The description of the three hour, two episode drama is misleading. The daughter doesn't find out her mother is not who she thought she was. Instead she is given a manuscript containing the complete story of her mother's life. Most of the film is what Hayley Atwell's character did in the 40's, with little that makes any sense in the 1970's "present".Now, the story is interesting, a sort of cloak and dagger British Intelligence outfit that is tasked with convincing the Americans to join the war effort in favour of Europe. Sexy Eva is recruited, trained and unleashed upon unsuspecting foreign agents. However, as many have noticed, the execution of the plot survives only to the most superficial scrutiny. But it is damn ridiculous to complain about the inconsistencies, though, if we liked the movie. It's not like we don't know it's a film.What does strike as slightly annoying is the length of the feature. Certainly this could have been more concise in the length of a normal film or more detailed and watchable in a three or four episode miniseries. As such, you can't wait for it to be over, waiting for the climactic ending that, alas, doesn't really come. Everything is explained in the end, but with a fizzling finale that holds no power and creates no emotion.Beautiful Hayley Atwell and Rufus Seawell both made the film bearable due to their performance. Perhaps it would have been better to just discard the 1970's story and just tell the 1940 one from beginning to end. The Americans would have done so, ended the story with her escaping and quickly preparing a sequel. :)

EPISODE #1:Another British spy drama starring some legendary British actors but also some newcomers to acting also from Britian. Set in the 70's the story is about Ruth Gilmartin (Michelle Dockery) who along with her son goes to meet her mother Sally Gilmartin (Charlotte Rampling). On this visit she finds out the truth that Sally's real name is Eva Delectorskaya (Hayley Atwell) and she was a spy for the British during the times of world war II. We then get flashbacks to the 30's-40's seeing the training Eva went through to become a spy because her brother was killed. While going through the training she meets Lucas Romer (Rufus Sewell) who becomes her closest Allie while being a spy. After one mission goes wrong and a dutch spy gets killed the thriller aspect of the story kicks into full gear. While we see these flashbacks going on back in present time Ruth still in shock now about the truth of her mother she agrees to help her mother stay safe while trying to get help from past friends of her mother. At the end of the first part of the miniseries we get our first look at the older Lucas Romer (Michael Gambon) as Ruth try's to get help from him for her mother. An impressive cast lead this story. The film is like a typical British spy thriller based in the past but the two connected times lines in something different for a change. The best performances in this first part came from Hayley Atwell and Charlotte Rampling who play the same character but in different points of the character's life. We were left with a cliff hanger with the reveal of Lucas Romer who is needed to keep Sally/Eva alive. Every detail in the clothes, sets and direction was spot in for the period that each part of the story was filmed. An impressive first part can only lead to a great conclusion in part two.EPISODE GRADE: B+ (MVP: Hayley Atwell)EPISODE #2:Part 2 and the final part of the miniseries. Still split between the two time periods we find out more about Eva's days in the states as a spy. In present times Ruth sits down to interview Lucas, when she asks some of her questions he becomes suspicious and ends the interview after asking more questions then she got to ask him. In the past we see Eva was made sleep with someone on a mission and she successfully did it but did not feel good about selling herself to him. Eva's other mission in the states involved her going to Albuquerque, New Mexico to get a package along with the $5,000 she was given to hand off to someone. She gets the package and looks at it to find some mistakes on the package. When she gives some of the money she returns back to her motel room only to have a gun held to her. The gun man takes the money off her but also makes her take her clothes off before leaving. She then drives them and once they stop she takes her chance to get free by stabbing him in the eye. She then covers her footsteps by making it took like a car crash. Eva believes she was sold but when she meets with Lucas he tells her she did better then anyone could have expected. Eva still worried she was set up now has the idea she made a mistake after Morris tells her she might have, however when Eva goes for a meeting with Morris she finds out the news that he committed suicide. This makes Eva come up with a plan to escape to Canada so she asks Sylvia to come with her. When they get to the border Eva escapes but Slyvia staying behind is killed. Once Eva gets to Canada she hears USA is know in the war also she has met her future husband. Eva escapes to London with her new husband. She meets Alfie in London finding out Angus was killed as well. During the London bombings Eva kills Alfie and also has to run from Lucas scared he might kill her. This ends the past and we return to modern times where Ruth is starting to worry about what her mother has been doing lately. At the end of the episode Eva finally confronts Lucas once again. She reveals that she now knows that Lucas was the spy of all spies. She does not kill him but once she leaves her injects himself to kill himself. Eva still questions revealing Ruth was her daughter but Ruth tells her not to worry. Once again the performances by Charlotte Ramplinbg and Hayley Atwell were very strong. Michael Gambon and Michelle Dockery were also great. The production value was also as strong and the thriller aspect to this part was even more thrilling then the first part. This was a great miniseries overall.EPISODE GRADE: B+ (MVP: Charlotte Rampling)

When Ruth Gilmartin goes to visit her mother Sally she is surprised to find her acting somewhat paranoid; convinced that there are people in the woods who are watching her and intending to kill her. Sally has a bigger surprise for her daughter; she isn't really Sally Gilmartin; her name is Eva Delectorskaya. She was a Russian émigré living in France when she was recruited to British Intelligence by a man called Lucas Romer. We see the younger Eva working for him, helping plant false news stories that are intended to help the war effort. The most important of her missions takes her to the United States; here they are trying to sway opinion so that neutral America will join the war against Germany. Things don't go according to plan and Eva becomes convinced that one of the group must have betrayed them! As she learns more about her mother's past Ruth helps her track down Lucas Romer but if her mother is right they are both in more danger than ever.This two part thriller nicely balanced the events that took place during the war and those that were taking place thirty years later. Michelle Dockery and Charlotte Rampling did fine jobs as Ruth and Sally Gilmartin but it was Hayley Atwell who stole the show as the younger Sally, aka Eva. Even though we knew her character had to survive the war her scenes managed to be tense; especially those in the United States. For the most part the tension was maintained by the threat of violence but occasionally the threat became a reality. Much of the violence was fairly tame but there is a scene where somebody gets stabbed in the eye which is surprisingly graphic. I suspect most viewers will guess who the traitor was although when it is revealed the motives are not those that I'd expected… I won't say more to avoid spoiling the ending too much!

Hayley Atwell made this for me - she was excellent throughout. The story was exciting, although I still don't know who was watching from the forest and why they would suddenly start to do so, long after the original events. Charlotte Rampling is also very good indeed in her part. The credits show that quite a lot of it was filmed in South Africa, which seems to have done duty for the USA. This sometimes looked cheap (the little street corner that stands in again and again for New York City) and some of the local actors had dodgy American accents. "Turn left hyah" doesn't strike me as authentic for New Mexico. It was enjoyable and I recommend it.