If you would like to read a recap of last week’s episode, click here. Other than one kind of predictable reveal, nothing much happened in the last episode. Things have almost screeched to a grinding halt. Nothing seems to be going anywhere either in the past or the present. All the pieces are just sitting there, waiting to be used. Sure, we are learning more about the characters but what does it all mean?
Past:
Shelby and Leon are having some relations in the back of his car. The name she uses with him is Jane. They seemed to have done it just about everywhere but she’s wants to get to his place. He tells her she can’t so she tells him that there’s nothing left to discuss. Alex meets Shelby at the safe house. They’re early but Nimah, Ryan, and Miranda are already there and are going over operations without them. Miranda is concerned with the fact that they’re not getting results (as are us viewers) so she suggest they change their strategy and go after Hall. Miranda gives them plans of his house, which happens to have a secret wall. Since he and Alex are getting closer, she volunteers to go in. After the meeting, Alex is worried about the fact that they didn’t include her so Shelby offers to talk to Miranda.
Harry challenges the fellow recruits at darts. Whenever one doesn’t hit the center, they have to answer a personal question. Dayanna steps up and after a few misses, Ryan asks her questions about her family. Leon is next and his one miss forces him to reveal his new friend. Alex is next and her questions revolved around her relationship with Ryan in which she denied. Sebastian hits the center on his first attempt. Harry plays next and his misses prompt Sebastian to ask him about his friend who committed suicide. Sebastian goes too far which ends the game. Ryan spots Hall who he tries to get him to join the game. This leads into the lesson of the day which was interrogation, starting off with Hall interrogating Ryan about his true intentions at the bar
Nimah tells Shelby that she will have to build a cover if she wants to get anything out Leon. She is worried that she will have to have a parallel life while running Alex. Nimah offers to convince Miranda to let this be officially part of the mission. Shelby believes that Alex needs her but Nimah tries to convince her of the value of her connection. Hall tests some interrogation techniques on the recruits. Hall tells them that their next big test will be to try and break him by getting him to give up his alias. The test will not end until they break him and if they don’t, they’re out (what happened to the Murder Board?).
Hall is in the middle of being interrogated. He’s been deprived of food, water, and sleep, the lights are bright, and loud music is playing. Harry goes first and fails. He just not offering anything that Hall wants. Ryan suggests that they throw everything at him. Meanwhile, Leon and Shelby/Jane are texting each other.
The recruits strip him down and prepare to dump him in an ice bath. While Alex has his clothes, she takes his house keys. As they go to dump him, he gets up and pushes the tub in trying to run away. Dayanna comes out of nowhere and suggests rocks to weigh it down. After a few plunges, Hall is unfazed. They do it a few more times and Harry urges them to stop but Lydia tells them that they are not doing anything wrong.
Their attempts are obviously not working so Alex suggests they try something new. Maybe something he hasn’t seen will throw him off. They argue until Sebastian suggests that they shame him in front of Lydia. Things are too much for Dayana so she goes outside for some air. Ryan catches up to her and confronts her about her supposed knowledge of torture. He suspects that she did not leave Zimbabwe (where she’s from apparently) when she said she did, leading Ryan to believe that she may have seen or taken part in torture. She tells him that she’s worked hard to try and forget her past and that he’s never done what she’s done.
Lydia checks up on Hall. Hall tries to take advantage of her worried state and fails. Alex is in Hall’s house. Harry is looking for Alex. He notices Lydia heading over and warns her. As Alex escapes, Harry wants to know what she was doing. Back in the classroom, Harry suggests that they drug Hall. He also takes advantage of Sebastian’s sudden aggressive state and tries to provoke him into admitting he’s gay. Dayanna suggests that they hurt whoever is closest to him which would be Lydia.
Alex tries to warn Hall but he is unfazed as whatever they may do to him is just like what they would do to her in the real world. Knowing what it feels to hurt someone will be a benefit when they are the ones being hurt. Lydia is brought in. Alex and Harry try and stop it but she is waterboarded by the others. Hall quickly gives up his alias. Afterwards, Sebastian pukes and Alex confronts Ryan on the direction he’s going. He tells her that whoever is recruiting rogue agents will want someone who can cross the line. Harry tries to push Sebastian a little more and tells him that he’s a person who never been allowed to get what he wants. He was okay with torturing Hall today because he’s been doing it to himself. It’s okay to love God and yourself.
Lydia is disappointed in Hall for giving up so easily. She questions him for wanting to get back in if he’s so soft. If Lydia were in his position, she would have done the opposite. Shelby is upset with Alex for getting nothing from Hall’s house. Alex is then shut out of a meeting between Shelby, Nimah, Ryan, and Miranda. Dayana being desensitized, pours hot water on herself.
Shelby now has her new cover. Sebastian walks in on Harry and starts to make out with him as he’s reading but then quickly gets up and runs away. Alex meets Hall in a bar. He is impressed with the stance she took today. He misses the way things used to be when people used their brains. He offers to get her a burger and calls Lydia to tell her that he won’t be back tonight. Maybe he’s about to recruit her?
A phone rings (maybe Lydia’s) next to a syringe outside, then we see Ryan waking up, implying that he was drugged, he picks up the phone and appears to be recruited for something.
Present:
Alex is still trying to free herself from the position Lydia left her in. The sat phone next to her is ringing. She is getting frustrated but she finally gets herself free but she doesn’t answer the phone in time. She then gets away. Alex calls the last number on the sat phone which leads to Miranda who destroys her phone. She then calls Shelby who she gives the first number to but she gets cut off before she can give her the whole number. She gets knocked out and is then strapped in a chair in a room. The terrorists bring in another hostage who was told to get her to talk but she doesn’t believe him and thinks it’s just a trick by the terrorists. They shoot him. They bring in Dayana next.
Miranda is informed that Alex has told them that the terrorists have been working with someone on the inside. She pulls out her sat phone. Alex explains to Dayanna what just happened and tells her to be strong and then appears to get stabbed.
Miranda is thinking about her sat phone. She becomes affectionate with a fellow associate named Paul (Aaron Lazar) while trying to get his phone. The terrorists threaten to torture Dayanna if she doesn’t tell her where the drives are but as they are about to strike her spine with a hammer, she tells them Lydia has them.
Miranda sets up Paul as the terrorists’ inside man. Shelby confronts Miranda about what she saw earlier but is interrupted as they learn that Vice President Claire Haas has taken over the presidency. They also learn that the cell jammer is off. Sebastian, Harry, and Leon suddenly come in and save Alex and Dayanna.
Overall, while this season has been going rather slowly, this was the best episode of the season so far since it showed the most progress so far this season with us finally giving us a glimpse of the rogue agent recruiting process in the past while showing us signs of resolution in the present. The Miranda subplot still dangles though. If you’re going to reveal her as a traitor early on, then you should do more with it.
Score: 8.5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.