Counterpart 1.03

The Lost Art of Diplomacy

Six weeks ago. Emily gets hit by a car. She is rushed to the hospital. Howard comes to see her in the hospital but she is in a coma.

Present. Baldwin is in the hands of the police. They don't know who she is. She killed a police officer and she has the same fingerprints as the dead woman. That is all they know.

Quayle, Aldrich, and the two Howards meet to discuss what to do next. Howard Prime is fed up with Aldrich. Prime volunteers to go to his embassy and have a chat with the ambassador. Howard Silk goes with Aldrich to the police station where he has a chat with Baldwin.

Howard Prime gets detained at the embassy by Claude Lambert, the ambassador. They hold him there until an interrogation team arrive from the Prime universe. Emily and Ian, her lover, are the team. 

Quayle meets with Roland Fancher, his father-in-law. Roland has a meeting arranged with the ambassador and he wants Peter with him. The ambassador wants Baldwin returned. Roland plays hardball. It doesn't look like the two sides are going to be able to come to an agreement but in the end they do. Quayle isn't happy about it but he doesn't have a choice.

Howard Prime is released by the ambassador, after he returns from the negotiation. He tells Prime that once he returns, when his visa expires, he won't be allowed to cross between the worlds again.

Baldwin, Aldrich, and Howard are in a van that is taking Baldwin back to her side. The van is stopped by four cars. They are forced to hand over Baldwin to the men in the cars. They are ready to kill Aldrich and Howard but Baldwin tells them not to.

The Howards meet up with Quayle. Prime has a new plan. He wants Howard to return in his place.

Emily Prime, back in the Prime Universe, finds a letter that Howard Prime left. It was written by Emily Silk.

Emily Prime returns to her apartment. Someone has set a trap for her. She walks right into it.

Thoughts

I didn't follow everything in this episode. It feels very much like an espionage show where very little is being revealed at any given time.

It seems that Emily Silk was working with Howard Prime. That is what I gather based on the contents of the letter that Emily Prime found. She kept secrets from her husband, secrets about her work.

Roland Fancher is played by Richard Schiff. I know him best from his role as Toby Zielger on The West Wing. I may have seen him in a few other movies or TV shows but that is the only one that stands out in my mind.

I'm still enjoying this series but it is hard to see around the corner. I get no notion as to whether it will satisfy me in the end or just present a series of puzzles that will never get solved. I do like J.K. Simmons in the lead roles, both as Howard and Howard Prime.