The paranoia inside the Soviet space program just got personal. Star City Episode 3, titled “Bad Dancer,” dropped on Apple TV+ on June 5, 2026. The episode follows Irina Morozova as she gets caught in a dangerous game of secrets. But the biggest shock comes at the very end when the show reveals that the American mole leaking intelligence is Valya Markelov (Adam Nagaitis) , a trusted cosmonaut.
The Luna-17 Mission Ends in Disaster
The Soviet Union is trying to keep its lead in the space race. The Chief Designer, played by Rhys Ifans, is pushing hard to build a base on the Moon. But he has a secret. He is also building a spaceship to send cosmonauts to Venus without the government knowing.
The big event in Episode 3 is the Luna-17 mission. Cosmonaut Sasha (Solly McLeod) is sent to the Moon as part of the landing party. But things go wrong fast. During the mission, the ground team discovers a hidden radio frequency. The Chief Designer realizes it is a transmission to the Americans. A bug has been placed inside the spacecraft.
Col. Lyudmilla Raskova (Anna Maxwell Martin) , the head of KGB surveillance, gives a direct order. She tells the team to reboot the system to kill the transmission. The Chief Designer warns that doing this could cause a serious failure. Raskova does not care. The reboot destroys the spacecraft’s systems. Sasha and his fellow cosmonaut Arseni (Cameron Cook) are forced to abort the mission.
They have one chance to get back to the main rocket. Arseni goes outside to deflate the Hab so they can dock. He succeeds. Sasha docks safely. But Arseni dies. The Hab explodes, and his body floats away into space. The Soviet Union loses a cosmonaut, and the mole hunt becomes a top priority.
Valya Markelov Is the American Spy
Episode 3 spends time showing the unhappy marriage of Valya and his wife Tanya (Ruby Ashbourne Serkis) . Tanya hates living in Star City. She listens to illegal American records, which Irina reports to the KGB. Valya feels guilty about neglecting her.
But his guilt runs much deeper. During a night out at the theater, Valya slips away from Tanya. She follows him and sees him talking to a stranger in a parking lot. The show confirms that Valya is the mole working for the Americans.
This is a huge betrayal. Valya is a trusted cosmonaut. The Chief Designer just recruited him to secretly train the crew for the Venus mission. Now, with a dead cosmonaut floating in space and a spy inside the program, the pressure on Valya is about to explode. KGB Chief Raskova will not stop until she finds the leak.
Irina Gets Closer to the Truth
Agnes O’Casey plays Irina Morozova, a young woman working in the surveillance department. Episode 3 gives her much more to do. She is smart and observant. She knows that something is very wrong inside Star City. She overhears conversations and reports on people she knows.
Irina is caught between doing her job and keeping her conscience clear. She reported Tanya for listening to American music. But she is also watching Valya. The finale of Episode 3 suggests that Irina might be the one to finally expose Valya. But in a system where trust is deadly, exposing a spy could get her killed.
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Star City Is Streaming Now on Apple TV+
Episode 3 is available to stream now in 4K on Apple TV+. Viewers in the US can watch starting at 12am PT / 3am ET. In the UK, the episode drops at 8am BST. Indian viewers get it at 12:30pm IST. Australian fans can watch at 6pm AEST. Canadian viewers follow the US time.
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