By Jessica Grey

The episode opens on Roper’s private jet as they leave Istanbul for “the Haven.” En route, Roper fills Jonathan in on the fact of their coded financial documents having fallen into the hands of Angela Burr. Throughout the discussion, during which Roper directly asks Pine if he leaked the documents, Jonathan manages to maintain an impeccable poker face, seeming to react with detached curiosity.

 

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Finally, they arrive in southeast Turkey and, after Roper facilitates the initial introductions, they continue on to “the Haven” by way of a convoy. The caravan passes through Syrian refugee camps and they stop in the middle of what Roper calls a “safe haven for the wretched of the earth” to pass out boxed supplies while a photographer documents Roper’s good works so the world may know what a philanthropist he is. As they climb back into their vehicles and proceed to their true destination, he tells Jonathan—point blank—that this is how they justify their presence in the area, should anyone question them; Roper is literally hiding extrajudicial military installation among the camps of people Roper had a hand in making into refugees. I could almost be impressed with how sly that is, if I weren’t too busy being nauseated.

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Back in London, the powers that be have found Rex Mayhew to have too much integrity to be bribed or intimidated into backing off, so, instead, he’s being given a wonderful opportunity that would put him in direct service to the Queen and far away from Angela’s enforcement department. When he goes to give Angela the news of his impending reassignment, he finds her in an understandable moment of frustration and panic: They haven’t been able to track down Pine since he went off script. They know that weapons were offloaded from a ship in Istanbul; they know that Roper is brokering a deal with some interested party in the Middle East. She gives Rex a rapid rundown and argues that she needs a larger budget, more resources, and more people if they’re going to have a chance of stopping this deal. Defeated and resigned, Rex tells her that it’s a no-go; the whole thing is, essentially, a bust now.

Upon the arrival of their prospective business partner, Mr. Barghati, the demonstration begins. Jonathan begins selling “his” wares (that he just recently familiarized himself with) and, actually, does a rather convincing job of it. Then Roper takes over the presentation and the team finishes off the presentation by dropping. Jonathan looks on in horror. Roper, on the other hand, is titillated. Honestly, at this point, I am starting to doubt that he’s legitimately in it for the money; the way he stared—almost lecherously—at that napalm fire, I think he might just be really into cosplaying as the Second Horseman of the Apocalypse and digs making money off the gig while he’s at it. The next morning, Mr. Barghati departs and, in his wake, so do 28 trucks carrying “agricultural supplies.” As he can, Jonathan is surreptitiously taking notes and trying to find an opportunity to get word to Angela and her team.

 

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Meanwhile, Angela’s having a rough time of it: She’s trying to do what she can while waiting for word from Jonathan, but she keeps getting blocked at every turn and doesn’t have the authority on her own to get a warrant to compel information. She’s also pretty sure she’s being followed. Oh, and Operation Limpet has lost its funding and Joel is being recalled to Washington, D.C. As he leaves to prepare to fly back to the States, there is totally a moment that confirmed my previous hypothesis: Angela and Joel were definitely lovers once.

After the convoy of trucks leave “the Haven” and head for the Syrian border, Corky and Jed arrive at the camp. This is pretty unusual and people take notice. Even one of the bodyguards comments that it is unlike Roper to mix business with pleasure. Tension among Roper’s inner circle is through the roof, Roper is angry, and Corky continues doing his best to antagonize Jonathan.

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Up in England, Angela’s suspicion about being followed is confirmed when she makes her way home, where her husband is sleeping after having worked on the nursery, and receives a phone call from Dromgoole, who is parked right outside of her house. The two have a less than amicable conversation, wherein Dromgoole implicitly threatens her, before she closes the door on him.

As the Turkish desert day burns off into night, Jonathan finishes putting his message together and moves forward with a pretty convoluted plan for getting it to Angela’s team. This plan starts with intentionally mucking up the generator so that the camp loses power, which, fortunately, that intentional part is enough to interrupt Roper’s interrogation of Jed, during which he’s already hit her. Jonathan sneaks into the tent while Roper is out trying to deal with the generator situation and talks to Jed, finally disclosing who he really is and letting her know that he is going to get her out of this situation, but, in order to do that, he needs her help to pin the leak on Corky.

He sneaks out of the camp to the refugee tent city and pays a cab driver to take his message to Istanbul. When he tries to sneak back into the camp, Corky is waiting for him. Though Corky initially holds the advantage, especially having brought a loaded gun with him and getting in some nasty early blows, Jonathan ends up taking Corky down. When guards come running to check out the kerfuffle, Jonathan flips the story—he found Corky trying to sneak back in—and while the guards are off in search of Roper, Jonathan brutally finishes the fight. Dismayed when he finds his way to the scene, Roper orders some men to bury Corky quickly and not tell anyone Corky was ever there. Jonathan goes and takes a post-murder shower.

Meanwhile, the cabby finally arrives in Istanbul with Jonathan’s message. Angela’s team quickly moves into high gear. Angela tracks down Rex and convinces him to finish out his last day in his current post by signing a letter confirming knowledge of illegal arms trafficking so that they can finally nail Roper. She faxes the letter to Joel, now back in D.C., and asks him to pass along the information to the U.S. military.

From their own separate locations, Roper and his team, Angela and her team, and Joel are all tracking the movement of these trucks. When the American troops stop them at the border, they find do, in fact, find agricultural supplies. Jonathan is absolutely dismayed; he sent what he thought was the right information. Joel is livid and feels like he’s been had by Jonathan, who he is convinced has turned to Roper’s side. Angela is devastated and, to make matters worse, when she returns home that night, she finds her house in total disarray. She picks her way through the detritus strewn across the floor to find her husband injured and bleeding from his head, but thankfully still alive.

The episode wraps up as Roper and his gang pack up to leave “the Haven.” On their way out, Roper asks Jonathan if he’d figured out the trick yet: Those weapons were offloaded from the ship, but the only ones that made it to “the Haven” were what was used for the demonstration. Because of the leak, Roper played his “watch the cup” trick and the bulk of the weapons went back out by sea again. Jonathan, as he continues playing his dangerous game, now finds himself back in Egypt—in the Nefertiti Hotel, no less—and facing the prospect of having to deal with Freddie Hamid, Sophie Alakan’s lover, abuser, and an accomplice to her murder.

Next week’s going to be so intense. I can’t wait!

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