Whether it was Harrison Ford’s Jack Ryan movies (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) or the Gene Hackman and Will Smith movie Enemy of the State, big-budget spy movies were reliable entertainment back in the day. 2025 new movie The Amateur tried to deliver that kind of classic spy movie this year, but it went largely overlooked by audiences, myself included. But now that The Amateur is streaming on Hulu (and on Disney Plus in the UK), I gave it a watch and discovered a gripping, enjoyable spy movie.

Rami Malek stars in The Amateur as CIA computer analyst Charlie Heller. When his wife is killed in a terrorist attack in London, he goes against his bosses at the agency to get revenge. Rachel Brosnahan, Laurence Fishburne, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson, Caitriona Balfe, Jon Bernthal and Michael Stuhlbarg star in the movie directed by James Hawes, who directed Slow Horses season 1.

The Amateur was released in movie theaters on April 11. It received mixed reviews — including from my WTW colleague Jason Best in his official The Amateur review — but ultimately it did earn a “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics (if just barely). Then, at the box office, the movie failed to make a noticeable dent, never finishing better than as the third-highest-grossing movie in a given day and ultimately falling just shy of a $100 million gross worldwide. But audiences that did see the movie were more positive on it, as suggested by its 88% positive fan score on Rotten Tomatoes.

I could easily see the disconnect between critics and audiences. There’s certainly nothing revolutionary in what The Amateur is trying to say or how it tells its story. But something that may have been overlooked by those who reviewed the movie is that this is a down-the-middle style spy thriller that moves along at a solid enough pace and has enough action and intrigue to be an easy kind of watch that people often want.

Malek is solid as Heller, who may seem meek, but has a determination and simmering anger that is always just underneath the surface. Charlie’s not a super spy, and Malek doesn’t try to have him be. Rather, he’s a man pushed to a breaking point, but will he go past it or manage to keep his soul (and life) intact?

Then you add a solid bunch of fan-favorite supporting actors that all have a moment to shine with a conspiracy and misdirection plotlines to keep viewers engaged.

I would not personally put The Amateur ahead of the other notable (but again, sadly overlooked) spy movie of the first half of 2025, Black Bag, but if you’re more of a fan of straightforward spy movies with a bit more action, then The Amateur is a good fit.

You must have a subscription to stream The Amateur on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK. If you don’t and aren’t looking to add a new subscription, The Amateur is available to buy or rent via digital on-demand.

If you need any more convincing, watch The Amateur trailer directly below:

Scrolling for something new to watch on Hulu this week, July 12-18? Let me give you a hand with my picks for the best movies, TV shows and more arriving on the streaming service.

This week's entries feature a UK version of a favorite reality TV show, as well as a number of recent movies that are well worth a watch.

Check out all of the picks for this week directly below.

90 Day Fiancé UK season 3

• The most recent season of the UK's version of 90 Day Fiancé debuts July 12

The 90 Day franchise is a reality TV powerhouse in the US, but it's also become a hit in the UK. Hulu subscribers can enjoy the most recent completed season, 90 Day Fiancé UK season 3, starting this week (season 4 premieres in the UK on July 13, but no word on when it will arrive in the US).

90 Day fans can also enjoy a throwback as 90 Day Fiancé season 6 also lands on Hulu this week (for reference, we're on season 12 for the reality series).

A Quiet Place Part II

• Acclaimed sci-fi/horror sequel lands on the streamer July 12

The A Quiet Place movies have become one of the more successful original franchises of the last decade. After the original movie became a sensation, A Quiet Place Part II followed that up with another strong story of the Abbott family's fight for survival in a world filled with deadly alien creatures attracted to sound. WTW's A Quiet Place Part II review was one of many (the movie is "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes) to say it's a worthy sequel, which you can now stream on Hulu.

Dumb Money (2023)

• Movie based on the true story of the GameStop meme stock comes to Hulu July 13

Our WTW Dumb Money review called the movie "the Rocky of Wall Street movies," as it gives a true underdog story based on the day traders that sent shockwaves to the stock market by boosting the video game store GameStop. It's a great cast and a story that effectively speaks to a defining moment of the last five years. You should definitely catch up with it if you've missed it.

Get Away (2024)

• Indie horror comedy starring Nick Frost is available to stream as of July 15

Hopefully your summer vacation will go better than the family at the center of Get Away. Nick Frost and Aisling Bea star as the parents of a family that heads to a remote Swedish island for a family trip, only to be put off guard by a strange festival the locals are putting on — oh, and the serial killer on the loose. This was a 2024 release that flew a bit under the radar, but the movie was "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Amateur (2025)

• 2025 spy thriller makes its streaming debut on July 17

The Amateur follows Rami Malek's CIA analyst Charlie Heller, whose wife tragically dies in a terrorist attack. When his superiors deny his plan to go after those responsible, Charlie uses his analytical and technical skills to get his revenge.

