Transatlantic is a historical drama based on the novel titled The Flight Portfolio by Julie Orringer. It follows the efforts of Mary Jayne Gold and Varian Fry who helped refugees escaped to the US during the WWII. Starring Gillian Jacobs, Cory Michael Smith, and Lucas Englander.
Transatlantic - Episode 4 Summary & Recap
Arrested
Early in the morning, the British POWs have now escaped and showed up at the villa. Mary Jayne (MJ) drew the route via the Pyrenees mountains so that they could escape to Spain. Meanwhile, Nazi officers with their Gruppenführer have showed up in Marseille, and Commissaire Frot greeted them.
That very morning, Albert was tasked with taking Walter Mehring, a Jewish author and songwriter, to get his fake passport. After they left, the French police came by the villa and raided the place. They arrested everyone there except the women. MJ was unfortunately, taken in as well. They were locked up in a ship, not fully knowing why they were arrested. Varian soon recognized the ship and realized it was the SS Sinaia, a ship he had boarded before when he was on vacation years ago.
Meanwhile, MJ and Thomas were feeling guilty as they believed that everyone was arrested because the French police found out about their involvement with the British Intelligence. Varian noticed the two acting weird, and approached them. MJ then decided to come clean and told Varian about their actions. Naturally, Varian was angry and frustrated. He even told MJ that their actions are considered treason and punishable by death in the US.
Albert and Mehring
Albert, on the other hand, successfully obtained Mehring’s passport but they ended up going to the Splendide Hotel for safety when they saw innocent people getting captured all around Marseille. Paul and Petit got Mehring a room, but soon, the Nazis appeared in the hotel and happened to have already booked rooms on the same floor.
Seeing his oppressors around, Albert initially wanted to kill one of them. But Paul helped him retain his anger and Albert managed to get Mehring back to the villa safely by night time.
Mess of an affair
On the other side of Marseille, Commissaire Frot met up with Patterson to informed him that the French police had captured the Americans. He revealed that a parade would be held for the Nazi’s officers and so they captured the Americans for security purposes. To Patterson’s surprise, Commissaire Frot also revealed that he knew about Patterson’s affair with MJ.
Angry, Patterson went to the SS Sinaia and told MJ that their relationship is over. MJ was angry, of course, but Varian took the opportunity to get Patterson to pass a message to the captain of the ship. Turns out Varian and the captain bonded over chess years ago, and so the captain told Varian that they had been captured because of the parade. He also offered to help ship stowaways for Varian via his ship.
News
Everyone on the ship was finally released at night, but bad news came. The British POWs were caught on the way to Spain, and so their route via Pyrenees is now compromised. MJ felt extremely guilty. Albert arrived just in time to console heer.
News that Roosevelt was reelected for a 2nd term also arrived. This means the US might eventually get involved in the war to support the British. Patterson who had been banking on Willkie’s win was disappointed. Another news also arrived via telegram for Varian. He had been relieved off his duties and was asked to return to the US.
Additional Observations From Episode 4
- Varian was disappointed to hear that MJ had been sleeping with Patterson and helping the British in order to fund the operations.
- MJ also revealed that she knew Varian and Thomas were sleeping together.