Previously on the AMC series Talamasca: The Secret Order, Guy Anatole (Nicholas Denton) finds himself questioning his life when he meets Helen (Elizabeth McGovern), the leader of Talamasca, a secret organization that finds information on the supernatural. Guy meets a vampire, Burton (Jason Schwartzman), learning that supernatural beings do, in fact, exist. He warns him that he needs to be careful with the Talamasca. Guy decides to help Helen, becoming a secret investigator for the organization in London.
The episode begins with an investigation team with the police searching the crime scene at the train station, where the young girl was killed in the previous episode. Jasper (William Fichtner) gets information on the girl. The leader of the Talamasca in London, Mr. Owens (Jonathan Aris), tells him they don’t have to worry about their information being found. But Jasper knows that Helen will find someone else to work for her.
Along with items he will need, Guy gets a code name: Dark Horse. Helen tells him that after the mission, there’s a major chance that they will never see or hear from each other again. After a week of training, Helen takes him to the airport to head to London for the mission.
A man named Checkers (Will Brown) gets questioned by Mr. Owens about his relations with the girl, Soledad (Simona Brown). He learns that she used his card to gain access to the building.
Guy goes to an adult store, promoting their business, which he’s ordered to do by Talamasca. Once he gets back to his apartment, he tries to get information on his birth mother, Anna Leamas, but everything in the file is blacked out. After having no luck, he goes to the bar and eats dinner. He meets a girl, Keves (Amelia Clarkson). Before she leaves, they take a picture with her Polaroid camera, and she invites him to a party. Guy ends up going to the party at a club. He finds Keves, and the two of them end up on the dancefloor together. A woman watches them across the room, slowly moving toward them, before kissing Keves. The stranger kisses Guy and whispers to him, “You’re in so much trouble.”
The next day, in the city, Guy notices that an important tape ‘X’ mark is gone from the telephone booth. He ends up going to a park and finds a phone with his next step listed. He finds an envelope with his next target, Archie (Joshua Ben-Tovim). Later at night, he finds the man he’s looking for, keeping a close eye on him. Jasper walks past Archie, and Guy notices, quickly deciding to follow him. He then leaves when he notices Jasper sitting with Archie, using his super hearing to listen to the conversation. Jasper senses Guy’s power and glances at him. Guy then follows Archie to an apartment building, where he argues with a woman before attacking her. Guy enters the apartment and finds Archie dead. Noise comes from the bathroom, and Guy finds the woman has hung herself. The woman is Keves. He trips over Archie’s legs, and Archie breathes slowly, still alive. He points to Keves’ backpack with a book inside. Before he can take the backpack, Guy realizes that his fingerprints are now everywhere near the crime scene, so he hurriedly takes off.
Overall, this was a good episode, with a lot of tense moments. It was shocking to find out that Keves was related to what the Talamasca is involved in and how she ended her life. It’s a little upsetting that Guy didn’t take the book, feeling like it had something to do with why he and Keves were fighting. One of the strongest moments is Jasper catching Guy using his powers—the tension between them feels sharp and unpredictable. Even Guy’s other close calls work because the actors, Nicholas Denton and William Fichtner, sell the danger before the dialogue does, making the tension feel real. What will happen now that Keves and Archie are dead?
Rating: 9/10