A Spy Among Friends on MGMPlus, Episode 4: Vodka

The Russian National drink names this episode and is a recurring theme in the story.

Na Zdorovie!

Important morning in Moscow for Philby. He has an appointment at Lubyanka, the KGB headquarters, for his debrief. The CIA agents are watching him dress up from the CIA safe house across from his apartment. As he prepares to leave, Philby remembers the press conference he had 10 years ago to deny the accusation that he was responsible for helping Donald MacLean and Guy Burgess escape to the USSR. Continue reading “A Spy Among Friends on MGMPlus, Episode 4: Vodka”

A Spy Among Friends on MGM+, Episode 3: Allegory of the Catholic Faith

Allegory of the Catholic Faith is a painting by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The painting, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1931, depicts a woman with one foot on top of a globe representing the dominance of the Catholic Church across the world. The  Crucifixion scene on the wall is based on a painting by the Flemish artist Jacob Jordaens that Vermeer had in his collection.

The painting makes such a fitting title for this episode since the episode does not only have a direct connection to the painting itself but also to the Catholic faith as well as to the Crucifixion.

Continue reading “A Spy Among Friends on MGM+, Episode 3: Allegory of the Catholic Faith”

A Spy Among Friends on MGM+, Episode 2: The Admiral’s Glass

Elliott: Do you remember The Admiral’s Glass?

Philby: The Admiral’s what?

Elliott: Glass. By Southwark Bridge.

As her husband picks up the carrots he grew in their London backyard, Lily Thomas listens and re-listens to the Beirut tapes. What happened at The Admiral’s Glass? And why on earth is Philby seriously alarmed when an ambulance with sirens on arrives at their building? Continue reading “A Spy Among Friends on MGM+, Episode 2: The Admiral’s Glass”

A Spy Among Friends, Episode 4: Vodka

The Russian National drink names this episode and is a recurring theme in the story.

Na Zdorovie!

Important morning in Moscow for Philby. He has an appointment at Lubyanka, the KGB headquarters, for his debrief. The CIA agents are watching him dress up from the CIA safe house across from his apartment. As he prepares to leave, Philby remembers the press conference he had 10 years ago to deny the accusation that he was responsible for helping Donald MacLean and Guy Burgess escape to the USSR. Continue reading “A Spy Among Friends, Episode 4: Vodka”

A Spy Among Friends, Episode 3: Allegory of the Catholic Faith

Allegory of the Catholic Faith is a painting by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The painting, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1931, depicts a woman with one foot on top of a globe representing the dominance of the Catholic Church across the world. The  Crucifixion scene on the wall is based on a painting by the Flemish artist Jacob Jordaens that Vermeer had in his collection.

The painting makes such a fitting title for this episode since the episode does not only have a direct connection to the painting itself but also to the Catholic faith as well as to the Crucifixion.

Continue reading “A Spy Among Friends, Episode 3: Allegory of the Catholic Faith”