Strike Back Recap: Episode 14
Jumping right into things here, the explosion that ended last week’s episode is seen at the beginning of this week’s episode. Nothing like starting things off with a bang eh? To recap, El Soldat and his men made it to the bus where Stonebridge and Scott retrieved Othmani. They hauled him, and a passenger from the bus away in Markunda’s truck when one of El Soldat’s men took aim with a rocket launcher. Either it was meant as a warning shot, or this guy is a horrible shot, because it hit the hillside and not the truck. Meanwhile, Othmani, who is injured….badly….is trying not to bleed out.
They find refuge at a farmhouse…although farm is being kind because there really isn’t a farm. Anyway, the man inside is a holy man of sorts because they call him father, but he smokes like a chimney and has a rather nasty disposition. They need IV fluids for Othmani and he reluctantly helps. But you can tell he really really doesn’t want to. While the man does his work on Othmani, Scott has a chat with Stonebridge telling him that it seems as if he’s fallen down a rabbit hole as of late. Stonebridge assures his partner that he’s there, to which Scott replies “you better be.” Julia then sends word that El Soldat and his men are closing in.
Their escape attempt is thwarted however, when El Soldat & Co. show up guns ablazing…..and rocket launcher man finally hits his mark and blows up their ride. Now they have no choice but to stick around. Between Markunda (who is a bad ass by the way) and her two men, and Scott and Stonebridge, they manage to hold off El Soldat’s advances towards the farmhouse. They decide to wait out the day and move after nightfall.
Meanwhile at the crib, Sinclair questions Dalton on when she found out that Othmani was El Soldat’s brother. He goes on to tell her that she needs to stop thinking like a spook and that she needs to share whatever information she has and that knowledge isn’t just power, it’s what keeps them alive.
Back at the farmhouse, El Soldat approaches, carrying a white flag. Stonebridge decides to go out and talk to the man to see what he wants. While Stonebridge is finding out what El Soldat wants, Dalton sees it as an opportunity to kill the enemy. Once Scott gets done hitting on Markunda, she points out that one of El Soldat’s men has Stonebridge marked. Meaning if they take out El Soldat, Stonebridge goes too. Stonebridge signals to take the shot anyway, but Dalton orders Scott to stand down. Stonebridge tells El Soldat he can have his brother back, if he releases the triggers. After some veiled threats are made by El Soldat, Stonebridge kindly informs him that they’re done and walks back to the house.
Scott makes himself at home in the room where Othmani is being kept, along with Markunda and the med student/doctor guy they grabbed from the bus. Othmani asks him if he’s their prisoner too and says if he isn’t, then he’s their friend. The guy tells Othmani that he’s there for him because Othmani needed medical attention.
Night falls and they prepare to head out. Stonebridge tells the old man that he needs to go with them or face certain death at El Soldat’s hands, but the old man decides to stay put. Just as they begin to head out, shots ring out and hit a little too close for their liking. Turns out that Matlock and Jessica are perched on a hill waiting for the right time to take the triggers. Back into the house they go. Now that they have some time to kill, this is a perfect opportunity for Scott to hook up with Markunda….which he totally does.
One of El Soldat’s men is anxious to lay siege to the farmhouse, but El Soldat obviously has some respect for the type of soldiers Scott and Stonebridge are. He tells his man that they aren’t men, they’re weapons and they will wait for the rest of their men to show up. This give Scott and Stonebridge until morning to come up with a plan.
Back at the crib, Liam tells Dalton that he’s figured out who was on the CIA flight that was blown up. Turns out it was El Soldat’s right hand man, and Othmani’s best friend. Dalton knows the relationship between Othmani and the guy on the plane and Sinclair questions her on her “relationship” with Othmani. Turns out that she slept with him in order to get close to El Soldat. Sinclair starts to lecture her again, and in an attempt at total transparency, she has Stonebridge put Othmani on the radio. He tells Dalton that El Soldat has the triggers, but instead of playing into that hand, she tells him that she knows it was he who made the call that initiated the bomb on the CIA plane. She then tells him who was in it….that he blew up his best friend. Yikes!
While Dalton chats with Othmani, Scott and Stonebridge build explosives and have a heart to heart. Scotts asks Stonebridge what happened on the bus and he tells Scott that he lost it. Scott tells him he knows that the only reason Stonebridge came back to Section 20 was to find Hanson. Stonebridge doesn’t deny it and Scott goes on to warn him about getting lost in his grief and quest for vengeance. Scott speaks from experience and tells Stonebridge that if it werent’ for 20, he probably wouldn’t have made it. Ok sidebar….I think this exchange goes deeper with Scott than just the Project Dawn stuff from last season. I also think this is tied to Christy Bryant, the CIA agent from Scott’s past.
