The episode seemingly begins with Eric Jones (Parker Sawyers) pulling up outside the Li house and attaching a silencer to his pistol. Inside, Jess Li (Jemma Moore) is in the arms of her mother, Rachel Li (Cate Hamer) as the doorbell rings. Tin Lok Li (Dave Wong) mindlessly waves away Jess’s insistence to confirm the identity of the guest. Luckily for him, it is Superintendent Simon O’Brian (Robert Gilbert). Simon’s arrival and urgency to get Jess into protective custody only frightens the family further.

On Flight 357, Dr. Matthew Nolan (Richard Armitage) is surprised by DC Hana Li’s (Jing Lusi) reaction to his attempt to console her about Jess’s situation. Hana enviously tells him that the universe has a mysterious way of always seeing that things turn out good for Jess. This also leads to Hana sharing the story behind her and Jess’s tension. Despite that, Hana shows relief after a call with Simon reveals that he has Jess. Just as it looks like Eric is about to swoop in, two MI5 agents race in and whisk Jess away.

After Hana learns about this via a text, she attempts to console Nolan over the loss of Sir Gorge Chapman (Peter Guinness). Nolan is more broken up by the fact that Sir George might have been his final lifeline, which leads to a debate about what Shen Zhao (Elaine Tan) could have given him. Nolan finds himself racing to retrieve a first aid kit when Hana proposes the unique theory that maybe Shen told him something, rather than physically planted something on him. Nolan always assumed he was stabbed by the Bouncer (Jon Xue Zhang), but now thinks it could have been possible Shen planted information that way. It takes a bit of convincing and digging around, but Hana manages to find a nano SIM card in the wound.

Jess is nervously pacing around the interrogation room at Thames House when General Director Madeline Delaney (Lesley Sharp) and John Tennant (Jonathan Aris) arrive to question her. Delaney opts for the direct approach and asks if Jess worked for Sir George. After Jess denies the accusation, Ruth Banks (Cash Holland) enters with a file that reveals Hana and Jess had different mothers. According to the file, Hana’s mother died after getting arrested in Hong Kong during the Chinese takeover. Delaney soon becomes outraged and storms out of the room after Jess shares her footage from the World Pacific Medicine’s office.

Delaney’s discovery leads to a huge argument with John. He never denies involvement and justifies his actions with claims of national security and preventing China from finding out about Operation Blindside. Their heated debate ends when Ruth arrives with news that Hana has located the SIM card. Seconds later, Hana is on the speaker phone in the command center at Thames House, explaining how she and Nolan discovered the card. Once Delaney orders Hana to find a laptop and see what’s on the card, Megan Campbell (Steph Lacey) points out that a caddy will also be needed to read the card. Delaney ends the call by warning Hana to be extremely careful now that she has intel. Ruth is then ordered to establish a secure network so Hana can later transfer the contents of the card.

With a little over 3 hours until Flight 357 touches down in China, Megan walks Hana through transferring the contents of the card over the secure network. Although there are only two files, they appear to be rather large. Toni Zhang (Dan Li) shows up right in the middle of the process and appears troubled by his discovery. Somehow the man in the green hoodie (Gavin Sibson) in the cargo hold learns of the transfer and proceeds to terminate the plane’s Wi-Fi. After a bit of confusion at Thames House and on the flight, Ren Yunxi (Tai Yin Chan) arrives to inform Hana that the Wi-Fi is down. He attempts to reboot the network but assumes there is an issue below.

Co-Pilot Wu (Aidan Cheng) finds himself in the cargo area again where he discovers that someone has purposely ripped at the wires. Much to Captain Chen’s (Thomas Chaanhing) displeasure, Wu claims the damage cannot be undone and shares the news of the earlier sabotage as well that could have possibly caused Dr. Steven Hurst’s (Oliver Maltman) fall down the stairs.

