All language subtitles for Covert Affairs S02E01 Begin the Begin

Exile, it takes your mind again.
Exile, it takes your mind again.

I think about it, and
yeah, it makes sense.

Does it feel like a trial?

Does it trouble your mind?

Exile, it takes your mind
Don't even try I feel the fire.

Polygraph for mission debrief.

Question for control.

Your name is Ben Mercer.

Yes.

And you are a CIA operative.

I think that's a
question for Arthur Campbell.

Yes or no answers, please.

Yes.

You recently completed a locate
and rescue assignment in Sri Lanka.

Yes.

And on said mission, did you in
any way try to deceive the CIA?

But someone saved you. Who?

I thought this was yes or no.

Oh, yeah. Um, did I save you?

Yes.

And I am very grateful.

Increased heart rate.

Spike in blood pressure. I think
the polygraph is getting to you.

I think it's the polygrapher.

And I think you should
dismiss the nurse. Okay.

Ben.

We have to get to the guardhouse.

We won't make it.

Go alone. Not a chance.

Let's go home.

That's because you have a
problem with authority.

No, no, I just liked having
a room with an ocean view.

Hey.

It's good to see you.

You too? I knew I
preferred Guam. For the record,

you do have a problem with authority.

For the record, I don't
consider you an authority figure.

We can help you transfer to the gun.

Look, I got it myself.

Let us help you.

Got it. Accepting help is not a
sign of weakness. You should know.

This isn't about me,
it's about your pride.

That's what got you
injured in the first place.

Guys, can we just not... Jay,
I'll meet you in the courtyard.

What's this?

Paperwork already?

Langley's bureaucracy is a joke.

No, it's books of Sudokus.

Thought it might help you pass
the time, and you're an asshole.

I actually really like these.

Yeah, he knew that.

I'll apologize to him.

You've been gone a long time. That's
quite a craving. You have no idea. You got it.

Don't forget to check if we're being
tailed. After Guam, we can't be too careful.

This isn't my first rodeo.

Ben was a little touchy back there.

He's been through a lot.

He's gonna go through a lot more. It's
not gonna be easy for a guy like Ben.

A guy like Ben?

He's only comfortable alone.

In the field.

Nobody at Langley sees him behind a desk.

What is gonna happen to him?

Honestly?

No clue.

None whatsoever.

Hey! You're back!

Hi.

Rough business trip?

Trip was fine.

It's just business.

Well, you haven't gone a while.

I can't believe there was that
much to do in Lamar, Missouri.

The Smithsonian wanted the
exhibit of Harry Truman's

birthplace to be really detailed.

Thanks for the postcards.

Who knew the world's largest
ball of yarn was in Missouri? Yeah.

Who knew?

How's things here? Crazy. Hectic.

Michael's been traveling a ton for work.
Storm gutter guy keeps canceling on me.

And Katya's been faking
being sick to get out of school.

Danielle, what's this?

Oh, a police report.
Someone broke into the garage.

They didn't take anything, but we
filed a report anyway. When was this?

A couple nights ago.
What about my guest house?

I told you they didn't take
anything. I checked your place. It's fine.

I'm just going to go freshen up.

Welcome back.

Annie Walker.

Augie, how do you do that? I'm
not wearing perfume. These heels,

although fantastic, are
hardly unique. I don't get it.

What would you say if I
told you you projected a warm,

fuzzy aura that I could sense?

I'd say you were trying to
butter me up for something.

I could use a ride to
Alan's Tavern after work.

Ah, the truth emerges.

Hey, did you send my sister those
postcards to sell my cover trip?

Nice touch, right? I had a guy
from S&T replicate your handwriting.

I figured it was better than me doing it.

I'm glad you're back.

It's good to be back.

I think someone broke
into my sister's house.

That's a potential red
flag. Anything stolen?

No, I did a level one sweep, but
all my cover docs are still in place.

Aren't you glad we had
you install that safe?

I'm trying to organize the
larger sweep of the property.

What's all this?

Joan assigned me and my
team to try and figure

out who attacked you and
Ben at the hospital, and why.

It was close. We barely made it out.

Out?

But you did.

Always do.

The world has not stood
still in your absence.

What's going on?

Eliza Hearn stepped up her game.

