A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
SECURITY BUREAU HEADQUARTERS
[eerie music]
PERSONNEL FILE SECRET COLLABORATOR
[beep]
Go.
Everything.
[tense music]
[tense music continues]
SB CENTRAL ARCHIVE CLEARANCE LEVEL 1
[whirr of machinery]
[haunting music]
[indistinct voices]
[scanner beeps]
[engine running]
[voices speaking Vietnamese]
[happy chatter]
Evening, Grandma.
Good evening, my child.
[several Vietnamese voices]
Sit down.
[pulsing music]
[door opens]
I'm afraid this is private facility.
I can recommend several establishments you might find to your liking.
Safe passage.
Come with me, please.
[many conversations at once]
- [woman speaks Vietnamese] - Not now, Vingh.
[shuts door]
[Uncle] It's not every day that Mossad asks for permission.
We respect your neutrality and don't want to undermine it.
Besides, we see your operation as beneficial in certain ways.
Ah, right.
How may I help you?
One of our couriers is missing.
He had information we consider vital to the interests of our country.
We need to find the source of the information he was carrying.
I think you can help.
I'm just a merchant. How would I know such a man?
A merchant who supplies Poland's secret war against the Soviets in Chechnya.
Information the KGB would find valuable.
And if I find this person?
Identify him for us. That's all.
I assure you that this in no way affects your business interests.
The national interests of my country are just as vital to me.
Then you realize we'll do anything to protect the interests of ours.
Next time we won't ask for permission.
Hong will see to whatever you need.
Just be discreet, please.
You don't know all my business interests.
[haunting music]
In January 1983, we registered a tremor in the Tatra mountains,
near Czechoslovakia.
All indicators pointed to an underground nuclear test.
But whose?
We wrote reports, started an investigation...
but then we were suddenly stopped.
I realize now
that we've always been a few steps behind this Świętobór.
While we were planning for the next five years, he was planning the next 500..
Only kings think that way.
And gods.
You only found the first act. We need to know the whole play.
Or everything our Motherland has fought for will be in vain.
[shutter clicks]
I see you've brought your muscle.
What's his deal?
Said he would only talk to you.
He's very sentimental.
Listen to what he has to say.
Maybe you'll sleep tonight.
Just no funny stuff.
I thought you might want this.
His father told us he was in love.
If it means anything to you.
- Thank you. - He was murdered by the SB.
They found out he was your informant. They staged his suicide.
Who?
Does it matter? I can't arrest them anyway.
Then how do you know?
We ruled out suicide.
Focused on finding someone with a motive.
Which is something you should have done...
But love can sometimes confuse the senses.
You're getting sloppy.
I have Benjamin.
Relax. I have him, not the Milicja.
He's safe.
We want to get him out so he doesn't "commit suicide."
What do you want?
Same thing as you, I think.
For this to end.
Uncle told me that you're looking for your soul.
I think Uncle has discovered Mickiewicz.
You really want all this to end?
What you're doing? Yes.
All of it.
And replace it with what?
I've got something for you.
Where did you get it?
You just need to know where to look. If you're interested in finding the truth.
FINAL REPORT ON THE INCIDENT AT MINE #7 IN CZECHOWICE-DZIEDZICE
The Party was telling the truth.
They found out who was responsible.
I think they kept it secret...
to spare your family the pain.
Uncle said that it would be cathartic for you.
I hope we don't meet again.
The body of Christ.
JANUARY 1983
[congregation sings psalm]
The body of Christ.
[singing continues]
[priest] The body of Christ.
- Excuse me, Father Matyba? - Yes.
I was told I could come here for help.
Who said so?
Katarzyna Ibrom.
Our husbands were arrested, detained.
He's a university professor.
I don't wield political influence.
It's not that. My mother is sick. Leukemia.
I need medicine but because of what happened I am...
no longer able to get the drug.
Kasia said that I could come here.
Do you belong to this parish?
I've never seen you here.
No, I live in Nowe Miasto.
Then you came a long way to pray.
I don't need prayer.
Your husband was a professor?
Is.
I'm a secretary at GKKFiS.
I'm very sorry, but I can't help you.
I need to close the church.
What's her name?
