From a key in a bar of soap to a note in a cigarette case to a passport in the Rhine, Episode 3 of Spy/Master hits the NOS on the plotline. This episode picks up from the events of two days ago when we saw Victor and Frank inside the church. The events taking place in the present will probably resume in the next episode. In this one, Victor’s profession gives him a run for his money. Will he manage to escape? If yes, then at what cost?
Spoilers Ahead
The Unsafe Safehouse
Frank brings Victor to a safe house and introduces him to his very familiar-looking 27-year-old lookout, John Miller. The apartment is his. The building should have been empty if not for an old lady who lives on the ground floor. Victor has to remain hidden until Frank gets the green light from Scott to bring him in. The next day, Victor finds out from Frank that there’s still work to be done before he can leave for America. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough time, as Romanian intelligence, as well as the German police, will soon begin the search for him. Hours pass, and there is no update. Victor is getting restless.
Meanwhile, Frank is stuck with his chief, Walter Simpson, who has also found out about Victor’s disappearance and wants him to go through some files about Victor. Frank pretends that he doesn’t know where Victor is because Walter will only compromise the whole mission to get Victor to defect by delaying it. However, he, too, knows that with every passing minute, the risk of losing Victor to the Germans or the Romanians increases. Yet he is helpless unless Scott greenlights him. He returns to the safe house, and John turns on the radio. Victor’s disappearance is national news now. This means that almost every German cop in the city is looking for him, not to mention the Romanian counterintelligence. Victor deploys the only trick he has up his sleeve to put an end to the search.
The Blonde Secret
Victor Godeanu is not in his room. News reaches Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu. Carmen informs Mircea and brings in Commissioner Steinbruch of the German police because she knows she needs more hands. However, the search for Godeanu will have to be carried out quietly. She cannot risk Victor finding out that she is looking for him unless he has already been extracted by the Russians under orders from General Shakarov. Victor’s wife and daughter are informed as well. The description of the blonde that a room service woman saw leaving Victor’s room matches Ingrid’s, as per Rancea, and Commissioner Steinbruch pays her a visit. However, Ingrid, who is shocked to find out that Victor is missing, denies any contact with Victor except for the meeting.
As soon as the commissioner leaves, she goes and meets another mysterious guy, who is the one who ordered her to have Victor add more Germans to the Pilgrims Program. She wants out if something goes wrong, as she wouldn’t want to be questioned by Romanian intelligence. What she did by sleeping with Victor was a breach of protocol. And besides, she wouldn’t want their past to be revealed to the world. Unbeknownst to Ingrid and the guy, Carmen has been keeping an eye on them. Ingrid is her only way to reach Victor because she was the last person to be with him before he went missing. Omar, the husband of Safiya, Ingrid’s maid, receives a key hidden inside a bar of soap that someone had dropped in Safiya’s shopping bag. Safiya’s brother Jbare will also be visiting them. This is the first time we get to see Omar. And what is the key? What’s his business with Jabare? Why does Safiya think that her brother is in trouble?
Death Of An Agent
Victor’s passport was recovered from the Rhine. So this is what Victor planned. He made it look like he was dead. And now the whole world knows that Victor Godeanu is missing and probably dead. This naturally bothers Carmen because she wants to keep the whole investigation away from the media. Back in Romania, President Nicolae Ceaușescu is very upset with the death of his right-hand man. Victor’s plan has worked successfully as far as Nicolae’s trust in him is concerned. Even the little doubt that Nicolae had over Victor being a Russian spy is now replaced with the thought that the pictures of Victor with General Shakarov were faked and only used to stain the latter’s reputation. Moreover, with Victor’s apparent death, Germany has made Romania its enemy. Nicolae vows to kill every single person who is responsible for Victor’s death. Ileana and Adela are also informed of Victor’s potential death.
At night, Frank informs Scott that he has Victor, and if there is no green light reply until the next morning, he will be bringing Victor in. There’s no more time to waste. Victor is glad to know that he will be leaving for America the next day. Carmen finally meets Ingrid and threatens to reveal her affair with Victor to the world unless she reveals what she knows about him. Carmen knows that Ingrid is a member of the Stasi (German secret police), and unless she wants everyone around her to find out her real identity, she better cooperate. She gives Carmen all the information she has on and around Victor: his defecting to the Americans, Frank Jackson of the American Embassy, and Jackson’s right-hand man, John Miller, whose address Ingrid shares with Carmen. Carmen informs Mircea about all this and decides to visit John. Meanwhile, Commissioner Steinbruch is notified of a tip from an old lady who believes that there is a man in her building who looks like Victor Godeanu.
Do Carmen And The German Police Find Victor Godeanu?
As Victor, Frank, and John prepare to leave the safe house, Victor realizes why John seems familiar. John is the very guy who is with Ingrid in one of the photographs Victor found in her file in the Romanian Embassy Archives. If Ingrid knows where John lives, it is possible that Romanian counterintelligence and the German police have reached out to her and gotten John’s address. We know Victor is right, but it’s too late to take any action, as the German police are already at their door. Carmen is also with them. Victor and Frank manage to take cover on the ledge, away from the windows. Carmen doesn’t find them and leaves along with the cops. The path seems to be clear, and thus Victor, Frank, and John set out on their way to America or wherever Victor needs to be taken as a part of his defection process. But what they do not know is that Carmen has spotted them leaving, and we can be sure that she will follow them.
Spy/Master Episode 3 ends at this crucial juncture. We have to see what step Nicolae Ceaușescu takes as his revenge for Victor’s death. Also, will American President Jimmy Carter nod to Victor’s defection? What will be General Shakarov’s reaction to Victor’s disappearance? He probably knows that Victor is in bed with the Americans and won’t like Victor’s decision at all. Everything depends on who finds Victor first.
