Original air date: April 7, 2024
Plot: With the palace walls now breached, Elena and Zubak find themselves on the run – and seeking help from an everyday citizen – to evade capture by the rebels. Later, Elena leverages her skills in diplomacy – and duplicity – in a last-ditch effort to stay in power.
* * *
(ambient nature sounds)
(wind blowing)
(distant combat)
(thump)
(thump)
(thumping)
(bird cawing)
(panting) Herbert?
Stay down, stay down.
No, I can’t, I can’t, I…
I can’t. (panicking) Wh-Where are we?
Let me think!
(distant gunfire)
Okay, we cannot stay here. We have to move.
We have to move, now. (grunts)
No, no, no.
Yes, we have to move now.
No. No, no. Don’t.
Come here.
No, no!
Come on.
I can’t, I can’t!
No! I can’t just be in this state of being
or not being, like I’m just some
person surviving!
Listen to me!
No, you f… listen to me!
I have to… I have…
We’re going back to who I was! No!
No, come on! Ah!
Listen to me!
Fuck you!
Your government has fallen!
Get off me! Off!
(Elena screaming)
(screaming) Hey! Hey!
Hey, it’s over!
No.
(normal) You understand?
No.
My love, look at me. It’s over.
No, get off me, you fuck!
(screams) Hey!
(gunfire)
(Elena screams)
(Herbert shushes)
(Elena cries out)
You… Look at me, my love.
You have no power anymore, you understand?
Herbert…
You’re in… Shh,
you’re in my world now.
(Elena whimpering)
I’m the soldier, yes?
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
You want to survive,
you listen to me.
Yes.
Yes?
Yes.
You take my hand.
(Elena stammering)
Take my hand.
My love, you understand?
Yes, yes.
(stammering)
(tense music plays)
(Elena panicking)
(upbeat, plucky theme playing)
♪♪
♪♪
(theme concludes)
(ambient nature sounds)
So, from now on, you have to think like a soldier, yes?
(Elena scoffs)
Yes?
Yes.
We never surrender
of our own free will.
(distant explosion)
If we are captured,
we do everything to resist
and everything to escape.
Stay close.
Yes?
Yes.
But
if we could get a camera crew
or just something on social…
No, we are done with that shit!
But if my people could just see me…
No one can, no one can see you.
They will report us.
We need to get you out, you understand?
(aircraft passes overhead)
(Elena panting)
(gasps) China! That’s it. China.
They’ve always been good to me.
Forget about… Forget about it!
China is over there, we are here.
Move with me, come on.
Then, then, then Rinnburg, then.
Yes, my biggest loyalist stronghold.
We’ll regroup there, consolidate support.
Rinnburg is on the other side of the country.
We’re on foot and they are hunting you.
Well, then we find an airfield.
No, it’s probably taken over.
Well, then we just get a plane to meet us somewhere.
God, why is this so fucking hard?
We just get a plane.
(screams) How, Elena?! How?
Well, I don’t fucking know. I just… do it.
(airplane passes overhead)
(tense music playing)
What is it?
“The Vernham regime has been defeated.
(gasps) “The country is yours.
“Disregard any news to the contrary.
“All services will soon be restored by
the Westgate Resistance Army.”
Fuck them all!
Fuck them all forever for what
they’ve done to me!
(screams) The cunts!
Shut up!
Shut up!
(Elena screams)
(Herbert shushes)
Nicky!
Nicky, Nicky! I know where he is.
I know where he’s staying in Switzerland.
Yes. That’s it. I…
We just find a phone and call him,
and he’ll send help.
(gasps) Yes, this is it, Herbert.
Herbert, we’ve got a plan. That’s right.
Yes, we just need to find a phone somewhere…
♪♪
(wind blowing)
(distant combat)
(swing creaking)
♪♪
Where are we?
Herbert Zubak: I don’t know.
(dog barking)
(whispers) Stay down, stay down.
♪♪
(loud explosion)
(Elena yelps)
(people yelling)
(Elena panting)
My people are close by. I know it.
We need to find you shelter.
Come on.
(Elena panting)
♪♪
So, do we just knock on a door?
(Herbert shushes)
I mean, no one could refuse my face.
(vehicle passing)
What, what’s that? (gasps)
Army! (stammers)
(shushes)
That’s us!
voice (over speakers): This is a curfew warning.
We cannot guarantee the safety of those found
outside after 9 p.m. tonight.
