The Assets (2014–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - The Assets - full transcript

Previously on "The Assets"...

My name is Aldrich Ames.

I work for the CIA.

Our dead drop was intercepted
two days ago in Moscow.

Last night, we learned with certainty

that our asset had been executed.

Wallace: We've lost more
assets in the last three months

than at practically any
other time in our history.

You keep everything in
your life separate...

work, family, assets.

They have an in to the agency,
Art. They've cracked us.



Aldrich: A KGB colonel
defected today in Rome.

I'm his initial debrief.

He'll know me!!

There is a mole in the CIA!

If there is a mole...

It would explain how we've lost our assets.

- I must go to Canada.
- Who is the mole?

He's a man with drinking problems.

Pull out every file we've
got on Edward Lee Howard!

We have a verified traitor

who may know the name of every
single one of these people.

There's two of us.

Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women,



and blessed is the
fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God,

pray for us sinners now and
at the hour of death. Amen.

GT Vanquish?

When we lose an asset, I, uh...

someone from this side
should mourn their passing.

Congratulations on your promotion.

- You deserve it.
- Thank you.

What time's the FBI liaison meeting?

He's waiting in the office.

So, how long's it been since you, uh...

What? Been to mass?

- Uh-huh.
- What's the date today?

The 14th. 20 years.

Agent Waters, meet Arthur O'Neill,

our new Chief of Counterintelligence.

Waters: If you knew
Howard was a security risk,

why did you wait so long to contact us?

We can't prove Howard was
behind the compromises,

but he was pipelined to go to Moscow

right before he was fired.

Based on our review, he not only fits

the defector's profile of the traitor,

but he had access, opportunity, and motive.

We can assume he was read
in on dead-drop protocols,

technical programs, high-placed assets.

You can assume that, yes.

Which is exactly why
we need to move quickly.

Now, we've set up a blanket recon plan...

Misur and tesur taps in his house,

24-hour undercover surveillance.

Arthur: You have no idea
who you're dealing with.

Edward Lee Howard is out of your league.

Well, I assure you, Arthur,

our surveillance teams are
the best in the business,

and Howard's a two-bit drunk.

He's also a genius who aced

every counter-surveillance
test we threw at him.

We even trained his damn wife.

You'll never catch him in the act.

FBI's got the experience
so why don't you pack up

- all of this stuff?
- Oh, I don't want to hear this anymore.

Gentlemen!

I'm sure the FBI has this under control.

Hmm?

Please... keep us posted, won't you?

Thank you.

Why the hell are we letting the FBI

go after one of our guys?

It's our mess. We clean it up.

Because they have the power
to arrest people and we don't.

Or have you forgotten our charter?

We're asking for trouble.

- They're gonna come in here...
- Art!

This comes straight from the director.

He wants Howard's head on a stick,

and he wants it yesterday.

[speaking Russian]

[TV chatter]

Idiot!

Colonel, we're ready for you downstairs.

We're not through with the questions.

Time to start your debrief.

My trip to Montreal...
is it happening soon?

Uh, we're working on that.

You said that before.

It's not exactly an easy request.

You know, crossing international lines

with a foreign defector is...

well, it's, uh... it's a lot of red tape.

Tape?

- Yeah. That's just...
- It's safer if you stay here.

And what if I refuse to
continue with the debriefings?

What would you do?

Shoot me like a dog?

This is America. We don't do that here.

Oh, God.

I need every transmission from Top Hat

in the last five years.

He went dark five years ago.

He stopped direct communication,

but he's still been writing
for Russian hunting magazines.

I think he may be sending us messages.

Cryptography's been through
those articles a million times.

I want to make it a million and one.

They're in about a dozen different areas

all across the building.

Did you know my husband, Gary,

has season tickets to the Rredskins...

with an extra seat we use for friends?

Fine. I will do it.

Thank you.

[Sighs]

Reporter: The Pentagon is acknowledging

for the first time

that the Soviet Union now
has more nuclear warheads

in its arsenal than does the U.S.

Prior to this time...

The Soviets are bluffing.

They couldn't hit the side of a barn.

[Ed laughs]

Something funny?

Besides having so much
nuclear firepower, however,

many experts say...

Just you don't know what
you're talking about.

Well, actually, pal, I work at Grumman,

so I can say with confidence

that the U.S. could obliterate
those pinkos anytime, anywhere.

Then tell me, how are we gonna do that?

With the best damn military
in the world, that's how.

So, your version of
"obliterating those pinkos,"

no doubt, would involve a sea attack.

Of course, our 96 subs
will face a rude awakening

when they confront the
Soviet fleet, 480 strong.

