Episode 3 opens in a bar in Beijing, three days before current events. Dr. Matthew Nolan (Richard Armitage) is at the bar prepping for his speech the following day at the World Pacific Medicine Conference when he’s joined by Dr. Chris Peele (Rick Warden) and Shen Zhao (Elaine Tan). After a quick introduction, Nolan is asked to join them for dinner. During their brief interaction, Nolan notices Shen paying a female patron, Cohen (Maria Rivera), especially close attention. Although he asks if Shen knows the lady, she is not afforded the chance to respond thanks to the sudden arrival and introduction to Drs. Steven (Oliver Maltman) and Amber Hurst (Zoe Telford). Shen immediately becomes more awkward and ends up skipping out on dinner plans. Before doing so, she whispers to Chris that tonight isn’t a safe night. Shen’s awkwardness does not go unnoticed. Strangely enough, Shen also appears to have a slight encounter with Dr. Kate Ward (Lucianne McEvoy) before she joins her colleagues.

Things only get stranger from there when Shen jumps into Nolan’s vehicle as he’s collecting it from the valet. They soon find themselves at the Heilong Club after she insists on buying him a drink, despite his continued insistence that he must prep for his speech. It doesn’t take long before they become intimately acquainted with one another but before doing so, she asks how well he knows Sir George Chapman (Peter Guinness) and if he’s ever been asked to deliver a package for him. According to him, he hardly knows Sir George and has only ever delivered a bottle of scotch for him. When he insists on leaving this time, she kisses him and apologizes. Seconds later, he realizes he’s been drugged, which leads to his altercation with the bouncers, the stabbing, and his eventual crash.

Toni Zhang (Dan Li) appears to be especially impressed with Nolan stapling his wound as he relays the rest of the story in real-time on the flight. DC Hana Li (Jing Lusi) questions him several times about Shen being present in the vehicle before ultimately asking why Shen would be interested in Sir George. When they fail to understand the connection, Hana insists on speaking with Kate, who is in the crew area getting more alcohol. Toni volunteers to check on Amber, leaving Nolan alone to go at Steven’s password protection again. He fails.

Kate has nothing helpful to offer about Shen but remembers an incident later that night where a couple of the waiters at the bar ran outside. Kate doesn’t know the reasoning behind that either and doesn’t get the chance to speculate thanks to Toni, who is there to arrest her for the murder of Amber and Steven Hurst. Hana immediately orders Tiffany Songyun (Xiangy Tan) to retrieve Nolan.

Without even inspecting Amber’s body, Nolan insists she was murdered and demands to speak with Captain Chen (Thomas Chaanhing). After a bit of a freakout, she manages to calm him by removing his cuff and telling him that she believes his story. Despite Hana’s refusal to believe that he doesn’t know what’s going on, she asks for his help, starting with inspecting Amber’s body.

Elsewhere, Jess LI (Jemma Moore) visits the World Pacific Medicine offices, only to discover they are closed for the day. She appears more troubled by the fact that she might have gotten caught on camera.

It only takes a brief investigation for Nolan to determine that Amber was asphyxiated, although he can’t determine whether she choked on something or was choked. She does have defensive wounds that are consistent with murder cases and similar to Stevens. Toni nearly flips out when he discovers Nolan is no longer cuffed. This leads to a slight argument and Nolan returning to the cabin.

It doesn’t take Jess long to discover that Sir George is the man behind World Pacific Medicine. In the short time that she’s doing this, a Range Rover full of employees shows up and appears to clean out the offices. She spends several minutes filming them on her phone before she is chased away. With her head start, she doesn’t have a problem eluding them. She shares the video with Hana who then encourages her to go to Superintendent Simon O’Brian (Robert Gilbert). Hana also accidentally reveals the third death during their short conversation.

At nearly the same time, Hana informs MI5 General Director Melanie Delany (Lesley Sharp) of the new murder. After their brief exchange of information, Delaney orders Hana to question Kate. Ruth Banks (Cash Holland) soon interrupts to inform Delaney that their Alpha Team has just arrived at Chris Peele’s home, only to discover that he’s been missing since last night. Not only that but his phone appears to be dead and he supposedly never left Heathrow Airport.

Much to Toni’s displeasure, Hana brings Nolan along with her to question Kate. Despite the short argument that ensues, it turns out not to matter because Kate is gone. A search quickly ensues with the assistance of Tiffany and Ren Yunxi (Tai Yin Chan).

Before Delany and John Tennant (Jonathan Aris) plead with Minister Aiguo Tang (David KS Tse) to land Flight 357, they track Peele’s movements from the conference to his arrival at the China airport using surveillance footage. As they do this, Delaney notices that Shen not only met Nolan and all his colleagues, but she physically touched them. This ultimately leads Delany to suspect that Shen slipped something to one of the doctors. She later attempts to use this with the Nuclear Deal to get him to return the flight to London. She ultimately fails.

As the search for Kate continues, Hana shares Jess’s video with Nolan. Much to her surprise, he has nothing to offer and claims he is just as in the dark as she is. After what appears to be hours of searching, Kate is nowhere to be found. Hana assumes there is only one place she could be, but Captain Chen is ready to call off the search, let alone allow a search of the luggage hold. Given that there is only one entrance and it’s in the cockpit, he claims it would be impossible for Kate to be in there. It takes some convincing but he agrees to let Toni search the area.

When Delaney interrupts an argument between John and Mike Maxwell (Mido Hamada), she also learns from Officer Doyle (Jack Colgrave Hirst) that John was trying to keep the incident at World Pacific Medicine hidden from her. Mike tells her much later that John was trying to leverage knowledge of his and Delaney’s relationship to gain access to Shen’s personal files. Instead, Mike gives her the file.

With the crew’s attention on the search in the luggage hold, Nolan has the time to override Steven’s password protocols with a retina scan. After unlocking the phone, he returns to his seat. When Toni becomes unresponsive in the luggage hold, Captain Chen is left with no option but to let Hana investigate. The episode ends with Jess showing up at Sir George’s home, claiming to be Nolan’s acquaintance. When he lets her in, it’s revealed that he’s hiding a handgun behind his back. This is where the episode ends.

 

Red Eye Review

I am glad I chose not to give up on the series. I felt this episode was even better than episode 2. For some reason, this one felt much less full of fluff and straight to the point. There is still a lot of ping-ponging between characters, which I can appreciate at times, although it can be incredibly annoying. I do feel as if I’m becoming more invested in the characters and their lives as well, which helps a lot. That said, I’m not particularly impressed with any of the performances. I certainly don’t consider myself an expert, but I would have to say the acting is pretty dismal.

Despite all that, I’d give the episode an easy 6.0 out of 10. Get more Red Eye recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Learn how advertising with us can help build your brand awareness. Join our newly established forum to discuss new and classic films, crime, sports, and more.