NCIS: Los Angeles
Season 5, Episode 11 "Iron Curtain Rising"
Network: CBS
The episode opens up with the team trying to catch a human trafficking Romanian by the name of Anton Zevlos.
Anton Zevlos is a former Romanian communist leader and war criminal living in Los Angeles under a false identity (John Vasile). He helps Romania's mastermind human trafficking ring by using his position to create false adoption papers for the trafficking of children and babies (used as organ donors.)
Again, human trafficking seems to be something specifically Romanian because this is the second episode in which a Romanian character is involved in the “business.”
He is portrayed as a ruthless man, who although is very one-dimensional and psychotic, really, at least is charismatic and manipulative like most villains are in American cinema and on TV. Fortunately, he is not that dumb Eastern European anti-hero archetype that is there only for comedic purposes, nor is he the other side of the coin - the physically strong brute lacking in planning skills.
With that being said, there is really nothing more to him. His motivations are nonexistent besides the fact that he is a communist, and well, that’s just what Romanian communists do! They kill babies for fun.
When it comes to the mother country, however, things get even more complicated. Although none of the action is set in Romania, the investigative team gives us a really long history lesson, enough for us to figure out that Romania is corrupt, nostalgic about communist times and rewards war criminals for their “services.” Furthermore, it is incompetent, lazy and pretty much oblivious to anything that concerns it.
Here is one self-explanatory conversation filled with historical knowledge:
“How did he go so long without being found? It can’t be that hard to track down one Romanian ex-pat.”
“Well, it is if no one is looking for you. The Romanian Government wasn’t even sure he’d ever left the country. Lots of war criminals stayed behind in Romania after Ceausescu was overturned. They had generous pensions, luxury apartments for their service for the Republic. ”
“That doesn’t help that there’s still nostalgia for the communist era back there. That’s part of why Romania basically ignored his brutal past.”
“Until now - Romania finally wants to bring charges against their war criminals.”
Also, add to that the fact that we’re pretty untrustworthy and you have a recipe for success.
CIA agent helping him: "I knew I couldn't trust that bastard, that Romanian bastard!"
