At the beginning of the episode, Gary Hyde (Matt Nable) coaches soccer for his son Oscar’s (Bede Warnock) team. Oscar is knocked to the ground and Gary coddles his son. Oscar doesn’t like the special treatment he receives. Gary speaks with Sonya (Zoe Ventoura), who insists the doctor said it was fine for Oscar to play. Later, a radio host Mikey (Paul Gleeson) is shot outside of his studio. The Arab suspect is filmed, as he flees from the scene. Stuart (Andrew McFarlane) and Gary arrive on the scene. Gary snaps a picture of the shell casing, before Claire (Emma Hamilton) arrives. Stuart reveals the suspect shouted Allahu Ackbar, before opening fire.
The couple is shown a video of the shooter. Gary receives a phone call informing him that the shooter has been linked to a nearby community center. They rush to the center and speak with Omar Karim (Shameer Birges). Moments later, it is revealed that Omar’s son, Basam (Ishak Issa) is the shoter. Omar travels with the couple, as they prepare the search the family’s house. Gary, Tanya (Claire Lovering) and Kevin (Tai Hara) search the house, but Basam has already left. In the crawlspace, they discover a PVC pipe, which contains a rifle. Omar insists he knows nothing about it. Omar is questioned at the station. He admits Basam met a man awhile back. He admits the man had a close likeness to Malik. Gary returns to Jackie (Mandy McElhinney) and the couple quickly turn their attention to Basam’s friend Rana Kahli.
Tanya and Claire head to the school. They speak with Sonya and quickly find Rana (Tania Starr). Sonya coddles the girl and refuses to allow the police to take her to the station. She is questioned about Basam. Rana admits they used to be friend, but her father forced her to stop seeing him. Rana insists she never heard Basam speak about guns. Kevin calls Tanya and tells her that Basam called Rana right after he shot Mikey. Sonya wants to take the girl back to class, but Claire and Tanya have other plans. Moments later, Sonya arrives at the police station. Gary is not happy. Sonya criticizes her husband for interrogating such a young girl. Claire and Tanya try to question Rana, but Sonya frequently jumps in and defends Rana. Eventually, Jackie enters and sends Claire out.
Rana agrees to help the detectives try to locate Basam. Basam immediately admits to shooting Mikey, before Rana stupidly makes it clear she is with others. Basam ends the phone call instantly. Gary and Kevin visit the community center. There, they speak with one of Basam’s friends, Rafael (David Wiernik). Rafael tells them he stopped hanging out with Basam, because he became a religious nut. Moments later, Claire interrupts and alerts Gary that Mikey is out of surgery. They immediately decide to visit the man. The radio host is unable to provide the detectives with anything helpful. He is told to refrain from stirring anything up. Later that night, Sonya and Gary apologize for their earlier behavior. Eventually, Oscar interrupts and requests to speak with his father in private. He tells he no longer wants to be coddled during soccer.
Meanwhile, Claire and Andrew Mills (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) agree to share information about the community center. Andrew admits they have the building under surveillance. He agrees to give Claire footage. At the soccer field, a fight breaks out and Gary is forced to break it up. It turns out that Mikey has ramped up the rhetoric and has likely created more anger against the Muslims. Gary pays him a visit and tries to get him to stop the radio show. Nonetheless, Mikey doesn’t seem willing to stop anytime soon. Meanwhile, Claire begins to look at the shooting from a whole new angle. She suggests Basam might’ve been trying to impress Rana. Tanya lets Claire listen to Basam and Rana’s phone call once more. Claire quickly realizes that Rana has been involved the entire time.
The detectives decide to release Rana and monitor her Internet activities. When they return to headquarters, they examine footage from the community center. Basam is spotted near a white van. Tanya manages to track the van and obtain footage of the driver. It turns out to be Malik (Alex Bilas). It is determined the man had a New Zealand passport under the name Ali King. Gary is convinced they’ll be able to find Malik, if they apprehend Basam. Later, they listen in on a conversation between Rana and Basam. Basam asks for money and clothes, so he can escape. Rana agrees to meet with him. With that, the detectives decide to capture Basam at the meeting point. Basam surrenders peaceful and is taken into custody.
Back at the station, Sonya is allowed to transport Rana home. Claire orders Tanya to investigate all of Rana’s phone contacts. Gary is forced to leave the soccer field. He meets with Tanya and Claire at headquarters. There, it is revealed Rana was encouraged to become a bride of ISIS. Kevin visits her house and speaks with her mother (Neveen Hanna). He agrees to follow up with Rana’s friends. Gary interrogates Basam and tries to get more insight into Rana’s potential whereabouts. Basam admits he shot Mikey in hopes of getting Rana to remain in Australia. He agrees to give them information into Malik, if they can save Rana. Gary and Claire visit Rana’s house and search around a little more.
They eventually discover that Rana’s father is a long haul trucker. They search his truck and discover Rana hiding inside. Claire proves to Rana that she was just one of dozens of potential ISIS brides. She admits she never wanted to leave home or become a western Muslim. Basam is told about Rana, before being questioned about Malik. Basam admits he was contacted through a website and told he would be famous, if he shot Mikey. Basam is allowed to speak with his father, while Gary and the others head to Malik’s last known address. They find the white van in the backyard. A dead man is found in the back, but Malik is already gone.
Hyde & Seek Review
The addition of Mikey was certainly interesting. While Hyde & Seek is overflowing with propaganda, it does a decent job of delving into both sides of the story. Nonetheless, the propaganda is a little too much at times. Sonya’s behavior this episode was obnoxious. This is likely a sign of things to come. Unfortunately, it feels like Hyde and Seek does episode previews and commercials far better than full episodes.
The previews after each episode make the next episode feel like it is going to be outstanding. Sadly, the episodes never live up to the hype. A 6 out of 10 is deserved. Catch up with previous recaps of Hyde & Seek now!
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
