Citadel Season 1 Episode 5 Recap

Time Renders Us Enemies – The episode opens in Morocco at a Manticore black site where Carter Spence (Osy Ikhile) is being held. Carter warns Mason Kane/Kyle Conroy (Richard Madden) that Nadia Sinh/Charlotte Vernon (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) cannot be trusted.

Athens 9 Years Earlier – Nadia asks Mason if there has been anything new on the Oz Key. He says nothing since it disappeared along with Anders Silje (Roland Moller). She suggests having Celeste/Abby Conroy (Ashleigh Cummings) brought back from Farmington if Davik is no longer looking for her.  He assures her that Celeste is enjoying the time off. When she offers to check in on her, he warns it would violate protocol. Today, their aliases are newlyweds, Jonathan and Alexandra Hughes. They have been dispatched to bring in Tadashi Sako, a Yakuza crime syndicate boss. He places a diamond ring on the table. She says Bernard Orlick (Stanley Tucci) really went all out on it. He asks her to marry him.

Bernard assures Davik that Celeste is alive. Davik struggles to believe him. Bernard promises to show him where she is staying. As Davik cuts his restraints, British Prime Minister to the United States Dahlia Archer (Lesley Manville) shoots him. He stumbles his way toward her when a guard stops him. Bernard sarcastically asks if his blood got on her shoes. She admits to admiring him for developing a safer world until realizing Citadel is more dangerous than biological weapons. He suggests Thomas would be ashamed of the type of person she has become. Spitting in his face, she assures him that this legacy belongs to both of them. He accuses her of murdering thousands of Citadel agents. She describes the victims as “war criminals” before assuring him that she would do it daily if it would protect the innocent. She claims a Citadel agent approached her.

5 Years Earlier – Nadia receives a message claiming Celeste was backstopped per Bernard’s orders and she isn’t in Farmington. Bernard asks her to wait a second while he finishes up when she breaks his keyboard. She asks if Mason was aware of Celeste being backstopped. He only stares at her. She has a flashback of Mason stressing the importance of Citadel agents being truthful. She meets him later to inform him of Bernard backstopping Celeste. He denies any knowledge of it. She asks why. He claims to have done it for her because Celeste didn’t take the Oz Key, she did. She admits to destroying it. He demands he reactivate Celeste’s memory. He tells her that Celeste’s memory was completely erased from the system. He suggests she wants to utilize it as an excuse to walk away. He explains why he became a Citadel spy before accusing her of hiding from herself. She tells him that she can love, just not him. After putting the ring on the table, she says goodbye.

Rahi Gambhir (Paul Bazely) gives Nadia a passport and plane ticket to Valencia. He warns her to quickly finish up before Citadel discovers her true identity. She assures him that no one is suspicious of her. He asks what are her plans for Kane. She tells him that Mason can never know.

Morocco Fez Black Site – Carter claims Nadia was working with Manticore and a terrorist named Rahi before the collapse of Citadel. She says they need to get out of there.

Setting a laptop (possibly the Citadel X Case) on the table, Dahlia demands the nuke codes before warning Bernard that Manticore is getting close to his family. Shaking his head no, he demands she not touch his family. She orders confirmation on the target. The target coordinate is confirmed. She initializes the launch. He informs her of children inside the premises. She says children didn’t deter Citadel in Belgrade. He pleads with her to not do it. When she approves the launch, he agrees to give her the nuke codes. She orders all Russian smart submarine locations to be cataloged and Wyoming cleaned up. He asks her to not do it. She tells her men to send him to Brazil.

Valerie (Grainne Good) alerts Joe (Moira Kelly) of the threat detection alert. Joe warns Abby and Hendrix Conroy (Caoilinn Springall) that Manticore found them. They grab a few belongings before fleeing.

Dahlia is informed Nadia and Mason breaching Manticore’s black site. The agent says Carter is gone.