Anyone harboring Elena Vernham
or members of the Vernham regime
will be apprehended or shot on sight.
Mobile phone services will remain down for the time being…
No mobile phone services.
Shh, forget about that.
(gasps) But landlines, maybe.
Elena, look at me…
If we find someone who…
Elena, look at me.
We need to find you shelter
and a place to hide where nobody else would ever go.
You understand?
Right.
(dog barking)
(mysterious music playing)
(broken glass clinking)
(Herbert sighs)
♪♪
(music fades out)
(Herbert sighs)
Herbert: No food, no water, nothing.
It’s just fucking poetry books everywhere.
(Elena sighs)
I told Nicky it’s a pointless fucking genre.
Eighty words of drunken drivel about a pussy willow.
(Elena sighs)
(Elena sighs)
Elena?
What?
Were you really going to do it?
Do what?
Make me chancellor.
Well, yes, of course.
I mean, that was the whole plan, wasn’t it?
Herbert: Was it?
It was all happening, wasn’t it? (stammers)
I-I-I said it.
You didn’t say it. You hesitated.
Did I?
Yes, you did.
No, I…
Don’t fucking pretend with me.
(Herbert grips gun)
(light, uneasy music playing)
(sighs) Herbert.
(inhales)
(exhales) Herbert.
♪♪
Look at me and tell me I would betray you.
(music intensifies)
You tell me.
Tell me.
I would never… betray you.
(light music playing)
I would never betray you.
Alright.
(gunshots)
(Elena yelps)
(tense music playing)
(Elena panting)
(doors closing)
(Herbert shushes)
(vehicle drives off)
(tires screeching)
I can’t hide in the shadows.
You have to.
I can’t.
I have to do something.
My people are out there. They, they will help me.
Please, we have t… we have to find someone.
♪♪
(vehicle approaching)
♪♪
(tires screech)
Hello, my friend. Merry Christmas.
Yeah, sorry, was I…
No, no, no, You’re not in trouble.
(stammers) You’re not in trouble.
Listen, listen. Can you give me and my friend
a ride, please?
Um, I’m already late.
No, wait. It’s not, it’s not that far…
Curfew…
…it’s not that far and we’ve been waiting for hours.
The roads aren’t safe and my home’s been ruined.
Shh, shh.
I’m just trying to get to my brothers.
Look at me, look at me, it’s Christmas, come on.
(stammers)
Alright?
Here’s my friend, here’s my friend. Listen.
Oh, Christ!
Alright? We go wherever you go.
No, no, no, no, no, listen, my friend, listen…
No, no. No, no, no, no, no.
What-What is your name, my dear?
What is your name, my dear?
(driver whimpers)
What is your name?
(nervously) Gregor.
Gregor. Gregor, listen to me.
I’m telling you as your Chancellor,
don’t worry about the curfew,
don’t worry about the roads.
Just kill the noise in your head, Gregor.
You know you can trust me, don’t you?
Hm? Yes? And when this is all over,
very soon, they will say your name.
They will. They’ll say, Gregor, the man who drove her,
The Savior, The Ferryman. You know?
Gregor. Gregor, listen to me. Listen to… Anything you want
for your future, for your family,
will all be provided.
You’ll be a hero.
And we always remember heroes, don’t we?
Yes, we do!
You have a phone?
Oh! And heroes lend people their phone.
No!
Herbert: My friend, my friend, wait!
(tires screech)
Shit. Shit!
(panting) Stop! Stop, stop, stop!
Elena!
(Christmas music playing in car)
Elena!
Fuck me, you are joking.
Will you help your Chancellor?
Me, miss? Oh, yes, yes. Where are you going then?
Well, to your home, if you’d be so kind.
Miss, I-I am… I would be… It’s a…
It’s the most fucking great honor…
Herbert: Elena.
Fuck me. You as well?
Maybe we should take another one.
No, no, no. No, no. No, no. No, sir.
No, no, Corporal, my Corporal.
I am your man. Yeah, I am your man.
Yes, he is our man.
Herbert: He’s drunk.
He is our man. Get in the car. Don’t complain.
(tires screech)
(both grunting)
Hey, are you sure you can drive?!
Best damn driver in East Ganz you got here.
For my angel.
And you have my undying gratitude, sir.
Oh, my God, how can this be?
How the f… How are you with me?
(tires screeching)
Ow, ow, ow!
Hey, sir, is your house safe?
