102 Spies Appear in the Nighttime‍

We open on the catastrophic aftermath of the train explosion in Italy. An injured, bleeding Nadia crawls her way to shore. As she tears apart her dress to use as a tourniquet on her leg, Bernarcd comes through on her comms. Nadia is frantic, telling Bernard that Citadel has been compromised. Bernard, his voice barely audible, tells her that he’s initiating Backstop, and that she has two hours to make provisions. 

‍Nadia limps down a dark country road, calling out in Italian to a passing truck. The truck comes to a stop and the Italian Hunter gets out. He catches Nadia as she passes out. 

Nadia awakes in the Italian Hunter's cabin, discovering immediately that she’s handcuffed to the bed. On the nightstand she sees a bowl full of bloody gauze and a bullet pulled from her body. As she scans the room in her disoriented state, she eventually finds the stoic Italian hunter sitting across the room with a rifle in his lap. Nadia calmly pleads with the hunter to bring her to the hospital. He refuses, ominously telling her that he can take care of her as long he needs to. 

Nadia tells the hunter that she’s not asking to go to the hospital for herself, but for him. Before the hunter can muster up a response to that cryptic statement, Nadia is already on the offensive. Using superspy skills, she acrobatically fights her way out of the handcuffs and into a hand-to-hand battle for her life. Their fight is brutal and violent. Nadia eventually spots an animal horn, using to stab the hunter into submission. 

Before she can even catch her breath after finally killing the hunter, a pulsating light goes off behind her ear. Backstop is commencing. The Backstop computer voiceover declares that her memories are being deleted. Nadia scrambles to find a pen to write something on her arm. In the middle of that, the Backstop process completes and she passes out. 

Nadia awakens later to discover that she’s still in the hunting cabin. Her leg is bleeding through her bandage and there’s the dead body of the Italian Hunter nearby. She sees written on her arm the phrase Go to Valencia Asha. It means nothing to her. She has no idea why she’s there or what happened. In a panicked state, she grabs car keys from the table and spots a passport, opening it to find her picture and her name. Charlotte Vernon. She leaves the cabin and drives off.

We land in Wyoming eight years later, coming in on a conversation between Kyle and Abby. She can’t believe that Kyle was once a spy. Elsewhere, Bernard cryptically says to Joe that he thinks he should tell them, but Joe refuses to go along with that. Back with Kyle, all he wants to do is get the X Case back so he can keep Abby and Hendrix safe. 

Kyle has an emotional goodbye with Hendrix. He tells her that he loves her so much. He kisses Abby and Hendrix goodbye and off he goes with Bernard in Joe's van. 

Later, Kyle and Bernard end up in parking in front of a skyscraper in New York City. Bernard explains that there’s a secret Manticore tech lab located inside. Bernard explains that he hacked into their security system to ensure that Kyle’s biometrics are baked into the system under an alias. Bernard hands Kyle a suit and tells him to take off his wedding ring. Kyle is hesitant about the mission, but Bernard assures Kyle that he’s got his back. To help build Kyle’s confidence, Bernard adds that Mason would have loved doing this. 

As Kyle strides through the lobby, Bernard, through comms, confirms that Anders is decrypting the X case’s lock in the lab and that his brother Davik is on route to pick it up. Bernard reminds Kyle once again that if he gets the case, he saves his family. 

Kyle passes through the security booth, at one point smiling. With his trademark snark, Bernard admonishes Kyle, telling him that spies don’t smile. Bernard tells Kyle to head up to the second level, updating him that four of the seven keyblocks in the case have been disarmed. If they unlock all seven, it’s game over. 

As Kyle makes his way down the hallway, and past a security guard, Anders successfully disarms the fifth key block. Kyle jokes that so far this isn’t so bad, except just then a Manticore guard starts following him. 

Meanwhile, Davik and Anders convene in the hallway. Bernard continues to guide Kyle through the network of gangways and hallways in order to avoid detection. At the same time, a military official outside of the skyscraper tells Bernard to move along. Bernard tells Kyle to go into the lab now, he’s running out of time.  

Kyle enters the lab and is immediately grabbed by a security guard. Bernard guides Kyle through every move of the fight, first telling him to grab the guard’s gun. An alarm sounds, drawing Davik and Anders's attention toward the lab. Per Bernard’s instruction, Kyle strikes the guard in his Adam’s apple, instantly dropping him. Kyle successfully secures the case and books it downstairs. From the gangway, Davik spots Kyle, in a total state of disbelief at the sight of who he knows as Mason Kane. Kyle jumps into the van and they speed off.

Meanwhile, we catch up with Dahlia at her house in Virginia. With a distant look in her eyes, Dahlia watches an old news report of a 1992 bombing in Serbia plays on TV. The phone rings. It’s Davik, informing her that the case was stolen. Dahlia is pissed. She explains that she’s a broker for the families who run Manticore and that if they don’t get the X Case back (which they’ve been looking for for eight years), then a bounty gets put on her head. Davik explains that it wasn’t the CIA that took the case, but Mason Kane. Dahlia doesn’t believe it, saying that he’s dead! But Davik doesn’t back down, confirms that he’s very much alive. Dahlia doubles down, telling Davik to bring her the case and Kane!

Back in Bernard’s van, a breathless Kyle can’t believe he did what he just did. Bernard tells Kyle to swipe his wrist over the case, which prompts it to open. Bernard tells Kyle to ask the case to search for active agents, explaining that the X Case is the only Citadel tech that can locate any Citadel agent who might still be alive. Bernard further explains that during Citadel’s fall he ordered his protege Carter Spence to take the case underground, adding that finding it now proves that Carter didn’t die in vain. The case will help them take down Manticore. 

Kyle assumes they’re going back to Wyoming, but Bernard wavers, saying that they can’t go back, further elaborating that since Kyle went inside the Manticore building, every Manticore agent around the world will be looking for him. If they go to Wyoming, Manticore will find him there and kill his whole family. As this rather tense conversation plays out, Davik speeds down the highway, tracking Kyle through the case. Bernard goes on to say that the X Case is just the beginning and that Manticore is preparing for something cataclysmic. An end game. A totally and utterly incredulous Kyle asks Bernard what his plan is. To which Bernard casually responds that he doesn’t have a plan. As Kyle and Bernard hash it out, Davik keys in on their location. 

Back in the van, Bernard explains that stored in the case are Mason’s memories. That every Citadel spy has a chip placed in their temporal lobe. That chip uploads those memories to a Citadel server. But if a Citadel agent can no longer be traced, they get Backstopped. Bernard points out that the vial with Mason’s name on it will give him his memories back. 

Fast approaching from behind, Davik aims a sniper assault rifle out of the car. Kyle lifts the vial from the case and Bernard cautions him to be careful, it’s the only vial. Bernard explains that he just needs to insert the vial’s needle into his neck and the fluid will run into his bloodstream. As Kyle hesitates, Davik locks his scope onto the van and fires. The bullet blasts through the van and into Bernard’s back. Bernard immediately slumps over, and the van careens across the highway before slamming into a concrete divider. 

Kyle freaks out as he frantically tries to stir Bernard back into consciousness. Davik stops the car nearby and starts firing on the van with his assault rifle. Kyle ducks out of the van with the case in hand, firing back with his pistol. Kyle runs across the highway and steals a car, speeding off. As Kyle speeds away, Davik spots Bernard slumped over the wheel of the van. Davik calls Yamazaki and tells him to track Mason. 

Kyle pulls to the side of the road and realizes then that his vial is broken. He’s devastated! Just then the X case identifies another Citadel agent in Valencia, Spain, giving Kyle some measure of hope. 

Back in the Lion’s Den, we catch up with Abby reading Hendrix a bedtime story. Meanwhile, Kyle calls Abby from a plane bound for Valencia, leaving her a voicemail to explain what’s going on. That he can’t come back to Wyoming because if he does, he’ll be putting their lives in danger. He declares that the only person who can help him is the Citadel spy living in Spain. 

In Valencia, Kyle walks through the crowded nighttime streets, on a mission to find this other Citadel spy. Soon he finds himself in the middle of the Falles Festival, staring down a building-high bonfire surrounded by exuberant revelers. 

He eventually ends up at an upscale Valencian restaurant, making his way through until he bumps into Nadia, the mysterious woman who’s been haunting his memory. Kyle asks if she’s Nadia, but she says he has the wrong person. Kyle insists that he doesn’t, but Nadia isn’t convinced. As she walks off, Kyle shouts after her, asking if she remembers what happened eight years ago in Italy. Nadia is stunned to hear the question. 

