The Veil episodes 1 & 2 offer a not-so-perfect setup for another espionage thriller. Elisabeth Moss stars as an MI6 agent tasked with learning the identity of a woman who could potentially be the cause of thousands of lives lost. The five-part miniseries doesn’t offer anything particularly intriguing in its initial setup. In spite of the presence of the always dependable Moss, The Veil, created by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Spencer), is not able to make lovers of espionage feel anything special. Moss, who plays Imogen Salter, feels outdated and caricaturish, offering very little to no interest in knowing what led her to this point.
Anyway, let’s examine the premier episodes of The Veil in detail. Please note that the article contains spoilers; the reader’s discretion is advised.
The Veil Episode 1 “The Camp” Recap:
We are first introduced to the protagonist of the show after she has just completed one of her tasks and requests to be named “Imogen Salter” for her next project. Imogen visits a refugee camp near the Syrian border when she is tasked to seek out a young woman named “Adilah” (played by Yumna Marwan), who was attacked in the camp when one of the women recognized her as an ISIS commander responsible for the death of her husband, among many others.
Adilah has been kept in isolation, and when Imogen visits her, she is wounded and alert about possible attacks from people around her who consider her an imminent threat. Imogen is able to calm her down and convinces her that she will help her get away from here if she is truthful with her. Imogen, on the other hand, is working alongside the French Intelligence to bring her back to Paris safely. When Adilah is attacked once again, Imogen makes a pact with the camp in charge and drives her away from there.
What will happen to Adilah if she goes to Edip Koi?
On the road, Imogen questions Adilah about how she reached the camp and how a model from Paris becomes an ISIS commander. Initially, Adilah is not very responsive, but she does tell Imogen that back in Raqqah, she, along with other women, was imprisoned in a room where fighters would often enter to exploit them. One day, she decided to free the Yazidi women, but in order to not get captured by the fighters, she removed her niqab and decided to come work at the refuge camp.
In other things, she also tells Imogen about her love for ‘Shakespeare,’ her communist grandfather, and a 10-year-old daughter that she had to leave in Paris before getting ‘radicalized.’ She requests Imogen that if she takes her to ‘Edip Koi Camp,’ the fighters will recognize her and kill her for helping women escape from their clutches.
Meanwhile, Imogen’s POC in the French DGSE office – Malik (Dali Benssalah), has been keeping track of Imogen’s movement, reporting directly to Magritte (Thibault De Montalembert). However, they are worried that the involvement of the ‘most American, American’ Max Paterson (Josh Charles), heading the US forces’ takeover of the entire thing would mess things up for Imogen.
Where does Imogen take Adilah?
Through their discussions, we can understand that they are currently unsure if Adilah is the high-ranking ISIS official they have been looking for. They do know that this person is going to organize a major attack on the West in the upcoming week. The show clearly points out the inner workings of secret forces and how adamant the US is about taking control of everything.
The ending of episode 1 of The Veil shows that Imogen is hiding her past from Adilah, which involves an older man reading poetry to a girl. She also decides to trust Adilah’s words and take the road to Istanbul instead of Edip Koi.
The Veil Episode 2 “Crossing the Bridge” Recap:
The second episode opens with Imogen and Adilah almost bickering like a married couple. The sudden shift in their relationship doesn’t feel palpable, but we are supposed to believe in what we get. An armed force, predominantly American, comes down to the refugee camp in order to collect DNA samples of the woman who fled. The point is to make sure that she is actually the infamous, most-wanted murderer they are looking for. They also arrive in Paris and steal a strand of hair from what feels like the little girl Adilah has been talking about to Imogen.
Both women only claim to trust each other while keeping their guards up. We see Adilah briefly checking Imogen’s phone and jotting down the number of the French handler. Imogen is cheeky about it because she has already refused Malik’s directives by taking her to Istanbul instead of Edip Koi.
As they are about to enter Istanbul, they see a huge checkpoint with the police checking each and every incoming vehicle for signs of the ‘terrorist’ (read: Adilah). This is where Imogen decides to abandon their car and go rogue. She also throws away her phone, which essentially means that Malik and DGSE can no longer trace her. However, they are attacked by an American agent who tries to get to Adilah. Imogen is somehow able to overpower him with Adilah’s help.
Who is Adilah El Idrissi?
Max claims that French intelligence is not capable enough to deal with the situation, which involves a confusion of identity between ‘Sabaine Al Kubaisi’ and ‘Adilah El Idrissi.’ He says that he has already overtaken the operation by taking a sample of Adilah and her supposed daughter’s DNA and would want results from the intelligence as soon as possible. On the other hand, Imogen reaches a belly dancing club to meet one of her older associates, Mr. Demir. She has come there so Demir could help them get fake identities for their travel to Paris. After a little persuasion and money that Adilah had for herself, they are able to convince Demir to get them the documents they need.
While they wait for the documents to be done, they go through the central library, where we learn that the flashbacks Imogen has been having are of her father. Adilah also stumbles on a book about Djinns and expresses her adoration for the shapeshifters, who were often considered to be somewhere between angels and demons. The similarities between the two women are only starting to come up with their journey of being from rebellious backgrounds, having estranged relationships, and a shared love for literature being a few of them.
The Veil Episode 2 “Crossing the Bridge” Ending Explained:
Is Adilah really ‘Djinn al Raqqah’?
The ending of The Veil episode 2 sees the two women leaving Istanbul on a bus. On their first stop, they both make phone calls with the phone that Demir had arranged. When Imogen calls Malik, he tells her that Adilah is not the ‘Djinn al Raqqah’ they have been looking for but only a confused woman from Paris. They have DNA evidence to prove this and want to terminate the operation Imogen is on.
However, Imogen is determined that Adilah is, in fact, the ‘Djinn al Raqqah,’ and she will prove it to him. Is Imogen right? The final sequence of the second episode shows a man entering the library the women had been at. He opens the book that Adilah was reading and finds a hand-drawn map of a possible plan. Now, why would a normal woman leave a note in a book that she knows no one would get to? Adilah is no normal woman and the call that Imogen secretly listens to was made not just to her daughter but to give a clue to the man we saw during the final moments of the episode.
![Moon, 66 Questions [2021]: MUBI Review- A delicate, understated look at the complexity of estranged realtionships](https://www.highonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Moon-66-Questions-1-highonfilms-768x399.jpg)
