Arriving in Paris is just the beginning. In the third episode of FX’s The Veil, Imogen Salter reunites Adilah El Idrissi with her daughter, but there’s still a terrorist plot to stop. Imogen finds herself caught in the crosswebs of the CIA and DGSE as she tries to keep the trust she’s worked so hard to build with Adilah, whom Imogen now knows without question is the woman they’ve been looking for. Let’s recap.
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Episode 3 – “The Asset” – Written by Steven Knight
Hasad (Benjamin Hicquel) arrives at the refugee camp on the border of Syria and Turkey with the map Adilah left in Kitab al-Bulhan (The Book of Surprises). He follows it to the ruins of the tent she was kept in, and counts the steps to the spot where she left her cell phone wrapped in a plastic bag. He uses a thermos of hot water to melt the snow to reveal it. Guy (Dan Wyllie) and Philippe (Yoli Fuller) approach to ask what Hasad is doing there. He shoots them both and returns to his SUV, powering on the phone and calling “Monday.”
Inside an abandoned hospital in Mosul, Iraq, a man named David (Jack Greenlees) receives Hasad’s call, which prompts him to go wake up two men – Farroukh (Yanki Ayhan) and Michal (Sertaç Ekici). “It’s time,” he tells them.
Imogen Salter (Elisabeth Moss) and Adilah El Idrissi (Yumna Marwan) wait for their flight at Sofia Airport in Bulgaria, playing chess to pass the time. Imogen talks about the one previous time she helped someone cross borders like this, a woman and her baby in Istanbul. A man (Eshab Çevik) pulls up a chair to watch their game, saying he’s just a chess enthusiast. “Your king is now where he should be,” he tells Adilah as he stands up. “All will now fall into place.” Imogen seems to understand that this was a coded message for Adilah.
They arrive at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and successfully clear immigration with Adilah’s fake passport. Imogen tells Adilah not to leave the apartment she’s arranged for them. She gets to watch Adilah’s tearful reunion with her daughter, Yasmina (Keyla and Neyla Bara), who introduces her to Imogen.
Max Peterson (Josh Charles) finds Malik Amar (Dali Benssalah) at a café. Malik is surprised the CIA agent is still there since his DNA evidence suggests that Adilah is not Sabaine Al-Qubaisi. Max shows Malik an image on his phone of Guy and Philippe dead outside of Adilah’s tent. He is sticking around to investigate.
Hasad pulls over on the side of the road with Adilah’s phone. This seems to be some kind of meeting spot, but the snowy, rocky landscape seems deserted. He walks around a bit, and a sudden gunshot strikes him in the head. A man emerges, Emir Demov (Alec Secareanu), who gets in Hasad’s SUV and drives away.
At the abandoned hospital, David gives Farroukh and Michal death shrouds to wear since their bodies will be contaminated when they die. They are to remove the cores from radiology machines and put them in water inside lead containers. Exposure to the cores will kill them within three minutes. They must get two cores into the containers, something they’ve studied and practiced multiple times. It’s a messy endeavor, but they complete their assignment. Farroukh and Michal hold hands as they die.
Imogen reunites with Malik at Brasserie Flo, telling him she needs a shower and to be left alone to do her job. He tells her about the photo Max showed her. Further, the body of an ISIS volunteer (Hasad) was found just 45 kilometers away. She gets him to admit that her hunch was correct and that Adilah is likely Sabaine. But he tells her now that she’s on French soil, the DGSE won’t let her go rogue, and the Americans are now involved. “Adilah El Idrissi is a shapeshifter, and so am I,” she declares after standing up and announcing to the restaurant that she just got engaged in a southern accent. She says she knows what she’s doing.
Imogen gets her shower, followed by a rekindling of the romance between her and Malik. But after making love, her thoughts return to Michael Althorp (James Purefoy). “Can you remember her face?” he asked in her memory. Over tea, Malik and Imogen talk about Adilah. “Even though we’re lying to each other, I feel like I’ve been more honest with her than most people,” she tells him. He worries that she disappears too far into her aliases. “I’m here now,” she says. He was worried that being in Istanbul would bring back too many memories for Imogen.
From the apartment Imogen set up for her, Adilah talks to Emir on the phone. “I’m not sure who she really is,” Adilah says, adding that she’s working to find out if Imogen knows anything about their plan.
Imogen’s phone rings. She knows the DGSE is listening in as she takes the call, listening to Adilah talk about taking a bath with her daughter, who is sleeping now. “Let’s meet,” Adilah says. Imogen tells her to go to a restaurant called Guy Savoy at 7:30. Malik asks Imogen why she made a rendezvous on the phone, knowing that she’s being surveilled. “To help your department maintain control,” she grins. She reveals that she and Adilah had already made plans to meet up when they were on the plane. She asks Malik to go to Guy Savoy at 7:30 to find out who else is listening to her calls. She won’t tell him where she’s really meeting Adilah.
At the DGSE, Magritte Levasseur (Thibault de Montalembert) watches Imogen’s blue dot move on a map. He calls Malik, who tells him that she’s going to meet Adilah. He placed a tracker on Imogen’s shirt in case she ditches her phone so they would know where she is.
