All the Old Knives

As the year 2020 dawned, CIA operative Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) received a stark reminder of his past when his boss, Vick Wallinger (Laurence Fishburne), reopened the case of Turkish Alliance 127, a notorious terrorist hijacking that had left a trail of devastation in its wake back in 2012. The sudden reactivation of this cold case was triggered by intelligence gleaned from the capture and subsequent interrogation of Ilyas Shushani, one of the hijackers involved in the heinous act. It seemed that Henry's Vienna station had been compromised, and the CIA suspected a mole within their own ranks.

Henry's mission was to track down the source of this leak and bring it to light. His first port of call was Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton), a former colleague who had worked alongside him at the Vienna station during the tumultuous events surrounding the hijacking. Their personal connection was more than just professional, as they had shared a romantic past, but Celia's sudden departure from Henry's life had left him reeling.

Henry's visit to Celia in her picturesque Carmel-by-the-Sea, California home was marked by an air of tension and introspection. Over dinner at an upscale restaurant, now eerily quiet due to the late hour, Celia revealed that she had been approached by Austrian intelligence agent Karl Stein (Corey Johnson) shortly after her relocation. His intentions were far from innocent, as he sought to manipulate her into spying on her former colleagues, specifically Bill, whom he alleged was selling state secrets to Islamist extremists. Henry's inquiry sparked a wave of memories in Celia, prompting her to recall the events leading up to and including the fateful hijacking.

As the narrative hurtles back in time to 2012, Flight 127 prepares for takeoff when it is brutally hijacked by four heavily armed militants affiliated with an Islamic terrorist organization. The Vienna station springs into action, with Vick, Bill, Leila Maroof (Ahd Kamel), Ernst Pul (Jonjo O'Neill), and Owen Lassiter (David Dawson) scrambling to contain the crisis. Henry himself had been reassigned from Moscow to Vienna, where he played a key role in overseeing the Nord-Ost siege, a harrowing operation that saw Russian forces pump gas into a building, resulting in the tragic loss of 100 hostages.

As the CIA pieced together the events surrounding the hijacking, they discovered that Ilyas Shushani, a former informant with ties to Henry, had been spotted in Barcelona just two days prior, having arrived from Tehran. This intelligence suggested that Tehran was planning to fund a hijacking within the next 72 hours, setting the stage for a desperate game of cat and mouse as Henry delved deeper into the mystery surrounding Turkish Alliance 127.

As the hijackers' sinister plot unfolds, they issue a chilling ultimatum: unless authorities release several of their cohorts from custody (two from Austria and three from Germany), they will brutally silence the innocent passengers. The mastermind behind this heinous scheme is believed to be Ilyas, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Meanwhile, Ahmed, a CIA courier who just so happened to be on the plane, seizes the opportunity to strike back by proposing an attack on the undercarriage of the aircraft.

Celia, a skilled operative with deep connections in Vienna, springs into action. She taps into her sources and connects with Mohammed (Nasser Memarzia), a potential lead who seems hesitant to share valuable information without compensation. Her mentor, Bill Compton (Jonathan Pryce), is less than encouraging, having his own demons to contend with.

As the situation spirals out of control, Henry reveals a shocking truth: his past transgressions in Moscow have come back to haunt him. His betrayal of Ilyas, orchestrated by his superiors to placate the Russian government after the Nord-Ost terrorist attack, had devastating consequences. Ilyas's family was brutally slaughtered, and he ended up in Tehran, forever changed.

The Vienna station receives another cryptic message from Ahmed, warning that the terrorists have deployed a camera on the plane's undercarriage, rendering any potential assault futile. Bill takes this opportunity to depart for home, leaving Celia to her own devices. She decides to investigate further and discovers discrepancies in Ahmed's messages, hinting at possible compromise.

Celia's suspicions are confirmed when she reviews the station's phone logs: a call was placed to Iran from Bill's office phone. The revelation sends shockwaves through the station. Matters take a deadly turn as the hijackers brutally slaughter a passenger and toss his lifeless body from the plane, tauntingly declaring, "Take away your spy."

As the situation reaches a boiling point, Celia seeks solace in Henry's arms. But her instincts are proven correct when she catches a glimpse of a call on his mobile phone from a Tehran number while he's in the shower.

In the aftermath of the devastating outcome, the Vienna station is left reeling. The next day, Celia breaks off her relationship with Henry and departs Vienna, forever changed by the harrowing events that have transpired.

As Henry's inquiry into the sudden termination of their relationship unfolds, Celia's candid confession lays bare the motivations behind her departure. She reveals that a chance glance at Henry's phone had unearthed a distressing truth: an Iranian number identical to one she had discovered in the station's phone logs, hinting at his treachery. The weight of this revelation hung heavy in the air as Celia revealed that she had deliberately kept her discovery hidden from the CIA, opting instead to sever ties with Henry without disclosing the betrayal.

As their meeting reaches its climax, Celia's somber tone gives way to a mix of anguish and accusation. She implores Henry to explain his actions, her voice laced with tears as he succumbs to the poison coursing through his veins. With his powers of reason waning, Henry recounts the events that led him down a treacherous path: an ill-fated meeting with Ilyas, who had undergone a radical transformation and masterminded the hijacking. Ilyas' operatives cleverly staged a meeting between Mohammed and Celia, exploiting her perceived vulnerability to extract crucial information from Henry – the presence of Ahmed on the plane, as well as the plan for an undercarriage assault in exchange for her life.

As Henry's consciousness begins to falter, Celia discloses a chilling truth: Ilyas had already compromised Henry's identity in Afghanistan. The full extent of Henry's betrayal was thus laid bare, his fate sealed. In the aftermath, Celia returns home to her family, while Karl discreetly notifies Vick of Henry's demise, exposing their own clandestine partnership that had been operating in tandem with Celia's unwitting pawns throughout.