TV Recap: FX’s “The Veil” Episode 6 – Violet Seabright Returns Home to London

FX’s The Veil comes to a close at “The Cottage,” a location we’ve seen several times in “Imogen Salter”’s dreams. We also finally meet the elusive Michael Anthropolop, another character from Violet’s past, as her quest to stop a terrorist plot and reunite Adilah El Idrissi with her daughter comes to a close. We last saw Imogen and Adilah at a gas station in France, and it wasn’t clear if Adilah was going to join Imogen or not. But at the top of the finale, it’s obvious that Adilah got in Imogen’s car, and that they had to ditch it at some point.

Episode 6 – “The Cottage” – Written by Steven Knight

Imogen Salter (Elisabeth Moss) has smuggled Adilah El Idrissi (Yumna Marwan) into England in the back of a shipping truck. On the outskirts of Canterbury, the driver (David Brooks) pulls over to let them out, refusing to take them further. Imogen uses a baseball bat to knock him out, stealing the truck and driving off without him. It’s not long before the missing truck has been called in, and the truck is soon followed by police, both by car and helicopter. Imogen evades them in Canterbury, splitting up from Adilah on foot with plans to meet at a church. Donning an American accent, Imogen borrows a cell phone from an American tourist (Paul Birchard). “Hi, it’s me,” she says to whomever she called.

Magritte Levasseur (Thibault de Montalembert) monitors Imogen’s movements from a control room at the DGSE, gaining access to Canterbury security cameras. Malik Amar (Dali Benssalah) spots Imogen on a camera, but she seems to know the area well and quickly becomes invisible to them. The mood is already tense when CIA agent Max Peterson (Josh Charles) enters, getting into an immediate fight with Malik.

Inside the cathedral, Imogen finds a gullible-looking woman named Margaret (Sarah Woodward), sitting next to her in the pew and sparking a conversation. Imogen tells Margaret that she’s trying to do God’s work by reuniting a migrant woman who doesn’t speak English with her daughter in London. Margaret came to the cathedral looking for a purpose after the passing of her husband, believing this is God’s plan and agreeing to drive them. Cut to Margaret dropping off Imogen and Adilah in what Whitechapel neighborhood of London. Imogen comes up with a plan to throw the DGSE, MI6, and CIA off their trail by using an ATM on a train line to make them think they’re traveling by rail.

The DGSE learns that British police believe that Imogen and Adilah evaded them out of Canterbury. Max refuses to stand by and let Adilah get away, so he storms out of the DGSE to head to the airport. Malik follows suit. When Malik gets to the airport, Magritte calls to tell him that Imogen used an ATM, but Malik knows Imogen too well to fall for that.

A chauffeur, Patrick (Brian Milligan), picks up Imogen and Adilah. “Welcome to the deep state,” Imogen tells Adilah, “We’re going to Michael’s.” On the drive, Imogen tells Adilah that Michael is a former MI6 agent who is now deeply undercover, a level of spy nobody knows about. Michael is wealthy and will be able to help them. “His special skill is identifying new identities for people, so I told him I had a friend who needs to be reinvented so she can start a new life,” Imogen adds.

Malik arrives in London and takes a taxi to the Highbury neighborhood. He has a key to a flat, climbing the spiral staircase to the bedroom. We see a series of happy memories he’s shared there with Imogen. In a sitting room, he looks at the piano and finds sheet music for “Clair de Lune” with an inscription – “For Vi – The music of my life, Michael.” As Malik heads back downstairs, he hears someone moving on the first floor and draws his gun. The intruder tackles him – Max. They agree to team up, and Malik thinks he knows where Imogen is. Max gives Malik the keys to his car.

“Hello, darling,” Michael Althorp (James Purefoy) greets Imogen as she and Adilah arrive at his palatial estate. The mansion is virtually empty, with Michael having dismissed all of his staff save for Patrick when he received Imogen’s phone call. He is already aware that they’re the most-wanted women in the world. Patrick will have their new passports ready in a few hours. Before he takes his leave, Michael asks Imogen to meet him later in the shed.

Adilah asks Imogen what the plan is, and she tells her that their travel documents will help them get to Canada. Noor and Yasmina are booked on the same flight as them tomorrow at 7:00 am. But Imogen seems to feel that something is amiss. She asks Adilah to go to the garage and take the Land Rover’s keys in case they need to make a fast getaway. “I just need to spend some time alone with him,” Imogen tells Adilah. When she’s left alone in the grand salon, she quotes Twelfth Night to herself: “I am as mad as he, if sad and merry madness equal be.”

