Summary
The Asset ventures into morally murky waters in Episode 4, forcing Tea into a position where she has to willingly send Ashley back into the lion’s den.
You know how it goes — one minute you’re making new friends and doing deals, the next someone is getting shot to death right in front of you. Okay, so that’s not usually how things go. But it’s how things are going for Tea in The Asset. Following Bambi’s shocking death, she’s still reeling, but also still tasked with continuing the mission. Even the bag she wears for the funeral in Episode 4 contains a hidden camera so she can keep track of who’s in attendance, courtesy of Yasin, who is the only member of the team who bothered to ask if she is okay (spoiler alert: She isn’t).
Folke just sees an opportunity. With Bambi’s death, Miran will be even more desperate, which means Tea is now more important to him than ever. And Folke’s right. Miran is taking the death pretty badly. He immediately goes to see Erik — who was last mentioned way back in Episode 1 — to ask for a couple more weeks to clear his debt, and gets handed a lollipop meant for Sofia in exchange. The implication is pretty clear. If he doesn’t hold up his end of the bargain, it’ll be his little girl who pays the price.
I’m not sure to what extent The Asset wants us to feel sympathetic for Miran. It has been clarified repeatedly that he’s an abuser, not just a drug dealer, but his concern for Ashley and Sofia seems to be genuine; he even considers moving them both out of town so they’re not in the firing line. But it’s Niko who goes to pursue the business venture with Tea, and he’s less of a soft touch. He’s already deeply suspicious of why Tea would want to work with Miran in the first place, given that the fake jewelry store is making her tons of money on paper. He clearly doesn’t buy her claims that she just wants to help Miran out because she likes Ashley. But he’s just an employee, so he’s forced to play along and take Tea to an underground diamond deal where she has to put her (very) newfound expertise to some use.
This sequence is similar to the phone shenanigans in Episode 2, a long-ish run of tension that Tea just about manages to wrangle her way out of. Through Miran, she learns that the diamonds are bound for Spain, and that her job will be to believably embed them in high-end pieces of jewelry (and acquire the correct paperwork so they can cross borders). This is all fine, but I’d argue it’s less interesting than a later scene, where Miran and Ashley are told by social services that Sofia’s worsening behaviour — wetting the bed, hiding, etc. — is indicative of things going on at home that they can’t continue to ignore. This feels like the real cost of doing business.
This is perhaps why The Asset Episode 4 finds Tea at even more of a crossroads. The impact of all this on Ashley and Sofia, both of whom she’s beginning to earnestly care for, makes her more resistant to blindly following Folke’s instructions, especially when Ashley reveals she and Sofia are heading for a well-earned break in Malaga. Tea knows, but apparently Ashley doesn’t, that Miran is using his family to smuggle the diamonds into Spain. Tea doesn’t like the idea of her being manipulated and endangered, but Folke instructs her not to care, as if that’s possible.
Luckily — or not, depending on your perspective — Ashley finds the diamonds in her case and immediately confronts Miran about it. They have a vicious argument that is only prevented from getting physical by Sofia’s untimely arrival, but Ashley is compelled to take Sofia and bail while Miran is asleep. And where else would she go other than Tea’s? This is a terrible predicament for her to be in, since she’s now personally responsible for Ashley and Sofia’s safety, but professionally obligated to push them to go to Spain so the PET can take down Miran. It’s a nightmare.
Folke makes it clear whose interests he cares about by insisting that Tea sends Ashley and Sofia back to Miran. She follows the instruction, but dresses it up as though she’s doing Ashley a favour by stopping her from fleeing without a concrete plan. That’s one way to rationalise sending an abused wife back into the lion’s den. But Tea’s stressed reaction when Ashley leaves proves that the assignment is getting to her more than she’d like to admit.
