Directed by Lousie Hooper and Sarah O’Gorman, the British spy series “Treason” tells us a story about an MI6 official who finds himself standing on the slippery ground soon after he is made the head of the organization. The protagonist, Adam Lawrence (Charlie Cox), finds himself in a tough spot as he has to choose between his country and his family. He knew that in order to save his family, he would have to commit certain acts of treason, but he still decided to take the risk. So, let’s find out whether Adam really betrayed his country or if he just fell prey to the system and became a scapegoat.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Treason’ Plot Summary: What Is The Series About?
Adam Lawrence was made the interim chief of MI6 after an anonymous person poisoned the drink of Martin Angelis, causing the head of the organization to have a cardiac arrest. Though Martin survived, he was not in a condition to work, and somebody else had to take over the role. Adam was Martin’s deputy, and he was quite nervous about the new responsibility as he knew that it would completely change his life. Adam was contacted by his ex-lover, Kara Yusova, who was a Russian spy and was on the radar of both Russian and British intelligence. Kara told Adam that she was the one who had poisoned Martin’s drink, as she had a vested interest in Adam taking over the position. Kara wanted to acquire information about the time when both Adam and she were stationed in Baku. A double agent had killed five locals who were working with Kara on an operation. Generally, covert operatives called it collateral damage and moved on with their lives, but Kara couldn’t do that. She wanted justice for the families of those five people who had put their trust in her.
For 15 long years, Kara provided secret intel to Adam and waited for the day when he would be elevated to the position of the head. Adam was unaware of the fact that whatever information was falling into his lap, which he considered to be a lucky coincidence, was because of Kara. Adam at first refused to help Kara but eventually found himself in a situation where he realized that he would need her help. Adam’s daughter, Ella, was kidnapped, and he suspected that Kara was behind it. She proved to him that she hadn’t kidnapped Ella and urged him to expand his worldview in order to understand the situation in its entirety. For years, the CIA had wanted to find some incriminating evidence on Adam Lawrence, as they considered him a threat. The CIA believed that Adam had been compromised and that there was a Russian agent who was feeding him all the intel. Adam had miraculously risen in the ranks, and that’s what attracted the attention of the CIA. The American Intelligence Operations Team was headed by Dede, who had once served in the army together with Adam’s wife, Maddy D’Costa. Dede contacted Maddy and used her to get intel about Adam Lawrence. Maddy had thought that Dede could help her get back her daughter, but when she realized that she was just being used as a pawn by her friend, her trust was shattered to pieces. Adam also found that his wife had conspired against him, and he realized that he was standing on the precarious ground with nobody to trust.
Adam had agreed to give Kara the information that she needed. He had an intuition that Martin kept secret information about each and every person of interest so that he could use it against them when the time came. Adam went to Martin’s house and pleaded with his wife, Mary Angelis, to tell him if there was any secret stash that Martin used to maintain. Mary was close to the Lawrence family, and seeing Adam in such a desperate situation, she felt like helping him, though she warned him that nothing good could come out of it. Adam had leaked information about Audrey Gratz, who was a prime ministerial candidate. He had let Anton Melnikov, the Russian businessman, use the leaked information against Gratz and strengthen the position of his candidate, Robert Kirby. Adam was playing it very close to his chest, and he knew that there was a possibility that he could be charged with treason if what he was doing came to light.
Why Did Martin Angelis Join Hands With The CIA?
Kara wanted all the information that Sir Martin Angelis had on Baku, and she teamed up with Adam to get it anyhow. Adam realized that he needed a strong ally like Kara as he wanted to get some intel to create leverage and escape the possibility of becoming a scapegoat for the MI6. Adam went with his kids to Martin’s house to get those files, but he found out from Mary Angelis that Martin was going to reach there any moment. Kara went inside the wine cellar and found out that the files were not there. She texted Adam about it, who was upstairs having a conversation with Martin. Adam realized that Martin would have gotten a whiff of the situation, and that is why he would have shifted the files somewhere else. Martin confronted Adam that day and told him to his face that he saw through his malicious intentions very clearly. Mary had already told her husband that she had told Adam about the secret intel that he used to keep in his wine cellar.