Nadia leads Kyle into the restaurant kitchen, clearing it out. She explains that she just woke up in the cabin and the hunter was already dead. It was self-defense. Kyle has no idea what she’s talking about, explaining that he’s not the police. He’s actually Mason Kane. Top spy. Hot stuff. Nothing Kyle says rings a bell. Not Bernard. Manticore. Or the X Case. Nadia doesn’t like what she’s hearing. But Kyle explains that they wiped her memories. Then goes on to recap the train explosion in Italy eight years ago, and how once he came to, he had no memory of what happened. He tells her that she was a spy for Citadel, just like he was. Kyle throws a knife at Nadia, but she moves out of the way, terrified. He said she was supposed to catch it. Instead, she grabs a knife to defend herself. Kyle skittishly approaches her with the X Case, getting close enough for the case to identify her as Nadia Sinh. Kyle opens the case to reveal her image on screen, along with her credentials as a Citadel spy. 

Just then, Davik enters the restaurant and fires his gun, clearing out the patrons. Back in the kitchen, Kyle explains that the vial with her name on it will bring back her memories. Kyle pushes her to believe in the inevitability of this moment. Nadia flashes to her own mysterious memory of kissing Mason on the train those eight years ago.

As Nadia takes in this extraordinary information, a Manticore operative enters the kitchen and fires on them as he demands that Kyle hand over the case. As the operative approaches Kyle, Nadia sneaks up behind the man and strikes him over the head with a frying pan. Hitting him repeatedly until he’s knocked out. Nadia then admits to having seen Kyle before in a dream. 

As Kyle and Nadia exit the kitchen, Davik throws a punch across Kyle’s face, knocking him to the ground. He then tosses Nadia over the bar. He then shoots Kyle in the shoulder as he tries to get up. Davik punches Nadia across the face and then asks Kyle if he remembers Davik’s brother. Nadia grabs a knife and stabs Davik in the back. Davik slams Nadia into table after table. Davik returns his attention to Kyle, who he starts to beat senseless. 

While laid out on the floor, Nadia spots the memory vial. She injects it and now remembers everything. She attacks Davik from behind, telling him that he’s going to wish that she was dead. With all her spy skills intact, she easily dispenses with Davik, then helps a wounded Kyle up from the floor. Naida tells him that she remembers everything, experiencing a carousel flash of memories, culminating in one where Nadia tells someone off screen that Mason can never find out. 

Back in Virginia, Dahlia asks Davik if he has Mason, but he says he needs more time. That Mason was with Nadia Sinh. Dahlia is apoplectic, saying that Anders assured them that he had scoured all Citadel tech for any Citadel survivors. Davik assures her that Anders didn’t find anything. Dahlia demands that she wants Kane by nightfall. Davik dutifully assures her.

Dahlia returns to her dining room where we discover that she has Bernard in her possession. As cool as ever, Dahlia conveys that she’s exceptionally skilled at getting Citadel agents to turn.

‍

103 Infinite Shadows

We open in Dahlia's mansion in Virginia. As Dahlia eats a meal and drinks wine at one end of her elegant dining room table, we find Bernard on the other end, bound and getting strangled by a Manticore agent.  

From there, we head to Caceres, Spain, catching up with Nadia and Mason, with Nadia telling Mason that she’s disabled the tracker that Davik had placed on the X Case. She’s brought them to a Citadel safe house, explaining that Citadel used to have hundreds of them. When they arrive, Mason digs further into his history with Nadia, asking her if they had been close. Nadia matter-of-factly replies that they were not. Mason follows up by asking her if he had trusted her. Nadia holds a beat before responding that it wasn’t the first time he’s asked her that. 

Once inside, Nadia extracts the bullet from Kyle’s shoulder. As she stitches him up, Nadia asks him about his wife. He explains that they’ve been married for eight years and have a daughter named Hendrix. Kyle wants to know more about Mason, but Nadia says they weren’t that close. She elaborates that Mason was all about the job and never about the personal. Kyle says he couldn’t remember anything except for her. He presses further, asking if they were together. Insisting that from what he remembers it seemed like they were. Nadia takes a steadying breath, finally responding that they were together, but that it was brief. 

We cut from their conversation to Utah, ten years earlier. Before the fall of Citadel. We track a Citadel helicopter carrying Mason as it flies through a canyon, eventually landing at Citadel HQ, which is embedded in the mountain. 

Mason walks through a bustling command center and into a secure intel room, where he finds Bernard, who’s playing Candy Crush on his phone. Mason presses Bernard to tell him the latest intel before Grace arrives. Bernard begrudgingly concedes, revealing that the criminal leader Hasan has created a new virus, a manipulated strain of Ebola, and that his syndicate is going to release it in the US. Which will cause a plague the world hasn’t seen since the Dark Ages. 

Grace and Carter finally show up, with Grace jumping right into the debrief. Ever the eager spy, Mason finishes her sentence. Grace conveys that Citadel intelligence has confirmed that the virus is being stored in a research facility in the Alborz Mountains. Carter further explains that the newest Tier-One agent will be on-site, already working as a mole within Hasan’s Syndicate. The agent has planted the virus for easy retrieval. Grace goes on to say that the hard part isn’t getting in, but getting out. There are heavily armed guards, surveillance, and missile systems. Carter confirms that the newest agent will assist Mason with his exfil. 

We’re in the Alborz Mountains twenty-four hours later. Grace, Carter, and Bernard anxiously watch the monitor, awaiting Mason’s exit from the research facility. Well, Grace and Carter are anxious while Bernard casually plays Candy Crush on his phone. Meanwhile, air support is en route to the facility. 

An explosion blasts through the facility and through the fire and smoke emerges Mason, sprinting away with the virus in hand. Alarm sounds. Carter states that air support is three minutes out. Guards converge and fire on Mason from all directions. He finds cover behind an outcropping of rocks and fires back, taking out a paratrooper. Hasan's ATVs start approaching from the south side of the mountain. Mason runs toward an ATV, but a missile blows it up, knocking Mason back and taking him offline from Citadel HQ. Carter presses Mason to get up. 

The ATVs surround Mason and he pursues the only exit he can find. He runs and jumps off the cliff, grabbing onto the dead paratrooper dangling from his parachute. Mason dislodges the chute and plummets toward the ground, struggling to gain control of the torn parachute. Just in time, he manages to untangle the chute and crash land into the snowy surface below. With more hostiles are in pursuit. Mason activates his retractable skis and reloads his gun, ordering air support to meet him at the bottom of the mountain. 

Mason skis down the mountain as enemy skiers fire their assault rifles from behind. In a death-defying reversal, Mason spins around and fires on them. But Hasan’s operatives keep coming, with more ATVs now in pursuit. Just in time, Mason’s air support arrives and blows up the ATVs. Mason reaches the end of the snowline, but doesn't stop skiing. With the force of gravity, he skis over the dirt until he strikes a rock jutting out from the ground. He’s launched into the air and crashes into the ground. Carter provides an update that five ATVs are converging on his location and as if matters couldn’t be more dire, Mason has three broken ribs and is currently experiencing internal bleeding. But Mason, never one to be discouraged, pushes through the pain. 

Mason gets up but is immediately surrounded by the ATVs. A female agent leads the way, gun trained on Mason. We now learn that the undercover Tier-One agent is none other than Nadia Sinh. And Mason is absolutely smitten at the sight of her. Nadia and Mason share a long, loaded look. And then, as if in response to the underlying explosion of feelings between the two, Nadia remotely activates a bomb that blows up a nearby ATV. Although this is their first time meeting and working together, Nadia and Mason are immediately in sync with one another. They effortlessly take out operative after operative, exhibiting both precision firing skills and expert hand-to-hand combat skills. 

Carter provides Mason with another medical update: his lungs are filling up with blood, his oxygen levels are running low, and he’s also concussed. Nadia and Mason take out a few more operatives until Mason’s condition worsens. He’s hemostatic, causing his blood pressure to drop. Carter tells them to head to the extraction point three clicks south of where they are. Nadia gets Mason to his feet and transports them in an ATV to the exfil site. With ATVs fast approaching, Nadia secures them in the extraction harness that the exfil helicopter just dropped. 