Imogen removes the tracker from her shirt before arriving at Père Lachaise Cemetery at the tomb of Jim Morrison. Adilah chose it because it’s easy to find, but she wanted to show her another grave. They meander through the cemetery and arrive at the modest tombstone of Adilah’s grandfather, Mohammed El Idrissi. Imogen asks Adilah what the Arabic means on the grave. “You already know what the line in Arabic says, Imogen, if Imogen is even your real name,” Adilah responds. She goes behind the tombstone and removes a rock that conceals a compartment, pulling out the revolver he used to fight in the revolution. She points it at Imogen, saying that her grandfather could always tell the truth from lies, asking Imogen to explain why she’s really helping her.
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Imogen sits on a bench. “Annihilation of the self has always fascinated me,” she explains. Her father was a British diplomat, and she would travel around the world with him. When she was 16, she watched him get into a car in Istanbul, which was blown up. “They said there was absolutely nothing left of him,” she shares. “I think being a diplomat was just my father’s cover.” She thinks the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkiye assassinated him, which was reportedly controlled by the CIA. Because she had nothing to bury, she never understood what they put in his coffin. She grew up and followed her father’s footsteps, working in embassies around the world and eventually being recruited as an MI6 agent. “I was sent to the camp to make contact with you,” Imogen confesses. “The French and the Americans thought you were someone very important.” She tells Adilah about the DNA test. “It’s all over. I’m just a mid-level British agent whose assignment has been terminated, and you’re a woman who made a terrible decision long ago. On the other hand, maybe not entirely innocent.” Adilah asks why Imogen is still helping her. “An obsession with annihilation and those who seek it,” she responds. She adds that she likes Adilah and wants her to live with her daughter without surveillance. “The inscription says one day the common people will prevail,” she adds, asking what Adilah’s grandfather’s gun says. “Grandfather says, ‘The woman is telling the truth,’” Adilah responds. Imogen looks almost tearful as Adilah puts the gun back in its hiding place.
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Emir Demov arrives at the Bulgarian Naval Fleet in Istanbul. He gets dressed in uniform and receives a phone call. “Is it done?” he asks David, who confirms that the container will be there within 24 hours. Emir puts his phone in a safe in his quarters.
Imogen and Adilah go to Guy Savoy, a chic restaurant full of exotic dancers and captivating ambiance. Adilah asks Imogen who the Djinn al Raqqah is. “She’s brilliant, smarter than any of the male commanders,” Imogen says, saying she may have designed the entire plot. “I knew the truth about you as soon as I saw you,” Imogen says. “You’re just a mother who loves her daughter. You could never be the kind of woman to plan a plot to kill thousands of people.” She tells her the Americans won’t let her just walk away. Adilah asks Imogen if she can help them get to safety. She steps away for a cigarette, leaving Adilah alone at the bar. Another man approaches and sits next to her, offering to buy her a drink. When she declines, he slides money her way to pay her bill. She opens the bill and finds a note inside. “Meet me tomorrow. 20:00. Le Rik. Bring her. This has to end. E.” Adilah hides the note.
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Outside, Imogen finds Max. “She’s playing a double game,” Imogen tells him, already familiar with him. “She’s still working for them, and she knows everything, but she’s also trying to escape with her daughter. I need her to believe I’m helping her with that, and she’ll stay close to me.” Imogen thinks she will tell her what they need to know if she’s patient. He asks her to keep French intelligence at a distance. She asks if he thinks it’s odd that the camp assassinations were done in Russian FSB style. He says it’s a coincidence. “I never trust those,” she responds. Imogen asks a favor of Max, confirmation that the TDKP was a cover for the CIA and that they ordered the killing of Marcus Seabright. “I want to know why,” she says. “That’s a mighty big ask for you to work out some daddy issues,” Max responds. “You’ve done your research,” Imogen realizes. He asks what’s in it for him. “I’ve done my research as well,” Imogen says. “Morocco, 2013.” Max sighs. “When do you want it?” They agree to meet tomorrow at 5:00 pm in his hotel bar.
Adilah comes outside just as Max walks away. She tells Imogen she was hit on, so she paid the bill and left. “I can help you, but I need some time,” Imogen tells her. She wants Adilah to stay with her, and for Yasmine to go back to living with Noor until it’s safe. “I need you to believe me,” Imogen asks. Adilah asks for her real name. “The best lies are mostly true,” she responds.
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Emir addresses the Bulgarian Navy aboard The Provadia, talking about their goodwill visit to the United States next week. “Hopefully, when we get to the United Sates, we will make a very big impression on the city.” He looks down at the shipyard. A fuel truck has arrived. David gets out.
The Veil returns next Tuesday, May 4th, with a new episode on Hulu.
Episode 4 – “Declassified” – Written by Steven Knight
Amidst the increased threat on her daughter’s life, Adilah (Yumna Marwan) reveals a secret to Imogen (Elisabeth Moss). Max (Josh Charles) must deal with the consequences of Emir’s (Alec Secareanu) arrival in Paris.
Songs Featured in this Episode: