Strike Back Recap: Episode 1.04
After taking a break last weekend, Strike Back returned this past Friday night with a bang. Literally. At the end of the previous episode, Stonebridge was closing in on Scott’s location. Scott, if you recall, was last seen posing as a hacker so he could infiltrate Connolly’s gang. Connolly had him tied to a chair with a bomb strapped to his chest and at the very end of the episode, Stonebridge sees the bomb explode. Good times right?
Nice way to end an episode then take a break for a week guys! Episode 4 picks up in the same spot. We’re led to believe that Scott is in about a billion pieces, but it turns out that was just some sick joke put on by Connolly and his gang. Some sort of hazing I suppose. Scott’s alive and well and even has the time and stamina needed to get frisky with Connolly’s right hand gal, Neve.
Back at HQ, Col. Grant reminds everyone about Connolly’s deceitful ways as Scott gets a crash course in computer hacking. Apparently this guy has a photographic memory which will come in handy even though his fingers are normally used to squeeze the life out of people, and not on a keyboard.
Bratton, the head of the company whose family Connolly is threatening, sets up a meet with Kate to be brought in. Stonebridge, worried about her, plants a tracker on her without her knowledge and it turns out being a good call. While Stonebridge watches from the car, Kate is abducted along with Bratton, by Connolly and taken to a facility that houses exactly what Connolly is after….a nerve gas that he was hired to acquire for Latif. Kate is ushered out of the van only to see that Scott is there too. Lucky for her.
Back at HQ the team loses the signal from Scott’s cellphone, but Stonebridge informs Grant of the tracker he placed on Kate. They are able to get their location and Stonebridge heads out so he can try to save the day. At the facility, Scott is left to do his wannabe hacker work, thanks to the help of Capt. Oliver Sinclair, Section 20′s resident computer genius.
Connolly is able to retrieve the canister of nerve gas, but all hell breaks loose and the bullets begin to fly. All of Connolly’s team is taken out along with Bratton and Connolly himself gets shot in the leg. Scott and Stonebridge stop him, and retrieve the canister, but Connolly has an insurance policy. In the back of the van he’s rigged Kate with an explosive device. One that doesn’t point outward this time. Connolly tells them that he can disable the bomb remotely, but needs a head start of 100 yards. Kate tells Stonebridge not to let him go, which is seconded by Scott. However, Stonebridge lets Connolly go because he can’t get past his feelings for Kate. Connolly says “I promise” just as he gets in the car and drives off. With only a few seconds left on the timer, Connolly stops and waits, watching his handiwork in action. Much to the shock of Stonebridge and Scott, and me for that matter, the van explodes taking Kate with it. I really didn’t see that coming, but good on ‘em for committing to killing off a character.
Since his mission of acquiring the nerve gas for Latif failed, Connolly is in a bit of a pickle. Latif isn’t happy and wants him dead, as do Grant and Section 20. The end of the episode shows Connolly strolling through an outside market in South Africa, only to come face to face with Stonebridge and Scott, and surprisingly, Col. Grant as well. For her it’s personal considering she’s been after him for years and now he’s killed one of her prized soldiers. Connolly tell her that he wants her to be the one to kill him so it can be “soldier to soldier.” She replies to him that he was never a soldier and plugs him right in the head.
So yeah, surprised that Kate got iced and was even more surprised that Grant was the one who waxed Connolly. I figured it would be Stonebridge, but was pleasantly surprised. We’re four episodes in with six more to go and the hunt for Latif is in full swing. This show doesn’t pull any punches and makes no apologies which is rather refreshing. I’m interested to see just where the hunt for Latif will lead and if there will be any other surprise deaths. Check back next week for another recap.
Tags: Cinemax, Strike Back
