A Hard Landing from the Moon
Star City Episode 2 opens on the tense return of Luna 16 to Earth following its successful lunar mission. Things start to go wrong when the capsule lands hundreds of kilometers away from the target. Anastasia and Valya crash deep in the wilderness and the terrifying landing gets worse when Anastasia opens the hatch door and finds herself face-to-face with a huge bear.
The pair are eventually rescued by the Soviet recovery team and returned to safety but Anastasia has little time to recover before she is faced by political pressure again. Deputy Chairman Tarasov confronts her on her earlier public statements, warning her not to challenge the Soviet Union or go beyond the bounds of the state.
As she is forced back into her role as the face of the Soviet space program, the threat looms large.
Anastasia’s Forced Marriage
While preparations for public celebrations and an international tour to Paris get underway, the Soviet officials decide that Anastasia cannot be presented as an unmarried woman. They marry her to Sasha, for the good of the state.
The decision is obviously serving a larger political purpose. Sasha already has a questionable reputation from previous wire taps with Yana’s family and marrying him to Anastasia allows the government to watch both of them very closely. The state can shut them up pretty fast if either becomes a problem.
Irina is assigned to covertly monitor the newlyweds, making the already awkward situation even more tense.
The Secret Plan of the Chief Designer
Anastasia is caught up in the politics of manipulation, while the Chief Designer grows ever more frustrated with the Soviet space program. He thinks humanity needs to think beyond the Moon, while government leaders are obsessed with building a lunar base and winning the space race as fast as possible.
Venus is his dream.
But Tarasov wants the Zvezda mission to move faster, and he pressures the team to meet impossible deadlines related to upcoming military celebrations. The Chief Designer knows that the rushed schedule could easily kill cosmonauts, but he is ignored.
With no other options, he and his engineers work with risky new concepts, like inflatable structures for lunar deployment. Along the way, he notes Sergei Nikulov’s intelligence and quick wit.
Later he tells Sergei his real ambition: while everyone thinks they are working for the lunar base, they will secretly draw up plans for a mission to Venus. The project is politically very dangerous; to defy direct Soviet orders would end careers, and possibly worse.
Sergei agrees immediately, aware of the risks.
Paris reveals cracks under the surface
Paris trip makes the episode feel completely different. Anastasia, whose name was once a national hero, is overwhelmed and disconnected. The silence and solitude of the Moon are too much for her. The crowded streets, the noisy media, the constant public attention are unbearable.
Sasha realizes she is not comfortable, and sneaks her out of the hotel to explore the city on their own. Their night takes them to bars, full of chaos and drunken crowds and drugs, a side of the world far from Soviet control.
In the meantime, Irina’s loyalties are being tested. A mysterious woman in a bathroom appears to have ties to American intelligence. Anastasia is approached. The woman leaves a card, but Anastasia won’t speak to her.
It is revealed later that the encounter was staged by Lyudmilla to test Anastasia’s loyalty to the Soviet Union. Anastasia passes the test but the whole thing is an indication of how deep the paranoia and surveillance runs in every part of their lives.
Irina crosses an ethical line
The darkest story line of the episode is Irina.
Lyudmilla and Galytzin take her along to interrogate a German prisoner, since she knows the language. What starts as a job of translating soon turns brutal, when Irina sees the violent ways of the Soviet intelligence operations.
Lyudmilla threatens to kill the prisoner if he does not cooperate. The pressure and fear make Irina participate directly and she throws boiling water into the face of the prisoner to get information out of him.
Before the interrogation is halted, the prisoner finally provides details of a contact linked to Star City.
Irina has changed so much by the end of the episode. Earlier, she had questioned the Soviet methods around her, but now she was beginning to accept them, in the name of loyalty to the Motherland.
CONCLUSION
The episode closes with Anastasia and Sasha now married and security in Star City tighter than ever as authorities continue the hunt for a possible mole.
The Chief Designer quietly accepts that Anastasia will never come back to the Moon. She has become too valuable politically to risk. And meanwhile his secret Venus project is progressing behind the scenes.
Episode Review
Star City Episode 2 is much less about action and more about politics and psychological tension but Episode 2 does well in deepening the main characters of the show.
Anastasia and Irina still are heading in opposite directions, morally and emotionally. Anastasia is slowly gaining independence after a life-changing lunar experience, and Irina is becoming more and more involved in the brutal Soviet system she once questioned.
The Chief Designer might have the most powerful story of all. His resolve to do a Venus mission in spite of political pressure adds an interesting layer to the series and hints at much bigger ambitions to come.
The pacing is still a little slow, but the episode does a good job building tension and setting up major conflicts to come. In the closing scenes, it is clear the personal and political dangers to Star City are only just beginning.