Star City season 1 episode 4 ended with a bombshell revelation. Irina (Agnes O’Casey) uncovered the truth about Valya (Adam Nagaitis). He’s the mole. It’s a crucial piece of information. But the question is how she’s going to proceed.
Episode 5, “Bite Your Elbow,” shows the aftermath of that discovery.
Irina helps Tanya
We pick up where we left off, with Irina in Valya’s apartment. She returns from the bathroom and is clearly shaken. She’s contemplating what to do when she tries to press Tanya (Ruby Ashbourne Serkis) to leave. She flips quickly, insisting that Valya is having an affair, and Tanya needs time away. But Tanya isn’t buying it.
Irina knows that if Tanya stays, she’ll be branded a traitor. She’s forced to decide and quickly outs herself. She shares what she really does and even uncovers one of the bugs in the apartment. Tanya asks if she’ll get in trouble, but Irina shares she’ll just erase the tape first. The bigger issue is that Tanya needs to leave.
Irina tells her Valya is a traitor. She tells Tanya that Valya will soon be arrested. She needs to get away. Irina manages to convince Tanya to leave and tells her she will help her get out of Star City and disappear. The question is how?
The mission to Venus
Col. Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin) managed to get the Chief Designer’s (Rhys Ifans) attention by arresting Sergei (Josef Davies). And the Chief Designer knows it’s mostly about getting him to do her a favor. So, he turns up at her office and negotiates. It’s not made clear, but certainly we can infer that in exchange for earning Sergei’s freedom, he agreed not to place the blame for the mission failure on her decision.
Meanwhile, Sasha (Solly McLeod) wakes up next to Anastasia (Alice Englert). They had a night of passion that leaves him conflicted. He’s bound for a secret mission, which means nine months away. He offers an excuse, but Anastasia doesn’t believe it. She thinks he’s just trying to leave her. Before he makes his way to the mission, he leaves a letter.
Later, Anastasia finds the letter. While it still doesn’t explain precisely what he’s doing, it does make clear that Sasha has real feelings for her. He tells her she doesn’t need to wait for him. But it seems like that’s likely to happen, anyway.
Meanwhile, Sasha and Pavel are settling in to begin rapid training. There is a plan to hide them and get them out of Star City, setting up a fake mission launch to hide the real mission to Venus. Valya arrives to help with his part as an advisor, unaware things are about to change for him in a big way.
Irina’s cover up
Meanwhile, Irina returns to her post. She quickly pulls the tapes from the previous night and erases a crucial portion. But she doesn’t have time to dwell. She has to get a pass for Tanya and get it to her before giving Raskova what she knows. Unfortunately, Irina has attracted attention.
Vika Yergova (Eliot Salt) has been jealous of Irina for weeks. She sees Irina shuffling around and begins digging in. She grabs the tapes and hears that Irina made contact with her subject, which is forbidden. While Irina is securing a pass and getting it to Tanya, Yergova is turning Irina in to Raskova. When Irina returns, she’s summoned to a meeting and confronted with her mistake. But she’s ready. She quickly flips the script, sharing she undertook an undercover mission to out the mole—Valya. Despite Yergova’s protests, Irina is praised, and Yergova finds herself disciplined, again.
Irina has managed to help Tanya, cover up her actions, and secure a big win. Raskova only seems to care about results, and now she has what she needs.
Valya’s escape
Meanwhile, despite Irina’s warning, Tanya goes to Valya. She tells him she knows what he did, and so do the others. Valya realizes that he’s in trouble. He tries to explain and tries to get Tanya to leave with him, but she rebuffs both attempts. She’s getting out on her own and getting away from Valya. That leaves him scrambling, especially as the KGB closes in.
Then he stumbles upon an answer—the mission to Venus. He quickly takes out Pavel. Then, when Pavel doesn’t show up at the time needed to escape, Valya bravely volunteers for the mission. The Chief Designer is thrilled. Valya is placed in the capsule and smuggled out of Star City, launched into space, just in time to evade capture.
What will happen when Sasha, in deep space with Valya, learns his friend was the reason his mission failed? Something dark is coming. This will also end up being dark for the Chief Designer, who took a big risk on a secret mission and now has been undermined by Valya. This sets up an explosive closing stretch to the first season.
Star City streams Fridays on Apple TV. Check back next week as we recap all the action of the first season.
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