Speaking of Christy Bryant….Dalton meets with her and it seems there’s a little peacocking going on between the two. Dalton wants to know why Othmani’s friend was on the plane, but Bryant wants a bit of a quid pro quo. Dalton relents and tells Bryant that they’re chasing down the nuclear triggers.
Back at the farm house, the old man enters the room where Othmani is being held and tells the young guy to go get some rest. Othmani taunts the old man about how he’s helped El Soldat in the past and he should help him as well. It works because as Stonebridge is packing up all the explosives they’ve made, the old man grabs a blade and cuts Othmani loose. Othmani turns on the man and tries to strangle him, but I guess the Lord is on the old man’s side because he’s able to grab a crucifix and stab Othmani in his wound with it. The young guy enters the room and calls for help and Stonebridge is able to get Othmani restrained again. While all this is going on, Scott is in contact with 20 and gets a position on Matlock and Jessica. And because he’s awesome he’s able to shoot out the sniper scope and sends the two scurrying.
Dalton gets Othmani back on the line and tells him that he blew up the wrong person. She informs him that it’s El Soldat who’s been buying up weapons and selling them off to the highest bidder. He doesn’t want to believe her but she has a recording. After hearing it and having Dalton egg him on a little more, Othmani tells her that El Soldat doesn’t have the triggers. They’re stashed in the young guy’s bag. Stonebridge finds them, but they can’t celebrate just yet, because Julia tells them about more men that are gathering. Scott and Stonebridge take this time to set up all the homemade mines they created. Problem is, 20 can’t help because they’ve lost satellite coverage.
As dawn arises, the boys get ready for the impending invasion and as an afterthought, Scott rigs up Othmani with a propane tank to take out him and El Soldat if things go south. Scott, Stonebridge, Markunda and her two guards take their positions and wait. Soon enough El Soldat’s men start to come and it’s nothing but explosions, bullets and blood. They’re able to hold off the enemy, but Markunda loses one of her men in the process. Eventually El Soldat’s men make it into the house, with El Soldat himself right behind them. He enters the room and sees that Othmani is strapped and is able to disconnect the wires just before Scott tries to blow the tank. Othmani however is pissed that he’s been played and connects the wires, blowing himself to bits and taking El Soldat with him. Once the smoke clears, the bad guys are dead and, but the only loss suffered by the group, is Markunda’s guard. El Soldat is still alive, but she puts and end to that real quick.
A team is en route to pick them up, but just as things are looking a bit sunnier, Matlock and Jessica enter the house and demand the triggers. They’ve got no choice but to hand them over, so they do. Matlock and Jessica get away, leaving everyone to duck and cover after the she tosses a grenade toward them. Drat! Foiled again! Scott and Stonebridge decide to a game of rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to tell Dalton that they don’t have the triggers. Scott is the lucky man, but Stonebridge saves his ass by telling Dalton that El Soldat is dead and they’ll bring back DNA evidence.
Time for goodbyes. Stonebridge thanks the young guy and the old man for their help and tells the young guy that they’ll make sure someone gets him home. The old man tells Stonebridge that this was his home, then calls him a son of a whore. I guess I’d be pissed too if my house got raided then blown to bits. Scott tells Markunda that they’ll be picked up but she tells him that she can find her own way back. He thanks her for her help and she tells him that if he wants to, he’ll find her in the desert again.
Back at the crib, Dalton tells the boys that even though El Soldat was a score, they still don’t have the triggers, and that’s their next objective. Liam gets a lead on Matlock and Stonebridge identifies him as the man who took the triggers. Dalton tells them to clean up, because he’s next on their hit list. Matlock, meanwhile delivers the triggers to Knox.
The episode ends with Craig Hanson arriving in Cape Town most likely looking to put a bullet in Stonebridge.
That’s it for this week folks. So not only do the guys have to worry about Knox, and Matlock, but now Hanson is in town looking for revenge. I guess killing Stonebridge’s wife just wasn’t enough. Or perhaps he’ll end up working for Knox? That’s just a theory. Anyhoo….tune in next week for more explosive goodness!
[Photo Credit: Cinemax]
Tags: Charles Dance, Michelle Lukes, Phillip Winchester, Rhashan Stone, Rohna Mitra, Strike Back, Strike Back Episode 14, Strike Back recap, Sullivan Stapleton
Strike Back is a really intense production for Cinemax and I’m glad that they are getting into the business of making original shows. In that respect Cinemax has been behind for some time. The good thing about this show is that there is real chemistry among all of the characters on the show and it’s not too stuffy. I’ve been recording the new season on my Hopper because I’m usually at work at Dish when it airs. That’s ok because the hopper has 2,000 hours of recording time and I don’t have to worry about not being able to watch it when I get home. I thought it was pretty crazy that Othmani blew himself up just because he figured out that he was the lure. I guess I would have been happy that someone stopped the tank from exploding.