If you are a secret agent, there is a risk that your loved ones face. This doesn’t necessarily mean their deaths, but the torture they are made to undergo to pry out whatever they know of the person (an agent who might be the father, son, or brother) in question is terrifying. After the events of Spy/Master episode 4, Ileana and her mother are under 24-hour supervision by the Romanian government. Meanwhile, Victor still hasn’t received his green light from President Carter. And to add to the chaos, there is the rumor of a bomb making rounds somewhere with the aim of disrupting the Camp David peace talks. Victor has to remove not only himself but his daughter as well. Will he be successful? He will have to hurry because Mircea and Carmen are planning to take him down. This is Episode 5 of Spy/Master.
Spoilers Ahead
Activation
Under President Nicolae Ceausescu’s wife Elena’s orders, Ileana is being held by officials until she gives up more intel about her father. Surprisingly, Nicolae doesn’t like this because if the word gets out, his actions will make him look inhuman. While his wife isn’t bothered about his image and, by extension, her own since she is the first lady, he has to bear the problem of the worry. But more importantly, we can understand that he feels bad for Ileana. She is just a kid, after all, and she should not go through whatever she is going through. Whatever is happening isn’t her fault. Unfortunately, what he thinks has nothing to do with what she is undergoing. Her father left her without telling her anything and will never return. It is only normal for her to think that her father will now have a different life with a different family.
Meanwhile, when Victor finds out that his daughter was held by Romanian officials for a whole night, he takes a step to ensure her safety. He offers to reveal crucial information about an attack at the Camp David peace talks, but only in exchange for his and his daughter’s safe passage to Washington, DC. One has to feel for his wife, whom he doesn’t seem to care about at all. They were separating, but it’s shocking to realize that Victor didn’t pay any heed to how the Romanians would treat her. All that he wants is to send a taped message of reassurance to his daughter. For Frank, who has already been through a lot in the process of bringing Victor to America, this tape doesn’t matter much. He has managed to get permission from President Carter to bring in Victor, and that’s more than enough. This is because Victor will reveal a lot about what the Romanians know about America. As expected, Victor gives up the name of the guy who is supposed to pull off the attack, i.e., Omar Fahim. We know that it was Ingrid who told him about Omar. Omar’s file, as pulled out by Frank, reveals Sufiya’s brother, Jabare Hassan, who isn’t just any random bomber. He was trained by Victor’s guys and is a professional bomb maker. So, whatever he and Omar are planning is very well researched and thus high stakes.
On the other hand, Adela contacts her ex-boyfriend Boris to help her get her daughter to safety. This is when we find out that it was she who gave up her husband to Boris. Now, in return, Boris will have to save her daughter Ileana in any way possible. President Sakharov orders Jabare to carry out his mission, i.e., activate the bomb. This is because Camp David is about to be a success. Why he intends to prevent it, we do not know. But the fact that he is ready to kill for it proves that the stakes are high. Boris pulls some strings and gets Ileana transferred to a yet-undisclosed location. What’s no less shocking is how she is transferred via a coffin. This symbolizes how she is dead. In other words, she is no longer the Ileana we knew, and what’s worse, she is no longer Victor’s daughter. It is for her own safety. Thus, Frank’s assurance to Victor that the CIA is planning to bring her to him couldn’t be more wrong. Frank doesn’t even know where Victor’s daughter is. And thank God for that because where Victor is, even walls have ears. If someone gets to know Ileana’s location, it will only compromise Victor and his defection. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen, but the danger isn’t over.
Is the Bomb Planted? Where Is Ingrid?
In espionage, ears on walls mean bugs. In this case, it is the bugs that Carmen had planted that helped her find out about Victor’s current condition, and she and Mircea have come up with a suitable plan to take Victor down at an upcoming conference at the American Embassy. But for that, they will need to have a clear idea of the place and the movements of its officials. Infiltration is their key. This is their one chance to grab Victor, if not kill him, for what he has done to his country. While all this is happening around Victor, Ingrid has her own struggles, some of which she is aware of and some of which she isn’t. Either way, she isn’t safe. There was a time when she was just an official, but since the return of Victor to her life, it has turned upside down. She has already made Commissioner Steinbruch suspicious of her as he knows that she is a Stasi informant. She, too, has had her fill of espionage, and it makes sense why she got together with Victor. After telling Safiya to leave with her kid, as people will surely come after her due to her husband Omar’s actions, she too isn’t safe because someone is following her. Perhaps Steinbruch is the one who has sent a guy to stalk her movements.
Spy/Master Episode 5 ends with Ingrid trying to cross over from East Germany to West Germany when a gunshot is heard. If Victor finds out that Ingrid has been shot, if at all, we have no idea what his reaction will be. But we can be sure that Ingrid’s death will have repercussions. Somewhere else, Jabare activates the bomb inside a church. This comes after Omar and Jabare’s house is searched by the cops. Naturally, they had to speed up their operations. Also, we must remember that someone walked into their room and placed a couple of passports there. These must be so that they can escape the country as soon as the bomb detonates. But why are they detonating a bomb in a church? What’s the significance of this church? Why not detonate it at Camp David? Also, the thing is, we do not know if Jabare knows that Victor will be apprehended by the Romanian authorities. If his arrest and the explosion occur around the same time, how will things turn out? The equally important question is, Is Ingrid shot? If she dies, Victor will lose a strong supporter. Only Spy/Master episode 6 will reveal if she is alive or not. As for the bomb, we have no idea whether it will be recovered, diffused, or detonated by Shakarov.
