The Unit: 417 “Flesh & Blood”
Who do you know, and who can you trust. These issue intersect in three stories this episode. In the primary action story, the team, minus Grey and Red Cap (marking the second episode in a row in which she does not appear), attempts to extricate the leader of a revolution is an unidentified country that appears to be somewhere in Latin America. The man has a longstanding relationship with Jonas. Also, he has been shot, and needs surgery, which complicates the extraction. Jonas spends much of the episode mentoring and guiding the man’s son, Teo, who was 11 the last time they met but is now a young adult.
In the second story, Grey meets again with Joss, and reveals the truth about his identity and his work.
In the third story, Col. Ryan seduces and coaxes Susan Gillum to start drinking so he can get information from her concerning the activities and whereabouts of her husband, who is suspected of being involved in the domestic attacks on the Unit, including the chlorine attack last week.
In the Unit action story, Jonas spends much of his time mentoring and persuading the son of his friend to trust Jonas. The father is shot. He is awake, and lucid, but very weak. The son assumes command, and isn’t sure to what extent he should defer to the more experienced Jonas. They are holed up in a small house, little more than a shack, and do not know how long they have before enemy forces arrive to murder the father, and anyone with him. En route, the Unit’s helicopter is shot, and Bob and Mack stay at their landing site to effect repairs (actually Bob does the repairs while Mack guards him and complains about helicopters). Whiplash makes glue for Bob, and captures a sniper by sneaking up behind him and literally shooting him in the butt. They use the sniper’s radio to gain intelligence as to when their enemies will arrive in force, but before that happens, Jonas pressures the doctor to operate on the father on site, because he might be too weak to transport, and the helicopter might not be ready in time. At that point, he has to politely but forcefully convince the son to trust his judgment.
Back in Sierra Ridge, Ryan steps in when Molly refuses to get Susan to drink as a method of making her talk freely. Ryan poses as a sometimes colleague of her husband, who left her alone just before the chlorine attack. They end up drinking wine, and much like Jonas and Teo, he need to win her trust quickly.
He does so, and they end up in her apartment and sleeping together. During their pillow talk, it becomes apparent that she suspected some wrongdoing on her husband’s part, but she has no real knowledge or information. When she goes into the shower, Ryan takes some camera pictures of her husband’s luggage tags to whow which airports and flights he has taken. He leaves, and Susan is left devastated the next morning. Molly steps back in to try to save her sobriety, and she and Ryan have a brief exchange atthe end about the price they all pay to engage in the work they do.
Finally, another cost to being in the Unit involves the lies and omissions that the Unit members and their families engage in with each other. The first act of the last story is between Charles and Joss. She confronts him, as it becomes clear that he is not who he presented himself to be. He eventually decides to trust her with the knowledge of his profession and the Unit, which does not officially exist. During the back and forth, it becomes clear that they both want to trust the other, but that events and circumstances get in the way.
When they get past the obstacles, Charles sends Joss to discuss life as a Unit wife with Tiffy and Kim.
The latter two explain the difficulties, which includes loneliness, fear, and the problems inherent in running a family with 1.5 adults. The wife who is always there and the husband who is not only often absent, but also cannot be distracted with certain family problems lest the distraction cause him his life. After Joss leaves to firm thing up with Charles, Kim and Tiffy have a frank discussion about Tiffy’s choices and difficulties in life. Joss and Charles decide to marry. I should probably give it up, but I still think there is more to Joss than we know. I don’t trust her yet.
Finally, the main story ends with Teo’s father piloting the helicopter away by himself. The repairs took, but it also was shot again and had little fuel. By taking off solo, he gave his son, the Unit, and his other men a chance to escape on foot. Later, Jonas assures Teo that he will continue to mentor him and assist him in avenging his father’s death.
