Here we are my fellow Strikers….the end of the second, and may I say phenomenal second season.  I had a ton of predictions made about how this season would end and none of them rang true.  I actually consider that a good thing because it just proves that the writers don’t go for the cliché, instead opting for the surprising.  It keeps things fresh, which is the most important aspect to creating a worthwhile show.  This season had tensions and body counts running high.  There was also an emotional element that last season didn’t have and we’ve seen the characters deal with some pretty heavy emotional turmoil.  I love how this show has evolved into something more than mindless explosions and sex, which is a road it could have very easily taken.  I’m sad to see that it’s over, but like I said last week, I’m happy it will be back for sure for a third season in 2013.  For now, let’s relive the finale.

Last week left off with Scott tracking Christy Bryant thanks to the tracker that Liam put on her car.  This week picks up with Bryant packing a bag to make a hasty exit when Scott appears with his gun trained on her.  Stonebridge is sent to intercept and while he’s en route, Byant does some fast talking, telling Scott that if he can get her out of there, before the South African tactical team shows up, she’ll give up Knox.  Knowing the woman is always playing “the game”, he agrees and the two try to make their getaway.  A minor scuffle ensues with the tac team and Bryant actually shows some skills.  The two make their escape when Stonebridge shows up, gun in hand.  Stonebridge tells Scott that he’s smuggling out the target, and that he just let the man who killed his wife ride off the back of the police car because he gave the mission priority.  Scott pleads for him to stand down and tells Stonebridge that he needs to trust him.  Stonebridge tells them to run, curses himself, and heads back to the crib.

Meanwhile, Knox is hunched over a computer looking at the devastation a nuclear weapon causes when Matlock comes in and tells him that Hanson has been arrested.  Matlock questions Knox’s decision to deal with the Nigerians and tells him that it’s not too late to leave, regroup and find another way to accomplish the goal.  Instead of talking about the failed plan, Knox looks upon a map of Africa that is hanging on the wall and tells Matlock that it used to hang in his childhood home.  His father used to work for a bank in South Africa and as a child, Knox used to love the colors of the map.  Until he realized the colors were coordinated by which country ruled which part.  Knox goes on to say how the family was supposed to join his father in Africa, until one day, his father just came home and the map was taken down.

Scott and Bryant car-jack some poor bastard’s BMW and drive off.  Once safely away, Scott gives Bryant the time it takes for him to smoke a cigarette to tell him her plan.  Bryant tells him that when the coup went south, Knox had other ideas for the nukes.  She brought Lucas in because he had the contacts, but that the plan was to always bring down Knox, call in the Marines to retrieve the nukes and hopefully get reinstated with the CIA.  She said that because of the truck crash from last week, everything went haywire with the Nigerians wanting their money back and Lucas wanting out completely.  She confirms that when she went to the crib she knew they were on to Lucas, and she had to tip-off Knox to stay in his good graces.  Scott remarks that it was also to get a percentage for herself, but she asks why that matters.  As long as they get Knox, it’s all part of the game.  This is where Scott blows his top a bit and tells her not to call it that.  He says that it isn’t a game when innocent people get killed and that he said those same words seven years prior.  A reference is made to their past relationship when Scott says they were just killers sleeping with each other between jobs.  She tries to make it out to be more, but he doesn’t give her any slack.  When he blows her off she tells him that he knows how she feels about him.  He tells her that if she does feel anything for him, she’ll do this one thing for  him.

Hanson is being hauled away in a cop car and pretends to get sick.  The cops pull over and let him out so he doesn’t barf in the car, but he manages to get one of the officer’s guns and proceeds to take out three guys with his hands literally cuffed behind his back.  Onlookers see this go down and applaud him for his efforts as he frees his hands and saunters away.  What a douche.

Back at the crib, Stonebridge and Dalton wait for Scott to return, who walks in shortly after.  He tells them what he found out, but Dalton is cynical at best.  Scott tells Dalton that as soon as Bryant arranges the meeting between Knox and the Nigerians, she’ll contact him.  Dalton doesn’t quite believe what’s happening here and she makes her irritation known.  He tells her that if he brought Bryant back to the crib, she wouldn’t have said anything.  Dalton then sees what she’s been missing, that Scott went to Bryant’s not to help, but to kill her.  In a rare display of emotion, Scott tells them that seven years prior he was working contracts with Bryant.  He tells them how he knew everything about his marks and memorized every aspect of the file that was given to him.  His last mark was a dirty American business man he was supposed to eliminate.  What the file failed to mention was that the business man would be with his young son.  Scott sheds a tear and tells them the exact date he murdered a child for the “stars and stripes.”  He confirms he was going to kill her but didn’t because she offered them a shot at Knox, proving to both Dalton and Stonebridge, that for him, the mission came first.  Dalton seems to have a new-found respect for Scott and it showed on her face.  Stonebridge also now understands what drives his partner.