The spy thriller went a bit under the radar when it was first released, but it did earn a "Fresh" score from critics and an 88% positive rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Those reactions point to this being a movie that likely deserves more of a look now that it's streaming on Hulu.

Looking for some new movies to stream in July? Well great news, there are plenty of options across the likes of Netflix, Max, Prime Video and all of the major streaming services this month. With that said, it can be a lot to scroll through, so allow me to offer my humble services in helping you find the new movies on streaming that you are not going to want to miss.

The below list of movies are taken from the major streaming services: Apple TV Plus, Disney Plus, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Peacock and Prime Video. I'm also specifically picking movies that are new to streaming this month — in this case, these are 11 movies that are landing on one of the major streamers for the first time, or coming back to streaming services after only being available via on-demand.

So without further ado, here are my picks for the 11 movies to stream in July.

The Amateur (Hulu)

The Amateur slid a little under the radar in movie theaters, but the spy thriller starring Rami Malek did earn a "Fresh" score from critics and an 88% positive rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Those reactions point to this being a movie that likely deserves more of a look when it becomes easier to watch on streaming this month.

In the movie, Malek plays a CIA analyst Charlie Heller, whose wife tragically dies in a terrorist attack. He wants to go after those responsible, but when his superiors deny that plan, Charlie goes out on his own using his analytical and technical skills at his disposal to get his revenge.

Stream The Amateur on Hulu in the US starting July 17.

Streaming plans for The Amateur in the UK are unconfirmed; movie is currently available via on-demand.

The Assessment (Hulu)

Let's be honest, nobody likes taking tests. But what if a test decided whether or not you could have children. That's the premise of this sci-fi psychological drama that stars Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel as hopeful parents and Alicia Vikander as person running the assessment and deciding if they get to become parents.

The indie movie, which only saw a limited release in movie theaters, is officially "Certified Fresh."

Stream The Assessment on Hulu in the US starting July 19; currently streaming on Prime Video in the UK.

Billy Joel: And So it Goes (Max)

I had plans to see Billy Joel in concert this September before the Piano Man unfortunately announced that he would need time to recover from a medical condition and the concert was cancelled (bummer, but warranted). That just makes this upcoming HBO documentary about Joel more of a must watch for me (and any fan of his music).

A two-parter that will release on Max in back-to-back weeks, Billy Joel: And So It Goes explores the love, loss, and personal struggles that fuel his songwriting, providing never-before-seen performances, home videos, personal photographs and one-on-one interviews.

Stream Billy Joel: And So It Goes part 1 on July 18 on Max, with part 2 premiering July 25.

There's no info on a UK premiere for Billy Joel: An So It Goes at this time.

Brick (Netflix)

The language barrier on Netflix may be a thing of the past based on how many foreign language movies have become solid hits on Netflix so far this year. Whether they're watching dubbed versions or subtitles, Netflix subscribers have given movies like Exterritorial (from Germany) and Bad Influence (from Spain) their attention.

We could have the next example of that this month in Brick, another German-made movie. Matthias Schweighöfer, the breakout star of Netflix's Army of the Dead, leads this sci-fi, mystery thriller where an entire apartment building becomes encased by a mysterious brick wall, forcing the residents to find a way out.

Stream Brick on Netflix worldwide starting July 10.

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (Hulu)

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story is one of the funniest sports comedies of all time. The battle between Vince Vaughn and his team of misfits and the fantastically over-the-top villain played by Ben Stiller is, as the title suggest a classic underdog story, played out in hilarious fashion.

With sports options a bit minimal at the moment, Dodgeball can help fill your competitive drive, while getting you howling.

Stream Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story on Hulu in the US starting July 1; currently streaming on Disney Plus in the UK.

Happy Gilmore 2 (Netflix)

Another classic sports movie highlights July's streaming options, with Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore 2 teeing off on Netflix. The sequel to Sandler's golf comedy sees his hot-headed, long-driving character trying to reignite his golf career to help his daughter achieve her dreams.

Original cast members Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen and Ben Stiller, are back, while new to the scene are Sunny Sandler, Margaret Qualley, Bad Bunny, Travis Kelce and a number of real-life golf professionals. Can they all help recreate what made the original Happy Gilmore a fan-favorite?

Stream Happy Gilmore 2 on Netflix worldwide starting July 25.

