Ponies’ ending was all about Andrei gaining an upper hand over Bea and Twila just when they thought that they had defeated him. How did things come down to that? Bea and Twila were married to CIA agents Chris and Tom, respectively, and all of them lived in Moscow, Russia. One day, they learned that both of their husbands had died in a plane crash, but instead of returning to the United States of America, Bea and Twila decided to stay in Moscow and become secret agents for the CIA so they could get some answers regarding their husbands’ deaths. They were tasked with finding details of the device that the KGB was using to get dirt on, well, everyone, and where those recordings were being stored. For that, they had to work with Sasha, an asset who worked at a company that made custom devices that could store those miniature tape recorders, and keep a mid-level but dangerous KGB agent, named Andrei, on the hook, because he’d lead them to the storage facility. When Andrei learned about Bea’s true identity, she ran off to a safe house with Twila and Sasha and waited there until someone from the CIA came to rescue them. What happened next? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Was Sasha Rescued?
A girl named Aksana claimed that she used to be Andrei’s former girlfriend, and she presented herself as this secret savior when she figured out that Bea was not actually who she was pretending to be. Aksana assured Bea that if things went south with Andrei, she’d help her get somewhere safe. So, while being chased by Andrei, Bea remembered Aksana’s promise, and when she reached out to her, Aksana even directed her to a safe house. But the truth of the matter was that Aksana was still loyal to Andrei, and she intended to deliver Bea to Andrei on a platter as soon as she revealed her true allegiance. Now, I’m guessing Aksana’s plan was that she’d let Bea, Twila, and Sasha wait at that safe house until they dropped their guard and then attack them with the help of her comrade. Aksana certainly didn’t expect Twila to discover the hidden chamber in the safe house’s outhouse where the shampoo bottles that had those recording devices in them were. And Aksana definitely didn’t expect the trio to get the better of her and her comrade and kill them.
Their deaths weren’t completely in vain, I guess, because they managed to stall the trio long enough for Andrei to catch up to them as they escaped from the safe house in their car, and also Aksana lodged a knife in Sasha’s chest. Thankfully, due to Twila’s great driving, Andrei was thwarted, and since Bea had called the CIA for an extraction, they’d sent a certain Sgt. Carter to the ladies’ rescue. While Bea and Twila took Andrei to their headquarters, Sasha was supposedly taken to the hospital. So, yeah, technically he was rescued, but I’m not all that sure he’ll make it out alive. Moreover, I’m not sure if the CIA would want Sasha to stay alive, because his job was done, and the agency doesn’t exactly have a history of protecting assets after they have served their purpose. On top of that, the knife wound looked quite grave; therefore, regardless of what the CIA wanted, the chances of Sasha dying are high. If Sasha died, it’d be quite tragic, because he wouldn’t get to know that the CIA was manipulating his motivation to avenge his sister, Galyna, to make him work against the KGB. I don’t know if the truth would give him any kind of solace, but I suppose dying after knowing the truth is better than slipping into the afterlife with a lie.
Who Was Cheryl Working For?
Cheryl was apparently working for the KGB. But there were clearly two factions within the KGB, right? One that was working against the CIA and another that was working against both the CIA and their own people. Now, I am guessing that Cheryl belonged to that second one, or else why would she shoot Evie? Throughout the show, we were made to think that it was Evie who had planted that recorder as well as the explosive device in Ray’s house. But the recorder was seemingly planted by Cheryl, and Evie was merely inspecting the explosive device. That could mean that Evie was working for the KGB, or that she was a CIA agent who was secretly looking out for Ray. She could be either of those two, because before getting shot by Cheryl, she said that she could explain why she was analyzing the device. Again, maybe she was trying to win over Cheryl’s trust by revealing that she was with the KGB, because she knew that Cheryl was a product of the KGB too, or maybe she thought that Cheryl was a simple wife of a CIA agent, and she wanted her to believe that she was working in Ray’s best interest.
We’ll never know, because Cheryl killed Evie after she was hospitalized. As for the explosive device, I don’t think Cheryl or her handler expected Andrei’s shampoo bottles to be in the CIA’s storage room. She probably tricked the CIA into confiscating the explosive device with the sole intention of destroying some of their important documents and making way for the extraction of the stuff that could be retrieved by KGB agents disguised as firefighters. However, she couldn’t have anticipated that the storage closet would have Andrei’s important shampoo bottles with those tapes in them. At first glance, I thought that the fire had destroyed just one of the boxes, while the rest were stored somewhere else. If that was the case, then Andrei would have had some kind of upper hand over his superiors. That said, after looking at the scene a second time, I realized that all the tapes were gone, because Bea and Twila had kept all the boxes in that closet where the explosive device went off. Hence, even though Andrei appeared very confident as the fire had ensured his escape, he’d be crestfallen to know that all his life’s work, all those women that he had sacrificed, and all that evidence had literally gone up in flames. Although that’s technically not Cheryl’s fault, she’ll probably end up paying for it. That said, if Ray finds out about his wife’s betrayal before Andrei gets to her, he’ll make her pay for it.
Was Chris Still Alive?
Yeah, so, after Manya’s long-impending reunion with her friend, Sofia, she was picked up from her hometown in Belarus by Dane and Emile and brought to some kind of a safe house where Chris was just hanging around. Manya was understandably shocked, but Dane was surprised as well. The only person who was one step ahead of those two was Emile. This scene was juxtaposed with Andrei talking about the identity of the CIA mole who was working for the KGB as well as the scene where Cheryl was killing Evie. It wasn’t very clear whether Andrei was confirming or denying Vera’s assessment that Tom was the mole, because he said that there was no way for Vera to know if Tom was Twila’s husband or not. Twila didn’t have any extensive conversations about what she or Bea’s husband looked like. Vera knew that the mole was an American. She was aware of the fact that both Twila and Bea were trying to learn how their respective husbands had died. She assumed that Twila was the wife of the mole, and since Twila had no way to make sure that Vera had her facts straight, she took Vera’s word for it.