She's published several
articles in the past three

weeks that are scathing
indictments of Arthur.

What'd they say?

They cited leaked material.
Three highly sensitive documents.

Three documents? That's it?

It's like a laser pointer
of nasty instead of the

massive gaseous cloud of
pain that his wiki leaks.

Tell you what, it hasn't made
Joan much fun to be around.

If you two are done
chit-chatting, there is

actual work to be done. Annie, my office.

Welcome back.

How are you feeling?

Good.

Happy to be back.

You know, a lot of
operatives would need some time

to decompress after what
you just went through.

Not me.

I'm good.

Seriously.

Asset interaction.

Adam Morozov, a heartwarming
Estonian tale of a man pulling

himself up out of abject
Soviet poverty by money laundering,

drug trafficking, and the
occasional contract hit to pad out the 401k.

He's Estonian, but his file was
generated on the Russian desk?

Yes, we suspect him of being
a facilitator for the Kremlin

in the new Estonian rare
earths mining operation.

He's the front. You're mining for
Promethean? Despite the Star Treaties,

the Russians are having a hard
time kicking their nuclear habit.

How do you want me to get to Morozov?

Morozov is too dangerous and
too well-protected to approach.

We've been targeting this woman, Nadia
Lavandi, ranked 79th in the women's tour,

made it to the semi-final in
the French four years ago,

but hasn't made much noise since.

She's Morozov's daughter, mistress.

Nadia's been giving us intel on
Morozov for the past three years,

but missed her two previous drops.

She's playing in the BMW DC
Invitational this weekend.

You're gonna meet her at
practice and follow protocol.

Augie will take you through it.

You're going to the
tennis center, main court.

We have a guy.

Nadia will be in the
middle of a practice session.

You're a fan coming to
meet your favorite player.

You'll have a bouquet of
13 roses, 12 red, 1 white.

That indicates to her
that you're a new handler.

Careful, there'll be people around.

Nadia has a new coach.

Also, Morozov might be
present with protection.

Don't worry, Nadia will
allow you down to the court.

You'll give the roses to Nadia.

If Nadia has intel,
she'll ask to meet you later.

If Nadia doesn't have any
intel, she will say, Roses.

Roses.

My favorite.

My favorite.

I will put them in a
vase in my locker room.

I'll put them in a vase in my hotel.

I mean, I'll put them in the locker room.

Thank you for your time. Augie, Nadia
sent me a signal. She botched the script.

I think she's in trouble.

Something was off.

I know it. She may have
just spaced on the wording.

Here's what you need to know about
assets. They're not trained operatives.

They are normal people who we
see as targets of opportunity,

and they screw up all the time.
They're late, they lose stuff,

they ask for crazy things.

But don't we have a responsibility
to help her if she's in trouble?

You played the morality
card. You know I did.

So help me.

All right, if Nadia's in imminent
danger, we need proof to take to Joan.

Stay on your surveil and initiate
the compromised asset protocol.

Make sure you do a head-tail.

They can't know you're following
them if you're in front of them.

It's a risky maneuver, but
professional drivers always use their blinkers.

If you don't have the right
gear to fit in, be resourceful.

Could you show me the locker
rooms? I'm thinking about joining.

The tricky thing will
be getting Nadia alone.

These players are always
surrounded by their coaches and trainers.

What are you doing?

What are you doing?

There's nothing gonna melt in here.

It's my vice. You used to not be able to
get good quality chocolates in my country.

But now that Estonia is in the
Euro, we get all the good candies.

Nadia, we need to talk.

Sorry I screwed up the flower protocol.

But it's very confusing.

There were people watching.

Yeah, for us all.

Did he do that to you?

I tripped going after a drop shot.

And your shoulder?

You have the wrong idea about that one.

He's a good man.

I know you're worried. I have a
solution. You can come into Langley.

We can leave straight from here.

I have a car waiting outside.

Tell your CIA people to
not bother me anymore.

Nadia, please.

Leave me alone.

This doesn't concern you.

Nadia is definitely in danger.

She's just too scared to admit it. If
I'm going to authorize a protection team,

I need a request from the
asset. Did she ask for help?

No.

Not exactly.

Not exactly or no?

She asked for the CIA to leave her alone.

But how many long-term assets
walk away from the arrangement?

Very few.