- You're making these numbers up.
- Am I?

Then let's play out the land scenario.

The Soviets have 5.3 million
active-duty troops to our 2.1,

57,000 tanks to our 12,000.

Fine, so, we push the button,
wipe out the whole damn country.

Ah, the famous nuclear-war fantasy,

the one where both sides
unload their stockpiles

and, within hours,

the vast majority of the
world is engulfed in fire,

smoke clouds block out 70%
of the world's sunlight,

temperatures drop 30 degrees,

and all life on earth
as we know it is over.

Is that the future
you're looking forward to?

[Dog barking]

Think you're smart?

See how smart you look with
my fist down your throat.

[Gun cocks]

[Gasps]

Or we can see how smart you look

with part of your anatomy missing.

Okay. All right.

Just... just... just take it easy.

[Breathing heavily]

- [Camera shutter clicks]
- Or how about I just blow your head off?

You don't seem to use
it that much, so why not?

Huh?

O... okay, man, just calm down.

Don't tell me to calm down!

Please, dude.

[Camera shutter clicks]

[Door opens, closes]

Mary: Ed, what are you doing?

What's going on? Talk to me.

We're being watched.

This is every magazine Top Hat wrote for

in the last five years?

That box is just 1980.

[Grunts]

This one's '81 through
'82, '83 through '84.

Happy hunting.

[Scoffs]

[Sighs]

Colonel, how are you today?

A little pick-me-up, courtesy of Uncle Sam.

Aldrich: If you're willing to
continue the debriefing sessions,

the CIA will pay you a
lump sum of $1,000,000,

and that's tax free.

Plus an annual salary of $62,500.

A bribe.

Because you can't get me to Montreal.

If was just handed a million bucks,

that's not the first place I'd want to go.

Vegas. Paris, maybe.

Colonel, these things take time.

There must be something you've
always wanted to splurge on...

women, cars, exotic herbal tea.

I have never seen... color TV before.

Let's get this man a television.

We can do that.

Mr. Robert is not the only
leak in the U.S. government.

You have compromised
sources in your naval system,

in the National Security Agency.

Do not underestimate the KGB.

They play many moves ahead.

Got a minute?

Mm-hmm.

He wrote a recipe for coot.

It's a game bird, like a moorhen.

Oh, right. A moorhen.

I'm still worried about Polyakov.

Most of his articles are
about big-game hunting.

This is about cooking. It doesn't fit.

I think he's trying to send us a signal.

Sandy, cryptography
already looked at these.

They're missing something.

I want your permission to
take a few days, run this down.

[Sighs]

Well, if it turns out to be just a recipe,

do I get a dinner invite?

[Rattling]

I think we made an excellent choice.

This puppy has
cable-compatible quartz tuning

with 350 lines of resolution,

integral contrast enhancement filter,

and it was a steal at 1,500 bucks.

What makes this one better
than the other one in the store?

Well, it...

Nothing, really.

Well, why do you have so many?

- Well...
- Americans like choice.

- Choice? Mm.
- Yeah.

One TV, another TV...

Reagan, Carter, they are all the same.

Democracy is an illusion, a
mask to deceive the proletariat

into believing that they have free will.

I'll go set it up in your room.

So, if you believe all that, why defect?

Hmm?

Why risk your life, betray the KGB,

just to come here to the
world's biggest supermarket?

Money?

Revenge?

I am dying.

I have cancer. I tell you.

Three different oncologists say
you have an ulcer, colonel...

an ulcer.

When I was an officer in
Washington, Rezidentura,

I met a woman.

She was beautiful. I fell in love.

When we returned to Moscow,
we could not be together.

She was married to
high-rank Soviet diplomat.

But I must see her again...

... before I die.

She lives in Montreal.

Da.

Let me talk to my boss,

see if we can't, um... expedite things.

[Static]

[Radio chatter]

What's going on?

- Shh.
- [Coos]

[Radio chatter]

No! What are you doing?

Okay, first of all, if
the feds are following you,

they're not gonna use
local police frequencies.

Besides, isn't this all a little much?

I need to find out why they're watching me.

Oh, so you're gonna spend all
your time playing super spy,

tear up the phones, never leave the house?

We... we can't live like this.

Ed, I can't live like this.

You're right.

Hey!

I'm ready to talk.

I'm sorry.

I'm afraid you have me
mistaken for someone else.

I'm not mistaken.

I'm not mistaken!

I've never seen you before.

But all of a sudden, y... you're out here

across from my house
gathering firewood 24/7.

And the guy in the canoe?

