The Pink Smoke welcomes back fan favorite John Arminio for a companion episode to our epic 100 Years of Spy Movies two-parter from last year to discuss the 2018 mini-series The Little Drummer Girl, starring Florence Pugh and Michael Shannon, directed by Park Chan-wook. Adapted from the 1983 novel by John le Carré, it is like most of the famed author's work a taut and intricate web of postwar intrigue and espionage. Set in 1979, it follows the recruitment of an English actress by a seasoned Mossad spymaster to infiltrate a Palestinian bomb-maker's network in order to prevent a potential terrorist attack on London.

John himself has recruited his father, Captain Tom Arminio USN Retired, to join host John Cribbs in crossing into the treacherous world of le Carré where morality, identity and personal values are routinely compromised. They discuss the relevance of this 40-year-old story, the culpability of those who choose not to take sides in international conflicts, and the fate of characters who suffer moral injury: having perpetrated, failed to prevent, or witnessed events that contradict deeply held moral beliefs. They also make fun of Diane Keaton's haircut from the little-loved 1984 film adaptation.

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Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea for Two”

Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"