Heads of State (Prime Video)

In the new action comedy Heads of State, a pair of world leaders have a bit more of a hand in international affairs as John Cena and Idris Elba play the US president and UK prime minister that have to stop a global conspiracy on their own. Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Jack Quaid and Paddy Considine also star in the movie that hopes to bring some summer fun to Prime Video's streaming lineup.

Stream Heads of State on Prime Video worldwide starting on July 2.

Mortal Kombat (Max)

Pick your preference on Mortal Kombat movies, as both the 1995 movie and the 2021 reboot return to Max in July. For, it's the 1995 movie all the way.

In a nutshell, both movies involve some of Earth's strongest fighters being tasked with saving the planet from adversaries from an other world looking to the planet over, with its fate to be decided in a series of fights known as Mortal Kombat.

The timing is good too, as a sequel to 2021's Mortal Kombat is set to be released later this year. So you can use this opportunity to refamiliarize with the new movie's characters.

Stream Mortal Kombat (1995 and 2021) on Max in the US starting July 1.

Both Mortal Kombat movies are available on-demand in the UK, with no streaming plans available at this time.

The Old Guard 2 (Netflix)

It's been a long five-year wait for The Old Guard 2, the sequel to Netflix and Charlize Theron's hit action movie about immortal mercenaries. But that officially ends early in the month, with the added bonus of Theron and company taking on a new villain, played by Kill Bill icon Uma Thurman.

This is one of Netflix's answers to the summer blockbuster season, and if it can live up to the first movie it should be a pretty good one.

Stream The Old Guard 2 on Netflix worldwide on July 2.

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Max)

Max is adding a number of recent A24 movies to its library this month, including Opus and Death of a Unicorn. But the most intriguing will be On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, an international indie that has a rare 100% "Certified Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie follows a Zambian family whose secrets come out as funeral proceedings for their uncle take place. Interested?

Stream On Becoming a Guinea Fowl on Max in the US starting July 4.

Streaming plans for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl in the UK are unconfirmed; movie is currently available via on-demand.

Sinners (Max)

What I dubbed as the first great movie of the year, Sinners arrives on streaming in July, meaning there is little excuse if you're one of the few people that has not seen this excellent entry from Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler.

A blend of horror, action and music, Sinners is expertly made, written and acted, and should play just as well on your TVs at home as it did on the big screen.

Stream Sinners on Max in the US starting July 4.

Streaming plans for Sinners in the UK are unconfirmed; movie is currently available via on-demand.

Believe it or not, but 2025 is already halfway over. While the 2025 new movie release schedule has plenty more on the docket for this year and there are a number of good summer blockbuster movie options to enjoy in movie theaters right now, I’d thought I’d take a moment to reflect on my favorite movies of 2025 so far.

Extra bonus, all of these movies are available to watch at home right now either through streaming services or via digital on-demand.

Seeing as we’re just half way through the year, I’ve picked my five favorite movies so far rather than the traditional 10; though if the 2024 edition of this mid-year check in is any indication, a good number of these could have some staying power on the eventual year-end list (four out of the five movies I cited as my “favorite of 2024 so far” made my final top 10 of 2024).

Without further ado, here are my five favorite movies of 2025 so far (in alphabetical order), and how you can watch them at home:

The Ballad of Wallis Island

I can usually rely on the Sundance Film Festival to deliver at least one first-half of the year gem, and this year that came in the form of The Ballad of Wallis Island. This indie comedy centers on a professional musician who finds out his most recent gig is playing for a concert exclusively for an eccentric lottery winner on a remote British isle. And to make things more awkward the musician’s ex-bandmate/girlfriend was also invited.

That sets up plenty of gentle humor in this charming film, with stars Tom Basden, Tim Key, Carrey Mulligan and Sian Clifford playing their roles in perfect harmony. But there’s also a touch of beautiful sadness to the story that allows The Ballad of Wallis Island to sit with you a good while after you’ve watched it.

Stream The Ballad of Wallis Island on Peacock in the US; the movie is still playing in movie theaters in the UK.

Black Bag

Between my Black Bag review and a plea for viewers missing adult-targeted movies like this to show up for Black Bag when it premiered on streaming, I’ve made my support for Steven Soderbergh’s modern spy movie known. But just in case you haven’t seen Black Bag yet, here’s a reminder to do so.

Michael Fassbender stars as George Woodhouse, one half of a powerful spy couple along with his wife Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett). But when a key piece of technology goes missing, George is tasked with finding who the traitor is, with the list of suspects including his wife.

Black Bag is a tight, expertly made spy thriller, which you can stream on Peacock in the US; available to rent via digital on-demand in the UK.

