Episode 5 begins in a confused hysteria once Joseph ‘Joe’ Roag (Joe Cole) realizes Billy McCloud’s (Scott Reid) intervention has caused him to shoot Arran Moy (Alex Ferns) rather than the intruder. This is followed by a brief chase that ends in the commuter section with Billy intervening yet again. Several of the commuters help Arran while Billy pleads Caleb Mahmoud’s (Rawaed Asde) case. Paul ‘Pev’ Peveril (David Threlfall) pleads a similar case for Abby Aysgarth (Alexandra Roach) as she’s interrogated by Mark ‘Hud’ Hudson (Jonjo O’Neill) and Nicola Miller (Pamela Nomvete). Although he admits to not knowing Abby so well, he’s left speechless when Tobi McKnight (Gabriel Howell) refuses to vouch for her.

Abby and Caleb’s interrogation will be played out through several alternating scenes, but it will ultimately be revealed that Caleb is an illegal immigrant who Billy befriended. As for Abby, it is her background as a teenage hacking extraordinaire that has caused her to come under suspicion. Billy will plead Caleb’s case but neither Joe nor the commuters allude to believing him. It soon won’t matter because they’ll be interrupted by the frantic Rachel Li (Katie Leung) with news of Arran’s rapidly declining condition. Abby makes a good case for herself by pointing out her recent accomplishments with the Cyber Security Division but knowledge of the phishing attack destroys that.

Shortly after Sajinder ‘Saj’ Sidhu (Parth Thakerar) learns of Caleb’s identity and immigration status, he receives a call from Joe. Despite Joe’s caution and incessant pleas to speak with Abby, he obeys Saj’s orders to reconnect the phone to the SCB.

Abby’s predicament begins to look even worse when it’s revealed that some of her code from the Mashhad Operation was used in the train hack. At the same time, it will be revealed that she was the technical lead on the Mashhad Operation, which was a hack specifically designed to take control of an Iranian train. Although the operation was conducted at the Cyber Division, it only ended up being successful for minutes.

Rachel Li is stunned when Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Drayott (Sharon Small) agrees to an interview, but she’s left nearly speechless when Liz claims to have gotten into politics for all the right reasons. She claims to have wanted to inspire change but learned there were so many puppeteers that it was hopeless. As the interview continues, Nicola will share the contents of her and Liz’s discussions with Abby. It would seem that the entire UK Rail Network was in the process of being taken out of the public sector and auctioned off to the highest bidder. Along with Voyarpide, several other entities outside of the UK were placing bids.

While Max ‘Mouse’ Ellis (Adam Mitchell) and Joe dispose of the rifle, Saj triggers another failsafe when he tries to override and slow down the train. Things are not going much better for Abby watches the video feed of the search of her apartment. Sometime later the search time will find an incriminating laptop that Abby swears has been planted but she’ll be detained.

Arran’s condition reaches a critical point and he would have likely died if not for Caleb’s quick response. Shortly after this, Fraser Warren (James Cosmo) conspires with the commuters to slow down the train. Doing so is incredibly dangerous and requires separating the cabins, but he ultimately convinces the group to help. This apparently could not have come at a better time because Saj and the other have learned there is another train on the tracks headed directly for the sleeper. Despite their shock, they are floored when they learn that the train is Nicola’s desperate attempt to keep the sleeper from reaching London.

As Joe’s group works to separate the trains, Abby realizes that the coffee Pev brought her earlier contains Saj’s security card. She’ll use it to begin her escape. Shortly before the train is disconnected, the commuters will discover that Fraser is missing. Although Joe finds him alive, he isn’t going anywhere without help. Joe will have to recruit several of the other commuters to help.

Instead of using her escape to leave, Abby will log into a terminal where she learns that the hacking group is using their codes, methods, and techniques to control the train. This ultimately means that the hackers are exposed to the same vulnerabilities. It will be revealed that the laptop discovered at Abby’s apartment belonged to Tobi.

The episode will end with the train separating before Joe and the others can get Fraser back across.

 

Nightsleeper Review

Not a horrible episode, not a great episode. I can’t that there weren’t some intense moments because there were plenty. Some were expected, some not so much. I figured there would be a reasonable explanation for the intruder’s attendance on the train but I would have never dreamed up the immigration angle. I’d give the episode a 5 out of 10.

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