Oh, yes, safe house. Very clean place, sir.
We’ll have a Christmas toast, yeah?
Listen, what is your name, my love?
Driver: It’s Tomas.
They call me The Rooster,
but call me what you like.
There! Look there!
(tires screeching)
Tomas, now listen, do you happen to have a phone, Tomas?
Oh, yes. I have a phone. At home.
You can use mine.
Just let him drive, let him drive.
Eh, please, use…
Just one other thing, the road!
I am all yours, my sweet angel.
(grunting)
(tires screeching)
♪♪
You said you live in a house.
Oh, yes, sir.
My big, lovely house with all my fat fuck neighbors.
No, it’s too public.
Tomas: Don’t worry, sir.
It’s just me in my unit. I take you right up.
You, you just wait here first.
I f… I fetch you something to wear,
okay, for hiding, yes?
Good, right? We are here.
Yes, good. Good.
We made it! We have done it!
Yes. Done it!
Yes, Tomas!
Well done. Yes, my love.
Tomas: My love.
Aww. Yes, my love.
For fuck’s sake.
♪♪
I don’t trust him. He will fuck it up.
No, no, he’s exactly what we want.
He’s a beautiful, perfect idiot
and he’ll do anything for me.
speaker (over radio): Attention, former Chancellor
Elena Vernham is now a fugitive from justice.
If you have any information concerning her whereabouts,
report it immediately and receive your reward.
Loyalists will not be tolerated.
The Vernham partisans are losing support.
There is nowhere for the former chancellor to hide.
She will be found and prosecuted…
No need to hear these lies.
(turns off radio)
(baby crying)
(dog barking)
(light, tense music playing)
Oh, shit.
(Elena grunts)
(Elena panting)
Shh.
Elena Vernham: Wh… (panting)
(whispers) What is it?
Shh.
(Elena panting)
(uneasy music playing)
(indistinct chatter)
♪♪
Elena: (yelps) Oh.
Tomas: Here. Some of mine. Here and here.
Here’s a fake fur from my dead mother,
the old sow’s cunt. (laughs)
Bless you, my love. Bless you.
No, you are my love.
No, To…
Tomas…
You are our guardian angel.
Keep your head down.
What side are these people on?
Here? Ah, all sides, ya know?
Everywhere is all sides.
Herbert: Come on, hurry up.
Just people.
(Elena panting)
Go in, go in!
(person coughing)
(elevator dinging)
We cannot thank you enough, Tomas.
You will be remembered as a man who saved a nation.
Yes?
Elena: Yes.
I think I’d like it.
I would.
Listen, you cannot tell anyone that she’s here, you understand?
Anyone.
Yes, of course.
I only told my mother…
and my papa and my brother and my sister
and my sister’s brother’s cock.
(laughing) You should see your faces!
It was a joke! (laughing)
(baby crying)
(Elena whimpering)
(keys drop)
Hurry up.
(Tomas mumbles)
(door opens)
Tomas: And here we are.
Get inside.
(Elena panting)
You know that woman?
Who?
Right there, on the other side.
Oh, Greta.
Wouldn’t she like to know me.
Been eyeing my prick like a plum pudding, that one.
Oh, God, um…
Herbert: Can you trust her?
Oh, yeah, sure. Fuckin’ sure.
Now, T-Tomas, my love, now…
Yeah?
…you mentioned that you might have a telephone.
Oh, yes, yes. Absolutely.
It’s, uh, just here.
Uh, do you want a brandy?
Shall we toast, huh?
No, uh…
I-I-I-I would love to.
Oh, Herbert, Herbert.
Tomas: There you go, then.
Is it, is it working?
Tomas: Very good phone, you will see.
(locking door)
(tense music playing)
T-Tomas. (stammers) No.
No, Tomas. The-The-The door appears
to have locked itself behi…
Tomas (muffled): Ha-ha!
You fuckin’ pig woman!
They’ll hang you out like sausage!
Just you wait!
No, no, no, Tomas!
Open this door!
No, no! I-I demand you open this door immediately!
(muffled) Tomas!
(normal) Tomas, no, Tomas, my, my…
Tomas, my, my, my love, my angel.
Tomas!
I’m calling my cousin in Security Services!
(both yelling)
Elena: Jesus Christ, Herbert!
(grunting)
We need to find some…
Tomas (muffled): You are a demon bitch…
Herbert: Open the door!
…and you will be sent back to hell!
