Episode 2 picks up right after Luna 16’s successful mission to the Moon. The return journey to Earth isn’t exactly smooth, though. Anastasia and Valya find themselves hundreds of kilometers off course, and their landing turns into a dangerous ordeal. After crashing in a remote wilderness area, Anastasia opens the hatch only to find a massive bear staring back at her. It’s a tense moment before Soviet rescuers finally arrive and bring the two women to safety.
Back home, Anastasia is greeted by Lyudmilla and Deputy Chairman Tarasov. Rather than celebrating her achievement, Tarasov focuses on her recent public remarks. He makes it clear that challenging the Soviet leadership is not something that will be tolerated. The warning is delivered politely enough, but the threat behind it is impossible to miss.
Despite the pressure hanging over her, Anastasia is pushed into the next phase of her public duties. She’s scheduled to appear in a parade through Red Square and later travel to Paris as part of a tour celebrating Soviet accomplishments. There’s one problem: the government doesn’t want her representing the country as an unmarried woman. Their solution is simple and ruthless. They arrange a marriage for her.
Her husband turns out to be Sasha.
That decision serves multiple purposes for the authorities. Sasha is already on their radar because of information connected to Yana’s family. By marrying him to Anastasia, the state can monitor both of them at the same time. Irina is assigned to listen in on their private conversations, making sure neither of them becomes a problem.
While Anastasia is dealing with political control over her personal life, the Chief Designer is fighting a different battle.
The Soviet leadership is obsessed with establishing a lunar base and winning the next stage of the space race. The Chief Designer believes their ambitions should stretch beyond the Moon. He wants to focus on neighboring planets instead. Unfortunately, nobody in power wants to hear it.
Things get even worse when Tarasov demands that the Zvezda launch schedule be moved forward to coincide with upcoming Paratrooper’s Day celebrations. The Chief Designer knows the timeline is unrealistic. The lunar base project itself remains far from ready, and accelerating the launch could be disastrous. His objections are ignored, and he’s ordered to proceed anyway.
Working alongside his team, he searches for solutions that might make the mission possible. One of the few promising ideas involves inflatable structures, though even that approach carries major risks.
Later that night, he seeks out Sergei Nikulov. Having been impressed by Sergei’s intelligence and quick thinking, the Chief Designer reveals a secret he’s been keeping. While officials believe they’re working exclusively on lunar plans, he wants to quietly pursue something much bigger: a mission to Venus.
The project would directly violate orders from the Central Committee. If discovered, everyone involved could face severe consequences. Sergei doesn’t hesitate. He immediately agrees to help.
Meanwhile, the delegation’s trip to Paris begins.
Lyudmilla supervises operations while Irina installs listening devices. She manages to bug the hotel room but overlooks the elevator, creating a blind spot that quickly becomes important when Sasha and Tanya share a private and emotional conversation there.
Anastasia, meanwhile, struggles to adjust after her experience on the Moon. The peaceful silence she found there stands in stark contrast to the noisy crowds, journalists, and constant attention waiting for her in Paris. You can really feel how uncomfortable she is in these scenes. The achievement everyone wants her to celebrate seems to have left her feeling disconnected from the world around her.
Sasha notices her discomfort and sneaks away with her from the hotel. Together they explore the city and eventually end up at a loud bar filled with drunken patrons and open drug use.
While there, Anastasia is approached by a woman who appears to have ties to the Americans. The woman attempts to engage her in conversation and leaves behind a business card. Anastasia refuses to take the bait and chooses to leave.
Later, a surprising truth emerges. The woman wasn’t actually trying to recruit her at all. She was part of a loyalty test arranged to evaluate Anastasia’s reliability. That evening, she reports back to Lyudmilla that Anastasia remained loyal.
Back in the Soviet intelligence world, Lyudmilla decides to make greater use of Irina’s abilities. Alongside Galytzin, who is handling transcription work, Irina is brought in to help interrogate a German prisoner.
Because of her fluency in German, Irina is responsible for translating the conversation. What begins as questioning gradually reveals the brutal methods used within the Soviet system.
As the prisoner resists, Lyudmilla grows increasingly impatient. Eventually she threatens to kill him if he continues refusing to cooperate.
The situation escalates further when Irina grabs a boiling kettle and throws hot water into the prisoner’s face. The tactic works. Under pressure, the prisoner finally reveals that his contact is located on Rykestrasse. He explains that he only helped move items across the border and that the contact has been struggling to get something into Star City.
Before he can explain exactly what that “something” is, Lyudmilla ends the questioning. Still, she’s impressed by Irina’s performance during the interrogation.
By the end of the episode, Sasha and Anastasia officially become husband and wife.
The Chief Designer attends the wedding and privately recognizes an important reality. Anastasia has become too valuable as a symbol of Soviet success. Whatever her future may hold, he doesn’t believe she’ll ever be allowed to travel to the Moon again.
At the same time, security measures continue tightening within the monitoring department as officials intensify their search for the mysterious mole.
Review
I thought Episode 2 did a strong job expanding the show’s political drama while continuing to develop both Anastasia and Irina.
Anastasia’s storyline remains the most compelling part of the series for me. After experiencing the Moon, she seems increasingly disconnected from the role the state wants her to play. Watching her get forced into a marriage for political convenience was frustrating, but that’s exactly what made those scenes effective. You can see how little control she actually has over her own life.
Irina’s arc goes in the opposite direction. Earlier, she appeared uncertain about some of the methods being used around her. By the end of this episode, she’s actively participating in a brutal interrogation. That shift is unsettling to watch and raises interesting questions about where her character is headed next.
I also enjoyed the material involving the Chief Designer. His secret plan to pursue a Venus mission adds another layer to the story beyond the constant focus on the Moon. The risks involved make this subplot feel like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
The pacing is still fairly measured, and the show isn’t rushing through its story. Even so, Episode 2 lays important groundwork. Between Anastasia’s growing disillusionment, Irina’s transformation, and the hidden Venus project, it feels like several major conflicts are starting to take shape. The final moments suggest the series is preparing to raise the stakes in the episodes ahead.
Star City Episode 1 | Star City Episode 3