Back at Citadel HQ, we catch up with Mason in med bay, his wounds now dressed. Nadia knocks and enters. She introduces herself then quickly pivots to accusing Mason of almost blowing the entire mission wherein half of the US would be infected at this point. Mason insists that he had it covered. Nadia reveals that she’s a homegrown Citadel agent. Her mother was Citadel and Nadia joined five years ago. She came up through Bravo team. Mason laughs at that, mocks it as cute and adorable. The heat between these two is off the charts. Mason presses, saying it must’ve been hard for Nadia to grow up with a spy for a mother. Nadia fires back, saying it must’ve been hard to grow up with no mother at all. These two are clearly made for each other. 

Two weeks later, we find Mason and Nadia in Paris, making love in a luxurious hotel room. Later, in bed, Mason asks Nadia if he can trust her. She asks the same of him. They each say yes to one another. 

From there, we return to the Citadel safe house ten years later. We catch up with Nadia sneaking into an office. She sits at the desk, initiating private mode on a comms device. She texts, How’s the weather? A response comes in, Mostly Sunny. Is it really you? Nadia replies, Yes. How’s the package? The mystery sender texts back, Waiting for you… Nadia is overcome by emotion, but fights back the tears. She finally types, Valencia may be compromised. Prepare contingencies. I’ll be there soon. 

Meanwhile, back in Virgina, Bernard is still bound to that chair in Dahlia’s dining room. Bernard and Dahlia continue their trademark banter. At one point, Bernard reveals that the two of them used to work together at the United Nations. Dahlia reveals to Bernard that among that Citadel tech that they captured after the fall was a Citadel AI system that tracks uranium levels throughout the world and the whereabouts of all nuclear weapons. But Manticore can’t access the system, they’ve tried for years. Dahlia demands that Bernard give her the nineteen character password needed to access the system. A Manticore agent presses a gun to his head and Bernard relents. He spells out the password: why don’t you fuck off. With an exclamation mark. Bernard says he would give his life to stop her from accessing these nukes, but Dahlia has leverage. She knows that his ex-wife and daughter are in Wyoming. 

We catch up with Val and Hendrix in the Lion’s Den Bunker. Hendrix picks up and admires a retractable combat knife. Val explains that it’s the first knife her mom gave her. Val offers the knife to Hendrix and promises to show her out to use it. 

Elsewhere in the bunker, Val asks Abby how she and Kyle met. Abby explains that she was in a bad car accident years ago but has no memory of it. It was a traumatic brain injury. After the accident, she had gone to live with her brother who took care of her. She started memory therapy at a hospital nearby, which is where she met Kyle. 

Back in Virginia, Bernard vehemently denies that his family is Wyoming. He doesn’t even know where they are. Dahlia balks at that, says that they have eyes and ears everywhere with access to every security camera and satellite on the grid. Using the van that Bernard had used to travel to New York City, they worked backwards to piece together its origin point just outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming. She threatens that it’s only a matter of time before they find Joe and Val. Dahlia says that for a century Citadel thought they were creating a new order, but spies cannot be saints. She goes on to say that their code didn’t better them but blinded them to the horrors that Citadel imparted. Bernard refuses to believe that, but Dahlia, forever composed, pulls back the sleeve of her sweater and reveals a burn scar that envelops her entire forearm. For Dahlia, this scar is evidence of Citadel’s misdeeds. She then reveals that they caught a Citadel agent by the name of Carter Spence. She says that Carter was uncooperative at first, but with a little bit of torture, he quickly opened up.  

Dahlia calls over Dr. Carvo, a dapperly dressed older gentleman, who quietly walks into the dining room with a briefcase in hand. He wordlessly and casually opens the briefcase to reveal an array of bloody torture instruments. We cut away as we hear Bernard’s agonizing screams emanating from the mansion. We return to the dining room to find Dr. Carvo as he drops one of Bernard’s teeth into a tray filled with his other recently pulled teeth. Dahlia suggests there’s another way they can get the code from Bernard. They can cut into his brainstem and excavate his memories with a device that Anders Silje created. Dahlia leaves the rest of this gruesome torture to Anders Silje, who’s been patiently waiting by the doorway. 

Anders takes a seat beside Bernard, telling him that he’s studied all of Bernard’s work. Anders activates a spinning drill as he gently places Bernard’s head on the table. Anders says it will give him great pleasure to do this considering that Bernard is friends with Mason Kane. As Anders approaches with the drill, Bernard blurts out that Brielle is still alive. The woman who Anders loves. Bernard explains that Citadel had lied to Anders. 

Back in the Citadel safe house in Spain, Kyle catches up with Abby on the phone. Kyle explains that he’s found the Citadel spy and that she remembers everything. Her name is Nadia. He says that unfortunately Nadia didn’t have much to say about Mason. He insists that he’s going to figure it out and come back to Abby. It’s a fraught conversation with a painful amount of uncertainty. Kyle gets off the phone and finds a solemn Nadia standing right there. She throws him the car keys and offers him some cash, telling him he should get back to Abby. But Kyle insists that he’s staying with Nadia. He wants Nadia to teach him to be Mason Kane. Nadia balks at Kyle’s suggestion. As she heads upstairs, Kyle says they’re the only two people left who can stop all of this, two flashing white lights in a sea of red. His impassioned plea gives Nadia an idea. 

Nadia opens the X Case, pulling up a map that flashes with red lights. She explains that these flashing lights are all messages, calls for help. She pulls up a message from Citadel agent Carter Spence. He appears on screen, saying that he’s in Beijing and if any surviving Citadel agents hear this message they should contact him on a secure server. Delta gamma 6-4-2-1. She pulls up another video message from Carter, this time he’s in Mexico City, making the same call for help. And finally she pulls up another. Carter appears terrified, barely able to make out the words. He’s now in France and Manticore is closing in on his location. Nadia identifies Carter’s location. He’s in a black site just outside of Fez. Nadia reveals she knows the black site because she was tortured there for two weeks while undercover with Al Shabab. She explains that the black site is run by a Portuguese crime boss named Balduino Basto and that the only way to rescue Carter is through Balduino. She needs to get close enough to Balduino in order to hack his phone and steal his access codes. But the problem is that Balduino is not a fan of Nadia after she killed his brother. However, Nadia says that Mason and Balduino were tight. And with that in mind, she asks Kyle if he’s ready to be Mason Kane. 

We land in Morocco and catch up with Kyle as he walks through a crowded street. Nadia communicates with Kyle through an earpiece, explaining how best to greet Balduino. 

Kyle confidently enters Balduino Basto's swanky restaurant. Balduino is shocked to see Mason Kane in the flesh. Meanwhile, Nadia instructs Kyle on how to hack Balduino’s phone, explaining that there’s a transmitter in the lighter he’s holding. He needs to keep it as close as possible while she uploads the data from Balduino’s phone. To stall for time, Kyle says he needs Balduino’s help to get into the office of the Chief of the Armed Forces. Balduino tells Kyle to go fuck himself. Kyle appeals to Balduino’s ego and insecurity regarding his relationship with Manticore. Balduino, playing it cool, asks Kyle if the lighter he’s holding is the one his girlfriend Nadia gave him. He asks what happened to Nadia. 

Kyle betrays nothing at this shocking revelation. Just says that she’s gone. But Balduino presses Kyle; he wants to know why Kyle is still fighting. Is it for Nadia? He’s especially curious if that’s the case because of how Nadia sold him out, sold Citadel out. Nadia says the transfer is complete, that he needs to get out of there. But Kyle can’t help himself, he digs further. Balduino explains that Manticore had someone working on the inside and that it was Nadia. Or at least that’s what the whispers say. Balduino’s son Christiano mocks Kane, joking that he got played by a piece of ass. Kyle can’t help himself, says that he thought Balduino wore condoms when he slept with whores. Christiano takes a hit from his vape pen before leaning in and exhaling the vape cloud into Kyle’s face. Kyle smashes his cocktail glass into Christiano’s hand and effortlessly rips the gun from the wailing man’s waist. In a tense standoff, Kyle aims the gun at Balduino’s son, giving him enough time to escape the restaurant. 

Later, we find Nadia and Kyle speeding down a highway, with Kyle pressing Nadia on what Balduino was talking about. Nadia claims that everything the man said was horseshit. That Balduino is a liar. Kyle recalls what Bernard had said about the fall of Citadel being an inside job. Kyle asks Nadia if it was her, if she was the mole. Kyle wants to know why Nadia told him nothing about her and Mason. Nadia insists that what happened between her and Mason was between her and Mason. Nadia lays out an ultimatum, that either he joins Nadia or he can get the fuck out. 