After shaming the Captain for not sharing the news, Hana and Toni strategize to go below deck and search for the saboteur. Shortly into the search, Hana proposes they split up to cover more ground, but Toni suggests an even faster route and begins yelling for the saboteur to come out of hiding. Much to Hana’s surprise, he does and begins approaching them. Before the man in the green hoodie reaches them, Toni orders Hana to her knees and takes a photo. He gives the phone to the man in the hoodie and tells him to share it with Nolan to get the SIM card.

A bout of turbulence not only causes Nolan to drop his phone but also realize that the plane is equipped with star-headed screws. The pattern appears to match perfectly with what he can remember of Dr. Amber Hurst’s (Zoe Telford) wound. The discovery sends him to the attendant’s quarters where the man in the green hoodie is unscrewing the grate over the ventilation shaft from the back side. Nolan hides in the bunk with the body and closes the curtain.

When he’s in the clear, Nolan goes to the cargo hold where he discovers Toni holding Hana at gunpoint. Although Nolan agrees to hand the SIM card over without much of a fuss, Hana uses the confusion to her advantage and surprises Toni. After a bit of a struggle and a randomly fired bullet, the gun ends up on the ground. Before Nolan can pick it up, the man in the hoodie intervenes. Another shot rings out as Nolan and the stranger grapple for the gun. Just as Chen chooses to investigate the shots from the hold, it’s revealed that Nolan has possession of the gun. He soon turns it on Toni, who has gained the upper hand with Hana. Toni teases him about not knowing how to use the weapon until he sees the man in the hoodie.

Nolan hands the pistol over to Hana who uses it to strike Toni in the face just as he tries to swallow the SIM card. This cracks his tooth in which cyanide was hidden, leading to his subsequent death. Before he dies not only does Chen show up, but Toni refers to Hana by her given name, Wing Yee, and warns she’ll never get out of China alive. Nolan later asks about that but first, he asks Chen why an air marshal would have a tooth full of cyanide. Chen answers that he wouldn’t but a member of the Ministry of State Security might. The three soon find themselves back in the attendant’s quarters when Nolan remembers seeing the name Wing Yee on the suitcase. Chen recognizes the bag as belonging to Tiffany Songyun (Xiangyi Tan) and orders Ren to find her.

At Thames House, Delaney receives a warning call from Mike Maxwell (Mido Hamada) that Tennant is not only setting up the US as a prospective buyer in the nuclear deal but he’s blaming the Flight 357 fiasco on her decisions.

Questioning Tiffany about the luggage turns out to be completely useless because she can’t provide the combination for the lock or who hired her to smuggle it. Hana soon learns that the bag is full of paraphernalia to make her look like a British spy. Things get even worse for her when she learns that Chen can’t divert the flight, the order must come from Beijing. This leads to Hana coming up with the idea of staging a hijacking.

When Delaney and her team learn about the hijacking, she reaches out to the Captain who in turn requests to speak with Hana. Hana tells her everything, including the frame-up and cyanide death. Delaney apparently believes her and makes arrangements to meet Hana at Dunsfold Airbase. Before she can leave Thames, a call from the Prime Minister who practically tells her to stand down and Tennant is now in charge. Delaney simply storms out without saying a word more and recruits Ruth to help her get Jess out of the building.

On Flight 357, Hana and Nolan bond as she apologizes for not believing him from the beginning. While they make an unspoken pact to go down fighting together, Tennant comes storming into the Thames House command center, fuming upon learning of Jess’s disappearance. He quickly orders Megan to track Delaney’s vehicle which still happens to be parked downstairs. Hana shares her mother’s supposed tragic death with Nolan and her family’s subsequent move to England.

Having escaped Thames House, Delaney explains everything to Jess, including Hana’s staged hijacking. Vowing to help Hana, she makes a call to Mike at the London Embassy. Although their conversation is short and she tells him that he was right, the episode ends by showing that Mike was meeting with Eric Jones when she called.

 

Red Eye Review

Some big reveals in this episode. Although the hijinks on the plane get a bit tiring at times, I do like the Hana hijacking story. Mike’s deceit wasn’t all that surprising and I am betting that Hana’s mother is still alive. To make an incredibly long story short, the stage is set for the upcoming finale. I’d give this episode a 5.5 out of 10.

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