The Agency – Episode 7 “Hard Landing” Recap & Review

Hard Landing

Episode 7 of The Agency begins with Samia threatened with her family’s lives if she decides to step outside and visit Paul again. She rings Martian, shakily, and lets him know that she’s not safe. Martian promises to try and work this out but it’s clear the noose is tightening around both their necks. It doesn’t help that things are estranged at home with Poppy too, whom Martian  tells to stay inside for the time being.

Naturally, Poppy does what any teenager does and she heads out anyway. Unfortunately, she’s followed but thankfully, an agent is on-hand (at the request of Martian) who snatches her up and helps evade Beijing’s surveillance team.

At the agency, we find out more about this operation Valhalla. General Volchok is the one fronting this squadron, and he’s been in collusion with specialized soldiers, forming the mercenary group. These guys carry out various secret operations around the world.

They offer their services to whoever pays most, with areas of conflict involving Syria, Libya and Iraq. Valhalla has been blamed for numerous war crimes but they’re a tricky group to nail given they have numerous troops across the world.

They’re also an incredibly paranoid bunch, killing anyone who stands in their way or any sign of dissention in the ranks. According to Henry, they do so with sledgehammers so cracking this nut is not going to be easy.

Not only is it going to be difficult to take them out, there’s also the legal headache too. Given units of Valhalla are registered in different foreign countries, they can’t nail an official link with Russia, meaning any covert operation could well be a death sentence.

Martian is working on an “asset they can deploy” and throw behind enemy lines, but it’s almost like a suicide mission at this point. The poor guy who’s thrown into the lion’s den? Alexei Orekhov. He doesn’t exactly have a choice here, as the alternative is a rather nasty trip to Belarus. This is the same man, if you’ll remember, who was tested and tortured earlier in the series.

Henry brings Martian into his office while Alexei is making his decision. He notices Poppy in the hallway after being grabbed and is forced to answer some tough questions with Henry. He manages to navigate this minefield, bringing up the current deal going down with Eric Huang and Sudan. In fact, he makes a play and decides they should recruit Samia to their cause.

Just before he goes, he hugs Poppy but whispers new intel to corroborate his own story about Sami. However, Dr. Blake has her reservations. She questions Naomi about Martian’s ties with Samia and deduces that he may still have feelings for her (which we know he does) and has used his charm and close connection to Naomi as her friend to manipulate her.

In the midst of all this, Danny finds out she’s not going to Iran as Reza has actually asked another researcher to go in her stead. Never one to back down, and needing to do whatever she can for the mission, Danny has Edward threaten to hurt the researcher and his family unless he plays ball and not go to Iran. After, Dani messages Edward and decides to go for Plan B, given the researcher hasn’t taken the message.

In the midst of this, Naomi speaks to Henry and has her doubts (thanks to Dr. Blake) about Martian being the one to bring Samia in. She has a gut feeling that he may have been compromised to love, so Henry tells her to get concrete proof if that is the case. Unfortunately, she may have just the ticket given all the old interviews between the two, one of which discussing the possibility of Martian and Samia getting in a relationship together outside of the organisation.

This plan to grab Samia, dubbed a “Jack-in-the-box” grift, is to send a message over to Samia, claiming her visa has been revoked because she’s skipping classes. Osman reads the email and demands Sami fix this, allowing her to go to the college. This means she’s taken the bait.

Martian speaks to Poppy outside back home, telling her all of this was just a “fire drill” and they’re safe now. He’s still lying, even now, to keep his family safe. But how much longer can he do it? There’s also a pretty savage joke here about getting Chinese in for dinner, which is somewhat ironic given what we know about who’s after Martian and Samia.

In Belarus, Alexei is grabbed and taken to General Volchok. He brings up that Volchov is being messed about by his trucking company, who overcharge by the region of 25% on every invoice from the General. Volchov is incredulous over this news and threatens him.

Alexei is put on the spot here, with the General not sure if the man can actually be trusted or not. He’s bemused over how Alexei is able to sit there and withstand such intimidation, given most men crumble under this level of scrutiny. Alexei manages to make it out in one piece, and after gaining some intel, Martian believes their play here is the secretary.

In private, Volchov has done his homework and checks out the credentials of Alexei. The General doesn’t believe him, given the way he initially stood up to him, and believes the man is working with the CIA.

As the episode comes to a close, Samia arrives at the College, where Martian is waiting for her, ready to reveal all.

The Episode Review

Things are starting to get really intense now and the ending seems to hint that Martian is ready to reveal the truth to Samia. But is she really who she says she is? It would appear that love is going to completely undo Martian’s life, and it’s fascinating to see how all of this plays out, especially with Danny’s subplot nestled in the midst of this.

She’s clearly fallen for an agent (a bit of Stockholm Syndrome here, perhaps?) but she’s also learning just how brutal this business is and how you have to do whatever you can to succeed in your mission.

The show has done well to interweave this around Martian’s storyline and the wider plan with Valhalla and the Russians, which is dense and packed with info. There’s a lot still to be decided here and quite whether Valhalla will be taken down or not is anyone’s guess. However, this has been a highly enjoyable watch and easily one of the best thrillers on TV right now.