'Treadstone' Episode 2 to explore the truth of Doug, So-hyun and their connection to John Bentley from the 1970s
In the first episode of 'Treadstone', we saw how Doug McKenna in the Arctic and So-Hyun in Pyongyang, North Korea were awakened to become human weapons as they were originally intended to be used. The two are former CIA agents who volunteered to be a part of Operation Treadstone, which after a point of time was shut down leaving the agents living their cover lives across the world since they had forgotten their real selves through subliminal messaging and hypnotism.
It was also revealed that the operation itself began in the 1970s in Russia, when one Dr Meisner began researching about the effects of subliminal messaging, hypnotism and more, which would help them influence human minds into doing things that would normally not be attempted. The first subject was John Bentley, who managed to fool his handler, Petra and the scientist into believing that their research was taking effect and escaped from the compound where he was held. Now the question arises, what does an operation that began in the 1970s have to do with agents in the present? This is exactly what we think would be answered in the upcoming episodes of the show.
For instance, if Doug and So-Hyun are not who they are right now - an oil rig worker and a piano teacher who is a mother of one - who are they really? Will we see their past unravel as flashbacks now that the two are awake or would they try to hold on to their cover lives after having lived as Doug and So-Hyun for as long as they have?
From what we have seen of Doug so far, he may choose the latter. He is visibly head over heels in love with his wife Samantha who he hopes to meet soon. He was also not easy to be awakened as So-hyun was as the mysterious female figure had mentioned. She had to sing to Doug the second time around to make sure that he would awaken to become the human weapon that he was intended to be from the beginning.
So-Hyun, on the other hand, may not be as hesitant as Doug. She did kill General Kwon before she returned to her home where she lived with her husband and son, so she is cold and calculative when it comes to completing her missions. So she might not be as attached to her son and husband as Doug is, or she is probably yet to understand the situation that she is currently in. Ignorance can get the best of people, so if the latter was the case, we wouldn't be surprised.
Next, what is the connection between John, Doug and So-Hyun? How did an agent from 1973 manage to assimilate enough information about 'Treadstone' to allow CIA to start their own research into the project that the KGB had claimed was theirs? Where is this project headed especially considering it has been shut down in the present? It is clear that Doug and So-Hyun's fates are now controlled by the person who awakened the two of them but are there more agents like these two who can be used?
Even as we consider all of this, we must also remember Petra, the KGB agent who was John's handler and is still alive. We saw her at an underground facility standing underneath a huge tank which seems to be a part of an elaborate power plant set up which she doesn't want discovered. So much so, she even kills her husband to keep it all a secret. So will Petra be the connecting thread between the past and present?
We would have to wait and see when 'Treadstone' episode 2 airs on Tuesdays at 10 pm on USA Network.