A lot of people get cold feet and
stop short before becoming assets.

Once they commit,
they're in. Giving up the

protection and the
money? It doesn't happen.

That's because she's scared.

Morozov has a long track record of
killing the people who betray him.

All right.

Annie, you'll surveil with
Augie and Holman on tech support,

but keep a safe distance. If Nadia
really is in as much trouble as you think,

then exposing her as a CIA asset
is going to make things much worse.

Here's to a moment of
refuge in the eye of the storm.

I will drink to that.

If we could bring these
files out of the building,

we could be enjoying this scotch at home.

If we could bring those
files out of this building,

you still would not be
enjoying your scotch.

Can you read me in?

Now it's just in-house
counsel saying the team needs

more time to get my
Tanzania cables together.

That's the third time
since they came on board.

It's the way of lawyers.

Agency lawyers.

In-house counsel has a
muddled agenda at best.

What you need is someone
who's solely on your side.

Someone like Chet
LaGuardie. Chet LaGuardie?

He was good enough for
the Speaker of the House.

He'll bankrupt us.

Then we can dip into our savings.

And then he'll win. He always wins.

Just hiring Chet LaGuardia
will imply that I'm guilty.

At every DC cocktail party, from now on,
people are gonna be whispering about you.

It's just a question
whether they're whispering

about you losing your
job or keeping your job.

You said you wanted to fight.

This is how we fight.

Well, let's give in-house
counsel a little more time.

Okay, Annie, security office has
authorized a sweep of your house,

but they need you to get
your sister out of the house.

Think you can handle it?

I told them you could, so help me out.

I see you there.

Hello.

Oh, no, I'm sorry. I must
have given them too much.

I'll pay for the carpet
cleaning. No, you don't have to.

That's the price of
having kids. No, I insist.

I'll have the cleaners
here tomorrow. Any walker?

Our girl is on the move.

Be right there. I unfortunately
have to miss dinner. Oh, shocker.

They're leaving F Street.
They just pulled up to an alley.

He's forcing her into the
car. She doesn't look happy.

Pullman, can you give us yours?

These microphones are
parabolic extrapolators.

They actually send data in
real time and fill in any gaps

across the arc from the
other mics in the circuit.

Holman, if you want to
impress a woman, compliment her.

Don't talk about your own equipment.

Especially when your own equipment has
circuitry. I just think it's all so cool.

He's taking her inside the
building. Jerry, can you get us closer?

Annie, I don't think that's a good
idea. We gotta keep our distance.

If we expose ourselves and blow
her cover, we put her life at risk.

I know, I get it. Holman, where are we?

Frequency coming in now.

It smells like a fire.

Annie, think this through.

If she's in danger, I'm
not just gonna sit here.

To the beautiful and beguiling Nadia.

My Nadia, so magnificent on
the court. Happy birthday.

Annie, I'm shutting
down Nadia as an asset.

Last night's near miss nearly
outed her and you to Morozov.

Nadia's still in danger. We
know what Morozov is capable of.

If that's the case, then
it's in her best interest

to have no further contact with the CIA.

So we're done with her just like
that? Just like that, precisely.

These newspapers are your next assignment.

You're gonna go through back
issues of the Montreal Gazette to

find any increased citations regarding
Quebecois' secession. Are you serious?

Totally.

This has got to be heavily redacted.

This is too much disclosure.

Jay, it's good to see you. It's good
to see anyone without a law degree.

Did I catch you at a bad time?

Not bad, just...

I'm sort of busy. All
right, I'll be quick.

Ben Mercer's back in town. What's
the play? What do you want me to do?

Stay with Joan. Work in the DPD.

This is supposed to be temporary.

Things have changed.

Things are changing.

I like you, Jay. But the
best thing for you right

now might be to get some distance from me.

It's funny.

Someone else gave me the exact same
advice. Someone may be looking out for you.

I'm Lewis from In
Extremis Carpet Cleaners.

Your sister hired us.

Oh, yeah. Wow, you guys sure are prompt.

Yeah, you know, it's not
really that big a spill.

It's not the size of the spill. It's the
depth and viscosity of the radial blot.

Do my kids and I have to leave the house?

You're welcome to stay.

You may get a little light-headed.

I think we'll go. Chloe?

Katya?

We're in.

