This article, ”who is Jenny Franklin,” contains spoilers regarding Netflix’s In From the Cold season 1.
Who is Jenny Franklin in In From the Cold season 1?
Originally born Anya Petrova, she is the daughter of Svetlana Petrova. After growing up in Russia, she was cruelly forced by her mother into befriending Faina Orlov in an attempt to get closer to her father Dr Orlov.
After becoming romantically involved with Faina, Jenny/Anya moves forward with murdering Dr Orlov. But tragically, Faina walked in on the scene. This left Jenny/Anya with no choice but to kill Faina, as well.
After Dr Orlov’s guards attempt to break into his offices, which would face Jenny/Anya with certain death, Svetlana instructs her to inject herself as part of the Yaroslav Program, a bio-weapons program under the KGB. Although Jenny/Anya does so, it nearly kills her, and it’s down to Svetlana to save her life. She ultimately does survive, but now has a range of special abilities such as body morphing and camouflage.
What happens next is unknown, but it’s clear that she flees from Russia (and her mother) and changes her name to Jenny Franklin. She gets married and has a daughter, Becca. Although, by the start of In From the Cold, Jenny is in the midst of getting a divorce as she slept with someone else.
What does Jenny Franklin do? (spoilers)
After Jenny arrives in Madrid with Becca, she is captured by Chauncey and forced to investigate recent attacks in Madrid that could suggest the use of mind control. Although Jenny originally tries to deny that she is Anya Petrova, she gets tricked into coming clean.
With help from Chauncey and Chris Clark, Jenny works undercover to try and uncover the identity of Gideon. (The individual believed to be behind the recent attacks). Her attempts to do so lead her directly to Felipe and his family. But when she believes that they pose a risk to Becca’s life, she kills him.
Eventually, following a tip-off from Felipe, Jenny learns that Gideon is none other than Svetlana Petrova, her mother. Soon enough, Jenny is on a mission to save Becca from Svetlana’s mind control. In the finale, Jenny corners Svetlana on a helipad, and following taunts about Becca, Jenny shoots Svetlana in the head.
Jenny’s biggest twist comes in the closing moments of In From the Cold. One month after the events that saw her murder Svetlana, Jenny is in a relationship with Chauncey. And whilst she doesn’t have her freedom, she seems to be getting by. Then, one night whilst jugging a bottle of vodka, Jenny smashes up a floor and digs out a phone. She dials a number, and in Russian, says, “Agent Anya Petrova, everything is fine. It worked”.
So after season 1 concludes, the audience may be asking, “Who the hell is Jenny Franklin?”. Did she plan everything that occurred? Is it part of a bigger plan? What happens next? Who knows, but if there is a second season of In From the Cold, let’s hope we get the answers to those questions.
You can watch this series with a subscription to Netflix.