I'm assuming you're both FBI, right?

You seem like a nice young man,

but I don't know what you...

[radio static]

Be at the High-Country Hotel and Suites,

Monday, 9:00 A.M., room 117.

Ed: Let me guess.

The agency nabbed some A-list defector.

He's in a safe house in
Arlington blabbing names

and somebody matching
my description came up,

so the CIA sent you guys
out here to rattle my cage.

All right, let's say, hypothetically,

that we do have an inside source

and he fingered you as a Soviet asset.

You were never even sent to Moscow.

How could the KGB know your name?

You know, it's ironic.

You call these defectors "heroes,"

men who've betrayed their country.

Then you turn around and
accuse me of the same thing.

But with me, you call it "treason."

So you're saying you're a hero

for selling secrets to our enemy?

No.

I'm not saying that
because I did no such thing.

Would you be willing to prove
that by taking a polygraph?

Look, Edward,

you were the one who wanted
to talk to us, remember?

If you cooperate,

we can drop all this tough-guy stuff

and just get to the bottom
of what really happened.

And if I don't?

Waters: We get a warrant to turn
over every inch of your life.

We talk to your wife, your
friends, your employer.

We crawl so far up your backside,

you won't walk straight for a year.

You need to tell us, Ed.

Have you passed secrets to the KGB?

[Clock ticking]

[Whistle blows]

Uh, excuse me. Hi.

I don't want to be a busybody,

but... I could swear

I just saw that guy over there

stuff something into his pocket.

Thank you.

[Panting]

Sir?

Nice surveillance move
yesterday in the store.

It was clever, especially from a rookie.

I'm the best rookie the CIA's ever had.

Not everyone considers
arrogance a strength, son.

My tests were off the charts...

recruitment, marksmanship, coms,

my counter-surveillance score
was the highest in two decades.

I'm ready.

If you pass your polygraph,

you can tell your wife
you're moving to Moscow.

Whoo!

Man: Is your name Edward Lee Howard?

Starting with the hardballs, huh?

"Yes" or "no" answers, please.

Yes.

Are you currently attempting

to overthrow the United States government?

No.

Since working for the CIA,
have you used illegal drugs?

No.

Since starting to work for the CIA,

have you ever abused alcohol to excess?

Well, I kind of tied one on last night,

- you know, to celebrate.
- "Yes" or "no" answers, please.

No.

Would you say you have a problem
with drug or alcohol abuse?

No.

Please wait here a moment.

This is all because of
a little booze and dope?

Callan: A little?

Do you want me to show you the tox screens?

I mean, come on.

I... if... if you
rejected every case officer

who drank too much, you...
you'd have an empty building.

[Pen scratches]

[Gunshot]

Ed?

Ed?!

[Sighs]

Where have you been all week?

Here and there.

I went to D.C.,

almost walked into the Soviet consulate.

The stuff I know, Mary, I
could do some serious damage.

I could bring Langley to its knees.

You're drinking too much.

You need to talk to
someone, a professional.

'Cause I'm afraid, Ed, for you.

Don't worry, Mary.

I'll be fine. All right?

I got it all planned out.

Danke.

Ah.

Danke.

[Siren wails]

[Clock ticking]

You want to know... if I
passed secrets to the KGB.

Well, I'll tell you.

It's none of your damn business.

You want to ask more
questions, call my lawyer.

D.C.I. wants an after-action
report on Howard.

You're kidding.

An after-action report saying what?

We caught the bad guy. Freedom
and democracy prevailed.

Howard lawyered up. We got nothing.

- You know that as well as I do.
- Hey, patience, Art.

Give the FBI a few more days.

I'm not a patient man.

Hey!

- I'm going to Howard.
- Art!

Seriously.

Put two guys and take him a room,

real nice, nothing nasty,

and we'll talk to him like
we did in the old days.

Oh, set aside the minor
detail that it's illegal

for the CIA to spy on U.S. citizens.

You're concerned about the
constitutional rights of a traitor?

Yes, I am, actually.

You are not a field officer anymore.

You cannot just hop onto a plane

when you get an itch for some spy work.

[Sighs]

After-action report by end of day.

[Insects chirping]

[Cranking]

Is the sitter here yet?

Five minutes.

[Coos]

Can't you stay and fight?

How do you think that would go?

One man against the CIA and
their billions of dollars?

[Chuckles]

In a year or two, you and Lee can join me.

We'll be together.

It's almost 7:00.

We need to move.

Waters: Target's mobile.

Back driveway. Car two, you got a visual?

Ganthier: Stand by.

Affirmative.

