Imogen visits a refugee camp in the remote mountains on the Turkish and Syrian border. Amongst the chaos, she seeks out Adilah, who has been separated and detained from the rest of the refugees.
An undercover MI6 agent wants to be known as Imogen on her next mission. And so, that's how everyone refers to her moving forward. She just spent 37 days working with Interpol to take down a criminal. She already has her focus on the next assignment. She's aware of the situation happening in a refugee camp on the Syrian-Turkish border. She immediately jumps into action. She's respected in her field because of her ability to create new identities and get people to confess their true motives. She's employed in a business full of deceit. The superpowers of the world battle over who has control of the investigation. Meanwhile, Imogen is just trying to make her own assessment. She trusts it more than what any test declares. These opening episodes lay out the threat potentially posed by Adilah. She is identified as a possibly high-ranking ISIS commander. Imogen is brought in to assess if that is the truth. The intelligence community has already picked up news of a potential attack. Adilah fits the description of the mastermind. However, she could also easily be a European citizen who got radicalized and is now in over her head.
Imogen operates as a blank canvas. She shares details about her past. Of course, that information should never be taken at face value. It's all part of her mission to build trust. She is in control of the situation the entire time. Others don't always have that inherent trust in her. In fact, the only person who supports her completely is diminished by being her lover. That immediately paints him in an unflattering light. He's biased in the situation. As such, his opinion doesn't matter. He's quick to explode because someone he cares about is in danger while in the field. He can't allow anything to compromise the mission or her safety. Of course, Imogen hates when Malik tries to bring their personal history into the situation. She has a job to do. That's why she was brought in. It doesn't matter that French intelligence is in charge. She is the best in the business. That basically means she gets to work for whomever she wants. That also means she has no ties that must be preserved. She goes rogue in service of her own mission. She doesn't follow the directive. Complications arise. She adapts quickly. That's what has led to her success and notoriety in this profession.
All of this comes with the additional tease of some kind of tortured backstory for Imogen. That is completely unnecessary. It tries to delve into the psyche of a woman who has chosen to assume countless identities for work. That's irrelevant in the current situation though. Sure, it has the potential to inform her motivations. However, it also robs the narrative of the mystique of who this woman is. She goes by no true name. Instead, she assumes identities in the pursuit of dangerous criminals. That's everything the audience needs to know. Her actions elsewhere should speak for themselves. She holds her own when a mob of refugees comes to attack Adilah. She navigates the politics of people trying to exert their own control. She refuses to bow down to anyone. And yet, moments still pop up that provide nothing but random images to convey a dysfunctional past. That could be important at some point. It doesn't really enhance anything in the moment. In fact, it takes Imogen out of the present. Even the cutaways to Malik and the intelligence officials in Paris distract from Imogen and Adilah sizing each other up.
The true thrill of these early episodes comes from the road trip between Imogen and Adilah. The narrative doesn't have the responsibility to verify any story Imogen shares. It should all be seen as false. Imogen shares just enough to notice when Adilah makes an observation about any kind of contradictory details. That informs Imogen of how brilliant and observant Adilah is in this situation. Imogen didn't reach a conclusion about Adilah's identity in the premiere. She could see both angles. She still ultimately opted to turn towards Istanbul. Once there, she had to ditch her vehicle and phone. She needed to avoid the agents coming to take control away. Others are interfering with her process. She doesn't like that. Similarly, Adilah doesn't like being told what to do. Imogen responds in a playful manner. That also reveals just how careful she has to be. She can never leave her companion alone for a second. She has to always be monitoring her. Of course, Adilah is just as desperate to know Imogen's interest in her. She presents as a crazy woman willing to buck assumptions. She still has deep convictions. She asserts her opinions. She pushes back. It all remains a controlled environment. One where both players are trying to manipulate the other into giving them what they want.
Imogen eventually declares that Adilah is the "Djinn al Raqqa." That's a different conclusion than the rest of the intelligence community makes. The Americans arrive making their pompous demands. However, they produce results immediately. Sure, their tactics are brazen. Every American character basically leads with arrogance. They prioritize their objectives and don't particularly care what is happening elsewhere. They must exert their dominance. It doesn't matter what kind of psychological torture is inflicted in the process. Adilah has a daughter. She's taken from the streets of Paris just in order to collect a DNA sample. That proves that Adilah is who she says she is. She isn't the feared ISIS commander hellbent on attacking a Western target. The timing doesn't line up with what people currently understands about this threat. Imogen thinks differently. The audience doesn't just have to take her word for it either. That robs the narrative of some nuance though. Part of the appeal of the show in the early going is trying to get a hold of its two female leads. Everyone tries to convince them otherwise about the involvement the other has in this plot. And then, the audience receives the clue that Adilah truly did make contact with someone else while in Istanbul. She doesn't let her tactics be known to Imogen. However, the MI6 spy has other ways of putting the clues together. Sharing the information with the audience now makes the battle lines clear. That also makes it less impressive and out of line with how the real intelligence agencies make their assessments to prevent these attacks.
