State of Affairs: Cry Havoc Review

When the show opens, we see Stacy Dover (Gracie Dzienny) wake up from a night of possible sex. She messes with her mate’s phone, before leaving. Stacy returns to her sorority house, where she speaks to her friend about the boy she met at the bar. She admits to being wasted, before grabbing her backpack. On her way to a taxi, presidential protestors line the streets. Stacy arrives at a house. When she approaches it, she mentions Ar Rissalah, triggers the bomb and blows herself up. Afterwards, firefighters arrive to clean up the mess from the bombing.

Next, we jump back five days, Charleston Tucker (Katherine Heigl) and Maureen James (Sheila Vand) investigate Stacy. Tucker reveals Lucas Newsome (Adam Kaufman) is on the phone with the FBI, in order to bring Stacy in for an interview. She insists Stacy can lead them to the Ar Rissalah recruiter. Of course, Charlie is more worried about Nick Vera (Chris McKenna) than anything else. Lucas enters and tells everyone the FBI isn’t going to bring in Stacy for lack of evidence. Charlie and Lucas argue over the professor, who Lucas smacked around, before she reminds him of their golden rule, which is that nothing trumps a threat to the homeland.

Next, Tucker heads to brief the President (Alfre Woodard) and discovers the FBI agent, Eric Markey (Michael Irby) is going to be attending. The President insists she wants to bring Stacy in, but doesn’t believe there is enough evidence yet. Afterwards, President Payton tells Charlie that the report on the convoy attack is coming out this week. She insists the press will be bad for them and the conspiracy theorists will be spinning tales. Next, Charlie meets with Raymond Navaro (Nestor Carbonell), who tells her he is going to be running polygraph tests on the team. She tells him about her weird text messages, which threatened to expose her relationship with Omar Fatah.

Next, Nick is on the airplane, when he is confronted by Omar Fatah (Farshad Farahat). Omar insists he wants to help Nick. Raymond speaks to Charlie and tells her the polygraph tests will remain compartmentalized, in order to protect Bellerophon. Kurt Tannen (Cliff Chamberlain) jokes about the polygraphs to Lucas, who isn’t in the mood for games. Next, Raymond arrives, with his driver, Brian Turner (David Leach), who turns out to be the man that Stacy was sleeping with.

Back at the scene of the explosion, the firefights cover a body, which appears to be a man. Next, we flash to 3 hours before the bomb goes off and Kurt is polygraphed. Maureen tells Charleston they cannot find anything connecting Stacy and James Wilcox. Kurt somehow emerges from the polygraph and magically rejoins the team, before suggesting Stacy covers her tracks perfectly. Charlie suggests checking regular social media, instead of the dark web. Next, Dashiell Greer (Tommy Savas) pays a visit to the polygrapher (Carin Chea). Next, Senator Kyle Green (Melinda McGraw) meets with Senator Burke (Rex Linn). Green suggests holding back the release of the report, since she believes a few more weeks of digging can link the attack back to the White House. Before she leaves, she texts Marshall (Courtney B. Vance) and warns him that they’re running out of time.

Next, Marshall attempts to meet with his wife, while Maureen is polygraphed. After Maureen has finished, Lucas begins his test of truth. He begins, by exposing his drinking problem and his affair with two coworkers. Next, Nick and Fatah discuss Sheikh Hakam. Omar suggests Hakam has lost his way. Omar insists he has been following Charlie’s directive, by gaining Hakam’s trust. He admits he didn’t know Hakam’s location in the past, but does now. Afterwards, Charlie and Raymond listen in on Lucas’s test, but Raymond reveals Maureen failed her test miserably. The pair discover she began to lie, after being questioned about having sexual interest in a coworker. Charlie insists it isn’t Maureen, despite Ray’s offer for another polygraph. Instead, Charlie reveals she knows whose been sending the texts.

Kurt is brought in and Charlie questions him about the Omar Fatah photo. Next, the investigators check out the scene of the bombing and question about Raymond Navaro’s presence. Afterwards, Charlie and Ray insists Kurt cheated the polygraph, with a thumbtack in his shoe. Kurt admits to the texts and insists he was suspicious of Charlie, after seeing the picture. Kurt insists he wanted to get the truth from Charlie, before admitting it was Kyle Green, who gave him the photo. Next, Marshall shows his wife the photo and tells her about Green’s plan to use it in the report. Marshall insists he was only looking for answers into his son’s death and accuses Payton of hiding the truth from him.

Nick and Omar spar over the American terrorist cell. Omar brings in Al Moosari (Nick Shakoour) and slits his throat. Next, Kurt is forced out of his position. The FBI agent says Charlie was right about Stacy, since they found that she and Wilcox both received an email telling them to purchase the book, Julius Cesar. The team investigates Redwood Books, while operatives attempt to bring in Stacy, but Stacy is out of the sorority house. Next Senator Green questions Navaro about Charlie and Fatah. He questions her about the Fatah video.

Next, the team discovers Stacy received another activation, which instructed her to kill the governor of Wyoming, Raymond. Ray and Green argue a little, before Green leaves. As she leaves, Stacy enters and triggers the explosion. Ray stumbles outside and finds Brian dead. Ray is rushed to surgery.

Charlie questions whether Lucas can handle his responsibilities, after giving everyone tasks to complete. Charlie receives a call from Bellerophon. Nick and Charlie catch up with the email and activation plan. Nick learns Omar told him the truth. Omar killed Moosari, who held the list of email addresses of the terrorist cell, which Nick now has. Nick insists Omar has been helping them all along. Despite second thoughts, Charlie orders the activation to be sent out, with hopes that Omar wants to be a liberator.

Next, the President holds a press conference, while the American terrorist cell members are arrested. The President thanks Burke for releasing a limited version of the convey attack report. Meanwhile, Charlie attempts to help Lucas kick his addiction. Next, Kurt attempts to meet with a contact, but instead runs into Victor Gantry (Adam Arkin). Gantry offers Kurt a job.

Next, we skip over to The Philippines, where Nick and Omar speak. Omar insists this isn’t something they can speak about. Omar shows Nick a picture of Hakam and tells him he is coming to a meeting outside Isabella City. The team looks at the picture and Charlie insists their first priority is to kill Hakam.

Review


With a long buildup, Cry Havoc should’ve been a stunning episode. Although we got a nice explosion and a few revelations, nothing was groundbreaking or surprising. Everything came together a little too conveniently, with Raymond escaping death and Fatah giving up the list of terrorists and being a good guy. On the other hand, Lucas’s drinking is a moot point. Have we already forgotten who did the same in the first few episodes? The opening and setup with Stacy was cringe worth, especially the sex and alcohol references. Doesn’t she have anything better to do? Like blowing up a governor?

The acting was stale, as well. Despite learning about Kurt’s betrayal, Heigl hung outside of the room emotionless. The whole situation felt forced. Now, the team has access to Hakam. It is all a little too convenient, which causes the show to lack heart and soul. The episode deserves a 6 out of 10.

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