At the beginning of the episode, Jesse Banks (Ashley Zukerman) is shown submerged in water. After the intro scene, Courtney (Liz Harper) and Michael McCray (Sandy Winton) are shown in a flashback with their son. Seconds later, Callum (Otis Pavlovic) wakes up in Gary’s house. He tries to escape once again, but finds the door locked. He bangs on the window, but the neighbor ignores his pleas for help. Back at headquarters, Nolan Daniels (Ben Oxenbould) explains to Callum’s family and Ned that Jesse didn’t act according to the plan. Ned (Dan Spielman) quickly chimes in with an “I told you so”. Nolan then tries to convince Callum’s parents that Jesse will still do the right thing. Nasim Parande (Michael Denkha) ridicules Jesse and insists the boy cannot do anything without a 10-point plan.

Callum’s father expresses his interest in going public with their story. When asked why that wouldn’t be a good idea, Lara Dixon (Sigrid Thornton) steps in and insists there are bigger security implications to the story. She confirms Jan Roth will flee, if he learns about their involvement. She is also adamant that they’ll find Callum with or without Jesse. Nolan requests to speak with Lara in private. Nolan scolds his colleague for making a promise she cannot keep. Lara admits she can live with her lie. She also refuses to tell Nolan what national security risks are involved. Meanwhile, Jesse and Hani (Adele Perovic) follow Jan back to his home. Kiki (Emele Ugavule) tries to convince Jan he has made a terribly mistake bringing them with him. Nonetheless, Tahlia (Annabelle Malaika Suess) seems to like the company.

Jesse and Hani are introduced to Kiki, before the work begins. Roth (Anthony LaPaglia) leads the couple to his server room and requests that Jesse decrypt a specific file. Jesse admits Jan wouldn’t have the authorization to launch the program, even if he can crack it. Hani contemplates what sort of trouble they could get into should Jesse decrypt the file. Roth and Hani argue momentarily, before Jesse steps in. He sends them away and gets to work. Roth leaves after seeing Remsey (Greg Kapernick) and Meg Flynn (Ella Scott Lynch) arrive on the security camera. Kiki also greets the pair outside. It is revealed that Rems has been receiving threatening text messages. Rems admits he isn’t scared. Meanwhile, Jesse begins to work, as Hani looks for something they can copy Roth’s hard drive onto.

Michael McCray returns home and enters his bedroom. He has a flashback to happier times with his wife and son. Next, Marina Baxter (Robyn Malcolm) watches a report regarding the violence in the Indonesian province of West Papua. The news report reveals that several attacks have taken placed on the roads outside of the Australian owned Helmston Mine. Marina’s daughter, Alyse (Brenna Harding), enters moments later. Alyse makes it clear very quickly that she wants nothing to do with her mother. She grabs the bottle of alcohol and quickly retreats back to her room. Meanwhile, Neil (Andrew McFarlane) gives his team and update regarding the attacks and their primary suspect, Marcus. Neil insists the Australians probably fired back, since a handgun was found in the vehicle. While he admits 3 or 4 were involved, he remains convinced that Marcus Kombian was their leader.

He reveals that Marcus was a close friend of the current leader of the separatist movement, Remsey Gangi. Lara enters and nudges Marina, while she speaks about the lease documents. Neil urges Marina to hurry things along. However, she insists she cannot, since she wants to expand the mine, without carrying the financial burden. Lara is questions about the investigation into Roth. Then, Neil wonders who the idiot was that set up the Jesse meeting. Lara and Nolan exit the room, while Lara complains about being referred to as a simpleton. Lara speaks with Marina about her promotion and her daughter. Marina admits she believes her daughter will always be in pain. Lara tries to convince Marina to keep the message contained and avoid hitting the panic button. Ned arrives outside as Marina begins speaking to the press.

Ned uses the situation to get in touch with Erin Jennings (Stephanie King). She agrees to meet him at the pub. Erin tells Ned he needs to hurry up and accept the job, before the offer goes to Mark. Ned doesn’t care in the least. Instead, he attempts to enlist Erin’s help in obtaining the names of the two Australian victims supposedly killed by Marcus. Erin makes a call to Joey and gets the names. Before Erin leaves, she learns about the death of Ned’s mother. Ned looks at the two names, Eric Bell and Christo Borst. He searches for the names online immediately. He eventually stumbles across Meg Flynn’s name. He discovers her other name, Meg Darville, and pictures of her work. We jump over to Helmston Mine and see that Meg is actually working there. She has numerous emails from Ned. They’re deleted and Meg steps outside. She receives a phone call from Ned, who accuses her of coddling the mining lobby. She refuses to acknowledge Roth, but scolds Ned for his accusations.

