As we left off in Star City season 1 episode 5, things had exploded, quickly. Valya (Adam Nagaitis) was discovered as the mole. Hunted by the KGB, he found a way to escape—literally heading to space. He got aboard the secret Venus mission and fled. But that didn’t really solve his problem.
In Star City season 1 episode 6, “Awl in a Sack,” shows just how far that problem has spread.
Hunting Tanya
In episode 5, Irina (Agnes O’Casey) went to great lengths to try and protect Tanya (Ruby Ashbourne Serkis) from trouble. She gets her a way out of the city to escape Valya’s problems. But Tanya couldn’t resist reaching out to Valya, and she could follow the plan. After arriving at the safehouse Irina set, she decided to move on.
So, when Irina arrives to start episode 6, she finds the house empty. She later learns from Roskova (Anna Maxwell Martin) that Tanya reached out to Valya. That means Tanya is going off script, but if she’s caught, she could implicate Irina. That’s something Irina can’t have. So, she sets about trying to find Tanya.
Irina has earned some trust and latitude, which she uses to try and find Valya’s handler. Armed with the physical description provided by Tanya, she narrows in on Ekaterina (Hannah Steele), following her until she discovers where Tanya is hidden. Turns out, Tanya turned to Valya’s handler for help.
Of course, that help came with a revelation. Tanya learns that Valya wasn’t a traitor and wasn’t even the American’s target. Tanya was the target, and she was the way in. Valya ruined his career and his life to protect her. By the time Irina finds Tanya, she’s shaken. Her life is shattered, and she’s beginning to realize it’s all her fault.
Mission derailed
Meanwhile, Roskova is leading the hunt. Or, she was, until the First Deputy (Felix Scott) shows up to take over. She’s let one too many things slip through the cracks, but Roskova has an edge on the First Deputy—she knows where Valya is.
Roskova has discovered the secret mission to Venus, and more importantly, that Valya is aboard. She tells the Chief Designer (Rhys Ifans) that what he did was illegal and, worse, that his prized pilot is a traitor. The Chief Designer doesn’t want to believe it, but when confronted with the evidence, he gives in. He doesn't know how to hold Valya accountable and be sure he won’t derail the mission.
Valya isn’t alone in space. Sasha (Solly McLeod) and Lakshmi (Priya Kansara) are aboard. And they’re not likely to understand Valya is a traitor. So, the Chief Designer hatches a plan. They’ll use Lakshmi’s husband, Manu (Shubham Saraf), to pass a message in another language. It has to be subtle, but it’s a command for her that resets a system. That allows them to isolate Valya from the ground.
When they isolate him, and Roskova begins her interrogation, Sasha refuses to believe it. He pulls the plug on communications to question his friend on his own. He doesn’t want to believe Valya is a traitor or the reason his mission went bad. But when Roskova regains control, she decides to take rash action and depressurize Valya’s compartment, killing him. That forces Sasha and Lakshmi to act to try and save their comrade. Unwilling to stand by, the Chief Designer helps from the ground, earning his own arrest.
Frustrated, Roskova orders the ground team, at gun point, to depressurize the entire craft, killing everyone. They comply as Sasha works hard to try and stop it from above. As a horrified ground crew watches on, the desperate attempt to reverse the process ends in fire and an explosion as we fade to black.
We have seen that Star City isn’t afraid to make big swings. Already we’ve seen a spy uncovered and some desperate acts in the first six episodes.
Episode 6 leaves off on perhaps the biggest cliffhanger yet. The Chief Designer is arrested. Irina risks being exposed. It is made to seem that Sasha, Valya, and Lakshmi are dead. If that’s the case, it feels like an extreme act of resetting the board early in a first season.
We saw that For All Mankind was a show that wasn’t afraid to make big swings and take out beloved characters. But for this to be happening so soon on Star City—with two episodes left in the first season no less—feels like a big change-of-pace. I can’t wait to see what happens next and how this might be resolved.
Star City streams Fridays on Apple TV. Check back next week as we continue recapping all the action of the first season. Have a question or a theory? Share it in the comments below.
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