Was Kara Milovy a sniper or not?

Napoleon Plural

Can't get my head round this scene from The Living Daylights. Bond doesn't shoot her cos he reckons she's an amateur. And a blonde. Fine.

It later turns out that Koskov is Kara's boyfriend. Fine. But what was her job as a sniper then? Presumably she wasn't going to shoot Koksov? So what was she doing there? Did she volunteer to be a sitting duck to make it look realistic for the British counter-sniper? ?:)

Sir Miles

Napoleon Plural wrote:

Did she volunteer to be a sitting duck to make it look realistic for the British counter-sniper? ?:)

I'm not certain she 'volunteered' as such, but yes, Kara was only there to make Koskov's defection look real to the British.
Kara's only 'job' is as a cellist.

Napoleon Plural

Wow, that's some dumb blonde! I mean, didn't she think the Brits might shoot her! Or just watch on gormlessly! I mean, full marks to Koskov for picking Bond, backing a hunch he won't kill her cos she's a blonde, attractive girl... does she know that?

jetsetwilly

No, she has no idea. That's the point. Koskov asks Kara to pretend to be an assassin because he wants the British to believe his defection is real. He has told Kara that he is going to use the British so that he can defect to the West - they are merely his conduit out of Czechoslovakia - and when he is across on the other side, he will slip away from them and call for her. She agrees to help, because she loves Koskov, and she knows she is just firing blanks to make it look dramatic. He tells her there is no danger at all.

At the same time, Koskov contacts Saunders, and says he is willing to defect, but o noes! There is a killer out to get him, so they'd best make sure he doesn't get shot on his way out. He doesn't tell Kara this part, obviously.

In this way Koskov (a) makes it look real for the Brits and (b) gets them to murder the only person who knows about his dodgy dealings i.e. Kara, who knows about his friendship with Whitaker, and knows that he has no intention of staying with the Brits once he gets to the other side. Two birds, one stone.

Bond "recognises a professional" (i.e. fancies the pants off her), so he spares her life. He is therefore able to unravel Koskov's nefarious dealings. This is why Koskov is subsequently so disturbed to hear Kara's voice on the phone in Tangiers (he thought the best man in MI6 would have disposed of a sitting target like that), and why Kara realises Koskov is a bad 'un (Bond was sent to kill her, but didn't; how did he even know she'd be there if Koskov hadn't told him?).

Barbel

jetsetwilly wrote:

No, she has no idea. That's the point. Koskov asks Kara to pretend to be an assassin because he wants the British to believe his defection is real. He has told Kara that he is going to use the British so that he can defect to the West - they are merely his conduit out of Czechoslovakia - and when he is across on the other side, he will slip away from them and call for her. She agrees to help, because she loves Koskov, and she knows she is just firing blanks to make it look dramatic. He tells her there is no danger at all.

At the same time, Koskov contacts Saunders, and says he is willing to defect, but o noes! There is a killer out to get him, so they'd best make sure he doesn't get shot on his way out. He doesn't tell Kara this part, obviously.

In this way Koskov (a) makes it look real for the Brits and (b) gets them to murder the only person who knows about his dodgy dealings i.e. Kara, who knows about his friendship with Whitaker, and knows that he has no intention of staying with the Brits once he gets to the other side. Two birds, one stone.

Bond "recognises a professional" (i.e. fancies the pants off her), so he spares her life. He is therefore able to unravel Koskov's nefarious dealings. This is why Koskov is subsequently so disturbed to hear Kara's voice on the phone in Tangiers (he thought the best man in MI6 would have disposed of a sitting target like that), and why Kara realises Koskov is a bad 'un (Bond was sent to kill her, but didn't; how did he even know she'd be there if Koskov hadn't told him?).

Wow, well put jsw! Now that's an answer!

Napoleon Plural

So I'm wrong. Koskov doesn't know Bond that well... he doesn't anticipate that Bond will spare Kara. I thought Bond's 'Why me?' to Saunders was meant to signpost that...

jetsetwilly

Koskov knows of Bond as the best, most ruthless assassin in the British Secret Service - he's as surprised as M is that a man with a licence to kill will spare Kara's life (note that in the Audi, escaping to the pipeline, Koskov tries to find out if Kara was killed. He interprets Bond's "I'd rather not talk about it" as an admission of guilt).