Its 2017, and the new Cold War is in full swing. The West is winning, for now. U.S. sanctions have impoverished Russia. But the two sides are poised at a critical juncture. The Russians have come up with new technology to drill for gas that could send their economy skyrocketing again, putting the West on the back foot. And so, the CIA sends President Donald Trump a letter detailing a cunning plan. A spy one of their most wily must be dispatched from Washington immediately to sniff out the details.
What follows is Adaptation, the story of the blundering Oleg Menshov, an American spy with impeccable Russian (played by the well-known Russian actor Leonid Bichevin), who is sent to embed in state gas giant Gazprom. But he understands little about how Russia works, so he must be taught the ways of the country and its rampant corruption, much to the amusement of his supposed compatriots.
The TV show, coinciding with a spike in tension between Russia and the West, and talk of a new Cold War, has become a runaway hit in Russia. The first season finished this month, to rave reviews and nationwide enthusiasm. According to the shows network, TNT, one out of seven Russians watched it. Russians call Adaptation their answer to The Americans if The Americans was a combination of slapstick, satire, and stereotypes, Russian and American alike. (Each episode opens with the James Bond theme music, a gun-wielding Oleg climbing Mount Rushmore, and a shot of the White House morphing into a triple-domed Russian Orthodox Church, which then cuts to the bald eagle on the CIAs logo mutating into the double-headed eagle that is the official emblem of Russia.)
The plotline, in which Russians triumph over well-meaning but shortsighted Americans, has struck a chord with a Russian public gloating over the military gains in Syria and the struggles of the Trump administration, which has been plagued by Russia-related scandals. The first two episodes of Adaptation outperformed its competitors on other networks for the coveted 8 to 9 p.m. weekday slot, according to TNTs head of public relations, Yulia Talapanova.
