.

Hey, guys. Got a minute?

Yeah.

[GRANDMA] See you around.

[DOOR CLOSES]

What's up?

I think I found a wooden duck.

Every night, put
all documents in the shredder

or in this safe.

Your desk must be clear
and your trash empty.

We clean our own offices.

Codes here. Door, safe, telephone.

You're familiar with "need to know"?

I worked at Langley for 16 years.

Now you're in the field.

We run non-official cover agents

from this floor.
"Need to know" is sacred.

Like professional confidentiality.

Like classified intelligence.

Doctors get sued,
not ex*cuted for treason.

No one's been ex*cuted
for treason since the Civil w*r.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

A-An exfil is a hundred grand.

I already got the FD up my ass.

A source is out there, on tilt.

We need to bring him in.
Spend the money.

You slept at a hotel last night.

Sea Containers, South Bank.
Don't change the subject.

Alone?

What is this, fatherly concern?

I'm not that old.

[CHUCKLES]

Why'd you shake your protection team?

I'm training them. Someone has to.

You know, post-mission disorder

- is...
- Is that a Joy Division album?

Henry.

Coyote's cell phone
is still at the station.

No one saw him leave.
Maybe he f*cked up.

Or maybe he and anyone he recruited

is a Russian double agent.

Spend the money.

[KNOCKING]

Dr. Blake is here.

Right.

Dr. Blake. Welcome to sunny old London.

[LAUGHS]

This is NOC Case Officer Martian.

Dr. Blake is over from
our psych department at Langley,

here to evaluate mental health
across the Department.

Sure you are.

Psychological well-being
is an agency-wide priority.

I'm here to observe, lend an ear.

After one or two days, people
forget I'm even in the room.

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

Considering what we do here,
that's genuinely terrifying.

Can I show you something?

[HADDAWAY'S "WHAT IS LOVE"
PLAYING]


I'm leaving the service.

What?

I thought they gave you a mission.

They did.

Long deployment abroad, but I can't go.

Why not?

My boyfriend.

Oh, f*ck him. This is your career.

If I go, it'll destroy us.

[FRIEND] Yeah, well, he'll adapt, Danny.

Listen to me.

This is what you've worked for.

- It's who you are.
- I thought so, too.

♪ And what is wrong,
give me a sign... ♪


Guess not.

♪ What is love? ♪

[TYPING]

She's here.

[DOOR BUZZES]

[DOOR OPENS]

How were the farewells?

Uh, my colleagues think I'm nuts.

Ex-colleagues.

I'm a tradwife
to my imaginary boyfriend.

Good job.

[BEN] Been to Israel?


development conference

as part of my engineering degree.

[CLEARS THROAT]
Iranian intelligence films

all arrivals at Tel Aviv. Ben?

Uh, yeah, we're up in that
server. I can make it disappear.

[ALEXEI] Protocol.

Proto... Protocol.

You know who I work with.

One false move,
they cut my eyes out


and leave me in a ditch.
I demand to be exfiltrated.


If you won't do it,
I will do it my...


What's his panic level?

Critical, we find a plausible reason

to yank him from the field.

Not critical, I tell him go home,

take a bath, clear his head.

If you're wrong, he risks arrest.

Execution.

Call it.

Dr. Blake?

Imagine you took a routine checkup,

and when you call for
the results, the doctor says,

"I need more tests. Don't worry.

It's nothing. But whatever
you do, don't travel."

You live in West Africa.

There's an Ebola outbreak.

What would you do?

I'll get you the cash.

Take her with you.

[KEYPAD BEEPS]

- [PHONE VIBRATING]
- [DOOR OPENS]

[MAN URINATING]

[OWEN] Mr. Orekhov,
I've been trying to reach you.


Where have you been?

Who is this?

We spoke earlier
about arranging your travel.

[ANNOUNCER OVER P.A.] Attention,
passengers flying to New York,


John F. Kennedy,

boarding will begin shortly...

