'The Little Drummer Girl': What clues has Episode 4 left for us as John Le Carre adaptation heads toward its climax

BBC One's adaptation of John Le Carre's 'The Little Drummer Girl' has been a perfect reconstruction of the espionage thriller, which follows aspiring actress Charlie (played by Florence Pugh) as she is lured into posing as a Palestinian militant's girlfriend by two Israeli spies, Marty Kurtz (played by Michael Shannon) and Becker (played by Alexander Skarsgard).

The Park Chan-wook-directed show has so far chiefly focused on Charlie's trajectory of being a theatre actress to actually participating in the theatre of the real, and in the last episode, it was one long wait before she embarks on the other half of the journey. 

Episode 4 which aired on November 18 saw Charlie settling in with the fact that she is now a part of an actual rebellion, and one wrong step could be disastrous for an entire nation. Charlie does go back to London to re-join her troupe but she awaits a message from Michel's (her militant boyfriend) people who are trying to track down the girl who was with him at the time of his death.

While speaking about the final meeting between Charlie and the Palestinians, Alexander Skarsgard said, "The goal when she talks to the Palestinians about Michel, they see the love in her eyes and believe her." 

So what will happen when they finally get to know Charlie? Will they be convinced of her apparent identity? Here are a few clues from Episode 4 which might help answer the question:

1. Charlie's successful debut

Charlie has already proved herself as the perfect choice to play the heroine in the theatre of the real. As she made her debut in the previous episode, where she drove Michel's car right across Yugoslavia and straight into Austria, Kurtz welcomed her onboard by revealing the real identity of Michel. After training with Becker, she awaits for Michel's people to make contact, and finally, when Michel's associate, Helga, (played by Katharina Schüttler) reaches out, Charlie passes the test once again with flying colors. Helga is immediately convinced that Charlie loved Michel just as much as any of them. Kurtz's plan to kill Michel to invoke genuine fear and sadness in Charlie played out perfectly well, as Charlie almost broke down upon the news of his death. 

2. Helga and Fatmeh

Charlie's long wait has finally come to an end, and she is now in the hands of Michel's people. Although we don't know what awaits her yet, it can be presumed that Charlie is about to discover another side of the story, something which is not scripted and is real. Helga who initially tried to break down Charlie with manipulation finally accepted the fact that she is the one who had been with Michel through thick and thin. However, the situation might not be similar in the case of Fatmeh (played by Lubna Azabal), who is Michel's sister. We can expect that Fatmeh will scrutinize Charlie till the end, and this is about to be Charlie's biggest audition as an actress to date - to cheat the human mind. 

3. Prepare for combat

Becker has been training Charlie all along, while pretending to be Michel. While Charlie has been posing as Michel's smitten lover, Becker has embodied Michel himself. The two have shared several romantic moments but in the last episode, they finally push the boundary to let each other in. Becker has been the actual editor of the script. As Marty penned down Charlie's character, he added sharp edges to give her more authenticity. He also prepares her for combat by teaching her how to hold a gun, while being Michel. We can hope that when Charlie is finally called in by Fatmeh to join the rest of the organization, her training will prove to be helpful. Not only because she now knows how to hold a gun, but she holds it the way Michel's lover would. 

With only two more episodes remaining, the story is gradually drawing towards its climax. What remains is for Charlie to finally meet Palestinian leader Khalil, and discover a whole new side to Marty and Becker's story. It now depends on her to really decide which side she would be on, once she gets to know the truth of both.