Adam told Martin that he just wanted to stop Melnikov, who was funding Robert Kirby’s campaign and trying to make him the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Melnikov knew that he needed a Russian pawn at the top level so that he could pull the reins and tip the scales in his favor. Martin already knew about it, and he let Melnikov play his games because the seasoned diplomat had something else in mind. Martin was somebody who was always a step ahead, and he kept tabs on everyone. Martin told Adam that he had a transcript of a phone call between two SVR agents, who were having a conversation about how they had used a British agent, who went by the code name Dorian, to get five men killed in Baku.
The death of those five people, who were working for Kara, caused an uprising, and the Russians took over Baku. Even after all the British diplomats left the city, Adam stayed there and saved the embassy. This heroic act had become one of the prime reasons why he had been made the deputy chief of MI6 when there were many more candidates who had much more experience compared to him. Though Adam kept pleading that he was not Dorian, Martin had already made up his mind, and he believed that Adam was a double agent who had strong ties with Moscow. Kara knew that her men hadn’t been murdered by Adam because they were together when it happened. Martin’s narrative was flawed, and he was just not ready to embrace any other possibility. Moreover, Martin wanted Kirby to become the PM so that he could expose his real identity and, in turn, prove his worth.
Adam took his kids and straightaway went to Surrey, where he had a house that was owned by the parents of his first wife, Sian. Martin knew that his wife Mary would definitely know where he would have gone since she was very close to Adam’s first wife and his entire family. Martin asked Olamide to send one of his men and get Adam killed. This conversation that he had with Olamide was luckily intercepted by Kara, and she got to know about the whole plan. Maddy also reached Surrey, as she had guessed that it was the only place where Adam would have gone. Kara arrived just in time, and she informed the Lawrence family about the imminent threat hanging over them. Barnes started shooting, but somehow Kara and Maddy were able to kill him. Adam took all of them to Kit Harper’s house, who was a lawyer and was also Sian’s best friend. Kit was hesitant to let them all stay at his house, but Adam persuaded him otherwise. Dede and her team of CIA agents had been on the lookout for some incriminating evidence on Kara, and Martin obviously knew this. In the 4th episode of “Treason,” we saw that Martin hatched a plan to involve the CIA and get Adam and Kara killed. Dede couldn’t turn down the lucrative offer as she knew that if she was able to accomplish her mission, she would win a lot of accolades, and it would greatly benefit her career. Martin knew that he didn’t have any incriminating evidence against Adam, and that is why he wanted to do it off the books. He was a shrewd conspirator, and he knew that involving the CIA had a lot of benefits and was also the safest method to execute the plan.
‘Treason’ Ending Explained: Who Killed Kara’s Men In Baku? Who Was Dorian?
In the fifth episode of “Treason,” Adam, as a countermove, decided to get Martin’s secret files, as that was the only way through which he could save his life. Now Adam had two things to ascertain: firstly, he needed to know the exact location of Martin’s secret files, and secondly, he had to know if Audrey Gratz would be willing to help him out. Surprisingly, Adam asked Malik, rather than his best friend Patrick, to assist him in locating the files. He told Malik everything about Martin and how his corrupt practices were destroying the soul of the agency. Adam asked Malik to find Olamide through the emergency location flag technology, as he believed that Martin would have trusted him to shift the files to a place of safety.
Meanwhile, Maddy somehow managed to secretly meet Gratz, and she informed the minister about Martin’s real intention. At first, Gratz didn’t want to have any kind of association with Adam, but Maddy made her understand that it was probably the only option she had. Martin would have used the information he had on Gratz as leverage once she became the prime minister. It was necessary for the country to know what the chief of MI6 was up to, and that is why Gratz decided to come on board. After getting the location of Olamide, Adam and Kara decided to go there and retrieve the files. Maddy couldn’t stay back, and she also decided to come to the scene and help in whatever way possible. The trio had almost completed their mission when Dede arrived and took Adam into custody. Dede asked Maddy to come out of hiding and give her the portable drive, which had all the files. Maddy would have adhered to her commands, but Kara came and stopped her from doing so. She knew that Dede was going to kill Adam anyway, so there was no point in giving her the disc. Dede shot Adam, not even once thinking about the implications her actions could have on the life of her friend. Maddy saw her husband die in front of her own eyes. Both Kara and Maddy escaped the scene and reached a safe house, where they established contact with Audrey Gratz and informed her about what had transpired. Gratz was panicking as she had been called to attend the Commons Intelligence Committee meeting, where she was told that Angelis was going to make a statement. Maddy told Gratz that Adam had been killed by the CIA on the orders of Martin Angelis. Gratz decided to back out at the very last moment, and she asked Maddy to do the same. Gratz knew that Kirby was going to get exposed, and she would be made the next PM. She didn’t want any leverage over Martin, as she was scared that meddling in the affairs of such a dangerous man would have dire consequences. Maddy begged her to not do so, as it was the only way to prove that Adam was not the double agent that Martin was presuming him to be. But Gratz didn’t listen to her, and Maddy felt like she had been abandoned by one of her own on the battlefield.