Motherfucker!
You took my gun!
You killed my country, and now I’m gonna kill you!
(Elena yelling)
Open this door!
Ooh!
(muffled) I’ll kill you!
Fuck!
No, no, no, no, no!
Move! Move!
(Elena crying out)
Move! (yells)
(angry exhale, yells)
(Elena panicking)
(dialing)
(panting)
(out of breath) My friend,
guess who is in my sleeping room. (laughs)
Told you!
Herbert.
What?!
(crying) I-It’s, it’s over?
Herbert: No, it’s not. We find a way like always.
No, no, I’ve…
Yes.
I’ve died.
No!
I’ve died.
No, you’re not!
Stop it!
I’ve, I’ve, I’ve died!
I might as well just fucking,
just fucking die!
Stop it! Elena, Elena, what are you doing?
(crying)
Shh. Hey, hey.
Elena (crying): No.
Shh, shh.
Look at me. Look at me.
Elena, please promise me never do this.
Promise me.
Tomas (sing-songy, muffled): They are on their way!
You fuckin’ savages!
(screams) Shut up!
I kill you, you f… Fuck!
Tomas (muffled): You stole all our money!
Give us our money back!
Herbert, no.
Tomas: You did this to us!
All of the love I gave them, Herbert.
Tomas: You did this!
All the love I gave them.
Tomas: I’ll be dancing on your grave!
(clock ticking)
(distant explosions)
(uneasy music playing)
(banging on door)
♪♪
(door slams open)
Elena: No, wha… (whimpering)
(tense music playing)
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don’t, I don’t,
I don’t speak to traitorous spy rat cunts!
Note, the former chancellor is refusing a civil dialogue.
Where’s your bill of indictment?
I demand to see some documentation
of your fucking legitimacy
of which there is none!
Take her. He stays.
Don’t fucking move!
No, no, no. Don’t you hurt him!
Elena, don’t talk to them!
You harm him,
I will, I will kill you!
Listen to me!
Leave him, leave him…
Elena, don’t tell them anything!
Elena!
…balls off with a pair of
fucking scissors! Herbert!
Herbert: Elena!
Elena!
Ow.
You will answer our questions now.
I absolutely will not.
Note, the former chancellor
refuses to answer the people’s questions.
Tell my people I will only answer to the true representatives
of the working class, at Parliament!
Parliament has been dissolved.
Parliament cannot be dissolved unless I dissolve it.
Laskin: The Security Service and the WRA have merged
to form a new supreme governing body,
The National Freedom Front.
National Freedom Front?
Nobody even knows what that is. Oh, this is a fucking joke.
Laskin: We shall read your offenses.
I’ve committed no offenses.
Lieutenant: The defendant, Elena Vernham,
has committed the following offenses.
“Defendant”?
Oh, you fucking infants.
“Carrying out acts incompatible with human dignity;
“acting in a despotic and criminal manner;
“murdering former Chancellor Edward Keplinger;
“procuring luxurious foodstuffs from abroad
while the people subsisted on 200 grams per day.”
Lies, lies.
Incontrovertible lies.
“Undermining the national economy;
-“armed attack on the people; -(Elena continues)
“and in accordance with Article 6 of the Rome Statute,
the crime of genocide.”
Oh, you are delusional.
Laskin: Did you hear the charges? Have you understood them?
No, I haven’t understood what…
Laskin: Answer me,
answer me.
No, mm, mm-mm.
Hear me now, you psychotic!
I tried with you!
Over and over, I tried to make your
crippled brain walk straight,
but no, you wouldn’t listen!
It was all mold and menopause
and daddy-pleasefuck-me bullshit,
all the way to hell!
So, now…
you will pay the piper…
and you will answer for your crimes.
No… you will answer for the crime of treason,
and I will drag your festering corpse to the people’s palace!
(chain rattles)
(muffled banging)
(door opens)
What are you doing to her?
(door closes)
(muffled banging)
No, you will take me to her now. Come on.
You do know what she’s just done in there?
She’s betrayed you.
Fuck you.
She wants you to wear the hair shirt.
Pin her sins on you,
“The butcher made me do it.”
We know the truth, you and I.
She’s not wired right, is she?
The father?
Hey!
Ooh.
God knows what he did.
Put his cock in her mouth, is the rumor.
Who knows?
Hey! Shut up!
Shut up!
I’m not so sure, but it doesn’t matter.
She’s incurable.
