Covert Affairs s02e10 Episode Script

AII right.
Instead of the bob, you're going to break with your right.
Okay.
Give me your left elbow.
There.
One more.
Same thing.
My right with your right.
There you go.
Break it, and then, the left elbow.
Very nice, Miss Walker.
One more time.
Where did you go? AII right.
AII right.
Try again.
Go.
And bob underneath.
But you've got to bob, or you're going to end up like this.
Okay? Go.
Break.
Right.
Ooh.
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.
Ow.
Your other left.
When you're learning hand-to-hand combat, it's best not to be distracted.
It's just this weekend.
I've blocked off two days to definitely read-in my sister.
You know, if I can.
Assuming the time is right and I don't push it.
Again.
Well, as long as you're sure.
Look, there's no manual for this kind of thing.
Just be honest.
Be honest about having been dishonest? Exactly.
And if all else fails, you go to plan B.
Check my bag.
Oh! Contraband! Is this for me or Danielle? Ideally, both.
Just don't drink it before the staff meeting, huh? After careful analysis and assessment, we've decided to proceed with the defection of one Shen Yue.
A scientist and Chinese national, Shen will be in D.
C.
this week for a tech conference.
This is Operation Steelhead.
Shen is a top hydro-electric engineer who worked on the Three Gorges dam.
He's a big get, who can provide us with intel on China's energy.
It's all in his case file, which is required reading for everyone.
Everyone, that is, except for Annie.
That's because Annie wrote the file.
And as such, Annie will facilitate the defection of Shen.
Shen will be her asset.
We're targeting next Friday's conference closing ceremonies for the extraction.
Joan.
I expected I would be the lead on this operation.
But seniority isn't the only metric we make decisions on.
I managed half the vetting process and ran point with Beijing Station.
And Annie set up a dummy engineering chat site and cultivated and turned an asset via the internet in three months.
She's qualified and ready.
I like Annie.
But this is bad management.
Duly noted.
Oh, hey.
Whole Foods took forever.
Pita chip? I'm good.
Danielle, I I need to preface this by saying that I love you very much.
And This might be difficult, but I've thought about it a lot.
And I think now is the time.
What is it? That's it.
Just that I love you and, uh I love living here with you and the girls.
That's what you were going to say? Mmm-hmm.
Well, I guess it's just you and me.
Hey.
Hey.
Did you read your sister in? Ugh.
Call me a rooster, because I'm a big chicken.
Bummer.
Well, Operation Steelhead has been moved up to this evening.
There's chatter out of Beijing.
Ops van is already in position outside the hotel.
Uh Um Give me an hour to get dressed.
Great.
You've got fifteen minutes.
Keep calm, and that will help Shen stay calm.
In twenty minutes, you'll have a story to tell your grandkids.
Assuming you eventually get around to reading them in.
We can speak English.
Oh, thank goodness.
Chinese is a beautiful language, but sometimes I feel Iike I'm not doing it justice.
There are times even when I don't feel I'm doing it justice.
It's so nice to finally meet you after three months of being encrypted email pen-pals.
I feel like I know you already.
Same for me.
Although you are much prettier than you let on.
Flattery will get you everywhere.
Well, hopefully, to America.
Science knows no boundaries and sees no countries or colors.
It is through science that we bridge the gaps of cultures and reach towards As the great Johannes Kepler once said "So rich.
Precisely in order that the human mind "shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment.
" Unquote.
Soup's over, Annie.
Time for the main course.
It's time.
Mr.
Shen needs to use the facilities.
I'm going to freshen up myself.
Please excuse us? Yes, of course.
Salmon is swimming upstream.
Salmon is jumping the dam.
No, no, no.
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Stay close.
Salmon is home.
Not bad for a day's work.
Mr.
Shen, let me officially welcome you to America.
Thank you.
What would you like to do now that you've defected? Is it too late to catch the Nationals? I do love baseball.
That's very American of you.
Let's get you to the safe house for debriefing, then we'll see if maybe we can't catch a ballgame.
Okay.