Kara and Maddy sat on the terrace, thinking about what they would do next. Kara had accepted defeat, and she had started entertaining the possibility that she was never going to find out who Dorian was. Maddy, though, hadn’t given up yet, and she was getting the hang of the game. She had realized that if Dorian was hiding, then they had to do something to draw him out and make him feel like his cover was going to get blown. Kara called Belova, the Russian diplomat, and made her an offer. She created a fake narrative and told her that Maddy was trying to kill her and that she was also in possession of Martin’s secret stash. Kara was very confident about the fact that the Kremlin would only contact agent Dorian, as other SVR agents were too scared to get involved in the matter. She asked Maddy to go directly to the state building where Angelis was going to make a statement in front of the Commons Intelligence Committee. Both the women were well aware that they could be ambushed by Dorian if the Kremlin contacted him before they reached there, but they had to take that risk as they were not left with any other option.
Maddy went inside the government building, but as soon as she was about to enter the committee chamber where the meeting was happening, she met Patrick Hamilton, who pretended as if he was more than relieved to see Maddy alive. Patrick saw that Maddy was holding the disk, which had the compromising information. At that moment, Maddy realized that her husband’s best friend, Patrick Hamilton, was Dorian. Patrick was the double agent, and he was the one who killed Kara’s men in Baku. She came to blows with him and somehow managed to reach the chamber where Martin was giving his testimony. Gratz saw her entering the room, and she also decided to show some courage, for once, and not get intimidated by a menacing Martin Angelis. Gratz took the disc and revealed in front of the entire committee what Martin was up to. She told the presiding members that Angelis maintained a secret stash, and he used to use the information to blackmail top government officials. Martin knew that there was nothing more for him to say, so he left the meeting room.
Maddy met Martin in the lobby and told him that he was wrong to accuse her husband of being a double agent. She told him that Patrick Hamilton was Dorian, who was working as a Russian informer. The revelation shocked Sir Martin, and he couldn’t process it. Meanwhile, Patrick exited the building, and Kara put a photograph inside his pocket without him knowing. Dorian sat in his car and called his Russian counterpart to inform them about what had transpired. Patrick felt something in his pocket and saw that it was a photograph in which Kara was sitting with the locals who worked for her in Baku. Before he could realize what was happening, the poisonous powder that Kara had put on the surface of the photograph killed him. Finally, Kara took her revenge after 15 long years. Maddy also proved that her husband hadn’t committed an act of treason. She saved the reputation of her family, though there was still one more thing that she needed to do. She wanted to settle scores with a friend who had betrayed her. Maddy called Dede in a fit of rage and told her that no matter where she was hiding, she would find her and kill her.
Maddy reunited with Ella and Callum, and she knew that she had to be there for them more than ever. Ella and Callum were Sian’s kids, but Maddy always treated them as her own. Maddy was scared that she wouldn’t be able to manage the family without her husband, but Kara gave her the confidence she needed and told her that a woman like her was capable of accomplishing anything in her life. Maybe if the makers decide to continue the limited series “Treason” and create another season, we’ll find out whether Maddy gets her revenge on Dede or not. But as of now, the dust had settled, and Maddy was more than happy knowing that the country had come to know the truth that her husband was not a traitor but a true patriot.
“Treason” is a 2022 Drama Thriller series streaming on Netflix.