Patrick finds Adilah in the Garage, asking if she’s lost. He directs her back to the house, advising that she take a shower. “I was a royal marine,” he tells her with malice. “I remember what you people smelled like before we killed you.” Adilah doesn’t stand there and take it. “Do you remember the smell of all the innocent people you killed?” she asks before returning to the house.

As Malik drives, Max pulls up aerial photos of Michael’s manor on his phone, studying the layout of the grounds. Max asks Malik about Michael, learning that he was a low-level diplomat working for Imogen’s father. He went off the grid after her father died. “She was in love with him,” Malik adds.

Imogen goes to the shed and finds it empty. She is immediately drawn to a corkboard full of images of herself in Paris with Adilah and Malik. Pinned to the board are dossiers on both Malik and Max, and scans of pages from the Book of Souls. A few paper shards are on the floor by the shredder, but Imogen is able to see enough text to recognize that it’s in Russian. She opens the bin and examines a few more pieces, finding the phrase “Djinn al Raqqah” on one of them. Michael enters, telling Imogen that he’s been watching over her. He talks about how the world has become distrustful of politicians, which has created an opportunity. Imogen asks what that would be, but Michael says he will only tell her over dinner, adding how he’s missed her. “You’re always with me,” Imogen tells Michael, saying that he’s the voice in her head. “And I hope to keep it,” he whispers back. “I’ll meet you in the dining room,” Imogen confirms as she leaves. Alone in the shed, Michael notices that the shards of paper by the shredder have been moved.

Imogen calls another mystery person. “Michael may not come through,” she warns them. We may need to find another way to get the passport and immigration papers. I don’t care what it costs. We’ve done it before. Get it done.”

Adilah waits in a sitting room, holding her daughter’s plush doll. Patrick watches her through the window. Imogen returns and asks Adilah if she is aware of any Russian involvement with the terrorist plot. “Yes,” Adilah confirms, “The man you saw in Paris, Emir, he would often speak to someone on his cell in Russian.” Adilah adds that she escaped Raqqah on a Russian military truck. “I’ve come to believe that the Russian FSB are behind this attack,” Imogen informs Adilah. “You and it are just their cover. They’re using you as a pawn in their sick game of retaliation against the US.” Adilah says she only followed the plans due to the promise of freedom, adding that she has a hard time trusting Imogen. “I will not betray you,” Imogen promises, asking again for the name of the ship that the device is on. “Only when I see her,” Adilah repeats. Imogen asks if Emir is Yasmina’s father. Adilah isn’t aware of who the father is, she was sexually abused after failing to detonate the explosive in the restaurant, and after that, she got pregnant. But Adilah doesn’t care who the father is, she just misses her daughter. Imogen can relate, sharing that she misses her daughter every day. “I need to have dinner alone with him,” Imogen tells Adilah. “I have an idea, and I need you to listen to me very carefully.”

“I’m so very happy that you still trust me, Violet,” Michael says as he pours the wine at dinner. “That name…” she responds. “Silly girl,” he counters as usual. “Silly girl,” Imogen mocks him. Michael asks why Imogen returned. “I want you to tell me the truth about my father,” she tells him, adding that she knows that he was a double agent for the Russians, which is why he was killed. “I think you knew,” she accuses him, adding that he’s become unconscionable. “Here’s the thing, my darling, your light, it needs darkness to exist,” Michael responds, adding that he merely nurtures the darkness to keep the world in balance. “I am still in love with you,” he says. “Our girl would’ve been 10. Can you remember her face?” Imogen begins to cry, confessing that she sees their daughter in her mind every day. “I can take care of you again,” Michael promises as he kisses Imogen. “Is it still in my room?” she asks. “Yes, of course,” he responds.

“Confirm that God’s work shall be done @ 8 am,” reads a text that Emir sent to Adilah. We see her unwrap the detonation device, connecting it to her phone. A red light begins to flash.

Patrick sneaks around the house with a gun looking for Adilah, presumably under orders from Michael to kill her. But Adilah is prepared, hidden so that she can jump at him from the side with a knife. She stabs him, and Patrick collapses on the floor. Just then, Max enters the room with his gun drawn. In an effort to earn Adilah’s trust, Max puts his gun down, saying he wants to talk. But Patrick, who is still alive, rises and shoots Max in the back. Adilah runs out of the room and down a spiral staircase.