"Went to the movies with K and C.
"Also, Dr.
Scott called to confirm your date.
Yeah!" Annie Walker.
- Protocol Directive 42-30.
Password? Clover.
Operative Walker.
Asset Shen Yue has been checked into Georgetown Hospital.
We believe he may have been poisoned.
Poisoned? He says it's from the soup.
I had the soup, too.
Report to Georgetown Hospital immediately.
You may be in danger.
Any internal medicine resident to the ER.
Hang in.
The doctor said he'll be back soon.
How are you feeling? Not great.
I've eaten Chinese food for 40 years, never had a problem.
It's too coincidental to be food poisoning.
Did you tell anyone about your plan? No.
I've been careful about my intentions.
I need to talk to my friend, Xi Peng, at the Asian Cultural Organization.
He was at the conference.
So, the blood work came back inconclusive for both of you.
I'm not sure what's going on.
I just want to do one more test.
What is that? This is a dosimeter.
It measures exposure to ionizing radiation.
Radiation? Yeah.
Right now, this entire wing of the hospital will be emptied due to a false gas leak.
Extreme discretion and cautionary measures must be taken.
Both of you will be treated in our biohazard triage unit in the basement of this hospital.
Hi.
I'll be treating you now.
I work with the Agency.
Think of a radioactive isotope Iike a habanero pepper.
You can be around it, it won't hurt you.
If it gets on your skin, it can irritate it.
If you ingest it, that's a whole different story.
Your immune system could be profoundly compromised.
That's why you're in here.
To protect you from us.
Now, I'm just checking this battery right now, but if you hear this beep, you need to contact us immediately.
Is Shen okay? He's scared.
We'll know more soon.
What about the others at our table? We liaised with all the other hospitals and medical centers in the area.
No one else from the conference has reported any symptoms.
So, Shen was the target.
Or I was.
We're also checking the vehicle and the safe house for radiation.
Any other place that you've been needs to be cleared as well, in case you were the primary target.
I went home after the conference.
You live with your sister? And her family.
You need to call them immediately.
That property needs to be swept.
Thanks.
Two cones.
Hey.
I thought you were going out with Dr.
Scott.
Danielle, where are you right now? Uh, we're getting ice cream after the movie.
Okay.
Good.
Don't go home.
What do you mean, don't go home? Don't argue with me.
You're scaring me.
I'm trying to scare you.
Take the girls and go to Michael's mother's house for the night.
What is this about? You've been acting really strange lately.
I'll talk to you soon.
I'll explain everything.
Please, just don't go home.
Fine.
Steve Barr.
When I get a visit from the State Department after hours, I know it's not good.
The Shen Yue situation.
Uh We need you to hold off investigating.
The CIA is not an investigative organization.
I'm sorry, but State wants this to go away.
Now, this kind of thing makes both parties look bad.
Health scare and a security breach? Nobody needs it.
Least of all my operative and her asset.
CIA doesn't go near this, or I will bring the hammer down.
Glad to see those anger management seminars are paying off.
This is the last time we'll talk about this.
In all the corresponding we did, I had no idea you liked baseball.
My brother was obsessed with the game.
Even though he could access only box scores from smuggled western newspapers.
Your brother who died in Tiananmen Square? He was my younger brother.
And Wei-Min taught me and inspired me.
So, when I watch baseball, he's with me.
You have any siblings? A sister.
I've been lying to her for two years.
To protect her? From your life? That was the goal.
I couldn't.
Now, I have to tell her everything.
A secret is like a wall.
It can protect.
But it can isolate.
So, our tests came back.
Annie, it appears that you were not directly poisoned.
What about Shen? Mr.
Shen, you definitely ingested a large dose of Polonium-210.
Enough to be fatal.
However, there is hope.
Ever since the Litvinenko poisonings in London in '06, the pharmaceutical companies have been working on antidotes for exactly this kind of situation.
If I weren't directly involved, I I would find that depressing.
There is an injection that the Air Force Radiobiology Iab has developed.
It has a 20% chance of success.