Back in Virgina, Bernard shows Anders a photo of Mason with Abby and Hendrix, but confirms with Anders that the woman in the photo is Brielle. Anders cannot believe his eyes. Bernard explains that Brielle is alive but that her name is now Abby and that she’s married to Mason Kane. He can take Anders to her. Bernard concludes by saying that everything Anders has been told is a lie.

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104 Tell Her Everything

We open on a truck speeding through the empty desert, fast approaching an enclosed Manticore black site… 

Guns up, Nadia and Kyle punch in the stolen access codes and enter through the warehouse. Carter is located in the north wing. While Nadia effortlessly stabs and kills a Manticore guard on duty, Kyle is terrified by the violence that lies ahead. In a nearby corridor, Nadia and Kyle take out a number of Manticore guards with their guns and hand-to-hand combat. Alarms start blaring. Ever strategizing on the go, Nadia tosses a fire extinguisher down the hall and shoots it. The ensuing explosion provides cover for them to advance.  

Nadia and Kyle press forward through the warehouse as more Manticore operatives stream in. Kyle does his best to provide cover, but he runs out of bullets. No matter, Nadia single-handedly takes on multiple operatives at once. 

They push into another room where they find Carter, filthy and curled up in the corner. A frightened Carter implores them to stay back. He cryptically tells Kyle that he did this.

We cut back to ten years earlier to a luxurious Parisian hotel room where we find Nadia and Mason. Despite their snipes at one another, the two of them are clearly in love. Mason presses Nadia about her past relationships. He goes on to ask her if she’s ever been in love. She says of course not. He presses her further, asking her if he scares her. Scares her because he actually sees her, sees past the mask. Nadia deflects, instead telling Mason that Grace has approved her bringing someone new onto the team. Nadia says that this new agent is brilliant and had worked with her on Bravo team. Nadia trusts her with her life as she had saved her once. Her name is Celeste Graham. 

Back in Citadel HQ, we catch up with Mason striding into the secure intel room. Here he finally meets Celeste Graham, who we now know not only as Abby, but Brielle as well.  

Mission Day 1: Mason doesn’t believe Celeste can handle the mission. She’s too green. Nadia begs to differ. Per Mason, Anders and Davik run a brutal criminal enterprise. Celeste is steps ahead of Mason. She recaps the Silje brothers’ biography of illicit activities. They’re based out of Amsterdam and rule the city’s underbelly. They’re involved in drug running, arms dealing, and prostitution rings. Mason adds that they’re starting to expand with Davik as the muscle and Anders as the brains. Anders is a Cambridge grad who’s been developing war technology and selling it to the highest bidder. Nadia chimes in, conveying that they’ve recently received a schematic of Anders’s latest creation. Something he’s calling the Oz Key. Mason clarifies that the Oz Key will enable its user to hack a nation’s entire infrastructure, thus taking a whole country hostage. Nadia reveals that Celeste has a twin brother, just like Anders. Celeste says she hates her twin brother David with a passion but they’re inseparable. Celeste explains that she’s been undercover before, three weeks with the Oath Keepers. She adds that Nadia taught her the key to going undercover is maintaining the lie. Mason jumps in, saying that Nadia thinks the key to being a great spy is being a great liar, but he disagrees with this premise. Instead, Mason argues, a great spy needs to tell the truth. And first, she’ll need to disappear. 

Sometime later we catch up with Celeste in Amsterdam, at the Ironside Bar, a money laundering front the brothers run. Celeste, now blonde, stands at the bar but spots Anders nearby. He’s working on some kind of math equation on a bar napkin. Celeste confidently walks over and introduces herself as Brielle. Anders sparks to her immediately.

We return to Mason in the secure intel room as he continues to dispense with his spy wisdom: she shouldn’t worry about making him fall in love with her, she needs to fall in love with him. She needs to find things to love about him so it will feel real. She can’t lie while undercover because men like Davik and Anders will smell it from across the room and bury her alive. The only way they’re going to believe the lie is if she does. Everything she tells them has to become her truth. She has to lie to herself. 

We catch up with Celeste on Mission Day 19. She’s sharing an intimate moment with Anders in bed. He’s blissfully smoking a joint as Celeste gazes longingly at him. 

From there we land on Mission Day 46. We see Anders grab a small device that looks like a compact mirror. He runs tests on it. Over this scene, we hear Mason’s voiceover continue: Celeste’s mission is to obtain the Oz Key. 

Later, Celeste and Anders spend time with one another in the apartment’s living room. Anders asks if Celeste is writing a new song. Celeste quickly pivots and asks what Anders is working on. He tells her that he’s been writing and rewriting the code for the Oz Key. Mason’s voiceover returns, telling Celeste that the hardest part is remembering why she’s actually there. Mason says he will keep her tethered through weekly check-ins. He will remind her what is real and what is true. 

Back in London, all those years ago, we return to our time with Nadia and Mason. They’re sharing a drink in their swanky hotel room, talking about the Silje brothers. They now know who the Silje brothers have been working with in Vienna. 

By Mission Day 132, Mason is deeply concerned about Celeste. She’s been dark for three months and now Mason is calling for a full breach. Nadia strongly disagrees that that’s necessary. There could be infinite reasons why Celeste hasn’t checked in. Mason says that he’s been digging deeper into Celeste’s life and that her twin brother David has a serious gambling problem. He’s in debt by over six figures. He’s currently holed up somewhere because some very dangerous people are after him. Nadia is nonplussed by this revelation. Mason insists that they both know that people do stupid things when a loved one is on the line, insinuating that Celeste might be interested in selling the Oz Key for a lot of money. Nadia pushes back on this theory, but Mason says that there’s chatter on the wire that Davik is looking for a buyer. The Oz Key must be nearly operational. Mason is sending in an Ops Team immediately. 

Later, we find Celeste breaking into Anders’s lab where she replaces the real Oz Key with a decoy. At a distance, Davik catches her in the act. Celeste places the Oz Key in her purse and hides it in a bathroom stall. Davik confronts her about it. He punches her in the face. Celeste fights back and the two fight it out in the stall. Just then Mason’s Ops team commences their infiltration of the Silje Compound. Alarms start blaring. Celeste eventually gets the upper hand on Davik and smashes the porcelain toilet tank cover over his head. 

Back at Citadel HQ, Carter briefs Mason on the status of the Ops Team’s mission: Casualties have been sustained. Celeste is beat up, but alive. Anders has been captured, but Davik is in the wind. The Oz Key is missing. Mason is pissed! Just then, Mason receives a secure message on his phone. He texts the sender a cryptic message: Don’t say a word about this. EVER. 

Later, we track a pair of helicopters speeding into Citadel HQ. Mason and Nadia race to the hangar bay to meet them. Grace tells them to put Celeste in Interrogation Room 2. Meanwhile, Anders, bloodied and on oxygen, is wheeled down the hallway on a gurney. Mason says he’s running point on the op. A pissed off Grace firmly tells them to clean this up. Nadia wants in on the interrogation, but Mason refuses, saying that she’s too close to Celeste. 

Mason enters the interrogation room and comes in hot. He asks her point blank if she took the Oz Key. Celeste is offended by the accusation. She said the Oz Key was in her go bag. Mason says the ops team said her bag was empty. He says that for the past three months she missed every one of her live drops. But Celeste insists that Mason was the one who broke protocol; he sent in the ops team before she was ready. Mason rebuffs that accusation, claiming she was the one who went dark. Celeste claims that she had secured Davik in the basement, but Mason is suspicious, saying that people and things around her seem to go missing left and right. 

Mason brings up David, mentioning how at eight years old he had stepped between Celeste and their father swinging a hot iron at her. He goes on to say that David took all the beatings so Celeste wouldn’t have to, but it fucked him up. Mason accuses Celeste of stealing the Oz Key so she could sell it and pay off the bounty on David’s head. Celeste plays it tough, but this accusation cuts her deep. Mason pulls up a video feed of a building. He zooms in on apartment 8C. It’s David’s apartment. Mason activates the arms system. He demands to know where the Oz Key is or else he’ll fire on David’s apartment. Mason presses her further and further but Celeste sticks to her story. Mason is about to fire on the apartment when Nadia finally steps in. 

Returning to the secure intel room, Nadia lays into Mason, telling him that what he did wasn’t an interrogation but an assault on one of their own. She firmly stands by Celeste’s innocence. Mason is unconvinced. Nadia says that she’s known Celeste for five years; she knows her better than anyone else in Citadel. Furthermore, now Davik knows that Celeste was undercover and will be relentless in his pursuit of her. Nadia convinces Grace that they need to get Celeste out for their own safety. Carter chimes in, says their best option is to place her in an unaffiliated safe house; he can reach out to some of his MI6 contacts for help. 