Commencing sweep.

Augie, I found you.

Don't interrupt me. I'll lose my cap.

Have we drilled down on Morozov?

He's been at Nadia's practice
session for the second consecutive day.

He's watching her like a hawk.

Wait, you're staking out Nadia
even after Joan told you to drop it?

Okay, yeah, I have.

It's a pretty huge breach of protocol.

I know something is going on.

It's like the O'Neill affair
in 1962 when that violinist

from the New York
Philharmonic was murdered in Moscow.

Annie, listen to yourself.

You've been through a lot the past few
weeks with Sri Lanka, with Guam, with Ben.

I'm worried it's making you paranoid.

No.

Maybe. Look, in our line of work,

there is a very thin line
between intuition and paranoia.

Our job is to walk right up to
that line, but never to cross it.

I'm worried about you as an operative
and a friend. I'm fine. You will be.

And you may not want to hear this,

but Holman's sweep of your
apartment came back clean.

The break-in was
probably just a couple of kids.

Why don't you take the
rest of the day off?

I'll cover with John.

M-I-C-U, Catherine Chandler, M-I-C-U.

Come for food!

Excuse me, where did they move Ben Mercer?

Who?

Ben Mercer, room 202.

Sorry, there's no one
here under that name.

He was here.

There's no record of anyone by
that name ever staying here.

Addie, I know I'm probably breaking
CIA regulations by coming to your house,

and this is over the line
on about nine other levels,

but I literally didn't
know who else to talk to.

Do you know what happened to Ben?

I need to know.

I understand that this is hard for you.

And what I think will make it a
little easier is for you to separate

out your feelings for Ben
and think of him as an asset.

Ben would represent a
high risk, high reward

individual. Does that
make sense? I think so.

So on a human level,
what that means is that

as exhilarating as your time is with Ben,

when he goes missing or does something
duplicitous, you have to accept that.

There are always going
to be questions with Ben.

I'm beginning to see that. And in
answer to your original question,

I think you're a strong enough
operative now to intuit my response.

Well, the fact that you
didn't directly answer

my question means that
you know where he is.

And the fact that you're not
yelling at me means he's probably safe.

See you at the office, Annie.

I just don't get it.
Why did they move Ben?

I don't know.

We work in a job with a
lot of I don't knows.

Did your team find out
anything about Guam?

We did.

The would-be assassins were a Belgian and
a Finn who'd never worked together before.

What does that mean? What's
the linkage between the two?

Well, the linkage has been.

Someone wanted him dead, and they
hired the two perfect people to do it.

The Belgian's an expert in
military security systems.

The Finn is a weapons specialist.
Together, they had skills and access.

Other than that, there's no profile.

Access.

We gotta go.

Really? I don't get to finish my beer?

You really don't. Let's
go. Okay, can you hold this?

Okay, I can't see the speedometer,
but I'm gonna ask you to slow down.

Hello?

Jay, it's Annie. I just
emailed you some photos.

Can you run them through the
facial recognition database?

Sure, give me a minute.
You're looping in Jay?

Now I really wish we'd stay to the bar.

I was wrong about Nadia.

Yes, I know, I told you that.

No, someone's in
danger, but it's not Nadia.

It's Morozov.

Nadia's the assassin.

You were right. It's all about access.

And Nadia can get to
Morozov without raising eyebrows.

Why now?

Nadia is Morozov's mistress. She's
been close to him for three years.

She could have done it at any time.

Because now Nadia can buy
good chocolate in Estonia.

See, you were starting to make
sense, and now you're making less sense.

Estonia just pegged to the Euro.

It's opening up
opportunities for foreign investment.

Morozov probably knows
that he could make a mint off

his land holdings if he
wasn't tied to Russia,

and that's what he's doing here.

I should have realized it before.

He's using Nadia's practices as a
place to talk to potential bidders.

Going against the Kremlin
would be a suicide mission.

Yeah, and Morozov knows that.

Hey.

That was fast.

That's because I don't need to
run this through the database.

The man in one of the photos is Peter
Coit, a known South African mining magnate.

Peter Coit?

Thanks.

Peter Coit's no friend of the Kremlin.

Morozov has stopped the
dealing, and Nadia's caught

in the middle. I need to talk to Nadia.

You got a plan?

We have a plan.

