In from the Cold

In from the Cold is an American thriller series. It aired on Netflix from 28 January 2022. Adam Glass created it. Margarita Levieva plays Jenny Franklin, a single mother on holiday in Spain whose past as a Soviet bioweapon agent catches up with her.

Jenny was once known as Anya Petrova, a young woman turned into a weapon by a secret Soviet programme. The programme gave her the ability to change her physical form. When a series of mysterious deaths across Europe draws attention, CIA agent Chauncey, played by Cillian O'Sullivan, forces Jenny to use her old skills or face losing her daughter. Lydia Fleming plays Becca, Jenny's teenage daughter who knows nothing about her mother's real history. The series has one season and eight episodes. Netflix cancelled it after the first run.

What I Loved

Margarita Levieva carries the show. She plays a woman pulled between two lives with a quiet desperation that feels honest. The scenes between Jenny and her daughter give the story its weight. Everything she does, she does to protect Becca, and that drive keeps you on her side even when her past is dark.

The Cold War flashbacks show how the Soviet programme broke Anya down and built her into something she never chose to be. Those scenes are bleak and effective. The European settings give the show a grounded feel. Madrid, London, and other locations add texture without turning into tourist postcards. The pace moves fast across eight episodes with little wasted time.

Why You Should Watch

Each episode lasts about 45 minutes. Eight episodes make it an easy watch over a few evenings. The mix of spy thriller and science fiction is unusual. The shape-shifting element could feel silly, but the show treats it as a curse rather than a gift, which keeps the tone serious.

Fans of Cold War fiction and spy stories will find a fresh angle here. It asks what happens to the weapons after the war ends. Jenny did not choose her abilities, and she spent decades hiding from them. The mother and daughter relationship gives the action real stakes. You care about the chases because you care about what Jenny stands to lose.

Favourite Quote

"I am not that person any more."

Jenny says this when her past resurfaces. She has spent years building a normal life and believes she left Anya behind. The line carries both hope and fear, because the show keeps testing whether she is right.

Takeaway

You cannot outrun what made you. The show teaches that secrets kept to protect others still cause harm when they surface. The things done to us as children leave marks that last. Freedom means more than escape. And a mother's will to shield her child can drive her further than any training ever could.

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