Television: The Brave: 1.02 Moscow Rules (recap/pic spam/review) [spoilers]
Blurb: When a CIA safe house in Ukraine is attacked and one of the operatives hurt and on the run, the team must both locate her while evading the highly skilled Russian ops team in pursuit of her.
*
So I kind of loved this episode a lot. It was like a much more enjoyable version of Homeland with characters that were actually likeable.
The pilot left us cliff-hangered as a terrorist drove a vehicle stuffed with explosives onto a beach where Dalton and his team were playing soccer with a group of children. Rather than picking up directly directly afterwards in the aftermath of the explosion, the show instead chooses to do a slightly jarring time jump forward. Dalton and his team are slightly battered, but they are fine - albeit angry. The only real link back to the explosion is the "previous on The Brave" voiceover and also a conversation between Amir and Dalton
Amir: I don't know, Top. All those years, I thought working undercover was the hardest thing I'd ever do, but this ... this doing nothing is harder.
Dalton: Amir, you're still new, buddy.
Amir: 21 people injured. Four servicemen dead, and here we sit two weeks later, like it didn't even happen.
Dalton: Do me a favor. Look out there. What's happening? You got Jaz and McG talking smack, bitching about horseshoes, you got Preach talking to his family. That's not ignoring what happened. Okay? It's called moving on, which if you're gonna be on a team like ours, that's exactly what you gotta do.
Amir: Even after the beach
Dalton: Yeah, especially after the beach. Listen, the fantasy is that we go rogue, we go out there, we grab the guy that did this, and we get our revenge. In reality, we follow orders. In reality, our job is always the next mission. We are not the investigators, Amir. We're the tip of the spear.
Presumably we're going to hear more about the Karatas Beach explosion again in the season. In the meanwhile, this episode, the team has a new mission.
A young CIA agent in Ukraine, named Cassie Connor comes back to her base to discover that all of her colleagues have been killed.
Dalton and his team fly in. McG and Dalton administer medical treatment.
As Preach shows that cool guys don't look back at explosions or fires.
But then we find out that Cassie Connor isn't just your garden variety CIA agent. Despite her youth, she's actually a handler for a CIA mole who is actually in Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Hence, why the Russians have just kidnapped her.
We discover that Cassie is a skilled operative - second in her class. We find out that Noah was first …
This photo cracks me up because I'm guessing that's the stuntwoman rather than the actress …
Back to the actress
Stunt woman again?
Russian soldier, a bit shocked by the switch between Cassie and her stuntwoman :)
Cassie frees herself …
And escapes - although now she's got a knife wound as well as a gunshot wound.
Cassie has to lay low and has no way of communicating with anyone. The bad guys are on the lookout for her. As are Dalton's team.
Preach and McG are in a somewhat pristine-looking abandoned building
Amir's squeezing fruit
Dalton and Jaz are coupled up
Dalton's gaze falls upon a guy who he somehow knows has useful information
Jaz waits for him outside
They use the medical bracelet McG put on Cassie's wrist to find the Russians - even though they know it's a trap. As usual, there's a somewhat speaking glance between Jaz and Dalton. Dalton seems to check in a lot with Jaz by way of glances. With Preach he'll ask outright, but he and Jaz seem to exchange a lot of looks.
Jaz takes out most of the Russians with her shooting abilities.
Although there's one moment where Dalton shoots one of the Russians in the head when he doesn't have any information. The man's disarmed and Dalton just kills him. The show doesn't really have any of the characters introspecting about the people they kill - they seem to just take it as part of their job and move on.
That night there's a mild bit of dissatisfaction in the team as they wait around.
Jaz: This is crap. We should be out there looking for her. And instead we're doing what exactly?
Preach: : Being smart.
Jaz: We're doing nothing.
Preach: : Yeah, sometimes doing nothing is doing something.
McGuire: : Really, Preach?
Preach: : Yeah, really, McG. Like when you're waiting, you're trusting that more will be revealed.
McGuire: : By who? God?
Jaz: There's a woman out there fighting and dying.
Amir: : And us getting killed won't help her.
Jaz: Wow. You're such a team player.
