If you've dived into Talamasca: The Secret Order or are well-versed in the intricate world of spy thrillers, you'll understand that in this genre, the proverbial answer is none. The essence of spy dramas lies in the awareness—both yours and the protagonist's—that a spy can ultimately trust only themselves. Their targets relentlessly seek to eliminate them or recruit them, other spies can turn on them in an instant, and even their own handlers won't hesitate to have them eliminated if they pose a threat to the agency. To navigate this genre, a spy must wield a unique blend of morality, truth, and a self-preservation instinct that keeps their guard up at all times.
Unfortunately, it seems Guy's week-in-a-week intensive Talamasca training failed to instill this vital lesson. The character is a clueless beagle when it comes to trusting sketchy characters on the fly. Last week, he followed Kevis to a second and then a third location, despite the giant, creepy tome peeking out of her backpack. This week, after a loud declaration of "SEXY SEX" at his day job (a direct quote), he finds himself distraught and betrayed by revelations ranging from the "obvious" to the "inexplicable."
On the one hand, it turns out that the woman who kissed Kevis at the club last week and warned Guy about his predicament is none other than Olive, his handler. On the other hand, Kevis is revealed to be a witch—a revelation that elicits a positively Robinsonian "a what?" from Guy, who has known about the existence of witches for multiple episodes now. Kevis, explains Helen, was gifted in "seduction and extraction." And when Guy learns this, he is beyond betrayed—as evidenced by his constant repetition of the word and the heavy, moist breath of Nicholas Denton in this scene.
But the biggest revelation of all is that the enormous tome in Kevis's backpack might be the 752—a backup copy of the Talamasca's now-burned central library. The 752, as the dialogue makes clear, will be our stakes for the remainder of the season. If this book (and although Helen describes multiple other possibilities for the 752, everyone assumes it's a book) falls into the wrong hands, it could affect the fate of the entire world. Archie was chasing it, and it led him to Kevis; now both are dead. This is a Big Dangerous Thing indeed.
However, I'm not entirely sold on the 752 as a compelling hook here. Helen's vague descriptions of what an unscrupulous person could do with the 752 are frustrating but necessary given how thin the show's worldbuilding has been so far. We know vampires and witches exist, but we don't know their broader desires or why the Talamasca is so interested in watching them. Thus, nebulous assertions that access to the Talamasca's files could "change everything" leave us with little idea of what would actually change about the world if another party were to get their hands on the 752.
Certainly! Here's a revised version of the content that adds more expressiveness and brings the scenes to life:
More significantly, I find that undertaking a venture of this magnitude, even in the best of circumstances, is a formidable task. And when it's not accompanied by robust interpersonal stakes, its impact is even harder to achieve. The "will-Guy-find-his-mother" conflict, while it exists, feels like a weak one. It would be a stretch to call it "strong." Perhaps the next few episodes will provide a clearer understanding of what the world stands to lose if the 752 is misused; for now, however, it feels like the laziest drag-and-drop MacGuffin you could imagine.
Another aspect regarding the 752: ostensibly, it is not the book that Kevis had in her backpack. In other words, if you believe her coven, a group of women in vibrant thrifted clothes who reside on a houseboat beneath an elevated train line. The witches don't readily embrace Guy when he shows up at their candlelit memorial for Kevis, but one of them, Doris, recognizes him as a Talamasca agent and takes him aside. She reveals that Kevis was their coven's spy and that the leather book was her "scrapbook," not a mystical tome. Guy seems quite credulous here, especially after Doris finally reveals the fate of poor Soledad.
Enraged, Guy trails Helen to a country house outside London, where she's wandering around and recalling her own sad childhood as a Talamasca test subject and possibly one of a pair of twins. When Guy confronts her, Helen hits him with her own sad childhood story, but he remains unmoved; he demands the truth about Soledad. Helen explains that the London mother house is compromised by a vampire named Jasper and (after some prompting) that Guy's mother is a fugitive from the Talamasca who's connected in some vague way to the 752. Nicholas Denton, for reasons only known to him and his God, does not deliver his most dramatic reaction to this information; instead, he saves his freakout (slamming his fists on a balcony and screaming "JESUS CHRIST!" very loudly) for when Helen confirms that "Helen" is not her real name. With profound resignation, I place both Helen and Helen's possible twin sister on "secretly Guy's mom" watch, and Guy himself on "big cry" watch.
In contrast, Jasper is having a grand old time at his hideout. When Owen, the Talamasca's London head, comes in to give him the news about Archie's murder, he's in the midst of once again listening to very loud butt rock. His response to Owen mentioning that Talamasca HQ won't tolerate much more of Jasper's interference is a laugh and a little speech about power. He then goes on to drink some of his own blood, confirms that the 752 is in London, and (a bit later) takes a big bite out of a loudmouthed dissident in the organization before turning him into either a vampire or whatever the gurgly creatures were from the start of the season. In essence, he's living life to the fullest.
All in all, I believe Guy could learn a great deal from Jasper about how to handle living with uncertainty! While Jasper may be nebulously evil, he has a strong enough core of self-identity that he can lead a happy and fulfilling life in the world of Halloween monster espionage without needing to trust others in the way that Guy constantly and inexplicably does. I also think Nicholas Denton could learn quite a bit from William Fichtner's scenery-chewing performance here, but that's another matter.
And lo, behold! Our hero, Guy, concludes the episode by, to a certain extent, heeding my very own suggestion. He marches boldly towards the London motherhouse, rings the doorbell with bravado, and yells at Owen until Jasper freezes time and descends the stairs. Then, he unloads his heartfelt tale of woe to Jasper, detailing how the Talamasca "think [he's] their chosen one, but [he's] not their fucking boy." He offers to make the Talamasca pay by locating the 752 and presenting it to Jasper. While it's evident that he's double-agenting here, pretending to defect to Jasper (although, who knows, maybe I'll change my mind next episode!), it's undeniably the most thrilling display of spycraft Guy has pulled off on the show thus far. While I'm unsure of the specifics of how he came to this knowledge (just as I'm not certain how his week-long training equipped him to successfully tail Helen undetected earlier in this episode), I find it much easier to overlook his character flaws when he's not acting like a dumb brick.
Jasper, seemingly in agreement with me, finds this performance from Guy highly entertaining: throughout his monologue, he acts captivated and plays along, only to refuse to let Guy leave the building with a menacing smile plastered on his face as soon as he finishes his spiel. Once again, we witness Jasper's greatest redeeming quality on a show that's often deadly serious: he possesses a sense of fun.