Thank you.

A5, this is my seat.

No, that's my seat.

The match is almost over.

Traffic was a bear. At least that's
what my driver told me. You are blind. So?

I still deserve a seat. I do enjoy tennis.

Maybe not the same way you... I didn't.

Didn't what? Didn't mean to steal
the blind man's seat or care? Hey,

get your hands off of me.
Look, just look at my ticket, man.

Let me see.

Let's go figure this out together.

I'll walk you up to
the ticket booth. Okay.

Don't look back. Walk
quickly, but call me.

Hello.

Yeah, I'm Nadia Lamondi's personal
concierge. She hasn't finished yet, has she?

Nadia wanted an apple to help
her blood sugar after the match.

She got mad because I got her a
Fuji and she only eats Honeycrisps.

I have to go out and get her
this. I don't want to get fired.

Eddie, Nadia, you need to
come with me. I told you to

leave me alone. I will
stay. He's in our custody.

No.

He'll kill me. That's why you need to
come with me. The CIA can protect you.

So I take it your coach is FSB.
She threatened me. I had no choice.

Which is the front entrance.
Front? Yeah. We'll be totally exposed.

Trust me.

It's the other way.

How did you know the
engine would be on? I didn't.

Some of this is improvised. Hold on.

You have some mouth on you. You
speak Estonian? Just swear words.

Where are you going?

I have a plan. Here we go. Hold on.

Chet LaGuardie?

Indeed. Three-piece glide flush.

What are you doing here?

What am I doing here?

Your husband hired me,
apparently, at your suggestion.

So I suggest we go inside and
start working on his legal defense,

because this conversation is on
the clock, and my clock isn't cheap.

Come on in.

Hey, Lord, sir. Will you
show me the chair, please?

Great. Thank you.

Hi. I'm Joe Jacoby, Jacoby and Theismann.

So, give me the straight scoop. I'll do
my best to get you off. If you lie to me,

and I'll know you're
lying, I'll let you hang.

Okay? Okay.

I can't tell. Are you nodding?

Yes. So you kids are
just getting your thrills,

stealing bikes, loose
cash, that sort of thing?

Again with the nodding?

Yes. Did you break into
the garage at 4141 P Street?

Answer me, please.

Yes.

Are you sure?

Yes. Okay.

Good.

I'll see what I can do.
Good afternoon, gentlemen.

Officer.

Was that guy really our lawyer?

Unfortunately, I have some bad news.

The CIA can offer you asylum and
protection in the U.S., but nothing further.

No more money.

Life of anonymity. I'll never
play professional tennis again.

Being in public is too great of a risk.

We've already pulled you from this
tournament due to a sudden hamstring injury.

At least I can eat my chocolate bars
now without the fear of recrimination.

And you went out with a win.

I know this whole thing is terrible.

But this is your life now, and
you're going to need to accept it.

Thank you.

For what?

For not trying to make me
happier than I should be.

Americans are always
trying to change things.

But Estonian heart is black.

We know when fate has turned on us.

So what do you do?

You live.

It's still living. I don't want to
just live. I want more than that.

You're truly not Estonian.

No.

I guess I'm not.

Good luck, Nadia.

I love this view.

It always seems like you're closer
to the Capitol than you really are.

It's a matter of
perspective. Were you followed?

Trust me. With all I got going
on in my life, I took no chances.

Welcome back to the agency, Mr. Mercer.

I must say, while you were away, I
admired your work. You helped us.

You helped me out a
lot of dicey situations.

How would you like to continue to do that?

But this time with agency resources.

Full autonomy.

Off the books.

On condition.

What is it?

I want to talk to Annie.
You know that's not possible.

There's a reason why you
haven't contacted her in two years.

She's a security risk to someone like you.

And you for her. I need to
see her. How about this?

Stay in your lane, complete your missions,

and I'll see if we can't find
a way to bring you back in.

Typical agency carrot and stick behavior.

Yes, it is.

Good talk.

When I arrive in my old set of clothes...

Hey, you need me to come in?

Easy there, worker bee. I'm just calling
to check in and see how you're holding up.

Then better. Do you want
to meet me at the tavern?

Sure.

Hey.

Hey.

Want to get to finish my beer this time?

Not only that, I'm buying.

Did she just come for one?