Strike Back Recap: Episode 1.07
Breaking free of the Sudan, episode seven starts off with a group of EU workers on a shuttle bus in Kosovo. It’s not made immediately known just who they are or what they’re doing there, but someone, somewhere wants them because they’re taken hostage.
Once the credits roll we get to see Scott face plant himself in his next female conquest. Every single episode this guy gets a piece! Anyway, just as things really heat up his phone beeps and of course, he has to bounce. There’s awkward talk of the gal’s orgasm and she asks if she’ll ever see him again. He replies by saying “In all honesty, probably not.” Hey, at least he keeps it real.
Scott meets up with Stonebridge who dishes out some witty quips regarding Scott’s extra-curricular activities and the two head to Section 20′s Austria crib. Grant informs the group the kidnapping is the job of Kosovo terrorist Fatmir Hasani and he’s agreed to release the hostages in exchange for the release of his terrorist cousin, Agim Rama. Grant explains that the exchange will happen even though they aren’t supposed to negotiate with terrorists. She also informs the group that one of the hostages is MI6 agent and Latif informant, John Allen. This was the name that was given to them by Gerald Crawford before he died in the previous episode.
Scott and Stonebridge pull prisoner transport duty after retrieving Rama, but their escort mission goes belly up when a motorcycle, passing the truck that is carrying Rama, attached a magnetic bomb to it resulting in an explosion. Scott and Stonebridge gave chase to the motorcycle, but find that the driver and passenger both decided a cyanide pill would be better than capture.
The boys meet up with Grant and she’s pissed that their asset is dead. However, Scott knew that something wasn’t right so he and Stonebridge loaded Rama into the trunk or as Stonebridge called it…the boot. Once Rama is loaded onto the chopper, Scott and Stonebridge bicker back and forth while prepping a shit ton of weapons. They both feel something just isn’t right and agree to go off book a bit in order to rescue the hostages.
Meanwhile back at HQ, it seems that the gal Scott was with at the beginning wasn’t just some random girl. Apparently there are some concerns regarding the Yank and she was put in place to gather intel. Tough job for her eh? After using ambiguous terms like “impenetrable”, she tells Grant that Scott didn’t give any information at all. It seemed to me like Grant has ulterior motives here and maybe have even seemed a tad jealous. She asked the gal if she found him attractive. A question that the gal didn’t answer. Why ask that? Hmmmm…..interesting.
One off book moment has Stonebridge taking out one of Hasani’s snipers and taking his place to keep watch over Scott and the prisoner exchange. Thank goodness for that too because as the exchange begins, gunfire erupts and an unknown sniper takes out Rama. Chaos ensues and bullets fly all over the place. Amazingly enough however, Scott and the hostages manage to avoid a red-shirt fate and are able to haul ass out of there. They pick up Stonebridge on the way out and head back to the rendezvous point that KFOR (good guys that arranged transport for Scott and the prisoners) set up. Something’s amiss though because the KFOR guy isn’t there…..and their truck is running out of gas.
Shit happens though, and they’re left to hoof it into the forest toward another vehicle that just so happens to be parked at one of Hasani’s heroine processing plants. No sweat. Scott and Stonebridge stow the hostages in the forest and lead a two-man assault on the plant in hopes of getting the truck. Of course things don’t work out that way. Just as they approach the truck, it explodes. Typical. Grant tells the boys that their main concern should be Allen, but the two agree that it’s all or none.
After the truck explodes, the KFOR dudes show up just in the nick of time. Scott gives the head guy crap from not being at their rendezvous but the guy tells him that Hasani lets them operate there, not the other way around. Curious statement me thinks. The hostages come out of the forest a bit worse for wear and are loaded up into the truck. Scott and the blonde hostage he’s taken a liking to take a different truck. An enclosed one at that. Interesting no? Just as things are looking up, the convoy is stopped by Hasani…..who’s working with the KFOR guys. Roll credits.
One more cliffhanger to end an episode. Three episodes to go and we’re not much closer to learning anything about Latif or Project Dawn. I’m pretty sure a big reveal will happen in the finale, at the end. That seems to be how this show likes to do things. I’d like a little more to chew on if I’m being honest here. One thing I really liked about this episode is the camaraderie between Scott and Stonebrige. It’s taken some time for them to really gel into a cohesive unit, but they’ve done just that and I think it really shines in this one.
Next week looks a bit brutal with Grant paying a visit to Stonebridge’s wife so we’ll see where that all goes. The previews also showed him to be a bit bloody to boot. I’m not worried about then killing him off, but they did wax Kate so I guess anything is possible.
Tags: Cinemax, Strike Back
