Yesterday’s sixth episode of Strike Back’s final season had everything set in its favor to be an epic hour of television, and that was certainly delivered.
Brendan Maher directed the episode written by Jack Lothian. With last week’s episode featuring Damien Scott and Michael Stonebridge pushing their way into the secretive state of North Korea and destroying key objectives before surrendering when Scott heard his son was captured, this episode was always going to be focused on how the trio escaped.
Things got off to a rough start for Scott and Stonebridge. Scott was subjected to a brief stint of water torture, shortly before they were both hauled in front of a camera with orders to implicate the UK and US governments in their plan. As is customary when these two get captured, the war of words means just as much as the physical battle, and both Scott and Stonebridge put forward some fairly witty remarks to a frustrated Li-Na.
Li-Na wasn’t going to tolerate those shenanigans for long, however. At first she executed one of her soldiers in front of the pair in place of Scott’s son, Finn. When the real Finn was introduced, Scott backed down and spoke to the camera, but Stonebridge tested Li-Na with some daring comments, ultimately pushing her over the edge by bringing the word ‘personal’ into the fray. Philip Winchester produced one of his top performances on Strike Back in this hour, and this scene was just the beginning.
That scene was also the beginning of the great escape, as Stonebridge took advantage of Li-Na’s lapse in concentration to overrun the prison cell and gain control with Scott. The trio took Li-Na hostage as they made their way through the maze of buildings. Finn also badly wounded a North Korean soldier Scott and Stonebridge missed in their sweep, saving the trio’s lives from a rear ambush. Unsurprisingly, that rattled Finn to the core, with a pretty solid display by Christian Antidormi worth noting here.
Li-Na did a runner though, but not before the trio could escape the compound via four wheel drive. The game changed in an instant when Finn discovered he had a gunshot wound to the abdomen, derailing the exfiltration plan.
That led the trio to detour to a medical center, which left me scratching my head because that would be one of the last things you’d expect to find in North Korea. Nevertheless, it made for great television, with a small group of medical staff forced to patch Finn up while the rest were locked in a room. It didn’t take long for the army to catch up though, but Stonebridge was up to the task in a beautifully executed moment where he decoyed two soldiers and ambushed them.
Forced to high-tail it out of the hospital on yet another four wheel drive, the trio ran into a roadblock. Their guns were blazing but the soldiers managed to disable the vehicle, with Scott and Stonebridge momentarily regretting blowing up everything in sight. In another stroke of luck, a pair of horses and a cart were enough to get the trio within reach of Philip Locke and Kim Martinez, who with the help of Nina Pirogova, a former fling of Scott’s with connections to Russia, used a helicopter to rescue the trio. In a quick swoop, Scott, Stonebridge and Finn were picked up and whisked away to Russia where Finn was able to receive proper medical care.
With no time for character development in all the action, the creative team left that until last. We saw a nice moment between Finn and Scott in the hospital bed, and an even nicer one in a bar between Martinez and Stonebridge. Martinez recounted her guilt at the loss of Julia Richmond, and daringly asked Stonebridge why he had never made a move on her. For a moment there I was expecting a kiss followed by an intense sex scene, but fortunately that never eventuated. It wouldn’t have been the right thing to do at the time, but as a last hurrah for the characters before the series closes in a month’s time, I’d be keen for the chemistry between the pair to be resolved.
Back in North Korea, Li-Na was very nearly executed by her father, but her lover, Kwon, put a stop to that, executing her father instead. The pair commandeered a helicopter as they set themselves up to extend their wave of destruction into Europe. With four more episodes left in the series, and their homeland under direct threat, expect anything could happen. Overall, this was yet another great hour of Strike Back, with Philip Winchester's performance a particular standout
As always, thanks a lot for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.
"an even nicer one in a bar between Martinez and Stonebridge. Martinez recounted her guilt at the loss of Julia Richmond, and daringly asked Stonebridge why he had never made a move on her. For a moment there I was expecting a kiss followed by an intense sex scene, but fortunately that never eventuated. It wouldn’t have been the right thing to do at the time, but as a last hurrah for the characters before the series closes in a month’s time, I’d be keen for the chemistry between the pair to be resolved."
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, especially as the show spent 'Shadow Warfare' slowly building up their mutual attraction. I'd like to think "... maybe in a different life" is something to hold out hope for re: this situation.
Was ep 5x06 Milauna Jackson's last appearance of the series?
Solid review, Jimmy. Totally agree on this episode highlighting Philip Winchester's acting chops. I had to go back and watch that entire exchange about a half dozen times. Chills!
ReplyDeleteYou gotta love how well Scott and Stonebridge work together as a team, to the point where even when they're at odds with each other, they adapt to have each others backs. When Scott can't be the smart mouth distracting the enemy and pulling all that negative attention towards himself, Stonebridge steps into the plate and does it quite nicely. And even distracted by Finn, Scott most likely saw exactly what he was doing, hence the seamless reaction to the escape. Man, I'm really going to miss these two when they're gone. You just don't find chemistry like that every day.
I kinda laughed at where Finn got shot, though. I know low to the side on the abdomen is a 'safe' television gutshot go-to, but now he and his dad have matching scars!
The character moments after the escape were really nice, and I think in Martinez and Stonebridge's case, very true to character. As much as I was disappointed that nothing more happened between them over the course of the last season, it would have been a disservice to both their characters if they'd just thrown caution to the wind right before parting ways. Kim did say she was staying on another week to make sure Finn got home safe, so fingers crossed that she's not leaving just yet, and we get as much of her on screen as we can!
I can't believe there are only four episodes left.
In a perfect world, "to another life" would mean Stonebridge survives the season, retires from Section 20, and finds Martinez to actively give that thing a real go.
ReplyDeleteYes. That's I want.
ReplyDeleteI really hope he does make it out alive.
That scene were Stonebridge refers to Kate drove me to tears.
ReplyDeleteThat wouldn't be the worst outcome in the world.
ReplyDeleteCheers, yeah the non-verbal communication between S&S has a lot to do with why they are so sharp as a team. What Stonebridge did was perhaps more risky than most but I don't think he had a choice. It was their best shot at escaping and these two don't pass any opportunity up.
ReplyDeleteYeah that was a bloody brilliant moment. Really pleased we got to see it
ReplyDelete