'Treadstone' Episode 2 may reveal the deadly side of Petra, her KGB connection and Stiletto Six
'Treadstone' episode 1 set the tone for the entire season by not just introducing us to the main characters, but also their backstories. Who they are, what they do and what influences their decisions. This includes an old and stern woman named Petra. Initially, she is introduced as a lady looking after her farm with her husband, Oleg, somewhere in Russia. As the episode unravels, we met Petra from the past who served as a KGB agent in the 1970s and worked on the Cicada Protocol. She was responsible for handling American undercover agent John Randolph Bentley. She was expected to bring him under control through the Cicada Protocol which is researched upon by Dr. Meisner. However, she fails in her attempt and, in the process, loses her pinkie finger in a fight with Bentley before his escape attempt.
It is this missing pinkie that clues us in to the fact that Petra living in the farm is the same one who had no qualms about torturing a man into doing things that he would have otherwise never done in the first place. How she ended up on the farm is something that will be explored in the future episodes as we see more of the past featuring Bentley unravels as well. The first episode also showed how the older Petra was still an agent who would put her mission ahead of anything, which includes her husband. Oleg, who just got his ear aid hears something that he wasn't attuned to before then. A beeping sound that seemed to be coming from the barn. What Petra has hidden in the barn would literally rock the world from the looks of it. So when Oleg finds the secret trapdoor and then comes across the source of the buzzing sound it is clear that his days are numbered.
Petra confirms this when she kills Oleg with a scythe just minutes later. From the looks of it, Petra may not only be connected to the Cicada Protocol, but also to another project taken upon by the Soviet Union government in the past called the Stiletto Six. Stiletto Six is a missing missile that journalist Tara Coleman had extensively reported on. One of her investigative pieces about the Stiletto Six is what ruined her reputation and Tara retired from journalism. Now, Tara is also pulled back into reinvestigating all connections to Stiletto Six and Treadstone after her meeting with North Korea's General Kwon. The connections between the individual characters will continue to unravel in the coming episodes as well.
The next episode of 'Treadstone' will air on USA Network on Tuesdays at 10 pm ET.