The Assets (2014) – Superb view of counter espionage

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Genre – Real-world Spying

Time: 8 Hours – 8 x 50-minute episodes

Platform: YouTube – free

When the Soviet Union passed into history in 1991, the Western Powers thought that all the nasty stuff that went with it also had gone into history, including the KGB, which was the largest spy agency in the world and had spread its tentacles into all aspects of external and internal life in the Soviet Union.

So, when the Aldrich Ames case broke in 1994, people were astonished that even though Russia may have been an economic basket case, it was still business as usual in one area – spying. The KGB had just morphed into the new external agency SVR and continued to service its agents worldwide.  (The FSB is the internal security service)

In one of the most fascinating cases, Ames had continued to spy for the Russians from 1985 through the Soviet collapse, till his arrest in 1994 and conviction in 1995. The FBI was called in since the CIA didn’t have powers of arrest inside the US. The interagency rivalry was set aside, and the FBI was very smug, saying it had no traitors in its ranks, only to be confronted with the Robert Hansen case (see earlier post on the topic). 

So why did Ames, an otherwise colourless bureaucrat, decide to spy for the Soviet Union? Simple. Money. He was paid vast sums to share information about CIA activities in the Soviet Union. Soon, various American assets were rounded up and summarily shot. The CIA knew something was wrong and attributed it to the defection of another CIA officer, Edward Lee Howard, who had fled to the Soviet Union in 1985, but the timelines didn’t match. At one stage, like something from a novel, Ames chaired a committee to find the leak – to catch himself! 

Sandy Grimes and Jeanne Vertefeulle, two CIA officers, methodically plodded through the mountains of data and zeroed in on Ames. Given that Ames was living the James Bond life with a Jaguar, a new house, various gadgets and high spending, it was obvious that he was not the humble government servant he appeared to be.

Given this background story of over ten years, there is no other way to tell the story on screen but as a TV serial. The 8-part TV serial shows counterintelligence as an organized, time-consuming and laborious effort. Sandra Grimes (Jody Whitaker) is somewhat taken aback by the fact that various sources in Russia are being rounded up. She takes it up the ladder to Aldrich Ames (Paul Rhys), who is reluctant to initiate a probe since he has to find himself. Jeanne Vertefuelle (Harriet Walter) joins hands with Sandra, and they finish the job together.

The plotting is slow but keeps the viewer riveted. The American section is intercut with the Soviet asset Polyakov and his activities (naturally, one man’s traitor is another man’s patriot; the Russians summarily executed whoever they caught as spies). 

Where the serial scores are in its intricate detailing of all the significant events in the three lives that are intertwined – Ames, Jenne, Sandra, this is a superb, understated TV series that never fails to impress.  

The entire 8-part TV series is free on YouTube as a playlist.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSBpDGvwqlpMS5tq45t2kxK4OT68HuTh_

 Solid methodical counter intelligence work – on screen

Real History/ Historical Background – 4 out of 5 

Script – 5 out of 5

Story – 4 out of 5

Direction – 4 out of 5

Photography – 4 out of 5

 Total – 4.2 out of 5