CBS’ 2023 series, “True Lies,” is based on the 1994 James Cameron film of the same name, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis in the lead roles. In the series, James Howey and Ginger Gonzaga play the roles of Harry and Helen Tusker, respectively. It is the story of a spy who undertakes lethal missions while pretending in front of the whole world that he leads a normal and boring life. But his cover is blown when his work starts affecting his marriage, and he finds himself in a fix. So, let’s see what Harry does to save his marriage and if he is able to keep his identity hidden.
Spoilers Ahead
‘True Lies’ Episode 1: Recap – What Is The First Episode About?
Harry called his wife, Helen, and told her that he wouldn’t be able to make it for the dinner as his computer sales conference in Cleveland had been extended. Harry apologized for it, knowing that his kids were going to be disappointed, but he had no choice. It was a sales banquet, and he told Helen that if he could bag a lucrative deal, it would be quite beneficial for him on a personal as well as a professional level. Harry didn’t like lying to his wife, but his work didn’t leave him with a lot of options. Harry worked as a spy for an organization called Omega Sector and Telonyx Solutions, his computer company, was just a front to cover his tracks. Harry was on a mission to abduct a rogue weapons dealer from Montserrat Island, situated in the Caribbean Sea. Harry’s unit consisted of Luther and Maria, who were field agents like him, and Gib, who provided them with tech support and lauded his decision to not be an on-field agent, every day. He knew that all the accolades were taken by the on-field agents, and tech support lived a life of obscurity, but he was happy doing that as long as he was allowed to be at a distance from the danger.
The mission was very simple: they had to go in, kidnap the weapons dealer, and come out while making sure that no one saw or heard them. The trio had a gadget with them that could cut through iron, steel, and any other hard substance, and they used it to enter the property. There were a lot of people on the property that Harry hadn’t expected to see, and he got annoyed that, as always, they weren’t given complete information and were left in the dark to improvise at the last moment. The guy they were kidnapping, Mikkle Rand, had an intricate security setup in his office, and Gib informed the trio that they couldn’t make any noise as it would trigger an alarm. They knocked Rand out using their sophisticated gadgets, but just as they were about to turn off the security system, someone entered the room. Harry got into a scuffle with the man, and an artifact made of marble fell from a table, and the sound decibels triggered the alarm. Harry used the caterer’s truck and made a narrow escape. He reached Maryland, and Gib made sure that he remembered the details of his cover story because, as usual, he couldn’t tell his family that he was killing and kidnapping people.
Helen had started feeling very bored in her relationship, and she felt that her life had become very mundane and devoid of any sort of excitement. Though Harry was an exceptional husband and father, Helen was getting affected by his constant absence. Helen used to do all sorts of insane things, like driving at 100 miles per hour, just so that she could get that adrenaline rush that was otherwise missing from her life. She wasn’t feeling satisfied with what she had, and she expressed her concerns to her friend. Helen’s friend took the conversation in a different direction and said that there might be a possibility that Harry was having an extramarital affair.
Harry went to meet his boss, Trilby and asked her how all the who’s who of the crime world were present in the compound when he had gone to kidnap Rand. Trilby showed Harry the footage of the Iraq and Turkey border, where an unknown weapon was used to destroy the area. She thought that Rand would know something about it, but it seemed like he was just a middleman, and there was someone else pulling the strings. Trilby told Harry that one of those deadly weapons was still missing. Later, Gib came to Harry’s barbeque party and told him that they had gotten intel that Rand had sold those deadly weapons just before they caught him, and they had to immediately leave for Paris to intercept them. Harry knew that he couldn’t do that, as his wife would get suspicious and annoyed, as it had only been two days since he had come back from his last mission. But Gib said that they didn’t have any option and had to leave at all costs. Helen, as expected, got agitated when she learned that Harry was once again leaving for a work trip and told him that she thought he was having an affair. To cover his real identity, Harry told Helen that he had been acting strangely lately because he was planning a surprise for her. He told Helen that they were going to Paris the next day, as he didn’t know what else to say. Gib told him that it was not feasible to bring a civilian on such a dangerous mission, but Harry had no choice, and he had to do some damage control.
‘True Lies’ Episode 1: Ending Explained: Did Helen Get To Know That Harry Was A Spy?
In the first episode of the series, “True Lies,” we saw that Harry planned to take Helen out for dinner and then to an opera show while procuring the deadly weapon and completing his mission. Harry found the guy in an elevator, assaulted him, and took the suitcase, which had the weapon that they needed. It all seemed very simple, but what Harry didn’t know was that he was being followed by some people, and he was surely not out of danger. The concierge who had made the reservations for Harry was a member of the enemy group, and his men attacked Harry while he was having dinner with Helen.
Harry and Helen were both taken into custody, though the former had switched on the distress signal on his watch so that Gib and others would know his location. Though the signal was still live, Gib wasn’t able to ascertain their exact location. The hotel concierge wanted the weapon at all costs, and that is why he captured them alive. He was going to kill Helen, and Harry had to lie about her being a spy, in order to save her life. The concierge said that they needed to move them both to a secured location, and for that reason, he asked his men to get the helicopter ready. Helen couldn’t digest that her husband had been an Omega Sector spy since 1999, and Harry didn’t expect in his wildest dreams that she would get to know about it in this manner. Towards the end of the first episode of the series, “True Lies,” Harry and Helen escaped when the concierge’s men came to take them to the helicopter. Gib, Maria, and Luther found the location and launched an attack on the concierge and his men. Harry and Helen flew in the helicopter, and though they might have made a near escape, they still had a lot to discuss and process.
Mrs. Myers, who lived next to Harry and Helen, was, in fact, an Omega agent herself, and she looked after the kids in their parents’ absence. Harry took Helen to meet his boss, who told her that as she knew about Omega Sector’s most important operation, she would have to undergo a training process and get recruited into the agency. Helen said that she didn’t want to do this, but she soon realized that she didn’t have much of an option.
Harry and Helen had a lot to figure out, and in the upcoming episodes of the series “True Lies,” we would get to witness how she dealt with all that had transpired in her life in the last couple of days. Helen was an agent now, and she didn’t know that her desire for thrills and excitement would be fulfilled in such a bizarre manner.