She used you to plump her ego,
and now the country’s dying.
She is killing us, thousands, everywhere.
Fathers, mothers, sons, the working people.
Your people. For nothing.
For pride.
You know it’s true, don’t you?
I assumed you always knew.
(sighs) I am not your tormentor.
I’m not here to extract anything.
But I watched it all.
We all have.
How she’s hurt you.
Deceived you. The humiliations. (chuckles)
Caging you, torturing you,
turning it around and calling it love.
Convincing you of some deep,
ancient fucking tether you’d be lost without.
This is what she’s done to all of us.
Held us captive to her love.
(tense, pensive music playing)
But now, it is over.
The time has come to renounce her, publicly, okay?
And save yourself.
(sighs)
(footsteps)
♪♪
(door slams)
(stammering) W-W-What’s happ… What’s happening?
Wh-Wh-What’s happening? I-I… I demand to know
what’s happening.
Laskin: What we expected.
Your big ox has deserted you.
Says you poisoned his brain.
What do you make of that?
He’d never say that.
Everyone’s left you, Elena.
You’re all alone,
with no choice but to cooperate.
You’ll tell your people the truth.
You will publicly admit your crimes,
and you will do it on television.
On television, right.
You need me, don’t you?
(chuckles) I do not, Madam.
(laughs) That’s why I’m alive.
No… We believe in the principle,
a legal transition of power.
And you need me to sell it, pig.
You don’t have the numbers, do you, piggy?
Laskin: Quite the contrary, I assure you.
You’ve got a broken constituency,
haven’t you, piggy-wiggy?
Millions of my people in Rinnburg, in the Hills,
will never grant you
and your National Freedom Front moral authority.
(laughs) You don’t even have America, do you?
Go on. (whispers) Admit it.
We have all the support we need.
If that were true, you’d be burning my bones
and picking out upholstery!
Listen to me! I order you to cooperate!
You couldn’t order a fucking omelet!
Right.
(sighs)
(ticking)
(distant, muffled ticking)
(distant explosions)
(sighs)
(unsettling music playing)
(Elena groaning)
(indistinct, muffled shouting)
(sighs)
(door slams)
(door opens)
What’s happening?
(stammering) What’s th… What’s… What, what… What’s that?
(screams)
Laskin: Shh, shh.
No! (screaming)
Laskin: Ooh, shh, shh.
(screaming)
You’ll help me, yes?
Yes!
Yes?!
Yes, yes! Yes, yes!
Today?!
Yes.
It must happen today!
Yes, yes.
(gasps, panting)
Laskin: Note, the former Chancellor
has agreed to cooperate.
Are you listening?
(panicking) Yes.
Here’s how we manage it.
We get you out of here, yes?
Yes.
Then we ferry you to Parliament.
We marshal the broadcasters.
And you confess your crimes to the people.
Do you agree?
Yes, yes. Yes.
Note, the former Chancellor acknowledges her crimes
and agrees to confess.
We do this all above board.
(panting)
We do it legally.
(Elena grunts)
Because we are not butchers.
No.
We are servants of the constitution.
Come.
(panting)
Lean on me, Elena.
We’ll clean you up first, make you presentable.
I’m not seeking to humiliate you, Elena.
Corporal Zubak will of course be treated fairly under the law,
same as you.
(elevator dinging)
Once you confess…
(screaming)
(gunshots)
Clear!
(Elena whimpering)
Let’s go, let’s go!
(intense music playing)
American man: We’re movin’ you now.
Out of the way.
(muffled surroundings)
(Elena breathing heavily)
(Elena protesting)
(soldier grunting)
Soldier: Sit!
(indistinct shouting)
♪♪
Elena: No!
(car engine starts)
(people shouting)
♪♪
(panicking)
♪♪
(radio chatter)
(indistinct shouting)
♪♪
(stammering) Where-Where-WhereWhere-Where are we…
Where are you tak… Where are you taking me?
(aircraft passes above)
Are we flying?
Are we… Are we f… Are we flying s-somewhere?
(indistinct shouting)
Solider 1: Get out, now!
Solider 2: Right now!
(Elena whimpering)
solider 3: Let’s go!
(muffled shouting)
(sigh of relief)
Solider 1: Go, go!
Soldier 2: Out of the way!
(indistinct shouting)
soldier 3: Move, let’s move!
Move!
(panting)
(tense music playing)
(quietly) Are you alright? Are you hurt?