The mansion is so big that Imogen couldn’t hear the gunshot as she puts on her red dress in her old bedroom. She goes to Michael’s room. “Begin,” he instructs, playing “My Funny Valentine” on the record player. Imogen gets on top of Michael in the bed, making out with him as her hand moves to her garter belt, where she has hidden a knife. She holds it against his throat. “Tell me the name of the ship and where it’s going,” she orders. Michael stays calm, pulling a gun out of a fold in the bedsheets. “I am so sorry, darling,” he says as he points the gun at her head.

BANG!

Imogen looks down in disbelief. She’s still alive and Michael is dead. She turns around to see Malik standing in the doorway, holding his gun. Imogen leaps out of bed and runs to find Adilah.

“Yasmina’s waiting,” Imogen promises Adilah as she finds her out front in the Land Rover. “I’m not going to let them take you in.” Imogen begins to drive, but the gate is closed. Imogen is about to get out to open it when a bullet flies through the passenger window, killing Adilah. Imogen gets out of the car and sees Patrick standing in the courtyard with his gun. He turns around to head back inside, but Imogen runs after him. “Turn around,” she orders, filing multiple rounds into his chest. Malik steps out of the house. Imogen doesn’t say anything. She turns around and goes back to the Land Rover.

“I’m sorry,” Imogen cries over Adilah’s dead body, deeply aggrieved that she was so close to giving her the freedom she was fighting for. As she sits with her friend, the inside of the Land Rover begins to fog up. “Provadia,” reads Adilah’s handwriting on the windshield. “Thank you,” Imogen whispers.

Emir Demov (Alec Secareanu) is aboard the Provadia on the Northeastern Seaboard when it is boarded by a SWAT team. He rushes to the device and opens a panel, trying to detonate it. But before he can do that, he is shot down.

The next morning, Michael’s mansion is abuzz with police activity. We see Imogen, aka Violet Seabright, in Michael’s shed looking through documents. Malik enters to tell her that he’s arranged for Adilah to be buried beside her grandfather. Max is in the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. Malik wants to talk about Michael, but Imogen shuts the conversation down. “It’s over, Violet,” he tells her, “come to me.” Violet tells him she needs a minute. Alone again, Violet is packing up to go when she spots an odd piece of mail addressed to “Sebastian Illvaria” at the Woodland Cottage.

In her red dress, leather jacket, and boots, Violet exits Michael’s mansion and walks down a grassy path between trees lined with baby’s breath, a familiar image from Imogen’s dreams. At the end of a path is a dirt road leading to a quaint cottage. Violet looks dumbfounded as a car pulls out of its driveway and takes off in the opposite direction.

Violet goes inside the cottage to find that the fireplace is still lit. On a small table next to an armchair, steam rises out of a fresh cup of tea. “Hi, Dad,” Violet says to the empty cottage. Next to the chair is a copy of The Tempest. She picks up a cardigan off the back of the chair and smells it. “You escaped,” she whispers. She goes over to the desk, picking up a book called Shakespeare and Greece. Inside is a postcard from someone named Anna. “I knew you were alive, you know,” Imogen says “I could feel it.” On the desk is a picture Imogen drew for her father as a child. She picks up a floral broach with a violet flower on it. A stack of folders, all marked “V,” contains copies of all of her alias passports and I.D.s, her college degrees, and voyeuristic photos of her life. “You watched me become a hundred strangers.” Violet picks up a framed photo of herself and her mother from her childhood, hugging it. “You were behind the entire thing, weren’t you Dad? You were a traitor, and not just to them. You were a traitor to me. And I won’t ever forgive you for that.” Violet cries. She quotes The Tempest to the empty room: “Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.”

At the London Airport, Violet Seabright greets Nour (Nadia Larbiouene) and Yasmina (Keyla and Neyla Bara), helping them to their flight to Canada and returning Yasmina’s stuffed doll.

Violet goes to the airport monitors and checks on her flight status. Her phone rings. “I’ll be there in a few hours,” she tells the unknown caller. “What’s my new name?”

Songs Featured in this Episode:

FX’s The Veil was created as a limited series, but I hope we get more someday. There’s a lot of mystery and intrigue around Violet’s past, and this story was unique in a landscape of male-dominated spy thrillers. When there is more to share about The Veil, you can bet that I’ll be here to cover it.