Matlock and Knox meet with Ozzy, the Nigerian from last week, in his party pad that’s full of naked chicks, guns and drugs.  Having set up the meeting, Bryant is there as well.  Ozzy and Knox go back and forth about Africa and make small talk.  Ozzy doesn’t seem so sure about Knox but eventually with some quips, Knox gets on Ozzy’s good side.  Knox wants confirmation that Ozzy will go through with detonating the nukes, and will also take responsibility.  All he asks for is five million dollars and three hours lead time to get away.  Bryant sends Scott a text letting them know about the meeting and the team gears up, hops on a chopper and heads that way.  Bryant requests and receives her payment and gets out of the building just as 20 lands on the roof.  It seems that Bryant gets away, but I’d put money on the fact that we’ll see her again next season.

While Scott, Stonebridge, Liam and another random soldier work from the roof down, Julia, Captain Radebe and his men work their way up, cleaning house as they go.  Ozzy is alerted to their intruders and sends his men to take care of business while he tries to make a getaway.  Meanwhile, Matlock ushers Knox out of the building but not before he puts a non-lethal bullet in Radebe.  He gives Radebe’s gun to Knox and tells Radebe to go home.  Interesting that Matlock didn’t just kill him.  Scott and Stonebridge take off after Ozzy, but are cut off after residents begin throwing fire bombs into the alley.

Matlock takes Knox back to his hidey-hole and tells Knox that he’s giving his resignation.  He goes on to say that he signed up for a coup, soldiers work, not to watch Knox bomb a city on a personal grievance.  He says that he doesn’t know who Knox is trying to pay back but that it needs to end and it’s not about justice or integrity and he should have known it was going to go bad, especially when he was ordered to hire Hanson.  Just as he says the name, a shot rings out hitting Matlock in the back, and Hanson walks up.  On his dying breath, Matlock tells him it figures he’d shoot him in the back.  Knox tells Hanson to finish it and looks away as he does.  Poor Matlock.  What a crappy way to go.  Hanson then looks to Knox and asks what he’s missed.

Back at the crib as the team unloads their gear, Dalton confirms that even though Knox got away, targeting the Nigerians was the right move.  As they stew over their success/failure, Liam notices a hit on Knox’s daughter’s cell phone.  It’s Knox calling to tell her he’s in Cairo and he wants her to join him.  Of course this is just a ploy to get her out of the country, but Liam tells Dalton he’s got Knox’s exact location.

The team show up a Knox’s compound, but it’s since been deserted.  Stonebridge fishes documents out of the fire, one of the items is Knox’s passport.  Combing over everything they took from Knox’s place, Dalton looks at the map that was hanging on the wall and notices that Knox’s father’s name is on the back.  She puts two and two together and figures out where they plan to set off the nukes. She tells the team that Knox’s father used to work for this bank where all the Apartheid gold and diamonds went into, but never came out.  The question on where they went is asked and Radebe tells them tunnels.  Then, Hanson is shown on security cameras parking a truck and staring right into the camera as if he’s taunting them.

The team is deployed once again, and Scott and Stonebridge head down into the tunnels, while Julia and Dalton stay topside.  Liam relays info on Knox’s position to Dalton, who takes off after him, leaving Julia to stand watch at the tunnel entrance.  Scott and Stonebridge find one of the nukes but realize that it’s tied to the second, that they have yet to find.  They make their way to another section and find the other one set up as well.  Realizing that the triggers on both bombs needs to be pulled at the exact same time, Scott heads back to handle the first bomb, leaving Stonebridge to handle the second.

Meanwhile, Dalton finds Knox who is sitting at a table, in a park surrounded by children, holding a dead man’s trigger.  Liam, hearing Dalton’s conversation with Knox relays the information to Julia, who heads down into the tunnels to inform the boys of this latest development.  Dalton puts it together that none of what Knox is doing is about Africa, that it’s about how the bank treated his father and how upon his firing, shattered his family’s dreams.

