Episode 4 of FX’s The Veil draws the curtain back a little more on the character we’ve come to know as “Imogen Salter.” And while Imogen certainly doesn’t trust Adliah El Idrissi, this episode creates distrust for the audience, too. I don’t know about you, but I love both characters at this point, so it’s hard to imagine Adilah risking her chances of a happy life with her daughter.
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Episode 4 – “Declassified” – Written by Steven Knight
Emir Demov (Alec Secareanu) arrives at Père Lachaise Cemetery at the tomb of Jim Morrison with a bouquet of white roses. A woman, Phillipa (Quelin Sepulveda), tries to engage with Emir as a fan of Jim Morrison. We see Emir lay the bouquet with the other flowers, picking up a card in the process. When Emir walks away, Phillipa makes a phone call. CIA agent Max Peterson (Josh Charles) answers, and she tells him about the card Emir picked up, adding that he was wearing gloves. She describes Emir to him. He asks her to go back to the grave and isolate the flowers. She doesn’t see that Emir is lurking in the graveyard, spying on her. Max calls another agent, Matthew (Elijah Cook), describing Emir to him as he waits nearby in a car. Emir puts on a beanie and his hood. Phillipa sees him sneaking off and races after him. She calls Max, who tells her not to get close to him. He calls Matthew and asks him to head in since he hasn’t seen a man matching the description emerge yet. Matthew looks for Phillipa, finding her just after Emir shoots her in the head. He takes off after Emir on foot with his gun drawn. He sees Emir disappear by climbing over a bridge.
In a flashback, we see Imogen Salter (Elisabeth Moss) crying in bed, listening to the sound of children playing outside. The bassinet by the bedside is empty. Imogen awakens from her bad memory, crawling out of bed and going to another door where Adilah El Idrissi (Yumna Marwan) and Yasmina (Keyla and Neyla Bara) are also in bed, talking about how they will have to separate again for a little while. Soon, mother and daughter have to part again as Adilah’s aunt Nour (Nadia Larbiouene) comes to take Yasmina away.
With the apartment to herself, Imogen quietly enters a study, which contains a framed photo of her and Michael Althorp (James Purefoy). She goes to the bookshelf and finds a hidden key, using it to unlock a drawer in the desk. It contains a box full of letters and postcards. She looks through them, finding a letter she wrote to Michael while she was in India. Inside an envelope of photos, she finds one of her baby and another of her father with Michael. There’s also a metal case engraved – “To my comrade, Michael. Always, Marcus.”
When Adilah returns, Imogen is back in the living room. Adilah says she couldn’t sleep last night. She asks about the man who owns the apartment. “Michael? Yeah,” Imogen responds. Adilah thinks Imogen says his name in a strange way. “He was my father’s friend.” Adilah presses on. Michael became Imogen’s guardian, then mentor, and then lover. “He made me who I am today.” Adilah asks if they still see each other. “Not really,” Imogen answers. She says she needs a martini, getting up.
At the DGSE, Magritte Levasseur (Thibault de Montalembert) debriefs Malik Amar (Dali Benssalah) about the digital interception expert who is on his way to meet with them, Cesar (François Pain-Douzenel), who arrives moments later. True to his dossier, Cesar has bad body odor that keeps Malik at a distance. He produces a black box that can override the CIA security systems so that the DGSE can level the playing field on the Djinn al Raqqah investigation. The plan is to put it in Max’s hotel room, and it will transmit all communications to them. Cesar does warn that an agent in Virginia, Wallace, will likely catch on at some point and put a stop to it. Cesar even tested it on Max already, intercepting two emails Max sent. Malik asks what Max said. “He said the British agent, Imogen, is reporting directly to him and believes the Americans are better informed and more efficient.” When Cesar leaves, Max defends Imogen to Magritte, saying she is never doing things for the reasons you think. Fittingly, the artwork on loan to the DGSE from the Louvre has changed to “Two Venetian Women” by Eugene von Blaas, who bears a resemblance to Imogen and Adilah.
Imogen and Adilah visit a hotel lobby bar where Max Peterson happens to be drinking. He watches as Imogen sips a martini. Adilah tells Imogen that she hates these types of bars that attract Americans but thinks Imogen looks comfortable there. Imogen asks if it reminds Adilah of her modeling days. Adilah recounts a story from when she was 21. She’s been sent to a bar like this dressed in white, concealing explosives to carry out a terrorist attack. A wire was disconnected, and the bomb wouldn’t detonate, which is why she’s still alive. “Why are you telling me this?” Imogen asks. “I thought you’d be interested in what the moment of annihilation feels like from someone who survived it.” Imogen clarifies that she’s only interested in personal annihilation that would affect her and nobody else. Imogen asks if Yasmina was born yet. She says no and that a mother’s blood is her child’s blood. Imogen gets up to use the restroom but leans into Adilah before she leaves, saying, “I don’t think you ever would’ve flipped the switch.” As Imogen walks out, she motions for Max to meet her.