Just then Grace gets a notification on her phone that Anders is awake. She taps Mason to interrogate him but Nadia jumps in, says she’ll do it. Mason remains steadfast in his view that Celeste knows where the Oz Key is; he presses Grace and Carter not to believe Nadia. Mason makes the case once again that she sold the Oz Key to pay off her brother’s debt and save his life. Grace suggests that they open an inquiry with Command. But Mason has another idea – they can Backstop her. Grace balks at that, they can’t just erase her memory. But Mason persists: Celeste is Tier-One and knows everything about Citadel. If she’s out in the world with that intel, she’ll sell them out to the highest bidder. Carter says that Command hasn’t even approved the Backstop procedure yet, it’s too new. Grace says that she can have Mason sanctioned for even suggesting something like that. But Mason fights back, asks Grace if she wants to be known as the director who let a mole take down the agency. This gives Grace pause, but still, she can’t authorize the Backstop. Mason is one step ahead of her, says they can do it off-site with no one the wiser. He goes on to say that if Celeste is innocent they can return her memories, and if she’s not, she’ll go to jail without ever compromising Citadel’s secrets. 

Back in the interrogation room, Carter, Mason, and Grace charge in, immediately telling Celeste to put a mechanical wrist sleeve that will deactivate her ARC chip and the rest of her Citadel creds. Celeste doesn’t understand why that’s necessary. Mason explains that they need to get her out of there as Davik knows who she is. He’s going to come after Celeste and her brother. Grace explains that they’re going to relocate her to a safe house. Celeste challenges that idea, says that Davik will be able to easily sniff out the safe house. Celeste’s refusal to go along with that idea opens up the opportunity for Mason to suggest using the backstop procedure – a new program meant for Tier One operators to be used in a worst case scenario if for whatever reason they have to disappear. He elaborates, saying that she’ll be taken to a facility in Mexico City where she’ll be sedated. While under, they’ll perform a procedure to reshape her corneas and the ridges of her fingertips. From then on, she won’t be Celeste Graham anymore, she’ll be someone else. Someone that Davik will never find. Celeste seemingly accepts going along with this strategy, asking that when the dust settles, if she’ll be able to get back to her life. Mason insists that this is the best way to protect her. Celeste consents. Mason tells Grace they can’t let Nadia know the truth about what they’re doing to Celeste. 

Later, in the secure intel room, Nadia finds a solemn Grace seated at the table. Nadia asks Grace if Celeste has been resettled. Grace says she made the call herself, that Celeste is currently en route to the safe house. Nadia is grateful for the help. But Grace doesn’t have time for gratitude, their pressing mission is to find the Oz Key. Nadia, determined as ever, says they’re on it. 

We catch up with Mason elsewhere in the Citadel HQ, at a computer console, creating a new driver’s license for Celeste. Her new alias is Abigail Lenahan. Carter approaches, updating Mason that there’s still no sign of Davik yet, but they’re still looking. Mason invites Carter over to check out the house he’s selecting for Celeste. The house is located in rural Oregon. We immediately recognize the house as the house he shares with Abby as Kyle eight years later. Mason says it’s the same town his grandmother lived in. Carter asks what happens if Command discovers that he was behind an unsanctioned Backstop procedure. Mason says he’ll just have to settle for the simple life if that’s the case. 

Later on, Mason catches up with Bernard, thanking him for calling in a favor. Bernard says that Sigrid Magon is an old friend; that she created something special with Backstop. Mason says they need to destroy Celeste’s file and wipe her memories. This gives Bernard pause. He presses Mason, asking if he’s sure Celeste is the mole. Mason replies that he knows it. A dour Bernard says that Mason has to be sure. Bernard recalls one time that he wasn’t and he thinks about it everyday. Mason insists that he’s sure. Bernard says that if Mason does this, there’s no going back. Not for Celeste, but for Mason. Because if he’s wrong about her, this isn’t something he can come back from. With an existential gravitas we’ve yet to see in Bernard, he says that a spy can have a hundred names, a hundred faces, a hundred identities, but you only get one soul. Mason doesn’t waver. He declares that they have to protect Citadel at all costs. Bernard agrees, but asks who is going to protect Mason. Mason brushes that off with his trademark arrogance. 

We catch up with Celeste in the Citadel Backstop facility in Mexico City. A group of doctors wheel her into the Backstop procedure room. Celeste remains stoic as the doctors dutifully attend to each aspect of the procedure. They anesthetize her as the exam room light floods the screen. 

Back at Citadel HQ, we find Nadia huddled up with Mason. She says that Carter updated her that Celeste has been safely relocated to Oregon. She thanks him for having Celeste’s back. And hers. Nadia kisses Mason. The mood is tense and uneasy, but still intimate. 

Later, we find Mason hunched over at a table, looking solemn as ever. Carter joins him, asking for an update on the Oz Key. Mason says they still have nothing. Carter lays it out, says that Davik didn’t take it and he thinks that Mason doesn’t think Celeste took it either. Carter says that he’s the only one with access to all of Citadel’s encrypted communications; it’s his job. He goes on, saying that he’s known Mason for a decade; knows his behavior patterns, how he thinks. 

Ultimately, Carter concludes that Mason acted very out of character today. Carter reveals that he scrubbed the servers and discovered that a cloaked order was given to the Chief of the Ops team by a Tier One agent in secret and against protocol. That Tier One ordered the Chief to conceal the Oz Key and deliver it to them on their return. Carter knows Mason knows who that agent was. Carter reveals that Nadia gave that cloaked order. Carter concludes that Mason pushed to Backstop Celeste in order to protect Nadia. Because even though Mason loves Nadia, Mason thinks she might be a mole. An inscrutable Mason finally looks up at Carter and tells him to never say those words again. 

We finally return to the Manticore black site in present day where we find Carter once again declaring You did this. Except now we understand who he’s actually talking to. Nadia.

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105 Time Renders Us Enemies

We return to Carter, Mason, and Nadia at the Manticore Black Site in Fez, Morocco. Carter once again repeats that Nadia can’t be trusted. 

From there we go back nine years to a hotel room in Athens, Greece, picking up with Mason as he loads a pistol. He’s with Nadia, who pours two glasses of whiskey. She asks if there’s any news on the Oz Key, but Mason says there’s nothing to report. Mason reiterates that the Oz Key disappeared with Davik Silje. Mason replies that if Davik has been gone this long then he’s no longer a threat to Celeste. She asks if they should bring her back from Farmington, but Mason says no. Nadia suggests that maybe she should check in, but Mason insists that’s against protocol. 

Nadia leaves it at that. She goes on to ask who they are today to which Mason responds that they’re Alexandra and Jonathan Hughes. Just married, on their honeymoon in Mykonos. Command wants them to bring in Yakuza boss, Tadashi Sato. He hands Nadia the brief. As she looks through it, Mason cradles a ring box. He seems nervous, in a way we’ve never seen him before. He places the ring box on the table. Nadia is stunned at the beauty of the diamond ring, commenting that Bernard went all out on their cover. She puts it on, saying that it looks so real. Mason, straightfaced as ever, asks, what if it is real. What if it’s not from Bernard? Nadia can’t believe her ears. She asks if it’s some part Mason is playing. He says it isn’t. Mason opens up like never before: With you I’m me, and only with you am I me. Marry me.

We pick up with Bernard and Anders at Dahlia’s mansion in present-day Virginia. Anders is reeling from the revelation that not only is Brielle alive, but she’s married to Anders’s sworn enemy, Mason Kane. Bernard says that he can take Anders to her. Anders agrees to cut Bernard loose. As he slices through the ropes around Bernard’s wrists, he’s shot from across the room. A dime-sized portion of blood pools on his forehead. He looks up and finds Dahlia holding a pistol. Anders dies at Dahlia’s feet. Dahlia calls him a dipshit as she steps over his lifeless body. 

Dahlia states with full conviction that the most dangerous thing in the world is not nuclear or biological weapons, but Citadel. Bernard responds that Thomas would be so ashamed of what Dahlia has become. In a rare moment of showing emotion, Dahlia storms over to the other side of the table and spits in Bernard’s face. She tells him that he’s not fit to speak Thomas’s name. Bernard accuses Dahlia of massacring thousands of Citadel agents, but she’s not sympathetic to those she calls murderers. She would do it all again if it meant protecting innocent people from losing the ones they love, like she did. Dahlia says that she can’t take all the credit, and for the time, reveals that someone from Citadel came to her, feeling all the pain of being hurt and lied to. A Citadel spy who finally saw the truth of the agency and betrayed them all. 

