The usual stream of conscious (all extraneous intrusions from unrelated topics edited out for your comfort 😂), major spoilers below the cut.
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Tanya getting contraband X-ray records? I’m surprised Sergei’s not in on this yet…
Undun by the Guess Who — not sure I love this choice of lyrics 😬
Well, that’s all gonna end up in the report, isn’t it.
Valya is boring and annoying— “behave”???? *The fuck*, Valya?!
She’s come undone 😢😭
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Not skipping this title sequence either, even if it is more menacing than inspirational like FAM’s.
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Fucking hell that hab extension looks so fragile 😬😬😬 I feel like Arseni Vetrov has scientifically measurable Star Trek red shirt energy 😬
“Practically naked in a balloon” — that is about the size of it and it sounds pretty horrifying. I’m afraid I’m with the Americans on the safety and equipment front and that’s knowing all FAM’s horrible space deaths…
The point about space vs a mig is valid, even though Valya’s being a pain in the arse to people.
She is dissatisfied you muppet. Maybe it’s sex and maybe it’s more than that too (it’s more than that 🙄). Like, telling her to “behave” was not a winning move…
“Tell me the manoeuvre” 🙄 Men. FFS. 🙄
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More of the Chief’s ghosts… “there’s wisdom in years” — says the dude playing with fire and an antique piece of submarine equipment…
Sergei still cannot do subterfuge, bless him — I bet he’d totally look if someone told him “don’t look, but…”
It’ll need some “refurbishment” 🤣 That’s some positive management spin on it!
Aw, he’s leader of the space nerds while the Chief’s out. And he doesn’t care about raising your hand like they’re in school because he wants to get shit done. That’s our boy!
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Valya, that was a better attempt at an apology, I will give you that.
He doesn’t know how 😔 Please, god, don’t let him attempt to fumble his way through whatever the manoeuvre was. Oh no, he’s going to. Oh, shit, he did. And she drew the blindingly obvious conclusion. 🫣 I am vicariously mortified for all concerned.
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Poor Nastya 😢 not being dressed doesn’t bode well. Oh no, a flask too.
She’s a funny drunk, though, I’ll admit.
Yeah, “what?” No helmets, no suits? Jfc that’s gonna be inspired by real events isn’t it? 😬 Is it gonna be the one Dani mentioned when the Soyuz team criticised something the Americans had go wrong back in FAM S2? 😬
Lol, that’s how you hide it. Amongst loads of everything else.
Uh oh, the Colonel 😬 Wow, she’s a real morale raiser, isn’t she? Your staff think you can’t do it. No pressure. 😕
Well, that was close. What would she had done if she found it? They can’t launch without the Chief, can they? Mind you, she did just cold-bloodedly execute Yana, so for the best she didn’t find it.
I know it’s standard operating procedure for dangerous jobs but knowing your employer/government will probably read your ‘in case of my death’ letter to your spouse while you’re gone, even if it isn’t needed, would be a real kick in the teeth. Oh, wow — they’ll write it for you and just cut out the middle man… 😳
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The warbly record feels really foreboding for both of them here. Very effective. Do not like.
Aw, no wonder Irina is falling for Tanya, she can play by ear after barely hearing it. And no wonder Irina ends up obsessed with a jazz pianist who improvises. Although, fucking menacing thinking she might have bugged Margo’s flat to hear her play…
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Better, Valya. This is a better attempt at an apology.
Aw, Zoya and Irina are cute.
Oh, no, Tanya’s inviting them to her house. (Very sweet and good for Zoya but not so good for Tanya…)
You know it must be bad if Sergei is the one expressing caution — is he jealous about another favourite being around? (I say that as a former teacher’s pet myself…)
I wonder who’d be the ‘someone with nothing to lose’ 😬
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Irina looks SO YOUNG.
“You have to be important to get your child into that school…” — is it because she’s KGB or her family connections? I need to know!
Getting a bit creepy in the bathroom. I see someone else is being seduced by the decadence of Paris…
Valya Mironov— what happened to Markelov? Crap, gonna need to correct all my tags 🤦♀️ Also, Irina is creepily good at pretending to be clueless.
WHO’S THE FATHER? “Not a good man”??? Oh fuck. Noooooooooo 😬😬😬
But she knows the flat is bugged, the last thing anyone needs is Lyudmilla finding out anything about this (or her growing obsession with Tanya), if she doesn’t already know 😬
Okay, she has a magnet and is gonna ruin that bit of tape. Still, jfc.
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Ahahahahaha — Nastya making fun of Sasha on the comm 🤣
Crew smack-talking each other — not so different to the US after all…
Uh oh, Sergei’s onto something… (A bug broadcasting back to somewhere else?) The adorable space nerd can move fast when he wants to.
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Okay, Valya is quite sweet with his oddly French napkin puppet... Haha, he’s called it ‘Jean-Pierre’ 🤣
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This is awkward — the Chief *once again* having to admit Lyudmilla was right to be concerned about the Americans.
“Your measure of risk is misguided, comrade” JFC she’s cold.
“Power cycle” — I hate that phrase. Just admit you’re turning it off and on again.
Sergei basically praying at his console… 😬
Oh no — that Star Trek red shirt energy is back. Is this the one where it crashes and they lose a cosmonaut (per FAM season 1)? Bye, Arseni. 😬
Depressurise the hab? Manually? Fucking hell. He’s gonna die. Awful space death is coming for Arseni. RIP dude.
Sergei looks like he’s going to be sick. (Fair.)
Oh no, he hasn’t answered…
💀
I don’t entirely understand what happened to wreck the hab bit like that (did it hit something and, being so fragile, just tear off?) but I do understand that he’s very much dead. No suit, no helmet, tissue paper hab part. 😳
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How did Valya know? Is he the mole? Or just mega-worried Sasha can’t do it? Not an affair, surely, he can’t get out of Star City often enough for that and doesn’t seem the type. Oh, Christ, he is! He’s the mole! 😱 Mr “Chief Designer trusts me with his life” Mironov is the mole!
I take it back, Sergei was right not to trust the guy.
What a cliff hanger. So many unresolved questions! Presumably there’s more going on than just Valya being the mole, as it’s not even halfway through the season…
