Gray episode 1 is an explosive start to the gripping thriller series available on Netflix, which follows CIA operative Cornelia Gray (Patricia Clarkson), who has been in hiding for 20 years.
After her superiors accused her of being a traitor, she was cast out and she went underground, living a quiet life working in a bakery. But she is tracked down for a very important reason: there's a mole in the CIA, and they need her help finding out who it is.
The series has been a huge hit on Netflix in recent weeks, making it to the Netflix Top 10 . With lots of people tuning into the thriller, there's plenty to unpack.
Episode one introduces us to this mysterious Cornelia Gray, and there's a huge shock ending too which will have you scrambling to press play on the second episode!
Here's what went down...
Who is Cornelia Grey?
The episode opens in Marlboro, New York, where we see Cornelia Gray working in a local bakery. As a former CIA spy, she has been in hiding for 20 years and has kept a low profile, working in a place that only accepts cash and keeping to herself.
When she's visited by a neighbor, she's addressed as "Miss Lester" and owns a small house with a pet cat and a garden, so she's living a seemingly ordinary life, blending in with the locals.
We cut to Cerberus Headquarters in Washington, D.C, with the grave news that another agent has been killed being delivered by boss Tagg. This marks the fourth one that has died recently and people are on high alert. They have no footage, suspects or leads, so they have no idea where to start. In addition, they are convinced they have a mole hiding in Cerberus.
They discuss sub-contracting someone from the CIA to help, but that's met with protests because if they let the CIA in "they'll never get rid of them". One of them suggests bringing back Gray, and is accused of making a joke. An agent called Gold says they need a "real solution", then realises they were being serious.
Another agent called Abbott claims she was "good", and Gold argues that "all she was good at was killing people". She reveals they've been looking for Gray for 20 years and haven't found her, but Tagg says they have a lead, thanks to Sara Beckham, the daughter of one of the murdered agents who works in intel.
While a SWAT team break into Gray's house and apprehend her, Tagg tells Sara he needs her to be ready for Gray's return, and she assures him she knows what she's getting into and it will be fine.
Gray is brought in where she's questioned about her disappearance, while Tagg praises Sara for being the one responsible for finding her, saying she had conducted a very fine piece of analysis. They watch her through cameras and Sara admits she doesn't think Gray killed her father.
Tagg seems shocked but drops the subject, asking what she sees when she looks at Gray. Sara says she sees "a woman who is alone and afraid". She claims Gray looks like a shadow of her former self.
Gray is moving to holding where Tagg addresses her over a speaker, informing her that they have a mole. He offers her her old life back, saying she'd be monitored by Abbott and Gold which she immediately declines after hearing their names. Tagg tries to convince her further by offering her the chance to see her family, which Gray rebuffs by saying her husband didn't care about her disappearance.
Tagg tries a new tactic, by telling Gray he's a father now and that she might like to see her son Ben, who she lost contact with after going into hiding. She tears up when she learns that Ben has been fighting to clear her name after government agents suspected her of being a traitor.
A photograph of a young girl is slipped under the door, and Gray is informed that's her granddaughter Rose, who she never met. This seems to be enough to convince Gray to return to work.
Tagg fills Gray in on what she's missed, telling her about Cerberus, a division in the CIA made up of three heads; himself, Abbott and Gold. Their original function was to conduct internal investigations. Gray agrees to help locate the mole within Cerberus.
Later that day, Gray bumps into Sara and questions her about how she tracked her down. She admits she used standard methods of narrowing down a search, before searching for women who seldom went to the doctors. Sara changes the subject and says that her stepmother Tessa is convinced Gray killed her father.
People start demanding that Gray gives her contacts so they can start looking for the mole within Cerberus, but she argues that because four agents have been killed within a month, her contacts would be compromised if she released them.
Tagg tells Gray he'll give her the names and locations of the agents but that he can't divulge exactly what they were working on. Meanwhile, Sara is asked to team up with an agent called Rousseau to keep an eye on Gray, who will be staying at Tagg's guesthouse.
After Gray settles in, she heads to work the next day where she asks Sara when she hasn't been promoted considering she was the one who tracked her down. Sara doesn't know, and Gray admits she "worshipped" him and Sara says she knows because she's found out so much about Gray that she thinks she knows her better than she knows herself.
Sara and Rosseau bond while waiting in a car, keeping tabs on Gray. They ask about each other's personal lives where he reveals he barely knew his mother and Sara speaks about her upcoming wedding.
They spot Gray in a local park, where a mother walks by pushing a pram and a toy falls to the floor. Gray gets up and picks it up to give it back to her, and Sara and Rosseau think it looks like some sort of hand-off. They also spot her putting her arm around a man and whispering something before walking into an art gallery. Sara admits she doesn't recognise him from her research.
Gray attempts to visit her granddaughter, but has the door slammed in her face and is told to go away. Sara and Rosseau watch as she walks away, dejected. Later on that day, they see her checking into a hotel under her real name.
Sara attempts to monitor what she's doing, but the lobby cameras are down for repair and Rosseau accuses Gray of trying to run. Sara searches the hotel until she finally finds Gray, and Gray tells her she can't do her job if she's just going to be followed.
Angry, she tells Sara that if she doesn't let her find the mole, they'll never find out who killed her father, before getting up and walking away.
The next day, Tagg tells Sara that Gray has fled. She rented a car under a fake name and drove to Atlanta, before boarding flights to Paris and then Latvia using a rush passport she'd acquired. Tagg doesn't know why she's fled, but hopes she is meeting a contact.
While Tagg is attending Sara's wedding, he gets a text from Gray that reads "In Riga. Met contact". But the camera pans up to show she's hiding in the church, watching over Sara and Tagg. She goes to speak to Tessa while Sara runs off to check the bouquet.
Gray accuses Tessa of not caring about Sara or her father. Gray attacks her and poisons her with cyanide, telling her she waited 20 years for this. Tessa begins seizing and Sara finds her, screaming for help. Gray flees the scene and is seen smiling before the episode ends.