Alexei, where are you?

I don't need you. Too slow.

- [HANGS UP]
- Shit!

Shit!

[PULSING MUSIC]



- Blair!
- [BLAIR] What?

Blair, he's already at the airport.
Come on.

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[MARTIAN] So, mental health.

What exactly is healthy in this job?

Ever met anyone in the DO
who's tip-top in the pink?

If you have,

I hope you shitcanned them
for being a psychopath.

I'm a clinical psychologist.
I don't "shitcan" anyone.

I watch, evaluate.

So you're evaluating me right now?

You check your rearview mirrors
every five seconds.

It's excessive.

Implies a lot.

You also register who's driving
any passing vehicle,

who else is in the vehicle,

make and color and where
the vehicle is registered.

[PHONE RINGING]

Doesn't everyone?

- [PHONE BEEPS]
- Henry.

[HENRY]
Orekhov's at Minsk National

about to board a flight
to Istanbul connecting to JFK.

f*ck.

Okay.
How long till his flight boards?


- 47 minutes.
- [MARTIAN] Which airline?

[BLAIR] Ottoman Skylines. OT284...

And OT320, Istanbul to JFK.

If he flies to the U.S., it's
as good as a signed confession,

so we need a new flight plan
for him out of Minsk.

Something that stacks up
if Belarusian KGB

or Russian FSB start digging.

Okay, tell me everything you
know about this guy. Details.


- [OWEN] All right, he...
- Uh, Alexei Orekhov.

Born 1989 in Kalodzishchy,

- suburb east of Minsk.
- One of-one of two boys.

Dad, farm worker, died lung cancer in...

Uh, 1995, moved to Minsk, age 18.

- Job in an auto plant.
- '95.

He was a truck driver

- placed by...
- He isn't a truck driver.

- He just runs the company.
- Was a truck driver.

Plays five-a-side soccer,

takes his mother to the
Sacred Heart Catholic Church

once a month and Christmas.

[OWEN] He's had five girlfriends,
longest relationship, a year.


His brother moved to Gdansk.

He's a union dock worker.

A year ago, he was diagnosed with...

- Lymphatic cancer.
- l... lymphatic cancer, which

- is presently in remission.
- Stop.

That's it. Gdansk.

[MARTIAN] Call Orekhov. Tell him

he's on the next flight
to Gdansk. So are we.

What's going on? I thought
we were going to Vilnius.

Vilnius is OBE.

"Overtaken by events."

- [LINE RINGING]
- Don't f*ck this up.

[SCOFFS]

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]



- [OWEN] Alexei.
- Owen.

My friend, too late.
I am gone. I am on a flight

- in five minutes.
- Listen, Alexei.

We cancelled your ticket
and we deleted any record

of you buying a flight to JFK.

You will be stopped at the gate.

- m*therf*cker.
- So, you need to listen

- to me, Alexei.
- I swear to God, if I meet you,

- I'm going to f*cking k*ll you.
- Listen, Alexei.

- Alexei, you need
- I'm going to f*cking k*ll you!

- to listen to me...
- Listen, Alexei.

Walk to the Air Poland desk.

There is a ticket in your name
on the 13:20 to Gdansk.

- I don't trust you.
- You're visiting your brother

in the hospital there.
His cancer?


- Oh. [SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
- But right now...


- [SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
- Right now,

you're putting your mother, your brother

and everyone you know in danger.

Starting with you.

Make the right move here, Alexei.

- Jump wrong,
- No.

- I can't help you.
- Wait. Hey.

- No one can.
- Wait...

- What the f*ck?! I had that,
- I know you had it.

- by the way.
- I know you had it.

- Why'd you hang up?
- I don't know.

I just did it.
I just did it for emphasis

- or something.
- Emphasis? What?

- Well, did he agree?
- What do you mean?

Did he agree to get on the flight?

Because it didn't sound
like he agreed to anything.

