52 minSeason 1 • Episode 8
LatestRita, a fragile-looking chemistry teacher, remains out of work for having connections with a student. But thanks to her skills, she manages to earn easy money by cleaning the cottage. However, this cottage turns out to be a crime scene, and Rita herself finds herself in the epicenter of criminal showdowns by local bandits. However, Rita is not so simple — all this time she has been living undercover on someone else's passport. A few years ago, she already had to flee from her native St. Petersburg to a seaside town to save her life. After all, Rita is the only living carrier of the formula that her pursuers really need.
Acting
Evgeniya Borzikh's split-screen performance: trembling mouse and steel underneath.
Writing
The formula as MacGuffin and metaphor—what women are forced to carry.
Production
Seaside decay vs. St. Petersburg menace, two Russias colliding.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Post-Soviet 'provincial noir' exploded in the 2010s—this fits the wave of series examining how Moscow's crimes trickle down to dying seaside towns.
Rita's passport fraud mirrors real 1990s Russia where document forgery became survival infrastructure; the series treats her fake identity as both prison and superpower.
RU