Give it to me.
If it doesn't work, it may hasten your demise.
So, if there's anyone that you want to call to say goodbye to No, I I have Ieft my home already.
Let me sign the consent forms.
There are no forms.
Good luck with your sister.
Orderly available to the nurses' station for wheelchair transport.
Orderly available to the nurses' station.
Are these three seats taken? It's amazing how my head, body, and legs can all be so uncomfortable at the same time.
Have you been here all night, waiting up for me? Me? No.
The gift shop opens at eight.
I wanted to get in early before there was a run on stuffed whales with top hats.
Hey.
It's going to be okay.
You're okay.
Thanks.
Mmm-hmm.
Okay.
You ready to figure out who did this? Shen has a friend at the Asian Cultural Organization.
State has asked us to stand down.
We're not going to do anything? It's not fair, I know.
Did we get the soup bowl when we swept the hotel? Seems like us.
Can we analyze it? Maybe we can use the radioactive signature.
Well, as revealing as that would be, our internal Iabs can't touch it.
But But I have a friend that works in Johns Hopkins radiobiology Iab, and he could take a look.
You have a friend everywhere.
Friends come in handy at times like this.
They certainly do.
Oh, I got your message.
That it was okay to come back to my house.
What was going on last night? It was a precautionary radiation sweep by an ops team.
I'm a covert officer for the Central Intelligence Agency.
I have been for two years.
You're not serious.
Think about it.
Prove it.
I'm a spy.
This is my life.
Come on, Danielle.
Can we Okay, you want to talk? Let's talk.
AII right, you're a spy.
Since when? I said two years.
At Langley? Yes.
What do you do? I gather intelligence.
And those trips? Cleveland? Topeka? Des Moines? Those were lies.
I went other places for the Agency.
Paris? I did go to Paris.
And the accidents? The bruises? They weren't stapler accidents.
What happened? I can't tell you.
No.
If we're going to do this, you have to tell me everything.
I am telling you everything I can.
Okay.
Why? Why do you choose to do this? I am good at it.
I love it.
You wanted to see me? I'll keep this brief.
I know you're not happy here at the DPD, and I'm not happy having people who aren't happy in my division.
Are you saying you want me to be happier? In essence, yes.
I'm going to authorize a transfer to the Southwest station.
Southwest Asia? No.
Phoenix.
We're expanding domestic offices.
It's a new, exciting opportunity.
I wish you the best of luck.
And if I don't want to go? Then, I guess you'll still be unhappy.
It will just be in Phoenix.
I smell Ostrowski's.
Dan, you here? Hey, Auggie.
Long time no see.
Hey.
For me as well, Dan.
There he is.
Listen.
I came across a soup bowl that I think might be worth something.
Oh.
Uh, this particular soup bowl could be served on the finest of periodic tables.
I was wondering if maybe you could help me figure out its true value.
AII right, I'll establish a radiological profile and an origin pattern.
But it will have to happen after hours and off-book.
Understood.
Please come in.
My secretary said it was a matter of some urgency.
I've heard you have some news about Shen? He wanted me to come and see you.
You know where he is? He disappeared from the conference.
I've been trying to reach him.
He's sick.
That's terrible.
Shen Yue is a dear friend.
We've known each other since our days back at Beida University.
If there is anything I can do Do you know anyone who would want to harm him? Harm him? No.
What is beeping? It's nothing.
Why is a translator doing the bidding of Shen Yue? There are few people in D.
C.
he felt he could trust.
And he trusted you.
Who he has known for how long? Just because you've known someone a long time doesn't mean you can trust them.
Wise words for a translator.
You listen to people speak, you learn to interpret what they mean.
Not what they say.
Indeed.
I'll be in touch if I hear anything.
Thank you for coming.
Thanks for your time.
Ow! It was January of last year.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, can you repeat that, please? It was January of last year.
Leave us alone.
Uh, we're not done.
Yeah, you are.
Okay.
How do you know Xi Peng? Did you talk to him? What did he say? He didn't say anything.
