Upamanyu Biswas
After the complexities of the previous episodes, Martian looks to catch a break in episode 4 as a number of key plotlines develop away from the main action. After an episode hiatus, Daniela returns to continue her new infiltration mission to land herself in the good graces of Professor Reza before he flies back to Tehran, Iran, with a new research scholar in tow. The young woman has to navigate the challenges of her high-octane lifestyle while also dealing with the pressures to deliver. Meanwhile, Martian’s Coyote investigation takes a slower pace as a new Belarusian delegation promises new avenues of discovery. However, the protagonist’s real focus lies on figuring out Sami’s reasons for being in London and her mysterious chaperone, who won’t let her out of his sight for more than a second’s notice. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Sami’s Chaperone Offers a New Obstacle For Martian
Episode 4 begins with Martian talking to a mysterious woman while he sports a number of bruises on his face. The scene seems to take place in an undisclosed future timeline because of how candid Martian is during the interview, suggesting that his secrets are out. During the conversation, he recounts how a contingent of Sudanese top-ranking officials met Chinese officials in London. He also reveals in the interrogation that back in the present day, Sami is helping the Sudanese government draw up a more valid way of dividing their administration by utilizing her knowledge of the land and the historical weight of every political matter. Therefore, her reasons for being in the city are a lot more complex than simply attending lectures at the university, which is the narrative she peddled out to him.
As Sami is busy with her affairs with the Sudanese people, she is constantly escorted from place to place by Osman, the guy who has been watching her for a couple of episodes. He makes it tough for her to go about her business with any degree of privacy, even going so far as to tail Martian in his day-to-day life. Clearly, Osman has observed the protagonist meeting up with Sami during several clandestine affairs and wishes to know his reasons for sashaying around the woman. When Martian heads out for a spot of shopping with his daughter, Poppy, after finally reconciling their differences, he finds himself being tailed by Sami’s mysterious pursuer. However, the undercover operative is quick to give him the slip, encouraging his daughter to participate in the act playfully.
Osman’s reasons for protecting Sami seem slightly unclear at this point. The name Dr. Mustafa, Sami’s husband, is raised at one point during the episode. Osman states that Sami’s well-being is of the foremost concern for Dr. Mustafa, and he might be his champion in that regard. However, Martian also learns that Sami has distanced herself from her husband, divorce being a potential deal-breaker. Later in the episode, Osman spills some more information about his real reasons for being around Sami. He is a Mukhabarat, meaning an intelligence agent for the Sudanese government, and he is here to safeguard the privacy of the government talks. He forces Sami to give up the name of Martian’s secret identity, Paul Lewis, after physically assaulting her and telling her that the safety of their mission is the utmost priority.
Daniela Rises to the Challenge of Her Tough Assignment
Daniela’s infiltration mission starts taking shape after she navigates the halls of the Institute of Geophysics and befriends a number of its fellow scholars and academics. Although she has been preparing herself for this job, there is an element of inexperience and nerve still plaguing her work. Still, the young woman embraces her new identity as a Physics researcher and finds some common footing with a number of the associates. However, her primary target remains Professor Reza, whose plans to take in a new research assistant and head off to Iran is of utmost priority for the Agency. Daniela finds herself slightly at a disadvantage as a researcher named Jerome traces the footsteps of Reza and tries every trick in the book to land that Iran ticket for himself.
The mission takes an even bigger hit when Daniela hears from a fellow research scholar, Rose, that Reza might not take a woman with him to Tehran, Iran. While she ponders on her next course of action, opportunity lands on her doorstep when Reza asks her to attend a black-tie conference event where she can speak a few words on her specialty subject, acoustics. However, the young woman starts panicking as she does not know the topic. She contacts Naomi, her handler, and gets about attending the event in a hurried manner, hoping to mug up on the prerequisite information she needs to speak on a lengthy topic such as “distributed acoustic sensing.” Later, Reza comes around her house to pick her up for the event.
During the car ride, Daniela’s anxieties about delivering a research-level talk are put on the back burner when Reza starts caressing and fondling her inappropriately. She soon realizes that Reza’s reasons for inviting her to the event have something more sinister lurking in the motivations. However, she manages to maneuver herself out of the sexual advances by comparing Reza’s eyes to her father’s, saying how they remind her of his “kindness.’ Clearly, it creates a line between Reza’s impure actions and how Daniela remembers her late father. Eventually, Reza allows her to leave the car and tells her that Jerome can step in for the lecture in her stead. Although she is happy to be safe from his predatory advances, her chances of getting into his good books are slightly bleak now.
Martian Makes Contact With a Belarusian Delegate
The fourth episode takes a relatively less action-heavy approach to Coyote’s investigation, particularly after Operation Felix’s complications. In Henry’s office, Martian and he clear the air about their personal secrets, admitting that they are both in debt to one another. The latter also reveals the truth about how he contacted Charlie to learn the status of Operation Felix. Soon after, they head to the fifth floor of the station to gate-crash a meeting of a Belarusian delegation with the CIA officials. Although promising Bosko to act as an observer during the meeting, they break his trust by taking over the meeting. By using some clever words, they manage to identify a secret KGB agent named Mikhail, who hides within the delegation ranks. Martian later invites him out to a nightclub, hoping he might spill the beans on Coyote.
At the nightclub, Martian uses the raving atmosphere to disarm Mikhail and lull him into a false sense of security. Subsequently, he uses a bike analogy to discern whether Mikhail and his representatives might have something that is of grave importance to the CIA, secretly alluding to Coyote’s whereabouts without mentioning him explicitly. It is clearly a fishing expedition on Martian’s part and one that comes off with near-perfect execution as Mikhail takes the bait. Martian hands him his contact and returns to the London station with the good news. There, Henry reveals to him that he was the one who cajoled one of the congressmen to speak belligerently about Belarus and demean the nation, thereby allowing him and Martian to step in and take control of the situation.
It will be interesting to see how Mikhail’s relationship with Martian benefits the CIA in the long run as they hunt down Coyote. Meanwhile, the protagonist has to watch out for Osman as he comes for him after learning about his Paul Lewis identity. The real twist in that plotline will be when Osman realizes Martian’s real allegiances and the faction he works for, maybe even placing the burden of that information on Sami.
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