Dalton intervenes.
Dalton: Hey. That's enough. All right, you guys want to vent? That's one thing, but going at each other, especially while we're in the field, that's a non-starter. Now, if you would let Preach finish his sentence, you would've heard him say we're waiting for our team back in D.C. Unless of course you guys think you're so high-speed you can just do everything on your own. Right now, any move we make could put us further from Conner. Any move could get us captured, worse. Now, you heard Noah. He knows her. DIA says she's gonna reach out; it's our job to be ready when she does. Until that point, we will wait. That is being a team player.
Another look speaking glance between Jaz and Dalton.
The team discovers that Cassie has been leaving a trail in the form of flashing lights, elading to a women’s bathhouse.
I really do love the scene in which Dalton makes Jaz hand over her beloved weapons :)
Dalton: All right, hand it over.
Dalton: No keep that down, it’s good. We’re right here.
Dalton: Your Ka-bar.
Jaz: Come on, I’ll be naked without it!
Dalton: Yeah, well you need to be. Any of these guys stop you and they find anything
Jaz: (grumpily hands it over) You know this would be a lot easier if we weren’t the only ones who thought she was in there.
Dalton: Well, you don’t need to tell me.
Dalton: You good?
Jaz: I’d feel a lot better if I had my Sig.
Dalton: All right, remember no matter what, do not run.
Dalton: Only prey runs.
Jaz (mutters): Maybe prey knows what it’s doing.
Everyone panics …
Hannah: Does Jaz speak Russian?
Noah: Not enough to pass for native.
Everyone panics …
McGuire: I’ve got them.
Dalton: (calm and doesn't panic) She’ll handle it.
Jaz handles it … Was there ever any doubt???
Jaz: If they’re checking out my ass, I know I’m safe.
Dalton smiles in satisfaction… his complete faith in Jaz vindicated - yet again. He might as well say: "That's my girl." Except Dalton's not sexist and he'd never say something like that.
They are able to get Cassie out of the bath house and get her medical treatment - using Dalton's blood to transfuse her
But realise that getting out of dodge is a problem
Dalton and Preach run a diversion so that Cassie, McG, Amir and Jaz can escape. I really liked this scene. A lot!! Mortem 2, the exfil helicopter has arrived. Jaz gets Cassie Conner, McGuire and Amir onboard the chopper and she stands outside waiting for Dalton and Preach.
Jaz puts the others in the relative safety of the chopper while she stands outside to guard them and also keep watch.
One, two, three! Mortem 2, you are clear of threats but not for long.
You can see the panic in her face as she looks for her team mates.
Recommend immediate dust-off, she’s told, but she clearly does not want to leave.
Eventually, she gives up - Dalton and Preach haven’t arrived so she turns around to close the chopper door - with her on the outside! That’s right, rather than escape to safety, she makes the decision to remain behind on the ground, in danger to wait for/look for Dalton and Preach. It’s only when Cassie calls out that she turns around.
And sees Preach and Dalton finally show up.
She counts them both onboard. Four. Five. There’s intense relief on her face. “Did you see the signal?” Dalton demands jokingly and Jaz is smiling when they get into the chopper.
Only once everyone is onboard….
Does Jaz herself get in.
Back in Turkey, the team are relaxing. Dalton's talking to Patton.
Jaz: Seems like no one wants to listen to you.
Dalton: Yeah, I'm sensing a pattern.
Jaz: Listen, I was wrong to question you when you were waiting on D.C.
Dalton: Well, you were frustrated.
Jaz: I was wrong. Doing nothing was the right call. And it was your call, and I'm sorry.
Dalton: What was that? I thought I heard something.
Jaz: I don't think anyone said anything.
Preach is watching them …
Dalton: Look, when I was a kid, my old man used to get sloppy as hell. Only thing I could do was wait. Just sit there, take whatever he threw at me. Let it pass. Sometimes all you can do is wait.
Jaz: People like us don't do powerless very well.
Dalton: You think? But each day I see less
All in all a great episode with an interesting mission, some good interactions between the characters and some more insight into the team. Plus, by this point I was a mega Adam/Jaz shipper ...