My dosimeter went off when I was in his office.
Either he has a radioactive signature, or there was polonium there.
He poisoned you.
How do you know him, Shen? Come inside.
It's fine.
Come Come Come here.
Xi Peng was I thought, a friend.
Did you tell him you were defecting? Keeping secrets is a burden.
I wanted to be able to trust someone.
We knew each other from University.
We met just after my brother died.
We spoke about our hopes for a different China for many years.
I told him everything.
He betrayed you.
Do you know what it's like to trust someone completely? Enough that you would change your whole life based on that trust? Yeah.
I know how important trust is.
Now, I wonder When did he betray me? What part of our friendship was real? Don't worry, Shen.
We're going to make this right.
Annie, Xi Peng is not touchable.
His father is high ranking in the Politburo.
The CIA takes care of its own.
I never imagined being distrusted by the CIA.
Or betrayed by my good friend.
You're going to get out of here.
And then, we're going to go to a ballgame.
Peanuts, beer The whole deal.
I'd like that very much.
Annie.
Scott.
Hi.
We had a date.
And I totally didn't show.
Are you okay? I'm fine.
I'm just a little scattered recently.
No.
Your arm.
Oh.
Oh.
Um, it's nothing.
Actually, I have to go.
I'm going to go fix you up now.
And that's not a question.
Look, Scott I think you're amazing.
The most amazing guy I've met in a long time, actually.
It's okay.
My life is just complicated right now.
Those stitches should dissolve in about a month.
By then, I should be just about healed, too.
I got your compensation.
Any results from the lab? The Polonium was refined from U-238 at the Benxi Mine in the Liaoning Province in China.
And anything on the spectromic signature? Any Geiger matches? Auggie, I had no choice.
- Cuff him.
- Yes, sir.
What? You're under arrest for possession of fissile material.
Et tu, Dan? I'm sorry, Auggie.
I can't believe you're pulling a Lando Calrissian on me.
How did you come into possession of that bowl? Well, it's a funny story, actually.
I was, uh, on an antiquing trip in Brimfield, Massachusetts.
Do you know that antique fair? No? It's a good one.
Some real finds.
Real gems.
You just have to get there early and haggle.
Anyway, I I got the bowl from this gypsy lady.
She said it might be worth something.
Are you in the habit of authenticating the value of flea market soup bowls at nuclear laboratories? Only when they don't come in sets.
Annie, my office.
Sit down.
I went to the Asian Cultural Organization And accused Xi Peng of poisoning Shen.
I know.
Xi Peng told State.
He did poison Shen.
He had a letter opener with a PLA Special Forces insignia on it.
He's a spy.
I know it.
That could have been a gift.
That could have been a scare tactic.
He's radioactive.
I forgot to take off my dosimeter.
Either it was beeping because he touched the Polonium, or it was in his office.
Either way, Xi Peng is our guy.
We have to act.
This has moved beyond us, Annie.
Why, because of State? Auggie is in custody because of your need to push this.
I've had to make a deal with State to keep this off book.
What kind of deal? The kind of deal you make when you're bent over a barrel.
I'm sorry.
The antidote was a long shot.
Danielle? Don't worry.
Everything is labeled.
You're kicking me out.
We're going to need more boxes.
You certainly have a lot of shoes.
You just started packing up my stuff.
It's okay.
I didn't try to crack your spy safe.
Uh, can we talk about this? No, you've had two years to talk about this.
That's what this weekend was all about.
I was I was going to tell you.
Oh, really? Or is that another lie? Because right now, I can't believe a single word you say.
Yes, you can.
You are very good at getting people to believe exactly what you want.
Even me.
Especially me.
You're an amazing liar.
I did all this to protect you.
AII of this.
Oh.
Since when do you get to decide what to protect me from? What to tell me and when? You're my little sister.
And you're my big sister.
I hoped we could work through this.
Okay.
The only thing that matters to me right now is protecting my kids.
Keeping them safe.
And I don't feel they are safe with you here.
With you, the person that I trusted more than anyone in the world.
