Plot

Smiley springs his trap and catches the spy. He later interrogates the spy and learns about how and why it happened, and the answers he gets robs him of any sense of victory.

Now Smiley has set his trap, Peter Guillam sets up the safe house to record the evidence when the mole finally incriminates himself. After his arrest, Smiley proudly plays the tape to the rest of the Centre and allows them to organize the moles future. The next day, after softening up by the inquisitors Smiley visits the mole and hears the whole story.—Anonymous

The mole takes the bait and Smiley and his associates catch him red-handed (almost literally since he is also with a Soviet diplomat). The traitor is taken into custody but there are many who would rather he did not talk or have scores to settle. These include Smiley himself, on a more personal level.—Mark Treuthardt

From Paris, Ricky Tarr sends a message to the Circus saying he has information vital to the future of the Service. As planned, it flushes out the mole who meets his Russian contact Polyakov at the London safe house used for the Witchcraft exchanges. Under arrest, the mole has little to say and so George Smiley is asked to intervene. The mole is to be exchanged with the Russians for British prisoners and George is appalled at the level of security he sees around the traitor. His concerns prove justified.—garykmcd

Part Seven - Flushing Out The Mole

Guillam and Smiley visit the house where Polyakov meets the top men from the Circus. Guillam rigs the sound recording equipment so that if someone turns it off it is in fact on. Mendel watches the entrance to the Circus and sees all three of the top men arrive for a meeting with Alleline. Guillam patrols outside of the house alongside the canal bank - Smiley checks his gun.

Mendel sees someone leave first but is not sure who it is. Smiley hears two people arrive at the house and then voices in Russian. He hears a voice and recognises it, and signals with a torch to Guillam. Guillam hurries to the house just as Mendel arrives. When they burst into the room Smiley has his gun trained on two people - Polyakov and Bill Haydon. Haydon is the traitor within the Circus who has been passing on secrets to the Russians via Polyakov. Guillam is furious as he knows now that it is Haydon who probably betrayed his agents in Africa and goes to attack him, but Mendel intervenes. Polyakov says he is a Soviet diplomat and Guillam tells him to shut up. Polyakov asks Haydon if the microphones were one and Haydon replies of course. Smiley tells Guillam to contact Lacon Esterhase Bland and Alleline. When they arrive, they listen to the tapes, and realise that they have been duped by Haydon.

Esterhase congratulates Smiley in a fawning fashion. Smiley isn't interested but asks Alleline to negotiate the return of Haydon with the Russians in exchange for British agents. Smiley tells Alleline to talk to Polyakov in order to get that message to Karla. Fawn enters the room and asks if it's alright for the Inquisitors to take Haydon away. As this happens it is revealed that Prideaux has been watching (the person in the street) and seen everything.

Back in Smiley's flat Guillam apologises to Smiley for assaulting Haydon but says it would have to have been Bill Haydon, as the younger members of the Circus always saw him as a hero figure. Together they reminisce about Haydon and Smiley thanks Guillam for his assistance.

We then see Prideaux observing Haydon at the Sarrat camp - it is obvious that he has been physically interrogated while there. Prideaux sees a Circus employee take laundry from Haydon's room to a cleaners in the nearby town. We see Prideaux going into the cleaners himself.

Smiley now visits Haydon in his room at Sarrat - he has a nose bleed and feels dizzy but says that the Inquisitors (who have been interrogating him) are incompetent, as he says they believe Haydon knows the names of Karla's other moles around the world. Haydon is impatient for Alleline to finish his negotiations with Karla. Smiley asks why Haydon did what he did. Haydon replies that when he first started [with the Circus], they were the golden boys, but now regards Western democracy as dying from greed and constipation - he says he hates America. He says Britain has no place in world affairs. By 1950 he was feeding information to the Russians to harm America. He says he has Soviet citizenship and medals from the Russians.

Smiley meets Lacon in Smileys flat - Lacon demands to know what medals Haydon received, but Smiley responds that he didn't ask him and it does it matter? Lacon want s to know if there is going to be more information from Haydon, but Smiley responds that Haydon is right about the state of the security at Sarrat. Smiley is concerned for Haydon's safety. Lacon is concerned that the number of people who know about what has happened needs to be as small as possible, but says that Smiley's wife Anne will need to know in case she is contacted. After this Smiley says he was going to tell her anyway, and says it could be seen as balancing the books. Lacon asks Smiley why Karla didn't install Haydon as the head of the Circus - that question is answered by a scene of Smiley with Haydon at Sarrat again. Haydon says it was the perfect set up with Alleline as head, and that if he had been at the head of the Circus. They have been walking outside and Prideaux is again watching their movements. When inside we see a shot first of the guards reading newspapers and watching the telly, confirming Smileys fears that the security is lax.

Haydon confirms to Smiley that the business in Czechoslovakian was a 'desperate throw', necessary as Control was getting very close to the truth. Smiley asks if the information was genuine from the Czech general - Haydon says no. He asks Haydon if he knew Control would call on Prideaux for the work - Haydon says he had to be old Circus, but also that a Czech speaker would be needed. Haydon says that 'I got him [Prideaux] home didn't I' Smiley replies 'Yes that was good of you'.

Haydon tells Smiley that his fling with Anne was Karla's idea as his weak spot was Anne. He asks Smiley to pay off a girl by writing her a cheque and a boy he knows from the 'Reptile Fund' (unattributable funds that the Circus uses for dubious activities). Smiley agrees but before he leaves, he has to ask Haydon for his pen.

In the next scene it is dark, Haydon is sitting alone outside. A figure approaches from behind and Haydon realises it is Prideaux. Prideaux asks why Haydon got him back and why Karla just didn't have him killed. Prideaux says they let Prideaux back because a dead agent would have caused a lot more problems. Haydon says the shooting wasn't supposed to happen, but Prideaux replies not the shooting - everything else. Prideaux then kills Haydon with one blow.

In the next scene Roach is in a school event reading from the Bible - he doesn't understand that the letter he sees written as an 'f' is pronounced as 's'. He looks across to Prideaux for help and Prideaux finishes the sentence for him. As Roach continues there are tears in Prideaux's eyes.

Back on London Smiley is chairing a meeting with Guillam, Lacon, Bland, Esterhase and Alleline. He tells them how Haydon was found and the lax security that he had predicted. There is a discussion about who killed Haydon - Bland states that the Russians pride themselves on getting their people back. Lacon demands to know who the guilty person is, but the others say nothing more. Smiley tells them that he has been asked to run the Circus for a while, and that he wants everyone to take leave. For those who wish to remain at the Circus Smiley states that there will be 'some re-deployment.

In the final scene Smile visits Anne at the country house - Anne says she is quite free (of any lovers) at the moment. As they walk Anne asks if Haydon talked about her at all. Smiley says that for a moment, when he heard his voice with Polyakov, he wanted to shoot him, but the moment passed. Anne says that Haydon betrayed everything and everyone.