Salvation
Seeing Red (episode 7)
From Russia, With Love (episode 8)
Original Air Date: Aug 16, 2017
Vincent Chia – Staff Writer
vincent@thetwocentscorp.com
Tonight, we get another double episode. I wonder why is CBS burning through these episodes so fast? I suppose they started too late in the summer season and need to clear out before the fall tv shows start.
We pick up tonight with Russia having cut off all diplomatic ties to the United States. Russian missile silos are open and ready to launch. Not only are the Russians ready to shoot missiles at America, they will also shoot down anything that the U.S. launches. Tanz thinks he can complete the EM drive relatively soon, but it would be pointless if the Russians just shoot it down before it gets into space.
Amanda, the reporter from Capitol Eyes, gives a picture to Liam. The picture is somehow related to Project Atlas. The picture shows Tanz branded technology embedded in a rock.
Tanz decides to go to Russia and asks Grace to go with him. He thinks that even though the Russian government won’t talk to Washington, the Kremlin will talk to Tanz.
At the Pentagon, orders are given to the U.S.S. Pike aircraft carrier battle group to move into the Baltic. If Russia launches any missiles, they will be intercepted by the navy.
Rayburn reveals to Calhoun and Edwards that Katya the Russian ambassador was being surveilled. They have a recording of the conversation between Katya and Grace at the park. They know Grace knows about Project Atlas.
In Moscow, Grace meets with Katya. Katya tells Grace that Atlas was a weapons program, but that’s all she knows. In 2013, a meteor hit a remote part of Russia. The catch is, it wasn’t a natural incident. It was Project Atlas. Apparently, the U.S. government somehow crashed an asteroid into Russia. The meteor hit did happen in real life, but the Atlas explanation is a new twist.
Katya arranges a secret meeting between Grace and the Russian Defense Minister. However, on their way to the meeting, Grace and Darius are almost killed by a car bomb. They escape due to Darius’ astute observation of a blinking light near the dashboard of the car. Though, I wonder why that couldn’t have been just an anti-theft device or other benign device.
Grace and Darius discover that Katya has been murdered.
Rayburn reports to Calhoun that Katya was found murdered in a hotel room that was rented by two Americans, a man and a woman. They (correctly) presume that the reports are referring to Darius and Grace. Calhoun seems to be happy with this development. He thinks he will get rid of two problems without firing a shot.
Harris Edwards goes to Tanz Industries and talks to Liam. Edwards wants to try to help but he needs to be in the loop. Edwards also accidentally glimpses a few photos that Liam stole from the reporter’s smartphone. One of the pictures was Grace with 4 containers of plutonium. After learning of the plutonium heist, Edwards suspends Grace’s security clearance, effective immediately.
Liam investigates some of the metadata from the photographs taken from the reporter and is able to find an IP address for the hacker group “Resyst.” He goes to the location alone (which I thought was incredibly dangerous). It turns out that Edwards’ son Dylan Edwards is one of the leaders of the hacker group.
As Grace and Darius try to make their way back to Darius’ private plane, they see that the Russian news media have plastered their faces all over. The news is reporting that Russian Ambassador Katya has been murdered and the police are seeking two Americans in connection with that murder.
At the beginning of the second hour, Dylan tells Liam that Pentagon tech Walter Carnahan was the founder of the hacker group Resyst. Liam is surprised. Personally, I liked this development since it is implied that Carnahan was killed for accessing files related to Project Atlas, and not for accessing the satellite data that Grace had asked Walter for.
Grace and Darius have minor disguises on. They acquire fake passports and intend to travel out of Moscow by train. However, right before they can board the train, they sense they are about to be caught. Darius and Grace take off their disguises. (Pictured above: Darius wearing a fedora and a pair of glasses, Grace wearing a wig of short black hair). They surrender to the FSB.
Darius and Grace are taken to a secret location and Professor Croft arrives. He apparently survived his encounter with Liam. Darius wants to kill Croft as revenge for killing Lazlo, but they need Croft’s help.
Croft reveals that Katya was killed because she planned on going public about the asteroid. Both the Russian government and the American government share an interest in keeping the asteroid secret. Croft also reveals that the Russians cannot finish the EM drive themselves. They need Darius’ help.
Liam goes to Boston and has one last dance with Jillian. At least, they think it will be their last dance.
Croft introduces Darius and Grace to Russian Defense Minister Toporov. Toporov says he’ll only trust Darius and Grace if they drink the tea he provides, which may be laced with poison. They both drink the tea as a sign of trust.
In a surprise move, Toporov has his men take Croft away and possibly terminated. Toporov doesn’t need Croft anymore if he can have Darius Tanz.
The tea wasn’t laced with poison, but there was truth serum and muscle relaxant in it. Toporov asks them what they want. Grace proposes a joint effort to launch the gravity tractor and save the world. Darius suggests that to build trust, Russia can send their own scientists to oversee the launch of the EM engine.
Back at the Pentagon, one of the analysts announces that the Samson asteroid will cross the “Rubicon Line” in five days. After that line is crossed, it will be too late to do anything to save the planet. They can try to launch the EM engine with Russia still threatening to shoot it down. However, even if they place missile interceptors in the oceans around Cape Canaveral, there will only be a 50/50 chance the gravity tractor will make it.
General Toporov leaves Darius and Grace alone in the safe house as he goes to the Kremlin to discuss the joint venture proposal with his superiors. Darius and Grace have an affair, partially induced by the drugs. However, it seems that some of their feelings for each other are genuine.
The next morning, Toporov arrives and says the Kremlin has approved of the plan. When Grace returns home, she is immediately arrested for violation of the Logan Act, which forbids conducting unauthorized diplomatic relations. Grace and Edwards have a very heated conversation at the facility where she is being detained.
When Edwards returns to his office, Darius is waiting for him. They also have a heated conversation. Darius calls the Logan Act an obscure law which nobody ever gets prosecuted under. (Ironically, in real life, there are rumors of various Logan Act violations by various political operatives). Darius threatens to go public about the asteroid unless Edwards.
Defense Secretary Calhoun gets off the phone with his Russian counterpart. They have agreed to the joint mission. Since the Russians demanded that Darius and Grace lead the joint project, Calhoun decides that Grace will be released.
Edwards flirts with a bartender and the two of them soon hook up. I must admit that I am sad to see his and Grace’s relationship fall apart.
Jillian returns to Tanz Industries from her time in Boston. Her grandfather had convinced her to return to Liam. Though, Jillian sets that condition that Liam tell her what her job at Tanz Industries is really about. Liam shows her the Salvation/Ark rocketship. I continue to be surprised at how freely Liam shares this secret information.
Darius walks Grace back to her home. He suggests that the two of them continue the relationship they started in Moscow. As Grace walks up the stairs to her bedroom, we see a figure hiding in the shadows in Grace’s home. A possible assassin?
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