The Working File

Wow. This episode had a very big event at the end. Good episode, although in some ways it seemed a bit by-the-numbers. Plus, there was a revelation about “Sam,” with its own fallout. There really is only one story this week, with some interrelated subparts.

Jonas, Mack and Bob are chasing Russian terrorists in Los Angeles, and while doing so, they are contacted by Sam, who informs Jonas he is holding Molly hostage. Bob is dealing with an attractive Russian informant, and Kim and Tiffy call the police when they discovery Molly is missing and they do not believe Col. Ryan takes it seriously. Also another week with no Charles.

As we begin, Jonas, Mack and Bob hunt down the terrorists, finding their safe house on a tip from Bob’s informant. When they arrive, they find everyone dead, plus a trial of blood.

That trail leads them to a garage where they find 2 of the Russians, and although the Unit would prefer to question them, both Russians end up dead in a firefight. Trying to figure out who would kill the Russians, and why, Bob heads back to the informant for more info, and threatens her with, death if she does not succeed.

In addition, the GPS in a car at the garage leads them to a warehouse district on the waterfront. While there, Jonas receives the call from Sam informing him that Sam is working with Leon Drake and has Molly hostage. Bob heads back to the informant for yet more info, and ends up in an ambush, but since Bob is in the Unit, he kills the ambushers. He then heads to the Russian embassy to confront his informant and threaten her yet again (now that she has set him up he is none too happy), and she promises to help him in return for being allowed to immigrate and for protection. Everyone is wondering why Drake would kill all the Russians when we previously thought he was being helped by various Russian interests.

Back at the command center, Ryan has two problems: Kim and Tiffy being upset over Molly’s disappearance and with Jonas, angry over his wife being abducted and not told. Bridget (Red Cap) has to deal with both, the first at Ryan’s instructions and the second secretly. Jonas asks Bridget for assistance and for secrecy: he does not want Ryan to know that he knows Molly is a hostage. Bridget obliges. Kim and Tiffy call the police, and almost immediately regret it when the police inform them that the Gillums have been killed and they consider Molly a suspect, and at minimum a material witness. They ask the police to leave and refuse further cooperation.

After a bit of cat-and-mouse detective work, Jonas catches up with Sam and Molly. Sam has placed alone Molly in a public park, but within sniper range. Jonas spots all the snipers and, judging the heft of the table, and noticing he ridge behind them, he makes a plan. they escape, but while running away they encounter Sam and one of the other Drake henchmen in a tunnel in the park. After a standoff, with 2 against Jonas, Sam suddenly turns on his seeming partner and kills him. Jonas realizes that Sam was double-deep secret undercover, and while he doesn’t like it, he obliges by shooting Sam in the arm to maintain his cover, before Jonas escapes with Molly.

In last week’s recap, I asked: “Questions: Is Sam undercover? It appears not, especially based on the preview but it could be possible.” The reason I wondered was that the worst thing he did was to kill the Gillums. Having already seen Bob kill another married couple whose husband had ties to the Drake gang, it was not implausible that Sam would be sanctioned to kill the Gillums. And he was.

Meanwhile, Jonas and Mack had planned to allow the Drake gang people trapped in the warehouse, and guarded only by Mack, to seem to escape. While the Molly scenario is playing out, Jonas tells Mack to go forward with the plan, which was that they had rigged the terrorist’s SUV with explosives, which Mack blows up once everyone is in it. Bob meets his informant yet again, at the opera, where she is trialed by a Russian assassin, whom Bob kills before the assassin can kill the informant. Everything seems wrapped up nicely after the police return to Kim and Tiffy to tell them that Molly went on a surprise vacation with her husband and was out of town while the Gillums were murdered. This is of course a cover supplied by the Unit, but when Bridget calls at the same time to assure them that Molly is indeed safe

Then 2 scenes with Jonas demonstrate that not all is well. First, Jonas confronts Col. Ryan for putting Molly in danger (Ryan accurately replies that Molly acted on her own) and for betraying trust in the Unit by putting Sam undercover without telling anyone else. Bridget watches through a glass window in Home Base, but doesn’t hear. Still, she must know from Jonas that Sam was undercover and that the attempted rape was faked. She is also clearly unhappy with Ryan.

Then Jonas and Molly meet after debriefing, and Molly tells Jonas it is over — not just her involvement but his. She has always supported his life, his work and his missions. She was willing to let him risk his life for their country and she was willing to do so herself, but it is time for it to be over.

She presents him with an ultimatum, but Jonas is not ready to quit. It is not clear if he means just until he can end the Leon Drake threat, or for a longer indefinite time, but she leaves and tells him to join her when he is ready. The last 2 episodes left many, including me, wondering whether Mack might soon quit the Unit. Now it appears Jonas is in that position.