- The conversation was over.
- The conversation is over

when he agrees to get
on the f*cking plane!

Yeah, well, my gut
is he'll be on the plane.

Your gut?

This is intelligence. Not Reno.

[HENRY OVER PHONE] Orekhov
boarded the plane to Gdansk.


Nice catch.

[MARTIAN] And the greeting party?
In position.

Go get it done.

Dmitri Orekhov?

Oh, Dmitri?

[CONVERSING IN POLISH]

Excuse me, sir. You speak English?

- Dmitri Orekhov?
- A little. Sure.

Dr. Tom Vincent.

I'm an American military doctor

attached to the Embassy in Warsaw.

This is my colleague, Dr. Brown.
We're here about your brother.

- What about him? What's wrong?
- Russian counterespionage

thinks he's been working for the CIA.

The U.S. consulate there alerted us.

He may be charged with treason.

- What did he do?
- [MARTIAN] Nothing.

But he got scared
and skipped the country.

They think Alex is spy?

[CHUCKLES] He can't even tie shoes.

We just want to help him
make it out of this safely.

What can I do?

Check yourself into a hospital.

- Why?
- Alexei told his boss at work

he was coming to Poland to visit
his brother, who has cancer.

So, you want me to pretend it came back?

Did you actually have cancer?

[DMITRI] One year ago.
I'm under remission.

How come we didn't know
about this, Dr. Brown?

Uh, I thought...

We didn't have access
to any medical records.

It's just for a few days

till we make sure your brother's safe.

Just few days.

Please don't put me
on the spot like that.

I am here to observe.

I wanted you to feel it.

What it's like being someone else.

That was for five seconds,
not six years.

If we're quick, we'll make
the last flight back to London.

What about Orekhov?

Aren't you gonna be there when he lands?

Orekhov won't make it
out of the airport.

[INTENSE MUSIC]



Welcome to Poland. Take this car.

Where are you going?

Stop the car.

Stop the car, let me out.

Hey! Stop the f*cking car!

[SCREAMING]

Let me out!

f*ck you! f*ck.

[SHOUTING]

[GRUNTING]

[EXCLAIMS]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

JSOC called.

Oh?

The f*ck is wrong with you, Henry?

- Listen...
- Yeah.

Asking your brother-in-law

about a classified op by code name...

a code name you weren't even
supposed to know...

you didn't think
that was gonna come back?

On the contrary, I hoped it would.

Why?

I wanted to know if he's exposed.

He's on a black op in a w*r zone.

Nothing operational was shared.

I know nothing about Felix.
All I had was a name.

[SCOFFS]

You want to know something?

I believe you.

Want to know why?

Because I, Henry, am station chief,

and even I don't know what Felix is.

Which means that Felix,

is the very, very heaviest

of heavy, heavy shit,

and nobody... not you, not I, no one...

would ever mention.

Ever.

[DOOR OPENS]

[MUFFLED GROANING]

[HEADPHONES CLATTER]

[HOOD AND GOGGLES CLATTER]

[MOANS, PANTS]

[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

Hey.

[SCREAMING]

_

_

_

[CAMERA BEEPING]

All right. How much is it gonna cost me?

Uh, 50 grand, tops.

Twenty K for the transfer,
three agents, company jet.

Two agents for the mission,
equipment, etcetera.

Twenty for the interrogation,
ten for post.

Yeah. What are the risks?

Apart from the fifty grand
and losing Orekhov forever?

But the upside?

If he is a double, Coyote is, too.

Can you do it for forty?

- Can't do it for forty.
- Forty-five.

Forty-eight.

[SCOFFS] What is this, a Turkish bazaar?

- Hmm.
- All right,

let me explain how
budgetary allocations are made

within the U.S. government
departments, Henry.

The station chief submits
a quarterly request

to the overseas accounts
committee in Langley,

spearheaded by

a Mrs. Martina-Louise Brooks.

Now, Mrs. Brooks does not like me.

