Rat Trap – The episode opens in a therapy session with Dr. Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris) asking Martian (Michael Fassbender) about his alias, Paul Lewis. He assures her that Paul was real and liked until the political situation heated up. Osman (Kurt Egyiawan) views Paul’s social media. Martian tells Blake that Paul relocated to Jordan for a better teaching post and disappeared. A Jordanian official (Murat Erkek) gives Osman Paul’s file which reveals he taught English in Amman for three months before going to Paris. Ben (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) is working on his computer when a text – “Lost bike. Well-loved. Still working available for price” – pops up on a phone. Martian believes the sender knew it could be traced. Bosko (Richard Gere) how long it would take. Simon (Bilal Hasna) says it could take some time. Martian orders an authorized trace. Ben suggests the code name is related to bikes. Simon says Armstrong. Amelia (Emma Lau) informs Martian that Henry Ogletree (Jeffrey Wright) is requesting a meeting. Later, Henry warns Owen (John Magaro) and Martian that Langley is pressuring them to find Coyote (Alex Reznik). Martian says they could search his apartment. Henry assures him that Belarusian security forces have torn the place apart. Owen insists he knows Coyote better and something may have been overlooked. Henry agrees to send Owen in under his own name.

Reza (Reza Brojerdi) apologizes to Danny (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) about last night. She says nothing happened. He thanks her. Jerome (Ben Lloyd-Hughes) sees her emerge from Reza’s room. In Belarus, Owen enters Coyote’s flat and notices signs of someone being there recently. The bed is made. A cat races across the floor. He notifies Henry who suggests the cat is insignificant. The call ends. Owen discovers women’s clothes in a suitcase. In London, Poppy (India Fowler) and Martian talk while he gets dressed. She urges him to be himself before he leaves. A short time later, he arrives at a restaurant where Sami Zahir (Jodie Turner-Smith) is waiting. She feared he wouldn’t come. She asks what his daughter is like. He describes her as a genius and beautiful. Osman approaches and introduces himself. Martian identifies himself as Paul. Osman sits across from them and asks why they knew each other. Martian says they met in Addis where he worked as a teacher for six years. Osman tells him that he takes Sami to her lectures. After he leaves, Martian asks why she is in London. She warns that telling him would put her in danger. He promises to ask no more questions. As they walk away together, Osman nods at Abdel (Abdullah Islaw) standing at the end of the bar.

In Belarus, Owen is lying on Coyote’s bed when Eva (Emma Nova) enters the flat. She demands to know why he is there. He tells her that he is Piotr’s friend. She says he is her boss and when he disappeared, she found his keys and started staying there several days later. Elsewhere, Reza asks Danny if she speaks Farsi. She claims her nanny was Iranian. In London, Osman pries Sami about Paul. She says his daughter’s name is Julia whom she has never met. He nags her until she walks away. A man and woman abduct Danny off the street. Back in London, Osman demands Sami stop seeing Paul or he will stop protecting her. She asks why she needs protection. He pulls back his shirt to reveal scars over his chest. He claims to have been beaten for six days to ensure he was telling the truth. Paul stages his manuscript to look like he has been working on it. He messes up his bed before riding away on his motorcycle. Later, he snaps photos of Sami getting into a car with Osman and Dalaga (David Harewood). He follows them to a location.

Edward (Elham Ehsas) asks Danny if she knows Reza. She says they have worked together for the past three weeks. He claims Reza is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard “IRG,” a terror organization. He accuses her of utilizing a fake passport and spying. She says he works at the London School of Sciences at the Institute of Geophysics. He backhands her and walks away. At the MI5 headquarters, Simon informs Henry and Martian that someone sent the text from 31 Ulitsa Bratskaya. Martian contacts Owen to see if he is familiar with the location. Owen says he and Coyote utilized it as a dead drop when they went secure. Henry tells him that Coyote is leaking intel. Bosko orders Owen to stay put until the dry cleaners arrive to take him to the airport. Owen turns on the faucets and locks the door. Bosko tells him about the text. Steam coves the mirror, revealing “Valhalla.” He locks Eva in a room and retrieves a gun.

