The Operative

Hello?

My father died...

again.

- Embassy. - Access code 2-2...

It was 2-2-4-5-4. Does it still work?

Yes.

I need a trace on a call

that I just got on my cell a minute ago.

Okay.

Hello?

She just called you.

I don't know what's going on.

We need you here in Tel Aviv immediately.

Are you fucking kidding? Just tell me what's going on.

Not over the phone. You have to fly in.

No, no, that... that's not gonna happen.

I'll meet you here.

Thomas, it's Joe.

Jesus! They brought you in?

They did.

How are you, Joe? How's Netta?

She's fine. Still in remission.

Listen, Thomas, the situation is getting...

I'm not flying anywhere, Joe.

You don't have to fly anywhere.

There's a safe house in Cologne.

They'll give you the details.

I'm heading there now.

Thanks for coming on such a short notice.

- I'm Daniel. - Thomas.

- Hi. - Hi.

I remember.

Why did she call you?

I don't know.

Why did she call you?

- She knows you're out? - I don't know.

Are you gonna tell me what's going on?

She said, "My father died. Again." And hung up.

What does it mean?

"Her father dying" was her pullout code from Iran.

Did her father really die?

Her father died four days ago, near London.

She slipped out of Israel, attended his funeral,

and disappeared right after that.

Disappeared?

She could be anywhere now.

I'm only talking to Joe.

I'm only talking to Joe.

- He's on his way. - He's retired.

Yeah, so am I. For fuck's sake,

you had him call me, I'm only talking to him.

Whatever, Thomas.

Are you pulling me out?

No.

Are you pulling me out?

No.

You always wanted to get your hands on him.

But you got your hands on him.

- See how that worked out. - Fuck you.

Isn't it nice to be needed?

I've been waiting for this call ever since you graduated.

- Hey, watch out. - You can have this room.

Anything you need, we will be right here.

Mm-hm.

Listen, until the call this morning,

I hadn't heard from her in over a year.

Thomas, nobody is blaming you for anything.

This is about assessing her motives.

You were the person closest to her.

You're crucial.

Look, let's just go over this, step by step.

Let them do the grunt work.

We need to get into her head.

We have an advantage over them.

You know her and I know you.

Do you consider yourself Jewish?

My father was half Jewish.

I read in your file that you were adopted.

Is that relevant?

Do you know who your biological parents were?

Mm-mm.

Were you brought up Christian by your mother?

To some extent.

We should develop that.

When they assigned her to me,

she was working out of Leipzig, doing basic stuff.

It was my idea to send her to Tehran,

get her into the nuclear division.

It wasn't easy to convince HQ.

She did have a very unusual biography

for a Mossad operative.

Born in London.

Her father, a British citizen.

Her mother, German, a Christian Baptist,

who died when Rachel was 12.

I don't remember much of London.

What I think I remember

is probably from pictures I saw later.

We moved to Boston when I was six,

Canada when I was twelve.

That's when my mom started chemo.

So where are you from?

Only place I've ever felt at home,

at least for a moment, is Israel.

Why?

I don't know.

You know, my mom always used to talk about it.

She volunteered in a kibbutz there in the '70s.

It was a big thing for Germans to do at that time.

Have you ever lived there?

She was in a relationship

with an Israeli medical student she'd met in London.

That was her first time in the country.

When they split up, she stayed.

She had no real plans. She was kind of a drifter.

When she extended her work visa,

someone in the organization noticed.

I mean, she immediately attracted attention,

passports,

language skills.

A lack of any center or real roots anywhere.

The recruiter got a sense

that she was eager to belong.

Eager to do something significant.

We gave her a fully authenticated

Australian passport.

Built her a whole new identity around that.

Early years near Sydney, growing up in Canada.

She spent a year in Leipzig establishing that identity.

Her cover,

an English and French teacher.

Hello.

Her first assignment

was to get a work permit in Tehran,

sponsored by a local language school there.

For a Mossad operative to enter Iran so early

in their career is unusual,

but I had confidence in her.

This making you uncomfortable?

Mm-mm.

Primary screening is about 30 seconds.

If you got a secondary, that's hours.

A secondary can be triggered by nervousness

or any kind of inconsistency.

So luggage, length of stay, profession, ticket class,

they all have to match.

You shouldn't look like

you've just stepped out of a mall.

How close are you to your father?

Why? What do you mean?

You should always establish cover

with close family members before unusual absences.

Oh, we're not close.

Still.

What?

All right.

I'll do it, fine.

You live alone, don't you?

Do I?

Hmm, I don't know.

You always schedule meetings on weekends.

Your predecessor never did.

Well, I think if it is 24-7 for you,

then it should be for me, too.

So even if you were married, you'd see me on a weekend?

I'm probably not gonna sleep tonight.

You're gonna do great.

You're the best person for this assignment.

Thank you for saying that.

- Hello. - Hello.

Know anybody in Tehran?

No, uh...

I e-mailed with the person who hired me.

You are staying where?

Hotel Esteghlal.

Hey!

I'm sorry?

New?

Oh, some. I lost my luggage on my flight to Berlin.

Taxi!

Hello?

Hello, Miss Currin.

Our spa is open and at your disposal.

We also want to let you know

that we have all kinds of drinks.

Not just what's in the menu,

all kinds of drinks.

I couldn't sleep that night.

I imagined them entering, dragging me out.

I imagined being hanged.

I remember thinking, I'm all alone.

You know, it's just me

and the rest of the world.

Everybody must know who I am.

How could they not?

And then I realized,

as I was standing there, peeping, that...

I had nothing to hide.

You know I was just that person who came here to teach.

That's it.