The Working File

This was a very straightforward, enjoyable episode, made up of three parts: (1) introduce and test the new team member, (2) Betsy’s television interview about her abduction and rescue, and (3) a mission to find and kill the man who killed Hector, which also gives us the first chance to see the new member in action.

The New Guy
This was one instance where I wished the on-screen episode guide provided less information. Knowing that the team was getting a new member going in, it was easy to guess that the operation they were engaged in was a training/testing exercise for the new member. The first thing we learn about him is that he is adept at parkour. On rewatching, it becomes clear that this requires a stuntman who doesn’t look too much like the actor, and I think he’s going to be wearing a lot of caps to help maintain the illusion.
The test subject evades the rest of the team while infiltrating a semi-open office skyscraper in Los Angeles, where he has to access a conference room and “kill” a dummy left sitting there. He evades all their traps, switches disguise from a cop to a woman while in the building, gets to the conference room, then dawdles pointlessly, just long enough for Mack to find him and get a drop on him. But he hasn’t failed, because he holds up a grenade-type device, explaining that if Mack shoots him it will explode and all three of them will die. After a brief standoff, he drops the device, he and Mack both run, the dummy of course stays and is presumably considered killed. Just as the team assembles around him and debates whether his trick at the end was allowed, a woman comes screaming out of the conference room, followed by a man engulfed in flames. Jonas handles the woman, someone else arranges emergency medical treatment for the man, and the rest, including the new guy, head to a safe house.
There, Col. Ryan tells them, over the course of a few scenes, that the flaming man died, and what’s worse, is a federal judge who has a professional history of run-ins with some Oklahoma City bombing types, so the ATF is investigating very seriously.
Having figured out that the test was a test, most viewers are now wondering if this is just more of the test. Soon enough, Mack and the new guy get arrested, spend a bit of time discussing their situation in adjoining cells, and the new guy is led to interrogation. There it is made clear to him that unless he cooperates and let’s the Feds know what is going on, he will be imprisoned for a very long time. Selling out the Unit, most of whose members have already made it clear that they blame him for their predicament, could save himself. But he doesn’t; he plays along with the assumption of his interrogator that he is an anti-federal government terrorist. As he’s being led to the prisoner transport vehicle, the team jumps out with a cake and streamers! Well, not quite, but it felt almost as contrived. After punching Mack in return for a punch Mack delivered to him while they were pretending to hate him, everyone is happy happy, and the new guy is christened “whiplash.” That’s interesting, because while the origin of Red Cap’s moniker was clearly show, we are left guessing as to whiplash.
The Interview

Meanwhile, after the initial testing exercise, Jonas is left out of the main story, as he returns to base to assist in the preparation of his daughter Betsy for an important television interview. Syria is complaining and accusing the US of entering Syrian territory to rescue Betsy. The US needs her to speak publicly, and explain that she never left Iraq during her captivity. Watching her handlers get frustrated, Jonas takes over and promises that she will be ready. There is the expected amount of tension, progress, setbacks, and intra-family squabbling among Jonas, Molly, and their daughter.
Just before the interview, an officer tries to award Betsy with a Bronze Star in recognition of what she is about to do, but she rejects the honor, saying she hasn’t earned it, and that it can only be properly earned through bravery in combat. The interview proceeds successfully, and Betsy makes the same point about about not considering herself a hero, in the strong tradition of soldiers who reject such labels for themselves, no matter how deserving.
The Operation
Finally, at the end of the episode, there is a foreign operation to catch and kill the man who killed Hector. Mack, still dealing with guilt for not having protected Hector (see Spear of Destiny for more details), has to identify the target and gets the chance to make the kill. Whiplash has a chance to ride in on a motorbike, guns blazing, and rescue Mack from enemy fire, and in a brief scene of planning, Whiplash and Red Cap get to meet and take a brief measure of each other.

Finally, we see Mack and Grey showing up at Hector’s modest grave, to honor him, talk to him, and share a drink. There’s a sense of closure, but also of lingering emptiness and loss.
Quibbles
Just a few:

why did Whiplash bother dressing as a cop — it seemed to serve no purpose

also why did he talk to Mack — that was counterproductive

and where did he get the cop car?

why did the team hire a stuntman to be ready to explode in flames if the use of the flashbomb was prohibited; yes they can expect the unexpected, but the test subject might just as easily just shot the target — then what?

finally, how can Syria publicly complain about the US invading its space to rescue multiple captive soldiers, without facing an equal amount of trouble itself for admitting that Iraqi insurgents routinely use Syria as a base where they hold captured US forces?

Notwithstanding these issues, this was a fun episode. I’m not sure how much I like whiplash yet, but that’s to be expected. This also raises the ongoing question of just how Red Cap is supposed to fit in with the Unit, which I’m not sure the writers have figured out. Let’s hope we have a lot more new episodes and seasons coming to find out.