Fez, Morocco – Dahlia activates Yamazaki (Leo Ashizawa) in Casablanca. She says the nuke sites have been pinpointed. After informing Davik Silje (Roland Moller) of an intercepted message between Nadia and Rahi, she sends him to Valencia to retrieve a chess piece. She claims Bernard killed Anders when he tried to escape. Irate, he smashes his phone against the wall.

Rage Bab Louta 50 Miles Outside Fez – Carter calls Nadia an “insurgent.” Mason accuses her of hiding something. She assures him that neither of them is clean before reminding him of what he did to Celeste. He claims to have always known she was the double agent, not Celeste. She says he is mistaken. He explains how Citadel collapsed after she had been gone a year. Mason discovered she and Rahi were living off-grid in Valencia. She admits to having a daughter to protect, not planning an attack against Citadel. In a flashback, she informs Rahi of her pregnancy. He asks if she told Mason. She admits to not trusting him enough to tell him about the baby.

Valencia, Spain – A midwife (Silvia Torregrosa) assists Nadia with the birth of her daughter. Back to the present, she tells Carter and Mason that it has been eight years since she saw her daughter. She says he was never aware of her pregnancy.

Washington D.C. – Cristoph (Laetitia Eido) compliments Dahlia’s work. An agent informs Dahlia that they have interrupted tracking of Russia’s Dead Hand submarine to execute per her order. She says Mason’s fingerprint is needed to access the nukes.

Nadia informs Carter and Mason of Rahi being her father. In a flashback, Grace dispatches Nadia to Italy against Rahi’s wishes. She tells him that Mason deserves to know about their daughter. She places a bracelet around her daughter’s wrist before leaving. Back to the present, Manticore agents led by Yamazaki surround them. He gives Mason an earpiece to speak with Dahlia who informs him of her plan to collect five nukes from a Russian submarine for tomorrow’s launch. Yamazaki holds up their daughter’s bracelet. She claims to have their daughter in her possession as the episode ends.

 

Citadel Review

Nadia and Mason rescue Carter from the Manticore black site in Morocco. Carter believes she is an insurgent who helped terrorist, Rahi collapse Citadel. She left Citadel to protect her and Mason’s unborn baby. She didn’t tell him about the baby because of what he did to Celeste. He backstopped her memory to protect Nadia’s secret. Carter knew Celeste never took the Oz Key and Mason was protecting Nadia.

Anders cuts Bernard’s restraints so he can take her to Celeste. Dahlia intervenes by killing him. She later tells Davik that Bernard killed him. She forces Bernard to give up the nuke codes but without Mason’s fingerprint, her mission to launch five Russian nukes will not be possible. She sends Yamazaki to find and bring him back to her. Mason has just discovered he and Nadia have a daughter when Yamazaki finds him. Dahlia informs him and Nadia that she has their daughter to force him to comply.

Manticore has discovered where Joe, Abby, Valerie, and Hendrix are hiding in Wyoming. She orders the area cleared even after he provided her with the nuke codes. They flee the hideout as soon as a threat is detected. Dahlia sends him to Brazil.

A promising series ruined by a generic script. Minor imperfections can easily be overlooked but not something as profound as Mason, Nadia, and Carter’s capture. Having just breached Manticore’s Fex black site, they stop to settle their differences at what appears to be a dam. Lo and behold, Manticore tracks them to the location. Nadia and Mason seemingly believe two handguns will hold Yamazaki at bay. Wow! Two pistols wouldn’t stand a chance against Manticore’s high-powered assault rifles.

Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, Dahlia reveals her ridiculous plan to “retrieve” five nukes from a Russian submarine for a launch scheduled for the following day. Take note, Mason is in Morocco while she and Bernard’s X Case are in Washington D.C. By plane, it would take at least nine hours but first, they need to find an airport. Maybe one will magically appear.

The episode deserves a 5. Get more Citadel recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by clicking the link. Ask about our onsite advertising by contacting customer service.