Honeypots in espionage fiction

Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendall in North by Northwest.

In espionage terminology, "honeypot" is one of several ways to refer to a recruitment that involves sexual seduction. See Love, honeypots, and recruitment for real-world examples.

• In Super Troopers Captain John O'Hagen refers to the honeypot when Foster falls for, and is presumably betrayed by, female officer Ursula Hanson.
• In The Interview Dave Skylark accuses CIA Agent Lacey of being a honeypot when she recruits him to assassinate Kim Jong-un.
• North by Northwest has Eva Marie Saint as both the honeypot and a double agent
• In Munich Avner says: "beware the local honey trap"
• Traffic features a same-sex honeypot trap
• In an episode of Life on Mars, Sam Tyler arrests the henchman of a local Mr. Big, only to be humiliated in a honey trap.
• The M*A*S*H episode "Are you now, Margaret?" from September 24, 1979
• In Bad Boys 2, Martin Lawrence's character refers to his sister as a honeypot for the DEA.
• In Alias, Laura Bristow, the mother of the central character Sydney Bristow was a honeypot.
• In Battlestar Galactica, a copy of Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, pretending to be the real Valerii, staged a rescue of the stranded Helo on occupied Caprica. The rescue mission was an elaborate ruse to get Helo to fall in love with Valerii, but backfired when Valerii also fell in love and betrayed her own people to flee with Helo.
• In his book Kotilaisen kotiryssä (1991) Lasse Lehtinen describes a failed honey trap attempt: Lea Kotilainen is well aware of her husband's whereabouts and would react on Ostap Nepeipivo's extortion attempt on photographs with indifference.
• In the Tom Clancy novel Rainbow Six, Kirk McLean is used as a honey trap in order to recruit subjects for testing the Shiva virus.
• In the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the player character can defend a Republic agent accused of murder. It's revealed that the murder victim was a Sith woman sent to seduce the Republic agent and gain information.
• In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, EVA is a honeypot as well as a double agent.
• In the television series Archer, the Honeypot is a commonly referred to style of espionage. It is specifically dealt with in the fifth episode of the series, named Honeypot, in which the main character, Archer, is sent on an unorthodox mission required to seduce and have sex with another man in order to recover a video disc.
• In The Recruit, Bridget Moynahan seduces Colin Farrell in a bar as part of her CIA training. After successfully leading him out of the bar, she utters 'Op completed', and says her operation was to prevent him from completing his.
• In the television series Criminal Minds, Emily Prentiss is a honeypot who seduces former IRA terrorist Ian Doyle.

James Bond

• In the novel Casino Royale and its 2006 film adaptation, Vesper Lynd is a double agent—for SMERSH in the novel, and Quantum in the film. In the film, it is revealed that Vesper Lynd was herself recruited by a male honeypot, and Bond's search for this male honeypot drives Bond's actions throughout much of the film's sequel, Quantum of Solace.
• In From Russia, with Love, SMERSH uses Tatiana Romanova in an attempt to lure James Bond to his death. In the film adaptation, Romanova is instead used by SPECTRE.
• In both Live and Let Die and its film adaptation, Solitaire transfers her allegiance from Mr. Big to Bond, becoming a double agent.

See also

• Honeypot (computing)