We cut to nine years earlier, finding ourselves once again at the Citadel HQ. We catch up with Nadia just as she receives a text informing her that Celeste is not located in Farmington; something else happened to her. Nadia receives a series of photos of Celeste who’s now going by Abby. She also gets Celeste’s file that indicates Celeste was Backstopped and that it was authorized by Bernard Orlick. 

Nadia storms into Bernard’s office where she slams his keyboard onto the desk. She confronts Bernard, asking him point blank: Did he know? Bernard’s silence says it all. Later, we find a solemn Nadia alone in the secure intel room, reflecting on all of her moments with Mason Kane.  

We catch up with Nadia as she meets with Mason at an outdoor cafe in Athens. She tells Mason that Bernard had Backstopped Celeste. Mason remains silent for a beat until he responds with a performative level of shock. She asks him if he knew and he says that he didn’t. Nadia doesn’t buy it for a second, confronts him about it. Mason apologizes, says he did it to protect Nadia. He knows she took the Oz Key. Nadia asks why he didn’t just ask her. Mason replies that he didn’t want to know the truth because if he knew the truth he was scared of what he would have to do to her. Mason reveals that he’s lost everything he’s ever cared about and he won’t lose Nadia. 

Nadia insists that if he had asked her she would have told him the truth. Nadia’s silence confirms that she took the Oz Key. Mason presses her further, asks if she’s the mole, asks what she did with it. Nadia claims that she destroyed it because no one can be trusted with its power. Not even Citadel. With the truth behind her motives laid out, she demands that Mason reactivate Celeste, but he says he can’t. He reveals that he wiped her memories from the entire Citadel system. He claims he did it so that the blame would remain on Celeste. He did it because he loves Nadia. However, Nadia isn’t buying that. But Mason throws it back on her, accuses her of not being invested in their love and relationship. Mason reveals that he ended up a spy because when he was five years old his dad died and his mom left, treating him like he didn’t exist. Citadel gave him an identity; he adds that not existing was an asset. But then he met Nadia and he knew who he was. Mason accuses Nadia of becoming a spy so that she can hide from herself, and he doesn’t know why she’s so terrified of being seen. Mason lays it all out, admits that despite being a spy he truly loves Nadia. He wants to know if she can truly love as well. Nadia declares that she can, but she just can’t love him. She removes the ring from her finger and says goodbye. Mason is crestfallen, his world turned upside down.

Later, Nadia is at home, in the bathroom. She’s besieged by the sadness of it all. She talks on the phone with Rahi, tells him something has happened.  

We catch up with Nadia on a park bench in London, sitting beside Rahi, an older Indian man. Rahi says she made the right choice reaching out to him. That they need to get her to Valencia. He hands her a Spanish passport and a plane ticket. Nadia says that if anyone can help her it’s Rahi Gambhir. He smiles at that. As Nadia hands him a folded envelope, she says that she still has some loose ends to tie up. Rahi warns her that if she’s there any longer they’ll discover the truth about her. Nadia assures him that no one suspects a thing, and that by the time they figure it out, she’ll be long off the grid. Rahi asks what Nadia is going to do about Kane and she stoically responds that Mason can never find out. 

We return to Mason, Nadia, and Carter at the black site in Morocco. Carter insists that Nadia cannot be trusted. Carter reveals that Nadia was with a known Manticore agent, Rahi Gambhir, days before the fall of Citadel. Before Nadia can respond, alarms start blaring. 

Back in Virgina, Dahlia tells Bernard that they’ve run out of time. She needs the codes for the nukes. On screen we see a fighter jet flying over the continental US. Dahlia leans into the threat, saying that they’re closing in on his family in Wyoming. They’re ready to drop a cluster bomb on them. As Dahlia moves to initialize the missile launch, Bernard begs her not to do so. There are kids in the bunker. The jet target locks on the bunker location as Bernard wrestles with how to play this out. Dahlia smirks, knowing that she finally has him cornered. 

Just as Dahlia gives the okay to drop the bombs, Bernard finally relents, saying he’s willing to give her the passcode. Bernard recites the passcode: GXZ-33-E5A42-9VCC-18288. Dahlia informs her Manticore Agent that he should let the Manticore families know that they’ll launch the nukes tomorrow. She then commands the Manticore Agent to catalog the location of all Russian smart subs, nuclear grade. And as the cherry on top of her villainy, she tells him to clean up in Wyoming. Bernard pleads for Dahlia not to go through with that, but Dahlia, ever implacable, says that it’s merely an eye for an eye in terms of what Citadel did to her. It’s only fair.

In the bunker, Val spots that a defense satellite picks up an anomaly. Joe rushes into the room with Abby and Hendrix, informing them that Manticore has found their location. Manticore Bombers are en route as they rush to leave the bunker. 

As Manticore agents in hazmat suits clean up the blood around Anders’s dead body, Dahlia gets a call from Davik, who tells her that the Fez black site has been breached. 

We catch up with Davik in Fez, with Dahlia telling him to activate Yamazaki, who’s currently in Casablanca. He’ll track Carter’s transponder. They just need Mason Kane. As all that is in play, Dahlia tells Davik that he needs to go to Valencia. They intercepted a communique between Nadia and Rahi the day before; she believes there’s a chess piece he’s been holding for her. Lastly, Dahlia informs Davik that Anders was killed, lying that Bernard had gotten free and murdered him. Davik is quietly devastated. 

Later, we find ourselves in Barrage Bob Louta, 50 miles outside of Fez. Nadia is speeding down a mountain road with Carter in the back screaming that he doesn’t know who Nadia is anymore. Mason chimes in, says that he knows she’s hiding something. Nadia defends herself, stating that none of them are as clean as they want to be. She accuses Kyle of being a hypocrite after what he did, as Mason, to Celeste. But Kyle has no clue what she’s talking about. Carter says that everyone thought Celeste was a double agent but he always knew it was Nadia. 

A procession of Manticore SUVs packed with agents is eight minutes out from Carter’s location. Meanwhile, Nadia is doing her level best to defend herself against Kyle and Carter’s accusations that she’s the mole. Carter reveals that Mason had tracked her down to Valencia and learned of her meeting with Rahi. He accuses her of working for Manticore and of planning the attack against Citadel. Kyle presses, asking her what’s in Valencia. And then she finally reveals the truth – she has a daughter. Kyle and Carter are dumbstruck. Nadia says that the only way to keep her daughter safe was to keep her existence a secret. From this shocking revelation, we cut back to Nadia’s phone call to Rahi from the bathroom of her house. We now see the positive pregnancy test on the counter and hear her tell Rahi that she’s pregnant. Rahi asks if Mason knows. Nadia says no, and that he doesn’t need to; she doesn’t trust him. 

Later, in the same timeline, Nadia meets with Rahi in Valencia. He says that she made the right choice calling him. We cut to Nadia in labor at home in her Valencian apartment. The midwife says that she’s lost a lot of blood and that she needs to go to the hospital, but Nadia refuses. The delivery needs to happen at the apartment. Nadia pushes through the pain and her daughter is eventually delivered. 

Returning to the present, Nadia says that she hasn’t seen her daughter since she was three months old. Eight years ago. Nadia reveals that she shares the daughter with Mason Kane and that he did not know of her existence. Kyle wants to know why she never told Mason. Nadia replies that Mason did not deserve to know. Kyle struggles to process this earth-shattering news. Nadia says that it was the hardest decision she ever had to make. 

Meanwhile, in Washington DC, Dahlia catches up with Christoph, asking her how her trip into town was. Christoph admits that the Manticore families have long been skeptical of Dahlia and yet, they are now pleased with her work. Christophe says that the Zanis and Guru both commend Dahlia, and that she’s bought herself some much needed good will. Dahlia gets a call from aManticore agent who says that they’ve interrupted Russia’s tracking of its Dead Hand Sub. They are free and clear to execute. But they can’t access it. Dahlia elaborates that there’s an override to the code linked to a sole biometric print from a mission years ago. Only Mason Kane has access to those nukes. 

At the same time, Kyle wrestles with the news of the daughter Mason had with Nadia. He asks Nadia who their daughter has been with this whole time. Carter pieces it together, asking if she’s been with Rahi. Nadia’s silence says it all. Carter can’t believe it. Rahi is a criminal, a terrorist. Nadia reveals that Rahi is her father. 

