Coming into this series my expectations were pretty low, another spin off AND prequel rolled into one I thought, but soon I was wrong about this whole thing. The Terminal List is a series I havent seen and Im sure wasnt perfect but it was entertaining enough from the ratings I have seen online, I plan to watch it eventually and I never though a spin off featuring Ben Edwards would actually work but half way through the season it totally does, specially last episode with that twist at the end. Episode 4 titled "The Sound of the Guns" just went from zero to absolute chaos in the span of one episode, the opening scene alone had me wondering what was going to happen with those Iranian brothers arguing about nuclear weapons while some kid is getting an iPhone, the tension between Vahed and Cyrus was serious. The whole celebration scene felt important but I wasnt sure why until later when everything started unfolding, Vahed questioning why they are giving nuclear capabilities to people who fight with sticks and rocks while Cyrus acts like he doesnt care about the consequences but only the power he can grasp, these guys are brothers but they couldnt be more different in their approach to this whole nuclear program. This episode gets the personal drama with the covert operations stuff, never letting one overshadow the other completely, the writers know how to keep multiple storylines moving without making you feel lost or confused about whats happening, its just goes straight into the meat of the mission with Haverford assembling his team for what seems like a straightforward operation, intercept a shipment of specialized bearings essential to Irans centrifuge program and replace them with modified ones, sounds simple enough but Hastings immediately starts noticing inconsistencies that suggest there is more risk into this than anyone is counting on. He is suspicious of Havfords mysterious intelligence source known only as Shepherd, the details of the intelligence and the convenient timing had him raise red flags based on his experience, too good to be true, most concerning is how the fake replacement parts could have been manufactured so quickly unless someone had advanced knowledge of the shipment details far earlier.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26576161/
- Platform: PRIME VIDEO
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The internal relationship within the team is already very complex, already volatile situation and on this episode gets messy fast, Landrys inappropriate behavior toward Tal creates an uncomfortable situation that initially seems just like sexual but ends up on a conflict that takes on new significance later in the episode specially for Edwards and Eliza, at least for the moment. Edwards despite being married with children back home finds himself feeling this desire for Eliza, a vulnerability that bites back leaving him exposed to betrayal in ways he never saw coming, meanwhile Hastings continues to question whether any of them should be involved in this operation at all because hes worried about collateral damage and the murky ethical territory theyre entering. The series starts to become this chess game where they talk about how even a rook can take the queen, which feels like foreshadowing now that I think about it, the conversation between Hastings and Edwards about trust and loyalty hits different when you know how the episode ends. When Jed comes in with news that the bearings are on the move and they need to get ready immediately, you can see Hastings isnt buying the whole story but Edwards is so focused on the mission that he doesnt want to hear any concerns, the way they handle the planning phase shows how professional these guys are even when they have doubts about whats really going on, they are so hyper focus on getting the mission right that they cant see whats really goingn on. The relationship between Edwards and Eliza develops more during their motorcycle ride to scout the tunnel, the whole speed limit conversation was cheesy as hell but what ever its a TV series, when she kisses him in the maintenance corridor to throw off the worker you can tell it looks like there was some real chemistry there which makes what happens later even more brutal.
Then finally happens the convoy ambush sequence, the tactical execution tells the teams capabilities as they efficiently neutralize the security detail and secure their primary objective, the briefcase containing specialized bearings crucial for Irans centrifuge program. They also eliminate Professor Molnar removing a key scientific asset from the Iranian nuclear program, up to this point the mission appears to be proceeding exactly according to plan even with Hastings concerns about its true purpose and collateral damage for the most part, but then everything goes to hell when unknown attackers ambush the team during their extraction. The gun fighting was filmed beautifully with great camera angles that actually lets you follow the action instead of those annoying shaky cam sequences that make you dizzy, Edwards taking out multiple enemies from different angles while moving through the street was probably the best action sequence of the series so far, aside from their first target very 007 style at the club. The episodes does excellent at building up the betrayal without telegraphing it too obviously, there were subtle clues throughout the episode about Tal and Elizas true play but they didnt really register until you watch it back after knowing what happens, first clue for me was modifying the phone charger, it didnt fit, had no purpose, but she was probably installing the listening device in Havfords phone and thought she was about to get caught red handed, the whole interaction with Landry getting handsy was probably planned to make her look like a victim when she was actually working her own agenda and I believe very mush Landry is with them probably. When Eliza shoots Edwards in the back and steals the real bearings they had just acquired, there is this double jap because Haverford just finds out about the charger.
The revelation that both women may be working for different agencies makes things messy, Elizas possible connection to Mossad makes complete sense given Israels well known interest in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the twist feels both surprising and totally plausible. What bothers me most about the whole situation is how Edwards trusted her so completely but I know he wasnt thinking straight, he got horny and cloud his judgment which is exactly what Hastings warned him about during their wood shop conversation earlier in the episode "iron sharpens iron my friend but sometimes you get cut in the process". The final scenes with Jed discovering his phone battery is dead and realizing Tal sabotaged it shows how deep this conspiracy goes, multiple players are working at cross purposes and nobody seems to know who they can actually trust anymore, the team that started the episode as presumed allies has been split by deception with potentially multiple double agents working toward opposite objectives. The episode ends on such a strong cliffhanger that I immediately wanted to watch the next one, which is exactly what good television should do, leave you hanging but not in a cheap way that feels manipulative, this felt earned after all the setup and character development during the episode. Its the conflict about the nuclear program that adds depth to what could have been a simple good guys versus bad guys situation, Vahed expressing concerns about weapons falling into the wrong hands while Cyrus remains committed to their cause shows that even the bad guys have internal struggles and different perspectives on whats going to happen next.
The action sequences carry the episode on its shoulder particularly during the convoy ambush, the choreography allows you to follow complex gun fight without confusion, when finally we know they have been betrayed there is the nice charger phone touch just to put the cheery on top. The fact that both Tal and Eliza were playing long games throughout the entire episode makes me want to go back and rewatch earlier episodes to see what clues I missed because for sure this was not their first interaction behind close doors, the writers did an excellent job planting seeds without making them too obvious, the chess metaphor about how any piece can take the king feels prophetic now that we know how things played out. The episodes conclusion makes everything else they have work for fall into question, who is Shepherd and what is their true agenda, are Tal and Eliza working for the same organization or different ones, was the entire mission a setup from the beginning and how will the remaining team members respond to these betrayals, the nuclear components that could potentially enable weapons of mass destruction are now in unknown hands with multiple intelligence agencies pursuing their own goals, everything Hastings thought could go wrong did and way more. The Terminal List Dark Wolf continues to outperform my expectations with its moral ambiguity and the psychological aspects of covert operations, rather than simple black and white conflicts the show has a lot of gray areas where national interests, personal loyalties and ethical considerations crash with each other in the world of espionage, what a great episode that does deserve a solid 8/10, probably the highest it could go but on IMDB the overall score is already 7.9/10, Im ready for the next episode.
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