No, I'm in the CIA.
Nothing else is different.
Everything is different.
Someone from the hospital dropped off this bag.
I wouldn't bother unpacking it.
Okay.
Auggie! Auggie.
I'm so sorry you got caught.
Ah.
No biggie.
The coffee in the State Department is surprisingly good.
Our relations with Colombia must have improved.
Shen left me a back door into his intel.
He must have feared something Iike this was going to happen.
AII good spies know the risks.
The Chinese are pulling weapons grade Uranium out of the Benxi mines.
Funny that you should say that.
Before I was unceremoniously pinched, I found out that the raw Uranium used to process Shen's poison was extracted from, you guessed it China's Benxi mine.
And guess who owns a 17% share of that mine? Xi Peng.
There's our hand in the cookie jar.
What just happened? Was that Joan? Yeah.
She walked out without saying anything.
That can't be good.
I'm having a management problem.
I thought you liked initiative.
This involves State.
Let me make your day a little easier.
You don't work for State or for that hothead, Steve Barr.
No.
I work for you.
You work for the CIA.
You run your own division however you see fit.
Thank you.
But you knew that already.
So, what do you need from me? Yeah, yeah.
That's good.
That's beautiful.
Arthur Campbell.
What brings you across the Potomac? Why don't we step in my office? Excuse me.
What's this? Legal briefs from our General Counsel.
Detailing the six counts on which Xi Peng is breaking the International Atomic Energy Treaty by allowing enriched Uranium from the Benxi mine across borders.
It's ironclad.
We've informed the Chinese.
They are anxious to have Xi Peng pulled in to face prosecution.
We have a team doing that even as we speak.
You asshole.
You bigfoot the CIA, you play hardball with my wife, and you expect me to sit back and take this shit? This is what we do.
Xi Peng and his contingent are at a banquet in Chinatown.
We have an ops team en route.
We need eyes on Xi Peng ASAP.
Xi Peng is definitely in the group.
He's in the first car in the convoy.
Passenger side, rear door.
We are go.
Go, all units.
Ground team, go.
Split up and take them down.
Convoy is proceeding west at forty miles per hour.
I have you out to the intercept at 30 meters.
20.
10.
Don't move! Hands on the wheel! Hands on the wheel! Don't move! Xi Peng is not in the vehicle.
I've got a visual on him.
He's on foot.
Ow! Ow! Walk.
Walk.
You killed your friend and you're taking an American hostage.
You're some cultural attaché.
I'm not taking you hostage.
And Shen was never my friend.
Hey, it's Jai.
We need to talk.
Do you want something to eat? I don't know.
Do I? I know I lost it before.
I'm just trying to process all of this.
Oh, my God.
What happened? Oh, uh I can't tell you.
But it wasn't a stapler accident? Here, Katia always finds this helpful.
Thanks.
Do you remember when we were really little, when Dad was teaching at West Point and we'd go skating on that pond in Cold Spring? And you'd stay out until after dark, and I'd stay out with you because I was afraid you'd fall through the ice.
I wanted to protect you.
But now I see you don't need me or anyone to protect you.
You are so brave.
I do need you.
More than you know.
Which is what makes this so hard.
Annie, I still need you to move out.
Okay.
I'll move out.
Thanks for going with me.
I know it's probably not that fun for you.
Are you kidding me? The crack of the bat, a cold beer I may even catch a foul ball.
You know we're sitting in the Ieft-field bleachers, right? A home run.
Even better.
Is it worth it? This job? Well, that's a big question.
The short answer is yes.
What's the long answer? The long answer is that when the job gets tough and draining, sometimes the best solution is to throw oneself back into the job.
That's where you'll find out whether it's worth it or not.
I'd need an assignment for that.
Funny you should say that.
I happen to know that Joan wants you on a plane tomorrow.
Tomorrow? Sorry.
The job's the job.
What do you know about this assignment that I don't know? Are you going to open it? You said I don't leave until tomorrow, right? Yep.
Then for now, we have a baseball ball game to enjoy.
Yes, we do.