Dhruv Trivedi
‘In from the Cold’ follows the recently divorced Jenny Franklin, who gets exposed as being a former Russian spy while on a trip to Madrid with her daughter. When the CIA comes knocking, Jennifer is put in a tough spot — having to choose between her own freedom or the safety of her daughter.
The espionage action series follows Jenny’s dual lives in more ways than one. Through flashbacks, we are introduced to a young agent in Russia in the 1990s who is closely connected to our conflicted mother. The season ends with a few sharp twists, and though some notable adversaries seem to have been put in their place, the adventure seems far from over for Jenny. Let’s take a closer look at the ending of ‘In from the Cold’ and see how things stand for the former Russian spy. SPOILERS AHEAD.
In from the Cold Recap
The series opens with three separate instances of violence in Madrid — each seemingly unrelated, except the perpetrators in all cases act without motive or warning. Soon after, Jenny Franklin, having just arrived in Madrid for her daughter Becca’s figure skating competition, is kidnapped.
The man who carries out the abduction introduces himself as Chauncey, a CIA agent, and claims to know that Jenny is a former Russian spy. After initially denying it, Jenny is forced to reveal her unmatched skills when Chauncey’s men attack her. It is revealed that she has been living a regular life as a US citizen ever since the fall of the USSR.
Jenny, Chauncey, and their tech-wizard, Chris, delve into connecting the random instances of violence, which the CIA agent is convinced leads to a bigger conspiracy. After going through a bevy of dangerous people and situations, Jenny, under the alias Sara, finally befriends a wealthy tycoon named Felipe Calero, who seems to be at the heart of the conspiracy. The former Russian agent is assisted by an experimental body-morphing technology that allows her to resemble other people and even camouflage.
Through flashbacks, we see a younger version of Jenny (named Anya at the time) in her early days as a Russian spy. Under her handler, Svetlana, Anya works to infiltrate the Chinese embassy by befriending the children of the men that work there. She seductively baits the ambassador’s son, SuYin, but then ends up falling in love with her other target, a young woman named Faina. Eventually, Anya is forced by her handler to kill Faina’s father. It turns out the reason for the infiltration is for the Russians to get their hands on a special serum that the Chinese have developed, which Anya finds and subsequently injects into herself before escaping the Chinese embassy.
In from the Cold Ending: Who Does Jenny Call?
In the season finale, it is revealed that Svetlana is working with Felipe, with the latter planning on assassinating the Spanish Prime Minister. Recognizing her old subordinate, Svetlana kidnaps Jenny’s daughter in order to entrap the mother. Our heroine then goes on a rampage and, thinking Felipe kidnapped her daughter, kills the evil tycoon and his brother. When Jenny finally confronts Svetlana, a vicious battle ensues, which the mother finally wins, and Svetlana lays dead.
We are then taken one month on and see Chauncey and Jenny in the same house while Becca spends time with her father. The CIA agent (now reinstated after being blacklisted) and former Russian spy chat for some time, and it is revealed that Jenny must continue working for the CIA as she has proven herself too valuable to the agency. That night, once Chauncey has fallen asleep, Jenny sneaks out of the house and goes into a nearby shed. Once inside, she pulls out a hidden radio receiver and begins speaking in Russian, saying that everything is going according to plan.
And so, just before its close, the ‘In from the Cold‘ season finale throws all the pieces into the air. The fact that Jenny speaks in Russian and says that everything is going according to plan clearly indicates where her loyalties lie. Though we don’t know who she is talking to, Jenny refers to herself by her spy name, Agent Anya Petrova, telling us that she has contacted Russian intelligence.
Of course, this ties in with her recent conversation with Chauncey, where the latter says that Jenny is now too valuable to the CIA and will continue to work with the agency. Thus, it seems like Agent Anya, despite having lived as an American civilian for twenty years and even having a family, has not abandoned her “undercover” status and has now achieved the impossible — infiltrating the CIA.
Is Felipe Calero Dead or Alive?
After being portrayed as the major antagonist with plans to assassinate the Prime Minister, Felipe Calero turns out to be just another pawn in Svetlana’s long-running plot. The Spanish tycoon, who owns a number of businesses and properties, has political ambitions. He uses the murder of his brother to rally support for his right-wing agenda and plans on killing off the state’s head politician to destabilize his political opponents.
In order to obtain the explosive needed for the assassination attempt, Felipe employs Svetlana’s help without realizing what he is getting into. When Svetlana realizes that Jenny is actually Anya, she kidnaps Becca, knowing that the former Russian agent will come looking for her. However, Jenny’s old handler also knows that the worried mother will first confront Felipe, thinking he has kidnapped young Becca.
And so it goes — Jenny arrives at the tycoon’s house and kills his brother by tying him in front of a prized fighting bull. She then tracks down Felipe and subsequently kills him by flinging the pleading criminal off a building. Of course, by this time, Jenny knows that a bigger plot is in the works and that Felipe’s assassination attempt is just a distraction from Svetlana’s actual dastardly plan to start World War 3.
Do Jenny and Chauncey Get Together?
After being at odds with each other for a significant portion of the narrative, Jenny and Chauncey become unlikely allies and are seen kissing in the season’s closing moments. The CIA operative proves he genuinely cares for Jenny by repeatedly putting himself in harm’s way to save her and her daughter, Becca. That being said, the fact that Chauncey and Jenny’s professional relationship is built on the former blackmailing the latter remains a major point of contention between the two. Even in the end, Jenny muses how everyone is now free except for her. Since the CIA knows that she is a former Russian spy and can send her to prison for the same, she is forced to do as they command.
As bad as Chauncey feels about the agency exploiting Jenny, there is nothing he can do about it. However, he is obviously attracted to the protagonist as well. Of course, what Chauncey and the CIA don’t know is that Jenny is still an active Russian agent under her former alias Anya Petrova. Thus, the romance seems to be quite one-sided — with the CIA agent genuinely in love with Jenny, but the latter merely using him to keep up appearances and infiltrate the CIA while functioning as an undercover agent.
Read More: Is In from the Cold Based on a True Story?