Utilizing Danny’s passcode, Edward accesses her phone to see a text from Tim asking to visit. He asks if Tim is her boyfriend. She doesn’t respond. He asks if she is having sex with Reza. She says ask him. He knocks over her chair, grabs her, and asks if she wants “f**king.” She says no. At the MI5 agency, CIA Analyst Clive (Sebastian Armesto) identifies the man in Martian’s photo as Dalaga (David Harewood), a businessman in Sudan and General Hemedti’s cousin. He says the building that Sami entered is listed under a shell company in the Virgin Islands. In Belarus, Grandma (Adam Nagaitis) and Grandpa (Andrew Brooke) arrive to pick up Owen. Grandpa arrests Eva for terrorism. At the agency, Amelia tells Martian that Eric Zheng Huang owns the building at 73 Kensington Park Gardens. She says his tech companies are legitimate. At Arran Hotel, Martian arrives at his hotel room to find the manuscript had been opened while he was gone. The scene switches to a video of a battered Martian claiming to have set it up to make Paul look like a writer and Sami incapable of betraying state secrets. Martian is later attacked while walking down a sidewalk. In a flashback, a trainer (John Macdonald) gives Martian pointers on how to respond to an attack like an average guy. In the present, Martian allows his attacker to beat him and take his jacket and wallet.

In Belarus, Edward continues to interrogate Danny. She curses him. Grandpa visits a restaurant at 31 Ulitsa Bratskaya, picks up an order, sits at a booth, and removes a phone from a wall box. In London, a battered Martian walks to the agency. Blake asks what happened to him. He claims to have gotten knocked out from behind and robbed. She is surprised he never saw his attacker. A short time later, Naomi (Katherine Waterston) tells Martian that Danny nearly cracked. He says she never talked, and she is good. Elsewhere, Edward releases and congratulates Danny for passing. She gulps down some water and food. She asks if he likes his job. He apologizes for beating her for two days. She assures him that she is tougher than she looks. He believes her.

Abdel watches Martian as he emerges from the police station while talking to Osman on the phone. He voices concern about being arrested. Osman says it would mean Martian is telling the truth. Owen and Henry talk about her being there. Owen says they had a few drinks, and they ended up in bed together. He stuffed her in a closet because he panicked and thought she might be a counter-team operative. Henry again states that Owen had sex with and roughed up a secretary. Martian joins Blake and the others seconds later. He says someone had written “Valhalla” on the mirror in Coyote’s apartment. Martian learns Coyote was seeing a psychiatrist, so he received multiple prescribed drugs. He complains to Owen about the sloppiness of the mission. However, Martian believes he may have just found the whole in the boat. Abdel speaks to someone on the phone and has Poppy Cunningham’s student card. Edward meets Danny who says he should be more careful what he tells people. They have sex.

Simon continues working on the computer. He finds nothing of interest. Simon finds a message about locker 145 on Goswell Road Estate. The message also contains a code for the locker. James Richardson (Hugh Bonneville) drinks with Martian who gives him a pop quiz. James reads the name “Eric Zheng Huang”. He knows Eric is a self-made man of the People’s Republic. James says he’s close to Xi Jinping. The committee sometimes uses Eric as an errand boy. Eric was a middleman who helped the Chinese broker a deal between Iran and the Saudis. Later, Martian leaves his room. Dalaga learns that Osman needs to get rid of someone. Dalaga tells him he should learn Chinese and get a real job. He could make him a hero of the Republic. Dalaga says they can talk if Osman tells him the full story. Martian says he had to make lies real or people would die.

 

The Agency Review

Halfway into the season, it is becoming apparent, there is no purpose to the story. A covert agent, Coyote, goes missing. Henry brings Martian in to find out what happened to him. With little effort and two episodes later, it is revealed Coyote is leaking information but there is still no trace of him. Owen’s search of Coyote’s flat turns up nothing but Eva and her cat. A text is sent to a phone about the sale of a bike. The call is tracked to a local restaurant, formerly utilized as a dead drop. Grandpa finds a phone concealed in a box on the wall.

Martian knowingly violates protocol by utilizing his expired intelligence identity, Paul Lewis, and repeatedly meets his old contact, Sami, for sex. Edward interrogates Danny for two days and gets nothing of significance from her. Martian praises her endurance. Tell that to the audience who just watched the weakest interrogation of all time.

There is nothing thrilling or intriguing about the plot. The acting is void of any meaningful emotions. It’s embarrassing to think the series has already been renewed for season two. The episode deserves a 4 out of 10.

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