‘Spy/Master’ is a tense and twisty Cold War classic

Being a dictator’s right-hand man and a secret KGB agent is enough to make anyone want to defect. But changing sides is easier said than done.

Parker Sawyers as Frank Jackson and Alec Secareanu as Victor in Spy/Master.

A master spy shouldn’t find himself in this much trouble. The year is 1978, and as the director of the Romanian Ministry of External Affairs, Victor Godeanu (Alec Secareanu) is meant to be the puppet master, using the spies and agents at his command to further the aims of his country’s beloved leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu (Claudiu Bleonț). So why is he in hiding from his own country and trying to defect to the USA?

In hindsight, perhaps secretly working for the KGB wasn’t such a good idea. While technically on the same side – at this point in time both the USSR and Romania are Communist members of the Warsaw Pact – Ceaușescu is paranoid that the KGB are planning to have him deposed for daring to go his own way. So it’s not good news when the KGB tip Godeanu off that the Romanian counter-intelligence agency is set to reveal his side hustle to his boss.

They suggest he relocate to Moscow. He suspects a trip to Moscow will lead directly to the graveyard. Looks like it’s time for him to jump ship entirely and go over to the West.

The good news is, he has a diplomatic trip to West Germany already booked. The bad news is, there’s a lot more to defecting than simply asking the Americans to let him in. When Godeanu arrives at the US Embassy to make a deal, he spots someone he knows in the lobby and gets out of there fast. In his line of work anyone can be a threat, and now his cover’s blown. It would be a good time for his backup plan – if only he had one.

Victor Godeanu (Alec Secareanu). Credit: HBO Europe

Loosely based on actual events, Spy/Master joins a long line of classic Cold War spy thrillers where the ‘70s weren’t so much about disco glitz as they were grim concrete, brown outfits and secret meetings in shabby cafes and low-rent offices to trade secrets and organise betrayals. It’s tapping into a vibe that runs through series like Tinker Tailor Solider Spy to The Americans to The Little Drummer Girl – and with the series filmed on location in Romania and Hungary, it’s not short on authentic Cold War locations.

The series moves backwards and forwards in time from the moment of Godeanu’s defection, revealing exactly what’s at stake and just how much trouble he’s in at the same time as we see the ever-growing forces that are making him their focus. It doesn’t cover a long period – just the week around his attempt to defect – but by jumping back and forth in time to hand out new information it very quickly becomes clear that there’s a lot to keep track of.

Fortunately it’s not hard to separate past and present, and a good guide is just how stressed and tense Secareanu’s performance becomes. Godeanu is an ambivalent figure at first – we’re sympathetic to him because of the situation he’s in, not because a professional liar and henchman to a dictator (not to mention a man who throws his daughter’s drawing of Ceaușescu in the bin in front of her) is a likable guy. But as the pressure builds, his façade breaks down. And there’s a lot of pressure on him right from the start.

CIA agent Frank Jackson (Parker Sawyers). Credit: HBO Europe

If he wants to keep his family (left behind in Romania) alive long enough to get them to safety, he needs to stay in the good books with both the KGB and Ceaușescu, even as he’s secretly trying to cut a deal with CIA agent Frank Jackson (Parker Sawyers). You’d think a deal would be pretty straightforward, considering Godeanu’s high status in Romania. But with Jackson’s bosses currently distracted by events elsewhere (the Camp David peace accords have everything else on hold), the word trickles down that Godeanu is going to have to wait a while longer.

For obvious reasons, this is not good news. Remember the person Godeanu spotted in the US Embassy lobby? That’s undercover Stasi agent Ingrid (Svenja Jung), whose had various dealings (of various kinds) with Godeanu in the past. The word is out that he’s making a move, and suddenly a lot of very dangerous people become very interested in him. Including his former boss Ceaușescu, who does not take kindly to the news that his former close confidant might be looking to sell him out.

Ingrid (Svenja Jung). Credit: HBO Europe

At the best of times, Bonn during the Cold War is not a safe place for a spy. For Godeanu, with a growing list of spy agencies on his tail, a family he may never see again, and a possible terrorist threat that threatens to derail whatever progress he might make, this week is about as far from the best of times as you can get.

And with every passing hour he spends balanced on a knife edge, things only get worse.

Spy/Master is streaming at SBS On Demand.