W.T.F.I.O.H

Episode 8 of The Recruit season 1 starts with Lester and Violet watching the local police secure the scene. Lester thinks it is clear that their mission moving forward will be to protect the agency. He sneaks into the hotel, goes to Owen and Max’s room, and clears out their stuff. Violet helps him and they manage to leave the room for the Consulate before the local police arrive

Hannah tries to call Owen but he is unavailable so she leaves a voicemail. Terence suggests they go to the Consulate and try to find information on Owen. He is worried that Owen had something to do with Xander’s death.

In the meantime, Owen and Max are on the run on a bus. Owen confronts Max about the role she played in Xander’s death. She tells him that it is impossible that Krill got to Xander that fast. There is a possibility that Xander was not the target, he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Owen worries if he really saw Hannah at the hotel and Max tells him that given the situation he better hope not. He tries to switch his phone back on to call Hannah but Max throws it out of the window. How does Owen not know that his phone can be used to track him? Isn’t that like basic spy 101? And yes, I know he is technically a lawyer but still!

Back at headquarters in Washington, Xander’s death has shaken things up. Nyland, Amelia, Lester, Violet and Dawn get a  conference call from their boss (played by Nathan Fillion mostly known for his role as Nolan in The Rookie.) He wants to know who killed Xander and what happened to Owen and Max.

He is also worried about their legal exposure and wants to pull the plug on the operations. Lester and Violet assure him that they cleaned the hotel room and there is no link left behind of the asset. Dawn argues that Max is integral to their mission to secure  Russian intelligence and asks for 24 hours.

The boss agrees to give them a day and asks Lester to return back to his former position as a CO until the operation is done. He asks to speak to Lester and Dawn privately and orders them to burn the current players if things go south.

Elsewhere, Max and Owen steal a nun’s phone on the bus they are travelling in. Max calls Dawn and informs her that they are on their way to her. Owen uses the phone to call Janus and shares photos of a notebook he stole from Max’s safe deposit box. Owen saves the photos on his Instagram draft folders and gives Janus his password to access them.

Owen asks him to use the information to murky the waters on their presumed missile scandal.

Janus does as Owen instructed and asks a soldier to plant pages of the notebook at a Nigerian compound they are about to raid.

At the Consulate, Hannah and Terence meet with Violet to ask about Owen. They tell Violet that Owen is missing and she asks them how they found out. Hannah answers that she works with Owen and asks why they would follow a CIA agent all the way to Geneva. She asks if Owen revealed any particulars of his work and they deny having any knowledge of his work.

She tells them she will reach out when she learns about Owen’s location and advises them to go home. Terence is not happy that they were interrogated by the CIA and tells Hannah they might have created more problems for Owen instead of helping. Hannah calls her mom to ask for her help to find out if Owen is okay. Her mom agrees on the condition that she moves out of the apartment she shares with Terence and Owen.

Back in Washington, Not Bob visits Nyland, he wants to be briefed on the case. Nyland informs him that the operation in Geneva went wrong and Xander got killed. Not Bob asks him to keep the case away from him and never mention his contact with Owen. Nyland agrees and Not Bob immediately leaves.

Meanwhile, on their way to meet Dawn, Max tells Owen the secret she has about Dawn to give him leverage should anything happen to her. She tells him that Dawn is running ghost assets and pocketing the money. As soon as they arrive, Dawn treats them as hostiles and interrogates them to find out what happened to Xander.

They decide to call Langley and recommend continuing with the operation as they were not compromised. Lester backs up their claims and says his intel shows that Xander was killed by a woman named Nichka Lashin. The director gives them the go -ahead and they move to reinstate Max into the Russian mob.

They make plans to head to Prague to make the buy-in and return her to Belarus. Nyland asks to speak privately to Owen and warns him that if any more calls are made on his behalf he is fired.  Hannah put him in more trouble and she is choosing to stay back in Geneva. It gets even worse when she gets an anonymous message telling her Owen is going to Prague.

In Prague, the team stands by as Max meets with Lev to buy her way back into the Russian mob. Max confides in Owen that she is terrified but she has no choice but to meet Lev. They share a kiss before she leaves. The meeting with Lev starts off smoothly until three black SUVs show up. Owen tries to warn the team but Dawn ignores him.

Heavily armed, masked individuals alight from the SUVs and start shooting. Lev thinks that Max betrayed him and his men try to shoot her, She manages to hide behind a sofa and draws her gun and shoots back. She shoots Lev in the leg. Outside, bullets continue to fly and Owen spots Marta A.K.A Nichka (the woman who tried to sexpionage him.)

Owen makes it inside and saves Max by killing one of Lev’s men. He is attacked by another and is about to be choked to death before Max saves him. She kills Lev because she doesn’t want to leave loose ends. She and Max make their way to the car and escape amid flying bullets.

Owen has a panic attack and jumps out of the car when Max refuses to stop. He is unable to get past the fact that he killed someone. He tells her he quits and that he is done with her and the agency. Max pulls a gun on him and he tells her that he has been stupid to think he can save her. Max tells him that she needs him to get back home but he says he can’t do it anymore. He walks away, and Max – unable to pull the trigger – lets him go.

How Does The Recruit Season 1 End?

After leaving Max, Owen makes a call to Hannah and she tells him she is in Prague and wants to meet. Owen is tired and can’t believe she’s there. She assures him that she is waiting for him near the war memorial. Owen makes his way to her but just before he arrives, a black car shows up out of nowhere and he is kidnapped as Hannah helplessly watches on.

Max calls Dawn and tells her that Owen is a problem and they will need to do something about it. She tells Dawn she is tracking Owen using the phone she gave him and Dawn says that is okay. She is also tracking Max so they plan to meet up. However, as soon as he ends the call, a mysterious person kidnaps her as well.

Owen and Max come to and find themselves tied to a chair in what looks like an abandoned building. Marta /Nichka walks in and Max addresses her as Karolina.  Karolina is not about a happy family reunion and shoots her mother without even flinching. She turns to Owen and asks him who he is and why she is running around with her mom.

The Episode Review

This was an amazing finale but we have questions. I am sure that Max had her shortcoming as a mom but dying at the hands of the daughter she presumed to be dead seems cruel.

Owen fails to understand how dangerous his job is, he should have tried to stay away from Hannah. She is probably going to get hurt or killed because of her association with him. It is sad but the reality is if he truly cares for her, he should let her go.

I wonder what Karolina will do to Owen – will the agency save him in time? Will Dawn get to him and will she kill him herself? I hope there is a season 2 because we desperately need answers.