Poacher – Season 1 Episode 2 “Crusader” Recap & Review

Crusader

Episode 2 of Poacher begins with Alan flying to Malaytoor to join the investigation. Neel briefs him about Poonam Verma, who uses an art gallery as a front for illegal ivory smuggling. Alan also learns about Ravi Don, who directly deals with clients.

They need to act quickly to catch Poonam and Ravi before they escape. Neel drops Alan off at a remote location, and Alan heads to Mala’s office. Meanwhile, SHO Dina raids the address provided by Morris, which turns out to be an ivory factory rife with hundreds of sculptures.

However, Dina gets into trouble when Morris files a false report, claiming his family was illegally arrested by her. An internal investigation is launched, and Dina is suspended temporarily. Harish, one of Mala’s informers, informs him that Raaz’s second-in-command, Poyya, has a relative in Elanji and is likely hiding there.

Mala seeks help from Vijay Babu, an officer who was suspended due to a failed raid. Mala asks Vijay to meet him at a Dhaba to discuss the details.
During the meeting, Mala informs us that she is working undercover for Neel and asks for his help. Vijay agrees to help but asks Mala to put in a good word for him so his suspension can be revoked.

Mala is hesitant but eventually agrees for the sake of the investigation. At the same time, we also get a hint that Mala and Vijay used to be romantically involved. Vijay’s contact, Mathew, gives Mala critical info on Poyya’s relative, Yadu, who might’ve something to share. On the other hand, Alan is trying his best to analyze all of Raaz’s call details. 

In the village, Mala and Vijay devise a brilliant plan to flush Poyya’s relative out of hiding, who later reveals that Poyya was staying with them a week ago, but they don’t know where he is right now. At the office, Alan tells Mala that Raaz has switched on one of his phones and is using a fresh SIM card. Alan also zeroes in on a couple of locations where he used to meet with Morris and other smugglers.

As the episode nears its end, Alan’s informer gives him Raaz’s sister’s Bharti address and suspects that either Raaz might be hiding there or Bharti has some critical information that can lead to Raaz.  

The Episode Review

Is Raaz’s sister, Bharti, part of the ivory trade, too, or is she just a clueless sister who doesn’t know what her brother has been up to? It seems like Bharti doesn’t know anything about the ivory trade. Now that Alan and Mala are aware of Bharti, they plan to set a trap to capture Raaz.

If successful, this could lead them to Ravi Don, Poonam, and their overseas bosses.