‘Star City’ Episode 7 “Plow Deep” Arrives July 3 to Test Loyalties Before the Season Finale

Apple TV’s Cold War thriller ‘Star City’ is entering its penultimate chapter, and the stakes have never been higher. Season 1 Episode 7, titled “Plow Deep,” is set to release on Friday, July 3, 2026, at 3 AM ET and 12 AM PT on Apple TV in the US, with international subscribers watching simultaneously across all regions.

‘Star City’ is an American science fiction drama created by Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, and Ronald D. Moore for Apple TV, serving as a spinoff of ‘For All Mankind’ with a focus on the Soviet Union. This sci-fi drama functions as a prequel to ‘For All Mankind,’ exploring the alternate-history space race from behind the Iron Curtain, following Soviet cosmonauts, engineers, and KGB officers embedded deep within the space program.

What “Plow Deep” Promises as the Penultimate Episode

According to Rotten Tomatoes, Episode 7 centers on loyalties being tested by a new power structure. That single line carries the weight of everything the season has carefully assembled across its first six chapters.

The Rotten Tomatoes logline for “Plow Deep” confirms that major security breaches from previous episodes will place everyone’s loyalty under scrutiny, as Colonel Raskova and her superiors apply mounting pressure across Star City. Given how the series has built its tension methodically, the arrival of a new power dynamic suggests the show is ready to cash in on its carefully laid groundwork.

Episode 6 showed Colonel Raskova going to extreme lengths to maintain confidentiality within the USSR, ultimately ordering the termination of everyone aboard the Venus mission spaceship. That decision cemented her as one of the season’s most chilling figures, and “Plow Deep” appears positioned to push her even further toward the edge.

Episode 6 also revealed that Irina uncovered Tanya having gone rogue using classified KGB documents, and when Tanya located the American handler Ekaterina, she learned that Valya had acted as a mole specifically to protect her. Crushed by guilt, Tanya knocked Irina unconscious and fled. Those colliding threads will demand resolution before the finale can land with any real force.

Release Time and Where to Watch ‘Star City’ Episode 7

New episodes of ‘Star City’ premiere at 3 AM ET and 12 AM PT on Apple TV in the US, with international subscribers able to watch at the same time across all regions. The early morning drop has been a consistent feature of the show’s release strategy throughout the season.

Viewers can stream ‘Star City’ exclusively on Apple TV, and those who use Amazon Prime Video can also access the show by adding an Apple TV subscription extension to their existing account. The estimated runtime for each episode runs approximately 54 minutes, with subtitles available immediately upon release.

The Apple TV subscription is priced at $12.99 per month and includes a seven-day free trial, giving anyone who has not yet started the season a realistic window to catch up on all the Cold War intrigue before the finale arrives. That trial window has become a useful entry point for viewers arriving late to one of the platform’s most acclaimed current offerings.

The Season Behind the Spinoff: Production and Critical Reception

The series was announced by Apple TV+ on April 17, 2024, with filming for the first season beginning on February 20, 2025, in Vilnius, Lithuania, and wrapping in August of that year. The choice of Eastern Europe as a production base gave the show an atmospheric authenticity that critics consistently noted.

Filming locations included Vingis Park and Pašilaičiai in Lithuania, and ‘Star City’ had its world premiere out of competition at the 2026 Canneseries before arriving on Apple TV on May 29, 2026. That festival debut ahead of the streaming premiere signaled the confidence the network had in the project.

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes determined that 97% of 30 critics’ reviews were positive, with an average score of 8.4 out of 10. That critical standing places ‘Star City’ above the parent series ‘For All Mankind,’ which holds a 91% critics’ score across its run.

The Cast Carrying the Cold War Drama Forward

Rhys Ifans leads the series as Sergei Korolev, referred to throughout simply as the Chief Designer, the driving force behind the Soviet space program. Anna Maxwell Martin plays Lyudmilla Raskova, the head of the KGB surveillance department at Star City, while Agnes O’Casey portrays Irina Morozova, a recent addition to the surveillance team.

The full cast also includes Alice Englert, Solly McLeod, Adam Nagaitis, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, and Josef Davies, with Priya Kansara joining later in production. Each of these characters is now operating under conditions of maximum pressure as the season races toward its conclusion.

A review from The Hollywood Reporter described the series as functioning more as a paranoid Cold War thriller than a hopeful sci-fi saga, with that combination of throwback excitement and icy intrigue proving to be a winning one. That tension has only sharpened as the season has progressed, making “Plow Deep” one of the most anticipated episodes of ‘Star City’s’ run. With two episodes remaining and every storyline converging, now is the moment to share which character arc you think is heading for the most devastating ending in the finale.