(quietly) No. Herbert, they won’t…
Where are we?
I don’t know.
It’s-it’s-it’s the Americans.
It’s the Americans, I know it.
I didn’t tell them anything. I-I didn’t betray you.
(elevator stops)
♪♪
No! Ah! Herbert! Herbert!
Herbert: Elena, Elena!
No! H-Herbert! H-Herbert! No!
(panting)
Wh…
Good.
(pouring water)
Good.
I apologize profusely for the rough transit.
You alright then, Madam? What am I saying?
You must be exhausted.
(stammering) What, what, what… W… What is this, hm?
Are we a-alone?
Are we…
Here, please, sit.
Is it over? Is it?
If it’s over, I demand to be taken back to the palace at once,
and if it’s not over, I need to get to China.
Hm? I need to get to China with a guarantee against extradition.
(gasps) Do you understand? Yes? I need it now, Emil.
I demand. I-I-I-I-I-I n… I need it now.
Madam, please. Sit.
(speakerphone beeps)
God, what does one say?
Makes me sick, the whole thing,
what they’ve done to you.
The humiliation…
the ingratitude.
It’s unconscionable.
(distant explosions)
Tell me what’s happening.
Am I alive? Am I dead?
What’s the fucking play here?
Where are we?
A civil war is raging.
No one has won yet.
It’s on a knife edge.
The rebels have gained ground,
but they’re soft at the edges.
Your loyalists hold the mines, the Hills, most of the army,
but it’s all so fluid.
(sighs)
I remain neutral.
Partisanship’s bad for business,
but I can see the situation cries out
for a sense of authority.
A sense someone real is in charge.
Someone… with the knack…
a familiar face.
Right.
♪♪
(sighs)
Well, (sniffles, sighs)
well, then we can’t waste any time.
Emil, listen to me…
No, you listen to me now.
You’ve got the knack, but your chances of survival long term are infinitesimal.
You’re cut off entirely.
You’re a baby on an ice floe.
What you need is a buffer,
not a friend, or a visible ally, per se,
but a good, strong levee to stop
the shit from rolling in.
Yes, China.
No, no.
You’re too hot for them now.
Moreover, I’ve come to see the danger they pose in the region.
Have you?
I have.
And indeed, so should you.
(person clears throat on speakerphone)
(light, tense music playing)
The West would welcome a breakwater in the region.
Someone to talk tough to China.
With our resources and our newfound cobalt.
No, no. I just don’t trust them…
Pivots are not uncommon.
Not in public, of course.
(sighs, scoffs)
But where these things happen, in the dark.
A little material support
comes your way through backchannels
to aid the war effort.
And quietly, priorities shift, sanctions ease.
The new White House settles in,
and suddenly, we’re back to the old relationship.
What do you think, Judith?
Will that track with the new admin?
Judith Holt (over speakerphone): It’s plausible.
If we see some changes, and assurances.
Emil Bartos: Yes, changes.
What do you think, Elena?
(sighs) Uh… um.
♪♪
Uh…
Uh, perhaps, we’ll leave it there for now.
Yes, we’ll hop off, but thank you.
(speakerphone beeps)
(phone static)
(speakerphone beeps)
♪♪
(chuckles) We’ll get you cleaned up fresh,
then talk next steps.
It’s safe here. Safe rooms…
clean air.
(chuckles) Oh, there is one last piece, Madam.
He will have to go, of course.
♪♪
(sniffles) Who?
Doesn’t work, the two of you.
Your trouble started with him, and it must end with him.
I’m-I’m sure you know this.
♪♪
And what if I object?
Emil: Oh, by all means.
You must do as you like.
You’re in control here.
(distant sirens wailing)
Anyway… go, freshen.
Make your peace with it.
And then we’ll firm it all up.
(chuckles)
(door closes)
♪♪
(sniffles, deep breath)
(whimpers)
♪♪
(water running)
(slight groan)
(pensive, melancholy music playing)
♪♪
(dissonant music playing)
(door opens)
♪♪
(door closes)
What’s happening, Elena?
(whispers) Herbert, sit. Sit down, please.
Tell me what’s happening.
They’re here, Herbert.
The Americans with Bartos.
They’ve come to take our country from us…
and…
they want me to kneel and be the face of it.
Ah.
What did you tell them?
My love, I…
Elena, don’t fucking pretend with me.
What did you agree?
Nothing. Nothing.
