The hour began in spectacular fashion but ended in tragedy for Section 20 on last night's episode of Strike Back on Sky1.
The fourth episode of the fifth and final season of the series was written by James Dormer and directed by Julian Holmes. Picking up from last week's cliffhanger, Scott, along with his son Finn, and Stonebridge, were both stranded in sticky situations.
Somewhat surprisingly, the pair were able to shoot their way out of trouble quite early in the episode. In the case of Scott and son Finn, we got to see a bit of father and son conversation between the pair as Scott skillfully neutralized the remaining forces tracking them through the jungle, and hailed a fishing boat to return to civilization. Scott quickly dropped the ball and chain on a bus back to the city and safety and continued alone.
In Stonebridge's case, a pair of CIA agents came to his rescue, taking out the remaining Yakuza forces that Richmond and Locke had already evaded. Agents Mason and Faber passed the background checks as legitimate CIA operatives, but played the Section 20 team as they piggybacked off their intel to locate their own target, Shiro, who had been working for Mei, who is now well cemented as the primary enemy in the Strike Back: Legacy story.
It turned out to be a wild goose chase for Section 20, however. Keen to put the brakes on the shipment of vanadium destined for Mei's home state of North Korea, Section 20 minus Scott were pointed in the direction of a decoy shipment, which they destroyed in spectacular fashion.
Twice in the hour, Scott called Stonebridge on a cellphone he bought from one of the fishermen. Good banter was had, with Stonebridge telling Scott that girlfriend Julia had 'moved on' in his absence. Later the couple spoke on the phone directly, but little did they know it would be their last time in contact.
While Martinez was planting explosives on the final decoy truck, Richmond became cornered as Mei's men pinned her down from multiple angles and wounded her. On Mei's orders, Richmond's life was spared, but only temporarily, as Mei took Richmond in her getaway vehicle, and ended up executing her and dumping her body on the road for Scott to find a short time later.
This was a really rough death, and came as a complete surprise. Even though it's more than 600 days since season 4 screened, the death of Rhonda Mitra's character Rachel Dalton is still surprisingly fresh in my memory, and her death came at the hands of the same writer and director, and in the fourth episode of that season too. Since Strike Back's first season I always enjoyed Julia Richmond and Michelle Lukes' depiction of the character. She was somewhat reserved, and the more introverted member of the team, though she was still a force to be reckoned with.
Despite this, I was pleased Richmond stood her ground, maintained her silence and integrity, and didn't reveal any information on Section 20 to Mei. Her final words were chilling, but do represent the risks that she and her teammates took in doing their job.
"I always knew I would die like this. In a place like this. I just didn't know who would pull the trigger"
The entire scene showcased an excellent piece of acting by Michelle Lukes too.
Given Strike Back is not known for long term relationships among its main characters, and Scott himself has been a womanizer since the beginning, I was really enjoying Scott and Richmond's relationship because it was so unique in that respect, and the chemistry between the actors and the characters has always been present. I'm not normally one to rave about character relationships, but what little we did see of this one is worth noting.
Nevertheless, despite hoping for a happy ending for the couple given it's the series' final season, Section 20 now have to pick up the pieces and move on. They have six episodes to seek revenge, and that will surely be much more satisfying to watch in the wake of last night's events. With Martinez now the only female lead, how her role changes in the team dynamics will be something worth keeping an eye on, as well as Scott's mindset thanks to his grief. I'll make an early prediction that it's Scott who returns the favor and dispatches Mei later in the season.
Thanks as always for reading! Do share your thoughts and theories in the comments below. I'd also love to hear your highlights from Julia Richmond's time on Strike Back.