[Engine turns over]

We have a tail.

It's when you don't see
them you have to worry.

They've made me. Should I pull back?

Negative. You just stay on visual.

Ugh.

Damn it.

[Tires squealing]

Oak Lane. This is it.

I love you, Ed.

Mary.

I'm sorry.

[Horn blares]

Damn it!

I lost him. Stand by.

What do you mean, you
lost him? Un-lose him!

Never mind.

I got him.

[Breathing heavily]

Edward Lee Howard fled the country.

Could we have the room, please?

Next week, he'll be on a
parade float in Red Square.

Russians played us like a damn puppet show!

Do you realize how many secrecy
protocols you just broke?

You have no idea what their clearance is.

Our assets are dead,

and the traitor who
killed them is scot-free.

Howard already told the
Soviets everything he knows.

What if he's not the only one?

Let it go, Art.

The D.C.I. wants us to focus
on cultivating new assets.

Screw the D.C.I.!

[Sighs]

One more outburst like
that, and I will start

termination proceedings
against you immediately.

You're not 25 anymore.

You're not some operative
running down dark alleys

complaining about management decisions.

You are management.

Do your job...

or you will lose it.

You look like a million bucks.

Break a leg.

You kind of like him, don't you?

We have a lot in common.

We're both die-hard romantics.

Vitaly.

[Chuckles]

[Speaks Russian]

[Sighs] Not good.

Hmm.

Did it fly into your windshield?

[Sighs] It's a common coot.

They don't live around here.

Had it shipped in.

What are you gonna do with it?

[Sizzling]

[Glass clinks]

[Door opens, closes]

- Gary: Hey.
- Hey.

Hi, honey.

Whoa.

Probably better not to ask, huh?

[Indistinct conversations]

I need to go to toilet.

It's not your fault.

Move.

[Gasps] Move!

[Gasps]

[Murmuring]

Damn it.

[Camera shutters clicking]

Vitaly Yurchenko, Vitaly Yurchenko,

can you tell us, why did you
re-defect to the Soviet Union?

Did... did the KGB make you do this, sir?

Do you speak English?

[Indistinct shouting]

My name is Vitaly Yurchenko.

I was in Rome...

working for KGB...

... when I was abducted
with force by Americans,

agents of Central Intelligence Agency.

They drugged me.

They put me in a car,

take me to airport, and fly me to America.

And I was tortured...

over and over again, repeatedly.

Reporter: The Yurchenko case
may hurt the CIA for some time.

Why did he do it?

Ames says he was depressed,
something about a woman.

President Reagan may order
an investigation of the matter

and quotes an administration official...

[Sighs]

... as saying junior CIA officers

should not be exclusively blamed.

It's the senior people's fault.

[Footsteps approaching]

I know this sounds crazy.

Oh, that's always a promising opening.

This isn't just a recipe for coot.

It's also a formula for invisible ink.

Top Hat was trying to reestablish contact.

He was telling us to send
a letter to the editor,

questions for Polyakov about his article.

But we would write a hidden
message to him in invisible ink.

[Inhales sharply] Hmm.

Gonna go with your first instinct... crazy.

Art.

We have no reason to
believe he's reaching out.

What if it's a coot recipe?

But I did the work.

- It's...
- No, i... it's too risky.

What if he never gets the letter?

What if it's a trap

and they're just waiting
for proof of his treason?

What if he's quietly retired
and all we do is alert the KGB?

My hands are tied.
There's nothing I can do.

Is this about Yurchenko?

Go away, Grimes.

Have you lost your nerve?
Is that what's going on?

Because the Art O'Neill I know

would kick and scream until
the problem was solved.

I'm management now, the seventh floor.

Oh, screw the seventh
floor and screw management.

Oh, you know what?

You've been working for
me too long. [Chuckles]

What the hell happened to you?

[Sighs]

Thank you for coming in on short notice.

You can probably guess
why I brought you here.

The agency has suffered too
many losses over the last year.

Every one of them is tragic.

But taken as a whole, they are
an irrefutable call to action.

We'll have to rebuild
protocols, cultivate new assets,

lock down the chain of information.

There's no telling the extent of the damage

Edward Lee Howard inflicted.

Did Howard cause these losses?

We can't be sure.

But we have to be sure.

And don't forget Arthur O'Neill's
law of counterintelligence.

Over time, there is an actuarial
certainty of more breaches.

People will sell you out.

That's why I'm inaugurating a task force.

So...

the four of us will work
as individually as we can.

But I'm bringing in one officer
whose only job it will be

to investigate how we lost these people.

And that officer is?

[Clock ticking]