Your mother. What's her name?
Maria.
[in English] It's hard to have privacy in here.
The voices bounce off the stones.
I think it's designed that way.
[priest, in English] My Polish is terrible.
- [Maja] We can speak English if you like. - You speak English?
I have to speak English for my job. Not that well but...
That way, please.
[priest] Lucky for me.
I'm Father Daniel.
I'm from Ireland.
Irish...
Hard to tell, huh?
Once I saw your national team when they came for a competition
and I remember the guy... His name was Johnny Gills?
Johnny Giles.
You like football?
Not really. I have to do this only for my job.
- You said something about GKK... - Yeah. It's hard to pronounce.
It's the Sports Ministry which organizes international events.
So you work for them but you don't like football.
They put you wherever they think you can be useful.
Yes...
Communism and its efficiencies.
Father Matyba runs an underground network
bringing in medicines from parishes in the West.
Europe, the Americas...
I've even seen a package from as far away as Honduras.
That makes him a target.
Tell me about your mother.
- That bad? - She's a proud Party member.
Doesn't know they cut her off years ago.
I've been using my job to keep getting those drugs.
And now you can't.
No. The Party, they like to punish people.
Tell me what you need.
[Daniel] For leukemia?
I may be able to help.
Boss.
Yeah?
You were right.
We've got them.
Maciej Fiolek.
Facial recognition confirmed it.
[Janów chuckles]
All these years, the son of a bitch was right under my nose.
How so?
Five years ago, I was investigating the murder of his parents.
We figured he was killed as well, but we never found the body.
But I always felt he was still alive.
Maybe he killed them.
I considered it but I couldn't find a motive.
You don't just up and kill your parents.
Unless they're not your real parents.
- Like with Benjamin and Łukasz. - Fuck!
That's why she's recruiting them.
We have to find out who their real parents were.
It can't be a coincidence. She has to have a list.
It all must have started with their parents.
Are you hungry?
Eat.
Thank you.
- [phones ringing] - [murmuring voices]
[tense music]
[birds tweeting]
[in English] General.
Yes?
- I don't want to disturb you. - Nonsense.
I needed some fresh air.
You're DoD?
Yes. Sec Def's office. Plutonium disposal unit.
You're a civilian?
An engineer.
A nuclear engineer...
Rolbiecki.
Yes. It used to be Lorbiecki, before it was changed.
Is that Kashubian?
Yes. My great-grandparents migrated to Wisconsin in the 1900s.
Really? From where?
Around Kartuzy.
- They were farmers. - Fascinating.
My ancestors are from that region.
They stretch back a long time.
The House of Griffins?
Yes. I am.
So your ancestors ruled my ancestors.
They died out centuries ago
but for a time there were Griffin kings on the thrones of Norway and Denmark.
Even an English Queen.
Is that why you took the name...
Świętobór?
You mean, do I have thoughts of imperial grandeur?
I suppose there is a little part in each of us
who wants to have a different history.
Every Pole in America sometimes feels that way.
It was my grandfather who brought back the name during the Second Republic.
Most of our ancestry was German by that point.
but it's been Polish blood in my veins for generations.
You're not like your colleagues.
I think most of them regard Poland as the quickest route to Moscow.
The first domino to fall.
Perhaps.
[pulsing music]
[beeping]
Take this upstairs and notify Pająk.
Ask him for a list of victims from that plane crash.
Yes, sir.
- I found the place in the photo. - You shouldn't come here.
- It was Władysław's wedding. - Whose?
My girlfriend's father.
Do you have it with you?
Come with me.
Adamus, Żurawski, Fiolek, the ULTRA woman. The General.
Władysław might have taken it. He knew them all.
- Why would he lie about knowing Żurawski? - We all have secrets.
- OK, tell me what this all means. - I don't know.
Three of them are dead.
Is he in danger, too? Me? Her?
The only thing we know for sure is that one of the people in this photo
was murdered five years ago.
- And my professor. - We don't know if that was a homicide.
Maybe he was trying to warn me.
"Truth is the only weapon mortals have to fight the Gods."
That girl of yours, what's her name?
Karolina. Why?
You know...
I sometimes think your best option is to forget about all of this,
marry Karolina and lead a safe, comfortable life.
