【Kairaku Jigoku no Toriko (2019)】

With its Cold War paranoia and Kairaku Jigoku no Toriko (2019)tangled web of secrets, HBO Max's Spy/Master makes for a solid entry into the canon of spy thrillers.

The international series — one of HBO Max's final productions from Central and Eastern Europe following the Warner Bros. Discovery merger — draws more from John le Carré works like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy than it does James Bond. Sure, there are gunshots and the occasional car chase, but the real action takes place in the subterfuge of its characters' cat and mouse games. Think secret rendezvous points, coded conversations, and the worry that you're always, always being watched.

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We've seen these plot elements before, but Spy/Master executes them with a quiet cool that matches the demeanor of its main character, Victor Godeanu (Alec Secăreanu). He's the (fictional) right-hand man to real-life former Romanian president and dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu (Claudiu Bleonț). He's alsoa KGB mole. As Ceaușescu's paranoia reaches a fever pitch, Godeanu uses a diplomatic trip to West Germany to attempt to defect to the United States. But with his family still in Romania and Romanian counterintelligence hot on his tail, he'll find it harder than ever to maintain his double act and make it out alive.

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Spy/Master transports us back to the Cold War.

Ana Ularu in "Spy/Master." Credit: Courtesy of HBO Max

Godeanu's troubles unfurl over the course of one week in 1978. Cold War worries are in the air: The United States and Russia steal each other's secrets in the shadows, tensions rise in the Eastern Bloc, and in Romania, Ceaușescu suspects everyone but Godeanu of trying to sabotage him. However, Godeanu's secure position threatens to crumble when compromising photographs of him surface.

As the walls close in around Godeanu, he turns not to the KGB, but to the U.S. embassy in Bonn, West Germany. There, he connects with ambitious agent Frank Jackson (Parker Sawyers), who immediately recognizes that this would be the biggest defection the East has seen yet. Unfortunately for them, the U.S. is currently working on the Camp David peace talks between Egypt and Israel, and President Carter won't sign off on Godeanu's extraction in fear of jeopardizing them. This delay leaves Godeanu in a tense limbo, made all the more complicated by encounters with Ingrid (Svenja Jung), an East German Stasi agent from his past, and Carmen (Ana Ularu), a Romanian agent hellbent on bringing him to justice.

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Spy/Master does an excellent job wringing suspense out of Godeanu and Jackson's every move. Any call can be traced, any hideout can be compromised, any small slip-up can lead to total failure. At any moment, a character may think they are in total control, only to quickly realize they are a pawn in a much bigger game. Between these power shifts and Spy/Master's most harrowing sequences, there's no way you won't watch this show without clenching your fists or shielding your eyes whenever Godeanu comes within spitting distance of certain death.

Yet as much as you want Godeanu to make it out, Spy/Master makes sure to remind you that he isn't a total hero. Flashbacks show us some of the unsavory actions Godeanu has committed to both spy on and keep his high standing with Ceaușescu. We know that he's killed and lied to get what he wants. Plus, in his quest to defect to the U.S., he leaves both his wife Adela (Andreea Vasile) and his daughter Ileana (Alexandra Bob) back in Romania — something he regrets, albeit mostly in Ileana's case. It's fascinating to watch Godeanu reckon with whether he deserves a better life after what he's done and who he's leaving behind, and Secăreanu captures these multitudes in his stoic yet charismatic performance.

Spy/Master starts strong, but falters toward the end.

Svenja Jung in "Spy/Master." Credit: Courtesy of HBO Max

As enthralling as Spy/Master's Cold War drama is, it isn't without its flaws. For one, the jumbled chronology feels like an attempt to cash in on one of TV's most common — yet often infuriating — trends. To the show's credit, some flashbacks are far more compelling than others and wind up giving the present events fresh context, but that isn't always the case.

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Yet where Spy/Master stumbles the most is a subplot involving Ingrid's Egyptian maid Safiya (Amira El Sayed), and the criminal activities of her husband Omar (Omar El-Saeidi) and her brother Jabare (Mido Hamada). In a show that spends quite a bit of time with antagonists like Ceaușescu and Carmen, Omar and Jabare's own plotting falls a bit towards the wayside, becoming a mystery for Godeanu and Jackson to partner up on like buddy cops in the show's final episodes. The Camp David peace talks loom large over Spy/Master, yet its few Egyptian characters are not granted much interiority or compelling motivation, making for a final twist that lacks the punch of earlier episodes and carries some unpleasant stereotyping baggage.

Despite its weaker ending, Spy/Master still delivers its fair share of spy-centric thrills. It's a stylishly shot, well-crafted series that juggles its many hunters and quarries with mostly rewarding results — and more nail-biting realism than any Bond film.

Spy/Master premieres May 19 on HBO Max, with new episodes weekly.

Topics HBO

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