I have agreed nothing.
(whispers) They can’t tear us apart. They-They can’t, can they?
Herbert, say it. Say it.
They can’t tear us apart.
That’s right. That’s right.
I have a plan.
We are going to fight them.
We will fight them to the death,
you and I, together.
Yes, we’ll play their tune at first, but only for a while.
And then, when their backs are turned,
we’ll trigger a counterassault from our people.
And then we’ll jail Bartos for his crimes,
and we’ll seize his wealth,
and we’ll redistribute it amongst the poor.
And then…
and then we’ll build it.
We’ll build it all again.
From our earth.
You and I, together, we’ll do it,
and our dreams will go on forever. (shushes)
Shh.
Shh.
(solemn music playing)
Herbert.
♪♪
(inhales)
I will fight them to the death.
Yeah.
I love you.
I love you.
♪♪
Elena: You must be tired.
Herbert: Yes.
It’s been a hard road.
Well, you can sleep now, my love.
I know.
We’ll sleep… and we’ll dream.
(Herbert chuckles)
And… we’ll make all this go away.
What is it?
(inhales) Oh, I don’t know. It’s just…
all the work it takes to grow old…
all those years.
And then one day
your worst fears arrive, and
you’re still the same child.
Herbert?
Hm?
I’m happy you came along.
Me too.
♪♪
I needed you. I really did.
It’s like you said when… when we met.
“Meant for each other.”
I’m scared.
Don’t be.
I’m here.
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
(music fades out)
(gasps)
(gunshot)
(Elena gasps)
(wind blowing)
Nicholas Vernham: Here you are, my love.
(footsteps approach)
Thank you.
Oh, and Karla wanted to check.
Is salmon still your preference for tonight?
Yes?
Yes, fine.
Lovely, luscious lady.
(Elena chuckles)
Your ninth Victory Day.
Christ. The fuckin’ years.
Yes, I know.
Can I say, though…
you do look quite strong, my love.
Thank you.
No, but, really…
considering the… you know.
What?
The tricky patch. Annus horribilis.
Mm, yes.
(Elena sighs)
I-I-I wonder sometimes, though, um…
wh-wh… what was that all about, do you think?
The whole…
All of it?
Guess I had a little wobble.
(chuckles)
Right.
(light, tense music playing)
(deep breath)
(applause, cheering)
Elena: My loves. (laughs)
What a glorious evening.
I’m so glad you’re here joining me
in this year’s Victory Day festivities.
(crowd cheering)
But let us reflect for a moment on the road that led us here.
Our love, as you recall, was tested.
Our faith in our way of life
was very nearly brought to the brink.
Now we know the forces of darkness
who brought us to that point.
Keplinger… and the radical left.
(crowd booing)
The corrupt Security Service,
and of course, the Chinese menace,
who even now seek to overrun Europe
with their totalitarian economics
and their cancerous 5G technology.
And yes… even people…
in my own government.
(crowd booing)
Individuals I valued.
Individuals who claimed to have the best interests of working people at heart,
but who, in the end, were not to be trusted.
I’m only grateful that I was able to see their true nature
before it was too late,
and could head catastrophe off at the pass.
(cheering, applause)
(triumphant music playing)
But now, we stand at the dawn of a new era…
a new Europe.
From here, we can look back at our past divisions and turmoil,
not as mistakes, but as opportunities for learning,
opportunities for healing, and for growth.
It remains my deepest honor to lead you on this journey.
I am no one without all of you.
(cheering, applause)
♪♪
Because all that I am, I am through you.
And so, I bless you all.
And I bless our love… always.
(cheering, applause)
(music concludes)
(silence)
(“If You Leave Me Now” by Chicago playing)
♪ If you leave me now ♪
♪ You’ll take away the biggest part of me ♪
♪ Ooh, no, baby, please don’t go ♪
♪ And if you leave me now ♪
♪ You’ll take away the very heart of me ♪
♪ Ooh, no, baby, please don’t go ♪
♪ Ooh, girl, I just want you to stay ♪
♪ A love like ours is love that’s hard to find ♪
♪ How could we let it slip away? ♪
♪ We’ve come too far to leave it all behind ♪
♪ How could we end it all this way? ♪
♪ When tomorrow comes and we both regret ♪
♪ The things we said today ♪
♪ If you leave me now ♪
♪ You’ll take away the biggest part of me ♪
♪ Ooh, no, baby, please don’t go ♪