Things go from bad to worse for Stonebridge when Hanson shows up.  It seems that Stonebridge will get another chance at Hanson as the two men proceed to beat the ever-living shit out of each other.  Stonebridge asks why Hanson didn’t just kill him when he shot Carrie, and Hanson tells him that it’s all because Stonebridge killed Hanson’s brother.  While Stonebridge and Hanson beat the crap out of each other, Ozzy tries to get to Scott.  That doesn’t last long however, when Scott takes out both Ozzy and his man.  Because Scott’s a bad ass.  Scott makes it back to the bomb and sees that the countdown on his watch is about to reach zero.  Stonebridge manages to get the drop on Hanson and puts a few rounds in his chest.  Just before Hanson takes his final breath, Stonebridge tells him that he forgives him.

Julia shows up and tells Stonebridge about the dead man’s trigger that Knox has and Stonebridge grabs a pipe to bang out a new countdown to Scott who hears it as he’s making his way back to Stonebridge’s position.  He reads the signs and runs back to the first nuke and on zero, they both pull the triggers out of the nukes, effectively disarming them.  As all of this is going down, Dalton is still with Knox, who’s telling her that he knows exactly what he’s doing; ridding the city of the corruption from which is was built.  Knox releases the trigger and Dalton grabs his arm to stop him.  When the bombs don’t go off, Knox grabs his gun and shoots Dalton in the stomach and runs away.  It’s at this point that I got a bit upset because I really don’t want her to die damn it!  I like Dalton!!

The boys and Julia get topside with the triggers and Liam, who was watching Dalton, tells them that Knox is on the run, and that Dalton’s been shot.  Julia heads to Dalton, while the boys head to catch Knox once and for all.  Knox stumbles his way down a crowded street and sees his face on the cover of magazines and newspapers.  He runs into a child, knocking him down and ends up pulling his gun out of his pockets.  Men try to contain him and force him to the ground, but then two shots ring out and Knox lays dead in the gutter.  Stonebridge and Scott show up and one of the men tell them that Knox shot himself.  Problem solved.

Four days later, Scott and Stonebridge deliver the triggers to Dalton who is still alive, and in the hospital.  As Dalton tells Scott and Stonebridge about the deal she struck with the higher ups to keep 20 running, Julia and Liam help pack up the crib and look over their new orders.  What those orders are, we won’t know until next season.  Like last season, the final scenes shows Stonebridge and Scott on a rooftop.  They discuss how the city owes them a beer and Scott mentions how it owes him four weeks in Bora Bora (a man after my own heart) and then asks Stonebridge how it played out in the end with Hanson.  Stonebridge tells Scott that he gave Hanson the one thing Hanson didn’t want….forgiveness.  Scott tells Stonebridge that he’s the better man and that Carrie would be proud.  Stonebridge asks Scott if he’s forgiven himself for killing the young boy seven years ago, and Scott tells him no and that he thinks that will never happen.  Scott asks Stonebridge if he remembers the dream that Scott talks about, the one where he’s running to get away from it.  When Stonebridge says yes, he remembers, Scott tells him that he’s going to stop running, and slow things down to a walk.  Then the two go lighthearted once again talking about the whole countdown issue and whether or not zero is a number, ending things on a light note.

And that is it my friends.  Cheers to another great season and thanks to Cinemax for sticking with it.  Like I said in my opening, this season had loads to offer.  Phillip Winchester and Sullivan Stapleton have both shown that they can deliver full bodied (both literally and figuratively) characters who actually have faults and emotions.  I also like how Dalton has evolved over the course of the season as well.  Now it’s time to hit up Max Go and watch them all again.  Thanks for sticking with me and be sure to check back next week as I’ll be checking out Cinemax’s new show Hunted.

About the author

Tracy Ladd has written 534 articles on this blog.

Tracy has been writing about film since her days on the her high school newspaper. Even though she took a decade or two off to explore other things, she's back to doing what she loves. She also bakes, can knit a pretty nifty scarf and makes lightsaber sounds with her knitting needles. Or chopsticks. Especially with the lightsaber chopsticks. Follow her on Twitter: @ReelGoddess

• Twitter
• Facebook

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 13th, 2012 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Television, TV Show Recaps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.