Would you have done that?
I'm not the best example to follow.
Alright, what's the other option?
Find out what connects these people besides having attended the same wedding.
Maybe then we'll find an answer to your questions.
- We? Plural? - Yeah.
Yes.
Since we're partners now, can you give me the photo?
I've already looked at it enough.
Did you manage to find anything on Żurawski?
Not yet, but our best man is on it.
NORTHERN DISTRICT - SZCZECIN
Stach!
You, in the field? What are you doing here?
Your famed quince liquor!
You always made the best one.
Which means you want something.
I'm here regarding a case.
They finally demoted you to detective. Very good.
You got fat in that Chief's chair.
Happens to the best of us.
How do you like it in the East?
You should get out of there before they corrupt you completely.
Should I start worrying?
Let's just say I didn't want to draw the SB's attention.
That's why I came to you.
And only to you.
This is getting interesting.
JANUARY 1983
[quiet conversation in background]
[Daniel] For your son.
Though he may be too old now.
No, he will love it. Thank you.
Go ahead.
Squeeze it.
The seam is in the bottom.
But be careful, because I can't sew worth a damn.
You'll have a bear shitting medicine as you walk down the street.
Don't worry.
This collar is like kryptonite.
Krypton... what's that?
Never mind.
How can I repay you?
There are families like yours all over Poland.
We can get the supplies and medicines
but we don't have doctors to administer them, particularly in the East.
I have a friend, an Irish businessman, a devout Catholic.
He brings in doctors, from England and Ireland mostly.
Smuggles them in and out.
But since martial law, it's becoming more difficult to get proper documents.
I'd like you to meet with him.
Just have a conversation.
Think of the good that you can do.
OK.
[Oliwka] Kamil Zatoń.
His parents were arrested and sent to prison after 12 March.
They're part of the "disappeared". Fates unknown.
He was adopted by a family loyal to the Party
and recruited by the SB at 18.
Now he's one of the Praetorians of the new Security Minister.
- Trojan. - Why are they letting us in so close?
Guilty conscience?
"The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father,
nor the father for the iniquity of the son."
- The Bible. - If this was Russia, they would kill us.
- What do you think? - It won't be easy.
But if we could get him to our side, we would have intel
on safety measures and Party member security.
Including Trojan.
So what's the plan?
We need something with limited range, something quick.
Any upcoming commemorative events?
The opening of the Philharmonic. The entire Party brass will be there.
The SB always does a security sweep first, so this guy should be there.
How do we do this? The easy way or the hard way?
Does he look like he's going to make things easy?
MILICJA HEADQUARTERS, SZCZECIN
[gulls cry]
Your men?
No, but that's one of our cars.
Have the new transmitters been activated in all of your cars?
Yes.
A bit further.
What's this all about?
I've got something.
Move, junior.
Jonasz Modzelewski.
Personal advisor to Modzelewski and his adopted son.
The official cause of the crash is sudden depressurization.
I can't get the results of the autopsy or the investigation. It's the SB's turf.
That's not all.
I have this from a friend
who handles mass spectrometry for the SB forensics unit.
The head of ULTRA, Torzecka,
died in an explosion three nights ago.
- An explosion? - Yes, a controlled one.
Covered an entire room full of people.
They're saying it was a normal house fire.
But the explosion was controlled and meant to kill.
It's Ofelia's work.
Both of them.
Find out if Torzecka had a son. Now.
On it.
I need you to dig around a bit.
Try to find out as much as you can about Kajetan Skowron.
His parents are victims of 12 March. He studies law at the university.
Just be discreet about it. He has a powerful guardian angel.
[pulsing music]
[birds tweeting]
We have something.
[officer] Shall I call in the rest of the unit?
No.
I'm taking over this case.
[Effy] You're sure you won't need me?
Focus on Kajetan.
Unless... second thoughts?
It just might be harder than I thought.
He doesn't remember his parents. At all.
He has no real connection to them.
- He doesn't even feel anger. - Then make him angry.
- Like you made me? - Yes.
This is completely different.
We made our decisions ourselves when we found out. And him?
They made his parents martyrs. They built memorials to them.
Do you have any memories of them?