- [CHUCKLES SOFTLY]
- I'd go as far as to say

that Mrs. Brooks does not
believe in Europe as a concept.

Forty-seven.

Sold.

[WHIMPERING]

Begin.

_

_

_

- [INTERROGATOR] Hi.
- [PANTING]

[EASTERN EUROPEAN ACCENT]
So, we are here


to take your lunch orders.

What is going to be?
Waffles or pizza?


Cheeseburgers or hot dogs?

- [SHOUTS]
- [ALEXEI SCREAMS]


Coca-Cola or McDonald's?

- [SPEAKING RUSSIAN]
- Tupac or Biggie?


Bill or Hillary?

[ALEXEI SCREAMING]

Beyoncé or Taylor Swift?

[SCREAMS]

_

_

_

- [LOCK BEEPS]
- [DOOR OPENS]

_

_

_

_

_

[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

[GRUNTS]

How much can we hurt him?

- What's the ceiling?
- Low to medium.

He's in Russia. They don't play nice.

- It's a wooden duck.
- [INTERROGATORS] ♪ Born ♪

- ♪ In the USA ♪
- I'm just saying.

[INTERROGATORS]
♪ I'm a long gone daddy ♪

♪ In the USA now ♪

- ♪ Born in the USA ♪
- [COUGHS]

_

- [INTERROGATOR 2] ♪ Born in the USA ♪
- _

♪ I'm a long gone daddy
in the... ♪


Is a doctor on standby?

Can be.

Let him cook.

[ALEXEI CONTINUES
SPEAKING RUSSIAN]


Let him cook.

- Put him in the dark.
- ♪ Born in the USA ♪

♪ I'm a cool ♪

- [GRUNTS]
- ♪ Daddy in the USA ♪

[CRYING, PANTING]

[BLAIR HUMS "DANCING IN
THE DARK" BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN]


- [DOOR BEEPS]
- [DOOR OPENS]

♪ Dancing in the dark ♪

[DOOR CLOSES]

Sorry.

Wooden duck?

Squeeze a wooden duck, it doesn't quack.

If this guy works for the Russians,

soon as he's had enough, he'll quack.

"Guys, time-out.

f*ck America. I'm on your team."

Doesn't quack, we're good.

"Good," meaning?

He's alive next week
and so are lots of others.

And if he does quack?

Then we're f*cked.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

♪ intriguing music playing ♪



[BOTH SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

Negative.

[BOTH SPEAKING UKRAINIAN]

_

_

_

_

- Mm-hmm.
- Mm?

_

[ALEXEI CRYING]

_

_

_

_

_

[INTERROGATOR SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

[COUGHING]

[ALEXEI] Vodka?

[SPUTTERING]

_

_

[GROANING]

[GROANS]

[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

Wait.

[ALEXEI SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

Did I hear... What's he saying?

[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

[BLAIR] "I report to Moscow."

f*ck.

"I work for...

...the Americans and the Russians."

"I report...

...to Drezin in the FSB."

Go get Bosko. Drezin, do we know him?

No, I'm on it.

What section does Drezin work for?

Counterespionage?
Military security?

[INTERROGATOR SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

[ALEXEI SPEAKS RUSSIAN]

Says he doesn't know. Well?

No Drezin.

Say he's bullshitting.

[INTERROGATOR AND ALEXEI
SPEAKING RUSSIAN]


He's saying it's true.

Who recruited him?

[INTERROGATOR SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

Ivanov.

Verify Ivanov.

Ivanov is Smith.

- It's like Smith in the U.S.
- Verify.

Where's his dead drop?

[INTERROGATOR SPEAKS RUSSIAN]

[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

A locker at Minsk railway station.

What locker number?

[INTERROGATOR AND ALEXEI
SPEAKING RUSSIAN]


[BLAIR] He can't remember.

What's happening?

He's quacking.

What was the last intel he
delivered to the Americans?

