Summary
Talk about cliffhangers! With the sense that something dramatic was around the corner, the ending of In From the Cold is a shocking one.
This recap of Netflix’s In From the Cold season 1, episode 8, “Motherland,” — the ending explained — contains spoilers.
In From the Cold season 1, episode 8 recap – the ending explained
The final episode of the first season of In From the Cold begins with a flashback in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Jenny is with her husband, and despite their seemingly friendly interaction, they’re in the middle of a divorce, and they wonder whether Becca knows anything.
In the current timeline, Jenny begs Svetlana not to kill Becca. In response, Svetlana tells Jenny that she failed her birthright and that now, Becca will fulfill the destiny that Jenny ignored. As Diego gets arrested, Chief Inspector Ohana tells Chauncey to disappear. But first, as Diego isn’t revealing much, Chauncey persuades Ohana to allow Diego to speak to Ines, his mother. With Diego finally opening up, he states that Gideon is a woman.
A wounded Jenny tells Chauncey about the danger that Becca is in, whilst Svetlana visits Jenny before the ice skating competition begins. With Chris’s help, Chauncey tracks Jenny down to Madrid Arena but not before he begs Ohana to lock down the arena. After Chauncey uses a stapler to seal Jenny’s wound up, Becca gets shown to be under Svetlana’s mind control.
Jenny believes that the attack on the Prime Minister was a distraction, and instead, the real attack is at the arena, where the Senator is. After Becca wins a bronze medal during the championship, Svetlana controls Becca’s mind as the Senator goes to place the medal around her neck. As Becca is about to slit the Senator’s throat, Jenny shoots into the air. It causes huge panic within the crowd. As a sniper has eyes on Jenny, she begins to morph into those she has previously morphed into. All the time this happens, Svetlana sits in a secure room with the Senator and hums as she twists her stopwatch.
Jenny tracks down Becca and shoots her near the ear in the hope that it, as it did with Damian and Lidia, will break her hold. Jenny believes the attack was another decoy, and instead, Svetlana is using the chaos to hijack the Senator’s mind. It becomes Jenny’s belief she’ll find Svetlana at the nearest helipad; whilst Becca takes care of Chauncey. In a flashback, Jenny/Anya is safe following her murders of Dr. Orlav and Faina. But before Svetlana tells her about the next mission, Jenny/Anya’s family wishes her a happy birthday. It’s during this scene that we learn that Svetlana is the mother of Jenny/Anya! “Happy Birthday Ptichka”.
The ending
As she expected, Jenny finds Svetlana at one of the helipads. Svetlana reveals that after Jenny “went into the cold”, she was arrested and prosecuted for criminal disloyalty to the state and sent to Siberia. Jenny states that it’s what Svetlana deserved, to which Svetlana says “perhaps”. And the reason for Svetlana’s actions? Revenge? No. She has done it to make a correction. After hijacking the Senator’s mind, she will ensure he soon becomes President, which is when he will launch a missile into St Petersburg, and WW3 will start. Except for this time, Svetlana says, Russia will be the good guys. Svetlana then taunts Jenny with the connection she now shares with Becca due to her mind control. So Jenny shoots her in the head.
One Month Later. Becca explains that she felt as though she was losing control. Although, with little memory over the events, she blames it on the divorce. She then asks Jenny why she cheated on Dad, with Jenny unable to provide her with a clear answer. Although she does promise Becca that they’ll be no more secrets. Jenny is now in a relationship with Chauncey, and they facetime Chris who now has ambitions to be a UPS IT guy.
Once off the phone, Jenny and Chauncey toast a celebration of his reinstatement from the CIA. But there is one catch, as Jenny is too valuable of an asset, she hasn’t got her freedom. Regardless, Jenny still thanks Chauncey for coming into her life and allowing herself to come to terms with who she is. Aww. Even so, you can just feel something is about to occur. Later that night, as Jenny downs vodka, she smashes up some concrete and digs out a box. Inside is a phone, she speaks in Russian; “Agent Anya Petrova, everything is fine. It worked”.
What did you think of Netflix’s In From the Cold season 1, episode 8, and the ending? Comment below.
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