The Company (miniseries)

Did You Know?

• On Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 22 critics' reviews are positive.
• The website's consensus reads: 'Overly ambitious to be sure, The Company nevertheless delivers an evocative Cold War tale with top-notch performances and an engrossing sense of intrigue.'

Synopsis

In 1950, Yale graduates Jack McAuliffe and Leo Kritzky are recruited to the CIA by Frank "The Wizard" Wisner, while their friend Yevgeny Tsipin returns to Moscow and is recruited into the KGB by the spymaster Starik, falling in love with Azalia Ivanova. By 1955, Jack works under Harvey "The Sorcerer" Torriti in East Berlin, where Soviet defector Vitaly Vishnevsky offers the identity of a mole in MI6. Counterintelligence chief James Jesus "Mother" Angleton handles the exfiltration from Washington, informing his MI6 liaison Adrian Philby. The exfiltration fails when the KGB and Berlin Police arrive instead of Vishnevsky, leading Torriti and Jack to suspect the mole. Angleton blames Berlin, prompting Torriti to feed a barium meal: privileged information given to a trusted MI6 contact to force the mole to act. Jack falls for his asset Lili, who provides scientist intelligence. The barium meal leads to an ambush, and Torriti plans another. In Washington, Leo becomes Wisner's apprentice despite Angleton's doubts, and falls for Adele Sweet; her father eventually approves their marriage despite initial disapproval of the "mixed marriage." Yevgeny arrives in Washington, decodes Moscow Radio codes at night and delivers liquor by day, including to the mole Philby. Torriti flies home to tell Angleton and CIA director Allen Dulles that Philby is the mole, but Angleton discredits him. In Berlin, Lili's information proves unreliable; she admits being turned by the KGB but says she loves Jack. The KGB murders the scientist, and Lili commits suicide. Yevgeny warns Philby to flee, saying another mole named Sasha has replaced him. Jack remains uncertain whether Torriti used Lili for the final barium meal, and Angleton is devastated that his best friend was a mole.

Similarities to real life

The Soviet spy Tsipin uses the code word "Alice in Wonderland" and the aliases Eugene "Dodgson" and Gene "Lutwidge," referencing Lewis Carroll's real name, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Tsipin's KGB superior Starik takes posed photos of young girls as a hobby, similar to Dodgson. The DVD set includes a second disk with a "Covert Mission" that, when placed in a computer DVD drive, leads to a website, www.thecompanyspygame.com, which was abandoned in 2011.