[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

[OMINOUS MUSIC]



Transport manifests,
and container inventories from Moscow

into Belarus, on to Eastern Ukraine.

Medical supplies for clinics there.

- [DOOR BEEPS]
- [DOOR OPENS]

Call JSOC.

I need time.

Pressure what he's saying, cross-check.

Your brother-in-law's
on the ground out there.

We move when we're sure. I need time.

I need to tell JSOC what we know

when we know it.

God knows they hate us enough already.

- [PULSING MUSIC]
- _

- ♪
- _

What's up?

Emergency abort signal.

What about our target?

It's not your target anymore.

Leave nothing behind.
We're not coming back.

What the hell happened?

Something k*lled the mission.

We'll find out more when it's safe.

This Ivanov

he says he worked for... exist or not?

[BLAIR] Maybe it's a code name.

[HENRY] If he's genuine,
he wouldn't know his real name.

What do we do?

Ask if he knows Ivanov's rank.

[INTERROGATOR AND ALEXEI
SPEAKING RUSSIAN]


Colonel.

Ask if he's heard of
Colonel Sergei Mezakov.

That a pitfall?

[ALEXEI SPEAKS RUSSIAN]

And he didn't jump in. Shit.

How and when were you paid?

- Into what account?
- [INTERROGATOR SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

Cash. Russian rubles.

[ALEXEI SPEAKING RUSSIAN]

He never banked it.

[g*nf*re IN DISTANCE]

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]



[CHARLIE] f*ck me.

They must have
crossed the river and taken

the power station last night.

What do you want me to do?

Well, our options here are limited.

[SOLDIERS SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

When I say go, punch right through.

[INDISTINCT RUSSIAN CHATTER OVER P.A.]

f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck me.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

[SPEAKS RUSSIAN]

[SOLDIERS SHOUTING]

[SHOUTING IN UKRAINIAN]

[SHOUTING IN UKRAINIAN]

[SHOUTS]

[HANGS UP PHONE]

JSOC report.

I got three operators from Felix,

two-man Ukrainian

special forces sn*per team,

I got one U.S. Delta operator.

They got the orders to abort

too late to get out clean.

They're engaging Russian forces.

SOG has 'em on satellite
and will report.

I'm sorry, Henry.

[TENSE MUSIC]



Did we lose them?

Can't f*cking see.

Stop!

[ALL GRUNTING]

[CHARLIE] Push it!

We got to move.

Take it. Remy?

All right, this is what we're gonna do.

You boys take cover
behind those diggers,

maybe cause a diversion.

[SPEAKS UKRAINIAN]

I'll go left flank,
I'll get up behind them.

Copy?

Copy that.

You good?

Yeah.

All right.

[DOOR BEEPS]

- [DOOR CLOSES]
- [DOOR BEEPS]

[INTENSE MUSIC]



[GRUNTS]

_

_

_

[SHOUTS]

[RAPID g*nf*re]

_

_

[g*nf*re CONTINUING]

_

_

_

We got him!

[SCREAMING]

_

[MEN GRUNTING]

[INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]

[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]

[SHOUTING IN UKRAINIAN]

_

_

_



Wrap it up, brief him,
get him a meal and a bed.

- [CHUCKLES]
- What's so funny?

Uh, are you a fan of Russian literature?

No, I'm more of a Conan Doyle guy.

What the f*ck are you talking about?

Well, this isn't any three-pipe
problem for Sherlock Holmes.

Those names aren't in Orekhov's network.

How do you know?

Because they're in w*r and Peace.

[BEN] Your name
is Daniela Moreno Acosta.

You were born in Seville, raised
in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain.

You visited cousins in New York a lot,

which explains your love of the Knicks

and your excellent English.

[NAOMI] I'll be your postman.

Martian will oversee your deployment.

Who's this?

Professor Reza Mortazevi.

Visiting professor of seismology

at the London School of Sciences.

You're being sent to Tehran

to identify Iranian nuclear engineers.