Eight years earlier, we find a blissful Nadia cradling her daughter as she sings to her. But her bubble is about to burst when she gets a call from Grace. Later, Rahi says that she can’t go to Italy, but Nadia says she has to. She told Grace she would go. Rahi asks why she really said yes to the mission. Nadia says that Mason deserves to know about their daughter. Nadia reflects that if she doesn’t tell Mason won’t she be just like him. Nadia thanks Rahi for caring for her daughter while she’s away on mission. She says goodbye to her infant daughter, assuring her that she’ll be safe with her grandfather. She leaves her with a bracelet that she says will help protect her. As she clasps the bracelet around her daughter’s wrist, she says that she’ll be watching over her, keeping all the bad guys away. 

Back with Nadia in the present, they watch as the procession of Manticore SUVs pull up to their location. Yamazaki gets out and kindly encourages them to lower their weapons.  

As he holds up a small comms device, Yamazaki tells Kyle that someone would like a word with him. He explains that it’s a secure line for communication. The piece goes in his ear. Yamazaki gives them his word that no harm will come to Kyle, Nadia, or Carter. Kyle looks to Nadia for direction. She nods as if to say it’s okay. Kyle puts the earpiece in his ear and is immediately connected to Dahlia. She says that she has a proposition for him. 

As she speaks, we delve into the Pacific Ocean and find an attack submarine. She says that it has something she wants. Well, five somethings, she quips. Inside the submarine, we come in on five nuclear missiles. Dahlia wants to launch them tomorrow and tells Kyle that he’s going to help retrieve them. Kyle remains defiant, asking why he would help her do that. Yamazaki holds up Asha’s bracelet as Dahlia reveals that he has his and Nadia’s daughter.

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106 Secrets in Night Need Early Rains

We find ourselves in Serbia 30 years ago. We’re inside a medical tent with doctors masked up and patients writhing in agony. We land on a dirty and dazed young boy sitting on a crate, observing the chaos around him. 

Next, we move into rural Oregon, six months later. The raspy voice of an older woman wakes our young boy up. He still looks as sad as ever. The woman is the child’s grandmother. She tells the young boy that his father used to sleep until two; he was nocturnal. The young boy says that he misses his father. The grandmother agrees. The young boy asks if his mother is coming back soon, but grandma is quick to say that she’s traveling. Grandma tells the boy to not focus on the things he can’t change, but only on the things he can. 

Later, the boy watches a classic movie in which the character is telling another one that rebirth is painful. That it’s easier to go forward than it is to go back. Off the young boy’s solemn expression, we cut back to Mason telling Nadia at that outdoor cafe that he became a spy because at five years old his dad died and his mom left like he didn’t exist. That Citadel gave him an identity. 

In some time and place, a defiant Mason punches a mirror, cracking it. He stares down himself through the spider web of broken glass, a man completely fractured. 

We’re back in Morocco in present day, catching up with Kyle, Nadia, and Carter inside a speeding Manticore SUV. Over the phone, Dahlia explains that they’re being escorted to a hangar outside of Fez where he’ll be debriefed on the mission. She threatens that if they try anything clever, Dahlia will kill Asha. Kyle demands to see the girl. A Manticore agent holds out his phone, displaying a live feed of Asha being held captive. Nadia is tacitly overcome by emotion at the sight of her. 

The procession of Manticore SUVs arrives at the hangar. They’re led into a dark debrief room where Dahlia explains that within the hour a Manticore stealth jet will fly them over the Pacific. Davik will accompany them. Kyle will hack into the submarine and have it breach the surface. Kyle and Davik will make an airborne jump, get inside, retrieve the five nuclear cores from the Dead Hand Missiles, and bring them to Christoph in Valencia. Nadia says she’s going to make the jump, it’s her daughter whose life is at stake. Carter explains that it has to be Mason, it was his Red Cell mission. He completed the mission while she was gone, and it’s his credentials that are baked into the submarine. He had installed his biolock against orders, ensuring that he’s the only one that can access the submarine. Nadia is pissed; she doesn’t think Kyle can pull this off at all. 

We cut back to Citadel HQ eight years earlier, catching up with Grace laying out a new mission. She says that Operation Brightwall has been Red Cell authorized. Their target is Russia’s Dead Hand submarine. They need to hack into it. To account for a scenario where the Russians one day launch their own nuclear weapons at a sovereign target, they’re going to install their own backdoor security lock to allow any Citadel agent access. They have a small window to accomplish this without alerting Russia’s armed forces. As Grace briefs the team on the mission, Mason paces the room, seemingly a million miles away. Grace asks if Mason is paying attention. With his trademark brashness, Mason replies that if she feels like there’s someone else to complete the mission, by all means call them in. He even suggests bringing Nadia back for the mission. It’s the kind of response that’s dripping with anger. 

Grace and Mason have a silent standoff until she continues that Duke will maintain altitude at 5,000 feet to avoid radar. Duke explains that Mason will have a less than infinitesimal second to land on the sub. Carter further clarifies that once Mason lands on the sub, he’ll need to place a piece of Citadel tech on the sail by the antenna array. It’s coded to his endocrine system so that he’ll be able to bypass the sub security if he ever needs to make a return visit. 

Later, Mason and Grace meet in private. He lays out his conditions for the mission. If he goes through with it, he wants something in return. Mason demands to know where Nadia is. Grace says she’s in Berlin, but Mason doesn’t believe a word of that. 

We catch up with the team in present-day Morocco, following them out of the hangar as Carter once again breaks down the mission. Carter explains that once Mason is in the sub, he’ll have to manually override control of the nuclear cores. Nadia adds that the chamber housing the nukes is temperature controlled at 106 degrees Fahrenheit. If it detects a lower temperature in the room, it’s going to shut Mason out permanently. She hopes Kyle is up for the mission. So does he. With the fate of the world on their shoulders, they solemnly board the awaiting Manticore jet. 

We’re in Citadel HQ eight years prior. As the Citadel plane Hawking reaches its optimal altitude, Carter hacks into the Red Cell firewall. Mason confirms that he’s in position for deployment. After Carter gives a five count, Mason jumps from the plane. He spots the sub and deploys his chute. He lands on the sub with ease. Mason successfully completes the biometric lock. Just as Carter calls for Mason to exfil, the comms cut out. Mason places another bypass device on the lock. An automated voice declares that the “secondary protocol interrupt” has been activated. Mason recites a passcode: Kilo, Lima, Bravo, Juliette. One, two, five. Mason resumes comms, says there was a frequency glitch. 

We return to present-day. Carter locates the Dead Hand sub and commences hacking the firewall. Meanwhile, as Nadia readies Kyle for his jump, he asks her why he didn’t deserve to know about Asha. Nadia refuses to respond, saying he needs to focus on the jump. Davik agrees, replying that he better be ready. As the Manticore jet reaches optimal altitude, Kyle and Davik jump from the plane. As Kyle plummets to the ocean surface, there’s still no sign of the sub. Kyle deploys his chute just as the submarine surfaces. 

Kyle crashes into the sub and slides off and into the water. Nadia launches his tether line, securing him to the sub. Davik effortlessly lands on the sub and helps pull Kyle up from the water. Kyle places his thumb on the lock, opening the hatch. Just as the hatch opens, Davik pulls Kyle’s chute open, launching him into the air. Kyle explodes backward, but remains tethered to the sub through the tether line. Davik slices through the line with his combat knife. 

Nadia makes the game time decision to rescue Kyle. A Manticore agent pulls his gun on her, but she easily dispenses with him. As well as the other Manticore agents who attempt to stop her. 

Inside the sub, Davik prepares to gain control of the Dead Hand nukes. He puts in his ear piece to contact Dahlia. Before Dahlia can get a word in, Davik reveals that he knows she killed Anders. And not only that, he now has the Dead Hand missiles locked on Manticore family compounds around the world. Mexico City. Florence. Marseille. Beijing. And Berlin. Using the imminent missile launch as leverage, Davik demands to have a seat at the Manticore table. If Dahlia gives him that, he’ll pass along the warheads. 

At the same time, Kyle perilously hangs from his parachute that’s caught on the sub. Carter attempts to stir Kyle out of his unconsciousness. Carter tells him that Davik has just initiated the launch sequence. Dahlia, meanwhile, responds to Davik by telling him to burn; Manticore doesn’t negotiate with traitors. She explains that Manticore has hacked the steering mechanism on the sub so that should he launch the missiles, they will send the sub plummeting into the depths of the Mariana trench. After this mic drop of a threat, she just hangs up. 