After the phone call ends, we jump back to Callum. The boy has decided to reach out for help through the PlayStation network. Unfortunately, nobody online takes his pleas serious. Jesse becomes enraged after being unable to crack the code. They argue briefly, before the lights in the building dim. Roth enters and explains they’ve experienced a power surge. He takes the pair out in the woods to obtain a generator and other supplies. While there, Hani manages to grab a new hard drive. Before they can return, Rems gets a phone call from Meg. She offers to allow them to see Marcus’ body, but they’ll need to come right away. With that, the entire group heads into town. Roth and the other head inside to look at the body, while Jesse and Hani remain in the vehicle.

Meg photographs the wound, while it becomes clear that the murder didn’t happen the way the press suggests. Marcus also has marks on his wrists and ankles, as if he has been tied up. Outside, Jesse and Hani discuss their plan to back up the hard drive and escape. They notice two strange dirt bikes nearby. When the group exits the morgue, Rems is shot by a man on the bike. He is picked up and escorted to the vehicle. The vehicle pulls away, with the bikes following close behind. He speed through the woods and manage to lose the bikes. Roth instructs everyone to make a run for it. They all do, but Jesse stays behind. Hani tries to urge him on, but he won’t budge. Instead, Roth is forced to carry him to safety.

The group eventually makes its way back to Roth’s place. Rems refuses to sneak into the city and visit the hospital. Rems and Roth argue over what they want to achieve with the mine, before Kiki steps in and shuts them both up. Rems finally agrees to visit Cairns. Jesse and Hani reflect. Hani returns inside and speaks to Kiki about her brother, Rems. She also discovers Kiki had another child at some point. Ned and David (Geoff Morrell) leave the will hearing. Ned is furious that his mother left everything to his father. Ned punches him square in the nose, before calming down. David explains why he left when Ned was young. This only worsens the situation. Ned scolds his father, before leaving. Ned returns home and discovers he has received no messages. He begins scouring through his mother’s belongings. He finds a stack of letters from his father, before an email comes through. The email, which is from Meg, informs Ned that his brother is alive and unusual.

Meanwhile, Jesse begins copying the hard drive. He is stopped and informed he doesn’t have read/write access to the YoungBlood folder. He manages to override the restriction and copy the data anyway. He looks through the folder and finds pictures of Callum. The copying process is completed just in time for Hani to return. At this point, Jesse begins to change his mind about Jan. He contemplates why the man would protect his site in a way that would block his own access. They wonder whether or not Lara and the others have been lying about Jan. At that moment, Jan interrupts and asks what they have been saying about him. Jesse shows him the hidden folder and the pictures of Callum. Roth shuts down the server and locks it up, before telling Jesse and Hani to pack. Michael has yet another flashback of his son. He decides to go to the press with his story. They appear on the news and make their plea.

Ned receives a visit from Erin. She invites herself inside and seduces Ned. They do their thing, while Lara’s team apparently deletes files from Ned’s computer and records the encounter. Jesse manages to hide the hard drive in his back pocket, before he and Hani are escorted to a boat. Roth asks Jesse to show him how the files were hidden. He does so, before Roth places a call to Gary (Guy Edmonds). He informs Gary he is coming to Cairns. The boat is spotted by Australian Border Security. Hani is left behind, while Jesse agrees to find the boy with Roth. He jumps in the water and the hard drive sinks to the bottom. Roth grabs Jesse and drags him to the surface. Gary learns about Callum’s parents going public. Meg emails Ned about his contact at Parliament House. He checks his email and watches as Lara’s team deletes everything from his computer.

 

The Code Review

The second episode of The Code deepened the mystery, while revealing a tiny bit here and there. We were introduced to Marina’s daughter, Alyse. Is there a connection between her daughter, Undacounta and Marina’s recent promotion? What happened to Alyse? Was is kept quiet for the sake of someone higher up? Meanwhile, Callum’s parents were pushed to their limits and wound up speaking with the press. Will this prompt the gas station attendant to come forward? Or will it lead Gary to do the unthinkable?

Meanwhile, Lara Dixon has established herself as a clear villain. What is her end game and what exactly is she hiding? I was suspicious of Roth’s involvement from the beginning, but I still wonder how much he really knows. Only time will tell at this point. Nonetheless, a good episode. An 8 out of 10 is deserved. Catch up with previous recaps of The Code right now.