Professor Mortazevi
runs an exchange program

between the London School of Sciences

and the University College of Tehran.

He comes to London
every two years to lecture

at the Institute of Geophysics.

Your job is to be hired there.

Impress him.

Convince him you're
the candidate for his program.

Then you'll be traveling to Iran

with a certified Iranian official.



How do I get a research job
at the Institute of Geophysics?

That's your problem.

But what if I don't make it in?

Then go home.

Figure out something else
to do with your life.

[CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC]



Follow me.

Here.

There's a cost for doing this work.

A price.

Are you sure you want to pay it?

[SIMON] Uh, how's it going?

[MARTIAN] It's going.

[SIMON] Okay, uh, yeah, so, Sami Zahir,

uh, entered from Addis,
uh, February 25th

on a six-month professional visa.

Uh, she made two round trips back

and she enrolled with the, um,

the Royal College of World Heritage.

I mean, she's clean.
She checks out. Looks legit.

- You're certain?
- Uh, yeah.

Yeah, she's, uh, she's staying
in a room in Raffles.

- Under her real name.
- Did you scrape her phone?

No, no, it's encrypted,
and I couldn't see in.

I-I mean, I can, if you want,
but, um, it'll take longer,

and I'd, uh, I-I'd need

a mission number to log for the time.

Don't ever take a file
out of the office again

or you're fired.

[NAOMI] I'm not talking
about the hardships it presents.


I'm talking about
what it costs a human being

to abandon their identity.

To spend however many days,
weeks, or years


they have left alive
in another skin.


Hi.

It's Daniela.

Acosta.

Thank you.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Uh, champagne, please.

[WOMAN] Professor, I'd like
to introduce you to someone.

[NAOMI] You have to ask yourself

is it worth it?

Do I really
want to pay the price?


Professor Wartenburg?

Excuse me, Professor Wartenburg?

- Hello.
- Hi.

I'm Daniela.

I just wanted to introduce myself

and let you know that I read your paper.

- Oh?
- Your most recent paper.

[CONVERSATION CONTINUING INDISTINCTLY]

What is the price?

I don't see any Ms. Zahir

signed in for this evening's lecture.

Check the register, third floor.

Thank you.

The price is surviving totally alone.

Forever.

[narrator on screen
Artifacts that had survived

for thousands of years
obliterated in a moment


at Palmyra...

and the Mosul Museum.

The destruction was motivated
less by religious dogma


and more to send a message
to the West.


[CONTINUING INDISTINCTLY]

I find these images
incredibly painful.


Rockets and pickaxes
destroying the statue...


[CONTINUES SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]



And that can never be replaced.

[PROFESSOR] Right, uh...

let's break and meet back in 15 minutes

to discuss the film.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

- [STUDENT] Uh, Professor?
- [PROFESSOR] Mm?

I was just wondering,
could you help me...

[STUDENT CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY]

[PROFESSOR]
Yeah, sure. Just give me second.

I'll be right back with that.

- Hi.
- [PROFESSOR] Yeah?

I'm looking for someone
attending your conference.

Dr. Samia Zahir?

Ah, Dr. Zahir.

Yes, uh, she enrolled.

Tell her I said hi.

She's not been back since the first day.

She did well to enroll so that
UNESCO could validate her visa.


Hope she's enjoying London.

[QUIET, DRAMATIC MUSIC]



[WOMAN] So, she wasn't there?

[MARTIAN] She never was.

I could have gone back,
sat down with Henry


and said,
"Guess what, I f*cked up."


[INDISTINCT CHATTER, SHOUTING]

But when you live undercover,

there's all these voices.

Loud voices, quiet voices.

The quietest of all
is always there.


It says the same thing
over and over.


"I can do this."

"I can do anything."

[MONITOR BEEPING STEADILY]

You know what the voice is?

It's hope.

That's the thing about this game.

If you're hoping...
if you hope anything...

ever, at any time...

...it's too late.

[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC]



Post Reply