Just as Davik is left to process that information, Kyle shows up with a gun aimed right at him.  As Davik threatens to kill Kyle, Nadia throws a punch across Davik’s face, knocking him right out. Carter lets them know that the only way to stop the launch is by getting the nuclear cores now. He tells them not to forget the temperature regulator. Nadia asks if the plan is still the same, to raise her body temperature to match the Launch Rooms. Carter confirms the plan and says they have half the time to get the cores. Nadia needs to hit 106 degrees to match the Launch Room temperature or the system will detect her heat signature and lock down the warheads. 

Once Nadia hits 106 degrees, she enters the Launch Room. Carter says there’s just under four minutes until launch. She has to remove all five warheads before the launch and before she overheats. Meanwhile, Davik gets up and attacks Kyle. As Kyle fights for his life, Nadia pulls out the fourth warhead with just under 90 seconds to go. But her heart is approaching 300 bpm so she needs to finish before she blacks out. Outside, Kyle is getting destroyed by Davik. Carter encourages him to fight back; explaining that he;s still Mason Kane. Just then the final launch countdown begins, with just twenty seconds remaining. 

Nadia struggles to deactivate the last core while Davik nearly strangles Kyle to death. But at the final second Nadia removes the core just as Kyle stabs Davik. Kyle and Davik battle it out until Kyle finally stabs Davik in the stomach, delivering a fatal blow. Just then Carter tells Kyle that Nadia is coding and that she needs his help. Carter tells Kyle to inject Nadia with adrenaline before she dies. He bursts into the Launch Room and does just that, saving Nadia just in time. Her heart rate finally returns to normal. But there’s no time to rest. Carter informs them that Russian bombers are sixty miles out. They need to get out now. 

Kyle carries Nadia to the surface of the sub. The jet drops a tether, and in a scene that echoes their first exfil together in Iran all those years ago, Kyle secures the tether around Nadia as the jet takes off. 

From there we cut to Citadel HQ, eight years ago. We catch up with Mason as Grace confronts him following the mission. She asks what the hell he did out there, accusing him of intentionally going dark on them. Mason tells her that only he, not Citadel, has operational control of the missiles. He says he’ll give her access only if she tells him where Nadia is. Grace insists that Nadia is in Berlin, but Mason refuses to believe it. 

Back in the present day, we track the jet thirty miles from Valencia. Nadia conveys that Christoph told them to meet under the overpass at the City of Art and Sciences. They have thirty minutes until the exchange. Just then Kyle gets a call from Abby, who tells him that Manticore had found them in Wyoming and they had to run. Kyle passes along coordinates to a safe house in Utah. He says he’ll meet them there as soon as he can. 

As Nadia and Kyle arrive at the rendezvous point, Carter surreptitiously scales the building. Dahlia notifies Christoph of their arrival. Nadia and Kyle confront Christoph and her Manticore entourage. Carter sets up his sniper rifle, tracking their every movement. Nadia asks where her daughter is. Dahlia tells them not to hand over the child until they’ve verified the cores. She adds that if anything goes wrong, they will kill the child. Kyle tells them they can do what they want with him, but they need to let Asha go. Nadia orders Carter to shoot the Manticore agent holding Asha. Carter shoots the man dead. Kyle runs and catches Asha as she falls from the roof while Nadia takes out another Manticore agent. They get Asha but Christoph is able to run off with the nukes. But no matter, the cores are useless without Mason’s biometrics. And now, for the first time in eight years, Nadia is reunited with Asha. 

We flashback to London, eight years ago, catching up with Bernard and Mason. They’re walking along the Thames, with Bernard talking about his family. Mason asks about Val to which Bernard responds that she’s eight going on eighteen. Bernard hands Mason an envelope of photos of Nadia with a baby. Bernard explains that he went to the address in Valencia that Mason had given him. Bernard reveals that the baby in the photo is Mason’s daughter with Nadia. Finally, Mason learns the truth – that Nadia left to have their baby. Bernard gives Mason a roundtrip ticket to Spain, but Mason doesn’t bite, says Nadia clearly has made her decision. Bernard says that he needs to prove Nadia wrong, he needs to fight for his family. 

Back in the present day, we find our team on the plane. Asha asks Nadia where they took Rahi. Nadia doesn’t know but promises she’ll find him. 

In Virginia, we find Dahlia sitting in the darkness, contemplating the aftermath of the failed Dead Hand exchange. Her assistant comes in, letting her know that Christoph didn’t answer her call. Dahlia fears that it’s too quiet. Her assistant asks if there will be repercussions to which Dahlia cooly responds that there’s always repercussions for failure but the key is to adapt before they arrive. They can’t kill what is already dead. Dahlia drives down her driveway as we see her mansion explode in the background. 

The plane arrives at the Citadel HQ in Utah. The HQ is in ruins since its fall eight years ago. Nadia explains to Asha that this place used to be their home. Just then Abby and Hendrix arrive. It’s an emotional reunion to say the least. Carter and Nadia observe the family from a distance, shocked to learn that Kyle’s wife Abby is, in fact, Celeste. Abby thanks Nadia for keeping Kyle safe. 

Later, Carter shows Kyle his new activation vial, explaining that Bernard had him create a backup server, which enabled Carter to recode it to Kyle’s genetic profile. 

In the now abandoned secure intel room, Abby asks Kyle if he’s going to reactivate himself as Mason. Kyle says he has to because he doesn’t know who he is. 

Carter administers the activation vial to Kyle and the effect is instantaneous. Kyle’s Mason memories flood back, from his childhood to his relationship with Nadia and then his experience with Celeste and then learning of Asha from Bernard and finally to the fall of Citadel. Mason, overcome by the restoration of his former self, gets up and leaves the room. 

Alone in the room, he now recalls his conversation with Bernard, who asks Mason how he knew where to look for Nadia. Mason flashes back again, this time finding himself meeting with Dahlia eight years ago. Mason asks Dahlia for a favor. He wants her help in finding Nadia. Dahlia asks if he loves Nadia to which Mason tersely responds that she’s his wife. Dahlia says she’ll help. She then goes on to say that it’s devastating to lose the person you love the most. She says that she had woken up from a dream when the first explosion hit back in Serbia thirty years ago. Thomas, her husband, was in flames next to her. She tried to put it out. In the process, she suffered severe burns as well. The doctors grafted from every part of her body. She says that it’s like they reorganized her until she became a different woman altogether. A different woman with the same awful memories. 

Mason asks her why she didn’t go home after it happened. Dahlia explains that she wasn’t the same person after it happened. He asks her about her son, asks if he’s hers any longer. Mason asks, now in a British accent, if he’s still hers, referring to her as mother. She smiles as she says, there’s my boy. She refers to him as Paul. She says that she was afraid that he lost his accent after all these years. Mason explains that he didn’t lose his accent, he just buried it. Dahlia goes on to reveal that Citadel took his father. She says that Citadel said it was a far-right Serbian terrorist cell that set off two car bombs. That the cell was led by a man named Stankovic. 

However, Dahlia continues, a few years ago she met a former diplomat in Serbia who told her that a ballistic report from that day revealed that it wasn’t a car bomb that destroyed the building but three air missiles. She argues that Stankovic didn’t have the resources for drone strikes. She said she dug deeper and discovered a communique between Citadel and NATO stating Citadel’s intent to launch air strikes on a Serbian terrorist cell. But the thing was, Citadel had the wrong coordinates. So instead of striking the terrorist compound, they killed 157 men, women, children, and infants. All of them UN workers and their families. Dahlia then concludes that Citadel, rather than take accountability for their actions, blackmailed NATO, the CIA, and the UN, all to cover up their mistake. 

With that in mind, Dahlia presses Mason to provide her access to Citadel’s secrets so that she can bring Citadel into the light and finally hold them accountable for what they did. She presses Mason further, saying that she wants to bring Citadel to the high court in the UK so that they might open an investigation into Citadel’s crimes. If they succeed in doing that, they will finally be able to get justice for Mason’s father who was killed in the attack in Serbia. 

Later, we find Dahlia confirming to someone on the other end of the phone, that she transferred the list of all Citadel agents and their real identities. Except she’s not sending the list to the high court in the UK but using it to execute every Citadel agent in the world. When asked, Dahlia reveals to the person on the phone that she received the list from Mason Kane.

Off those resounding words, we find ourselves once again in the present day. Kyle is distraught at the onslaught of conflicting memories returning to him. Abby walks into the room and nervously asks if Kyle remembers. Kyle, now sharing his headspace with Mason, cryptically answers that he doesn’t know as he embraces Abby.