Some of his mother. A caring woman who took us to the playground.
And then disappeared.
That's not enough.
LIST OF FATALITIES
[Stępińska] "The Committee for Mine Safety hereby concludes
that the decision to deploy work crews in an unsafe environment
rested solely with union foreman Janów
and thus exonerates the mine's management from culpability."
Anatol.
Anatol, when will you show it to her?
I don't know.
You have to give it to her.
- It's not that easy. - It is.
She has to know the truth.
Maybe it's better that she doesn't.
It will kill her.
I don't know what to do.
JANUARY 1983
[Maria] Kajtuś?
Here.
Thank you, I only had two doses left.
I know. The pharmacy had a shortage.
Did you hear anything about Wiktor?
No, nobody knows anything.
I'm sure they're treating him well. If he's done nothing wrong.
I'll be back in an hour.
Are you hungry? Do you want an egg?
I'll make you a delicious egg!
A charming legend.
- Did you make a wish? - Yes.
And it just came true.
Shall we walk?
Daniel says you have a son.
- Yes, he's almost six. - Lovely age.
So curious, desperate to know everything. How everything all works.
He's always asking questions, yes.
And your mother?
I'm glad we could get her the medicine. You don't have to worry anymore.
If she knew where it was coming from she'd probably refuse it.
- That loyal? - I would say, that stupid.
Well, not everyone thinks like us.
I don't really know what you're asking of me.
I just want you to know that I really love my family and I really love our country.
Very much.
That's why we're trying to help you.
It's not as easy as before to get travel documents.
That's what you want, right?
That's why you're helping me?
I'm helping because you need help.
As for the doctors, they're risking their lives being here.
That's why we need real documents.
We owe it to them because they are risking themselves.
You can't know this but...
The whole world wants to help you.
They all have to look like athletes, or you won't fool anyone.
In that case I shall choose them myself.
- Where are we going? - You'll see.
[officer] Name?
[soft pulsing music]
[soft footsteps]
Come on.
[man in next room] Today is my zenith, the peak of my power.
Today I shall know if I am the highest of all,
or merely presumptuous.
Today is the fated hour.
Today I will strain my soul's power.
This is the moment of Samson,
as he mused blindly by the pillar.
I will shed my body and garb my spirit in feathers.
I need flight.
I will leave the whirligig of planets and stars,
reach the edges of Nature and Creation.
I have them now, I have two wings.
They will do.
I will spread them from West to East.
Striking the past with one, and the future with the other.
And follow the rays of feeling to You.
And peer into Your feelings for once.
You, who they say feels so much in heaven.
I'm here.
I've come.
Witness my power.
[playing haunting chords on piano]
[piano playing continues]
THE NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC INAUGURAL CONCERT
He's on the move.
Got him.
[pulsing music]
- Going down. I'm losing him. - Which floor?
I don't know.
[pulsing music continues]
[earpiece] Do you see him?
[she groans]
- [metallic slicing] - [she screams]
[crunch]
- [screaming] - [banging on metal walls]
- [metallic bang] - [groans]
- [teeth in flesh] - [he screams]
- [banging] - [groaning]
Fuck, Thahn. There's a problem.
[taser buzzing]
Grab him, Thahn.
Hang in there.
Hold on.
Press it tightly.
[man] Go, go!
- How bad is she? - Very!
[man] Fucking go!
[tense music]
Come on, Oliwka.
I'm here.
[thud]
Where do we take her?
I don't fucking know!
I need to know!
Where's Effy?
[man] Now my spirit is one with my homeland.
My body has swallowed her soul.
Me and my homeland are one.
My name is Million,
for I love and suffer for millions.
I look at my poor homeland,
like a father at his son on the rack.
I feel the suffering of my nation like a mother feels her baby in her womb.
I suffer, I rage, and You...
Wise and cheerful, ever the ruler.
Ever the judge.
And they say you're never wrong.
Speak up, or I will strike against your Nature.
If I don't turn it into rubble,
I shall shake the foundation of your dominion.
My voice will pierce
every layer of Creation.
This voice will travel from generation to generation.
I will scream that you are not the Father but...
[haunting piano playing]
Thahn! Find Effy!
[pulsing music]