The Train - Recap

Dan goes to a photo booth outside of a penny arcade and picks up his briefing on Ferene Larya, the prime minister of Svardia. Larya is trying to establish democracy for his country but is ill and doesn’t have long to live. His personal successor, Deputy Premier Pavel, secretly plans to set up a dictatorship and purge his opponents. The IMF must keep Pavel from becoming prime minister.

Dan assembles the usual team plus heart surgeon Dr. Harrison Selby and Oscar-nominated art director Oliver Donovan. In the briefing, they test a small hidden tape recorder with a ring speaker that produces an erratic heartbeat. Barney has also prepared an overlay for Larya’s heart x-ray. Donovan’s men are in Svardia and Barney and Willy head out with him, while Rollin and Cinnamon make sure that Cinnamon and Selby will arrive instead of Larya’s normal doctor. They also determine that when Larya travels by train, he always uses the last car.

Pavel and his co-conspirator, Androv, try to convince Larya that rebels plan to stage an uprising and he has put them in prison. Larya asks him to free them once Pavel takes office, but Pavel assures Androv outside that he will dispose of all of his political opponents. Selby and Cinnamon arrive and the heart surgeon orders additional tests.

Rollin, Donovan, Barney, and Willy arrive at the warehouse to set up but a guard confronts them at gunpoint demanding answers. Rollin shows them papers identifying themselves as fumigators and they figure out he’s there with his girlfriend. They get him out by promising not to report him this time.

Using the hidden tape player, Selby “proves” to the attending physician that Larya has a heart problem and must be taken to the clinic in Switzerland for special treatment. They take the x-ray and Cinnamon applies the overlay of the new heart problem. Selby insists that Larya must be taken by train and confirms with Pavel which car will be used. Unfortunately Pavel has ordered that Larya travel in a different car. Rollin and Barney, spotting the switch from the warehouse, realize the problem it will cause. Rollin impersonates a government official and makes sure Larya will be assigned to the last car.

Pavel and Larya board the train along with Selby and Cinnamon, while Barney brings in another engine and Willy reroutes the lines. They detach the last car from the rest of the train and Barney pulls Larya’s car into the warehouse. Cinnamon has Pavel and Androv join Larya for a drink to celebrate their journey, and one of Donovan’s men uses sunlight to reflect the light into Larya’s face so Cinnamon has an excuse to shut the shades.

Once in the warehouse, Donovan and his team start a film to convince everyone in the train that they are still in the train yard. Rollin, as a conductor, explains they’re briefly delayed while Donovan and his men set up hydraulic rockers. They then use the film, sound effects, and rockers to simulate that the train is underway. However, the equipment generator starts to overload and Barney works desperately to fix it before it burns out in the next minute or so. He completes the repairs without interfering with the sound system, maintaining the illusion.

Selby gives Larya a sedative while Androv goes to the next car… only to discover there is no next car. Rollin intercepts him and hastily explains that Pavel orders a locomotive to take them directly ahead, explaining the metal plate in front of the door. Barney then simulates a downgrade and the train going out of control and Selby and Rollin secretly drug Pavel and Androv unconscious.

The two men seemingly wake up in a hospital and there’s a picture of Larya in black. Androv finds Cinnamon outside crying, and she confirms that Selby and Larya died in the crash. Pavel insists that Androv swear him in as Prime Minister, unaware that Larya is watching them through a one-way mirror. Pavel then derides Larya and discusses his plans to crush any resistance. The IMF strikes the set, revealing the hospital room is a fake. Larya demands Pavel’s resignation and accepts that there is no cure, but he’s been given a valuable gift: a vision of the future after his death.

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