Max asks Imogen if she got anything, impressed by how talkative Adilah was with her. She says she needs more time. She thought that example would satisfy his appetite. He pulls out Phillipa’s gun and tells her he had an officer shot at point-blank range this morning. He offers it to her, and she straps it to her leg. Imogen says clean assassinations aren’t like ISIS, so this could be a proxy operation. Max will look into it. He gives her a description of Emir and gives her 24 hours before they resort to American interrogation. Imogen says she won’t tell them anything because she thinks her daughter will be killed if she does. “I think I can reach the part of her that will change her mind,” Imogen says. Max stands firm about the deadline. She asks for the intel about her father. He pulls a flash drive out of his jacket pocket and gives it to her. “Marcus Seabright, interesting man, your daddy,” Max says. “It’s not easy to be so bad they want to kill you. By the way, what happened in Morocco wasn’t what it looked like.” As Max walks away, Imogen responds, “It never is.”
As Imogen heads back to the bar, she gets a call from Malik. He is angry that she’s working with Max and the CIA. He wants to meet at their bench near the canal tonight. “And courtesy of your arrangement with the Americans, I know where you’re staying,” he adds, saying that they’ve bugged the place. “Don’t be jealous,” she flirtatiously answers before hanging up and returning to Adilah, who is ready to leave the bar. She wants to take Imogen to one of her old hangouts.
Emir passes an alley. “Got a light?” a man (Vincent Odetto) asks. As Emir lights his cigarette, the man discreetly passes him a SIM card. Soon, Emir is on the phone with David (Jack Greenlees) from Istanbul, who confirms that the ship is on its way to Marseille to meet him on its way to America. “The Djinn al Raqqa confirms that she’s still in Paris with the British woman,” he adds, “But she’s never alone.” Ermir says he will be back on board the ship tomorrow night. When the call is over, Emir removes the SIM card and destroys it with his cigarette butt. He pulls out the card he retrieved from Jim Morrison’s tomb. The front of the card features artwork from Kitab al-Bulhan (The Book of Surprises). Taped to the back of the card is another SIM card.
At the DGSE, Malik and Magritte listen to a recording of Emir’s phone call. Malik asks how they got it. Magritte tells him that Cesar planted another device a year ago at a place where they believed ISIS operatives were gathering. Magritte hands Malik a folder about Djinn lore, explaining that there’s one for each day of the week. He thinks Djinn are codenames. Magritte also tells Malik that Ceasr intercepted calls that indicate an American agent was killed that morning. He wants Malik to find out more about it. He tells Magritte that he is meeting with Imogen tonight and that she will likely know about it.
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Adilah leads Imogen to a busy club. She says she hasn’t been there in years. Imogen goes to the dance floor and they dance together. Emir is there, watching. He pulls out his phone and makes a call. Imogen notices Adilah go cold, using her dance moves to scope out the place. She tells Adilah she’s going to get a drink, leaving Adilah to sneak off. Adilah finds Emir in an alley full of smokers. “Adilah, this insanity has to stop, come with me now,” Emir begs. “You have to trust me,” she responds. Imogen steps into the alley, making eye contact with Emir, who turns and leaves. “I know who he is,” she tells Adilah. “It’s not what you think,” Adilah responds.” As Imogen steps onto the street, gunshots fire at her from a car speeding away. She hails a cab and asks Adilah to get in.”
As they drive, she asks Adilah if she knew about this. “No, I didn’t.” A car cuts off the taxi, forcing them to come to a halt. The driver (Anthony Fouillet) gets out of the car to confront the car blocking his way. A hitman (Luka Kellou) gets out and kills him. Imogen uses the gun Max gave her to shoot the other assailant (Benjamin Collusi), but runs out of bullets to take out the hitman. Adilah joins in the fight, kicking a car door into him as he passes. Imogen defeats him with hand-to-hand combat.
As Imogen and Adilah make an escape, a motorbike races down the street, firing shots at them. Imogen pulls a stanchion out of the ground and uses it to knock the rider off their moving bike, then uses it to bludgeon them both. “I had no idea that was going to happen, I swear,” Adilah pleads as she chases after Imogen. They return to Michael’s apartment.
That night, Imogen checks on Adilah to make sure she’s asleep before she ventures out to meet Malik at their bench. They hug. He tells her about the ship that is on its way, bound for the United States with an explosive device. He tells her it’s from a terrorist cell using codenames taken from The Book of Surprises. “She showed me that book in Istanbul,” Imogen tells Malik. “It’s like she wants me to figure it out.” Imogen will try to learn more about the ship and the device from Adilah. “You are now an identified target for them,” Malik warns her. He’s worried about her, especially after the slain American agent. She kisses him. “I can’t walk away now, I’m getting closer.” Malik says he wishes she wasn’t staying in Michael’s apartment. “I’ll be OK, but I have to do this,” she responds. “I know,” he confirms. They kiss again.
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Imogen returns to the apartment, checking on Adilah again. When she walks away, Adilah’s eyes open. We see a text message on her phone. “Go to the stairwell at 6am.”
Imogen sits in Michael’s study, drinking, looking over the pages she printed from Max’s flash drive. They say her father was a double agent for Russia.
The Veil returns next Tuesday, May 23rd, with a new episode on Hulu.
Episode 5 – “Grandfather's House” – Written by Steven Knight
As the jigsaw puzzle becomes clearer to Imogen (Elisabeth Moss), she takes matters into her own hands. Max (Josh Charles) resorts to drastic measures whilst Emir (Alec Secareanu) puts pressure on Adilah (Yumna Marwan).
Songs Featured in this Episode: