Ponies Recap Season 1 Episode 6 ‘Night Moves’: Get Out Of Your Head

In the middle of this excellent episode that smoothly blended high stakes espionage with many, many moments of poignancy, heartbreak, desire, and the hope of love, the audio shifted. In an effort to get his very important agent under control, Dane gave Bea Shep’s hash, which she smoked with Sasha in his flat before Andrei was set to come over. It was her first time smoking it, and it got to her more than it did to Sasha. When Andrei arrived, she was still unsteady on her feet, and it was as though we were hearing things from her slightly out of it point of view. It was an interesting artistic choice, and that part I loved. However, during this very important dialogue between Andrei and Bea in the bath, a moment of genuine connection between two people on opposite sides of the political divide, they also shifted the dialogue to English with Russian subtitles. This is not a criticism, only a statement of preference — I wish they had stuck to using Russian with English subtitles on that scene. It would have kept the more otherworldly vibe of the scene, and of Bea doing her best in this situation that she needed to go through, her heart and her heartbreak be damned, else she drowned. Keeping the dialogue in Russian would have also followed through with what Twila told her earlier, that the job necessitated that they be other people sometimes. Now that I got that one comment out of the way, let’s proceed with fangirling this strong 50-something minutes of tv and the brilliant people who made it happen. 

Bea spent the night with the video of Chris and Galyna playing in a loop in her flat. Chris was the love of Bea’s life. Chris’s espionage work aside, theirs was a very traditional love story – met when they were in college, got married, planned their life together. That Chris betrayed their marriage vows cut Bea deeply, and her hurt was all over her when she went to Dane and showed him the tape.

Dane calmly told Bea that Chris was not being blackmailed nor was he having an affair. Dane claimed that he asked Chris to pretend to work for the Soviets; the tape was to make the KGB feel confident about him, that they had something that could ruin his life. Was this true? It was not clear yet. Dane chided Bea and told her that it was past time she decided whether she was going to dedicate herself to this job or not.

Her heart still broken, Bea ended up crying in the ladies’ room in the middle of a work day. Twila went to check on her, still carrying some guilt over what happened to Manya, and some defensiveness as well. Bea told her about Chris being with another woman for an operation. For Twila, sex as part of the job did not count. She took the same view Dane did, that Chris was not actually betraying Bea because he did not have an affair of his own accord, he only did it as part of his duties in this complex, dangerous world of spies. In a rather misguided effort to comfort Bea, she told her Chris did not betray her, Tom did. According to Vera, it was Tom who fed the Russians information that eventually got them killed. 

This was too much for Bea to process. She was angry at a lot of things, including her realisation that she needed to seduce and sleep with Andrei to save their operation, but it was Twila who was in front of her, and it was at Twila she lashed out. Bea’s words cut deep. Twila’s rough edges and trauma met Bea’s well ordered world falling apart, and Twila eventually stormed out.

It was from Sasha that Bea found the strength to go on. Sasha has had a traumatic day. When a group of men grabbed him from his flat, he thought that was the end, and he prepared to get his pendant with the suicide pill. But, he was only taken to a hotel where he installed cameras the year before; the KGB officer there did not know how to turn them on. Once he was done helping them, he was allowed to leave.

The quick flashback scene on that day he first set the cameras up was nicely executed. Present day Sasha walked out into the lobby, then Galyna walked into his view, signalling that we were already in the flashback. They talked for a bit; apparently, they had not seen each other in a long time. Sasha warned Galyna that something dangerous was happening there that night, and that she needed to leave, but Galyna ignored him, and she made her way toward some tables near the bar. The camera moved in a smooth circle, and we were back in the present, with the tables where Sasha last saw Galyna alive now empty.

Sasha and Bea met in what looked like an abandoned quarry. Sasha said that with all the foreigners in town for the Elton John concert and all the cameras the KGB gathered, they must be doing an operation at the hotel that night. Bea, who has been struggling with feelings of betrayal since the night before, marvelled at how Sasha had a terrifying encounter with the KGB, and he still went out of his way to provide her with this intel. Sasha was doing all this because he wanted answers on what happened to Galyna and Bea, who just found out something she truly did not wish to about her husband, wondered out loud what if the answers hurt more than not knowing. Sasha was young and in many ways still idealistic; he said knowing was better than sitting in the dark. That was the push that Bea needed to go on. She asked if she could borrow Sasha’s flat that night. 

Bea’s next stop was at Andrei’s flat, where the door was opened by Andrei’s wife, and Andrei was busy taking care of his child. Andrei had called Bea at her flat earlier and angrily asked her why she left so suddenly. Bea snapped back and told him it was because she heard how he treated the old woman. Andrei had hung up, seemingly ending their relationship, but the way they stood just a few feet apart right there on the stairs, not too far from where Andrei’s wife and child lived, the connection was still vivid even before they touched.

Bea explained that the old woman reminded her of her grandmother, which was very close to the truth, though Andrei did not know it. There was this low, dangerous music as Andrei placed his hand on her neck, his thumb caressing her skin as her pulse throbbed. Bea gently asked him to come over that night so she could make it up to him, with all the promise, and the danger (to her) that implied.

Sasha knew that Andrei was coming, and still he remained with Bea until the very last moment, when he truly needed to leave because Andrei was at the door. They smoked Shep’s hash together, the both of them speaking of voices in their heads and needing to quiet them down. When it was getting a bit much for Bea, since it was her first time, Sasha got up and turned on the stereo. He told her to focus on the music, and they danced, two young people choosing a few moments of tenderness even as they were right in the middle of an international storm. 

Meanwhile, Andrei stopped by to bring his boss Yuri some wine. When he asked about the old woman, Yuri’s temper snapped. He strangled him and hit him several times. The marks were still on his face when he knocked on Sasha’s door.

Sasha and Bea were on the floor – Sasha lying down, Bea leaning her back against the couch – and the way this was shot made me think of two university kids hanging out and thinking about life. Sasha did often look like a cute uni boyfriend who was smart but also, chill about missing a few classes. Bea spoke of how Sasha knew exactly what she needed, and Sasha countered that it was not hard when you saw someone. Sasha sweetly asked if she would be all right there – they both knew what was about to happen – and Bea said she would imagine someone else.

Choose your ship.

• Bea - Andrei
• Bea - Sasha

It was here that the audio shifted, along with the shot, which became slightly blurry, as though the director was taking us through Bea’s muddled head. I really do love this choice. Bea of course noticed the bruise on Andrei’s face. He accepted a drink from her, then tried to leave, muttering that this was a mistake. Bea did not stop him. Instead, she floated to the bathroom and started running a bath.

‘Just let me take care of you’, Bea told Andrei as she gently bathed him. She noticed a scar of a knife wound on his stomach, and he commented how he was better with scars. We saw Andrei brutally murder Sveta. I needed that reminder, because just as Bea’s scene with Sasha was all youthful sweetness, this scene with Andrei was raw desire. Andrei spoke of dreaming more, of knowing the weak spots of the elites. As a naked Andrei stood up and lifted Bea, the first face that popped into Bea’s mind was Chris’s, but it was quickly replaced by Sasha’s. The face on the mirror remained Sasha’s, but afterwards, after Andrei had kissed her tenderly goodbye, the small smile on her face seemed genuine. Did she imagine Sasha’s face the whole time, or did Andrei get through her defenses? 

Meanwhile, Ray and Twila were still set on locating the kompromat facility. Based off Sasha’s intel, Ray deduced that the KGB was running a massive blackmail operation in the hotel. The technology that Sasha has been smuggling out for them allowed them to create a duplicate tape, only, theirs would have a tracking device. They needed to find one of the hidden cameras and replace one of the tapes with a tape of their own, and that would lead them to the facility. 

Twila had accidentally ran into Maria, who survived her encounter with Andrei and was now trying to start over with a different life. Twila tried to recruit her to pretend to be a prostitute (Ray was going to be the mark, and Twila the secretary) but at the hotel, it was Ivanna who showed up. There were multiple women waiting at the bar; the KGB was well prepared for the night. Ivanna tried to follow Ray as he headed to his suite, but a drunk French government official stopped her. Twila joined them in the elevator, and the three of them ended up partying together. 

Twila looked worried but Ivanna was not; she knew that foreigners could not hold Russian vodka, and the Frenchman eventually fell asleep. Twila and Ivanna pretended to have sex as they searched the hotel room for the camera, and did not find it. They eventually kissed and did end up having sex. 

Meanwhile, another prostitute, Yulia, knocked on Ray’s door. Ray tried to refuse her, but she begged him, she could not return downstairs; the threat to her well-being was implied. They ended up just talking, with Ray acting the supportive therapist, and when Yulia started crying, he grabbed the napkin dispenser, which was heavier than it should have been. He comforted Yulia as he quickly swapped the tape with one of their own. 

With everything that happened in this packed episode, it was fitting to end it with Bea showing up at Twila’s flat, eager to tell her story, and Twila letting her in with no drama. When a tight story starts to branch out and include more characters, more storylines, more conflict, it is a good sign when a show knows how to return to its core. As fun as it is to ship and figure the espionage stuff out, the show gets its strength from the foundation that was Bea and Twila. These two women with vastly different backgrounds, bonded by loss, were each other’s certainty in a world of deceit. Ponies hurt us and healed us; what a great episode.

Rating: A

Strays

🐎We got a flashback of Chris and Bea on happier times. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

🐎Ray showed Dane where Trent found the bug, and the two of them went up the fireplace and discovered tunnels they did not even know was there. There were no footsteps, so Dane figured the bug was planted from their side.

🐎The Director of Central Intelligence came to scold Dane about hiring two women as agents, and to threaten his job.

🐎Maria did not know the man who hired her, but she described him to Ivanna, who described him to Twila, and Twila immediately knew that was Andrei.

🐎Why was Andrei killing prostitutes after they had done what he asked them to do?

🐎Cheryl told Dane that she had three suspects for the mole – Twila, her new nanny Eevi, and Shep, whom she told Dane was allegedly seeing a shrink once a week. Dane followed Shep and found out he was not seeing a shrink, he was just buying hash.

🐎Dane taped Shep’s hash to Bea’s refrigerator with the note, ‘Get out of your head’.

🐎Dane looked very emotional as he destroyed Chris and Galyna’s tape. Hmm. He contacted someone and said he needed to see them.

You can view Recap Lab’s coverage of Ponies via this link. 

Episode Title: Night Moves

Episode Writer: Rosa Handelman

Episode Director: Ally Pankiw

Original Release Date: January 15, 2026

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