In the meantime, Bea had gotten her hands on that tape where Chris was seen having sex with someone that had been sent by the KGB in order to maintain his cover. Bea was convinced that Chris was a turncoat, but Dane assured her that it was a part of his job. Vera’s memory of Tom and Chris’ last moments told us that both of them were shot. So, how did Chris survive and Tom not? If Chris survived, what are the chances that Tom survived too? Who got to Chris and helped him recover? Were Tom and Chris shot at all? Did Chris shoot Tom? Why was Chris’ survival kept a secret from everyone, especially Bea, even though it was apparent to everyone that she was searching for the truth behind her husband’s “death”? Andrei heavily implied that Chris is the KGB mole in the CIA, and if that’s truly the case, that’d explain why he was alive and Tom was dead. If Andrei’s lying, though, then we’ll need a lot of clarification for what went down before Chris’ disappearance, and what Chris has been up to all this while. Also, and this might be the most important question, if Sasha survives and Chris is there too, what’s Bea going to do? She’s clearly moved on from Chris and is in love with Sasha. And then there’s her very complex dynamic with Andrei. Unless they can go for an American-Ukrainian-Russian quadruple relationship, Chris’ return is going to create a lot of emotional and professional conflict for Bea.
Why Was Galyna Killed?
Before the finale of Ponies, when Andrei’s prostitute-killing spree was being looked at, it seemed like he was the one who had killed off Galyna. But there was a scene where Emile was seen discarding a knife that had been used to stab Galyna while Tom casually walked past the crime scene as if it was a regular occurrence in Moscow. So, I assumed that Emile was the one who had killed Galyna and Tom was legitimately walking past the crime scene. However, during Andrei’s conversation with Bea and Twila, it became apparent that Tom was the one who had killed Galyna and made it look like the KGB had done it, so as to motivate Sasha to work for the CIA and against the KGB, while Emile was discarding the knife. I mean, those who still think that the CIA is completely good and the KGB is completely evil will find Andrei’s words to be a blatant lie and a tactic to demotivate Bea and Twila by showing that they have been fighting on behalf of the villains so far. However, those who are aware of what the CIA does on a daily basis in various countries in the name of “regime change” will find Andrei’s words to be completely true.
Sure, you can say that the KGB is bad because we’ve seen them kill multiple people, while the CIA killed just one person to push Sasha to defect against Russia and work for the Americans. But if that’s how casually the CIA could frame the KGB for killing Galyna, how many more murders have they committed to convert people working in strategic places in Russia into friendly assets? Isn’t that more dangerous than killing people to tie up loose ends? Just to be clear, we don’t know if what Andrei is saying is the truth. That said, it’s close enough to the truth to spark some introspection in Bea and Twila, who have so far been blindly trusting the CIA. I don’t blame them, because they are as ordinary as us. They are desperate to get to the truth about their respective husbands. On top of that, all of this is unfolding in a foreign country. So, there’s no real space for them to critically analyze the people of their own government. Over the course of this season, Bea and Twila have definitely become smarter than they used to be. If they still refuse to at least be a little wary of what the CIA tells them to do, then all their character development will be for nothing.
Were Bea and Twila Captured by the KGB?
In Ponies’ ending, the KGB agents who had entered the US Embassy’s office disguised as firefighters were informed by Andrei that they were in the CIA’s office, which meant that everything around them was essential. And as Andrei walked out of the burning office, the KGB agents captured Bea and Twila. That made total sense, because those two knew a lot about the KGB. But then why not kill them right there and then? Well, because they were trusted by the CIA, and if the KGB could force Bea and Twila’s hands to make them poach confidential information for the Russians, that’d be a big win for them. Now, this is where the burnt tapes come into play again. There are many people in the KGB who abhor Andrei because he collects dirt on them. With all the tapes gone, they’d love to “clean house,” and that process will start with the death of Andrei. With Andrei gone, will the KGB want to fraternize with Bea and Twila? I doubt it. If that’s the case, Bea and Twila will need to keep Andrei alive in order to stay alive. If the ladies manage to pull that off, Andrei will be in their debt, and they’ll need to play a very complex game of convincing all sides that they are working for them.
Without the tapes, Bea and Twila don’t have any kind of leverage over Andrei. The only kind of tapes that can be used as leverage against Andrei are the ones that Yuri has in his possession, because they feature all the murders that Andrei has committed. Andrei and Bea have some idea of where those videos are stored. So, maybe they’ll come to a mutual agreement where they’ll scratch each other’s backs so that they aren’t killed by the KGB. The CIA might be inclined to help them with this endeavor because they’d like to keep Bea and Twila alive while having someone as well-connected as Andrei on their team. Earlier in the season, we saw Dane not being all that interested in communicating with Andrei, but it’s very obvious that Dane wants to get ahold of him. If Andrei’s desperation brings him to his doorstep, Dane will be more than happy to entertain his demands. By the way, this cliffhanger can only be resolved if the show gets renewed for a second season. If that doesn’t happen, Bea and Twila will be stuck in that fiery room for the rest of eternity. Anyway, that’s what I think about the show. If you have any opinions on the same, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