One of Them Days

One of Them Days came out all the way back in January but for my money it remains the funniest movie of 2025 to date. Keke Palmer and SZA star as two best friends and roommates who find themselves short on rent when an airhead boyfriend spends it on himself. They have until the end of the day to scrounge up enough money to keep them from being evicted, while having to deal with a slew of characters in their LA neighborhood.

As I wrote in my One of Them Days review, Palmer and SZA have great comedic chemistry, while the movie itself has the inklings of a Friday for the 21st century. It’s a great option if you’re in need of a laugh.

Stream One of Them Days on Netflix in the US; available via digital on-demand in the UK.

Sinners

If I had to rank my favorite movies of 2025 right now, Sinners would be in the pole position. Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan reunited for another incredible movie that should’ve absolutely been seen on the big screen (and as indicated by its box office many did). But if you need to catch up with it at home, by all means sit back and revel in this horror/action blockbuster.

Jordan stars in the movie as twin brothers Smoke and Stack as they return to their home in the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s after years away with the aim of opening up a club. They round up old friends and family to help put on their opening night party, but soon find that they’ve attracted some unwelcome guests that threaten to turn the night upside down.

Currently available via digital on-demand in the US and UK, Sinners makes its streaming debut on Max in the US on July 4.

Warfare

I’ve previewed the funniest and what I think right now are the best movies of the year, so to close this list out I’m highlighting the most intense movie of the year, Warfare. Civil War’s Alex Garland co-directed this movie with veteran Ray Mendoza, portraying a real-life mission featuring Navy SEALs, with the story taken from the memories of those who took part in it.

While the action in the movie is still intense, watching Warfare at home may be better for some who don’t want to feel a little shell-shocked from theater acoustics. And however you watch it, it’s an incredible story of brothers in arms and the cost of war.

Buy or rent Warfare via digital on-demand platforms in the US; stream Warfare on Prime Video in the UK.

The long, intolerable wait for new episodes of Slow Horses will finally come to an end this September, as Apple TV Plus officially announced that Slow Horses season 5 is going to premiere on Wednesday, September 24, worldwide on the streamer. And with the announcement came a batch of first-look images at many of our favorite characters from Slough House.

But there were a couple that stood out to me involving Slough House’s resident tech expert and unearned swagger king Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung), including Ho wielding a sword (see above) and, most improbably, Ho apparently having a girlfriend.

That’s notable because according to the official synopsis for Slow Horses season 5, Ho’s new relationship could have larger implications for the team and the city at large.

“In season five of Slow Horses, everyone is suspicious when resident tech nerd Roddy Ho has a glamorous new girlfriend, but when a series of increasingly bizarre events occur across the city, it falls to the Slow Horses to work out how everything is connected. After all, Lamb knows that in the world of espionage, the London Rules — cover your back — always apply,” reads the synopsis from Apple TV Plus.

Ho has been one of the main members of Slough House since the first season and has played a key role in a number of missions. But the lies about his personal life and general narcissism have been the main point of annoyance for his co-workers (and likely the reason he was set to Slough House in the first place). So the fact that he has a girlfriend is understandably suspicious.

As far as the sword, Ho is definitely a proud member of the geek culture, so it’s little surprise that he probably has one in his apartment and would choose to use it for his defense. The question is will he be any good with it?

A number of other Slow Horses season 5 first look images were also shared showing the rest of the Slow Horses team, including Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb, Kristin Scott Thomas’ Diana Taverner, Jack Lowden’s River Carthwright and more. Plus, we get our first look at the main new guest star for the season, Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed.

When Slow Horses season 5 premieres on September 24 the first two episodes of the season will be available to watch immediately. Following that one episode will be released weekly on Wednesdays. With six episodes in the season, that means Slow Horses season 5 will run through October 22.

You’ll need an Apple TV Plus subscription to watch Slow Horses season 5 when it premieres. In the meantime, you can catch up with all four previous seasons of the show on the streamer.

Steve Soderberg is hurting, but there’s something we can do to cheer him up: watch Black Bag now that it is available to stream on Peacock.

This won’t fix the fact that one of the best-reviewed movies of the year (and one we gave four stars in our official Black Bag review) has made a disappointing $21.4 million at the US box office — making it the 26th highest grossing movie of 2025 as of publication — and less than $40 million globally.

But what we can do is show Sodebergh and those in Hollywood that there is an interest in these types of well made, mid-budget movies that are more geared toward older audiences, even if it is after the fact. That may be something Soderbergh needs to hear right now after comments he gave in an interview to Business Insider.

“It’s not fun to spend a lot of time and effort on something that just occupies zero cultural real estate,” said Soderbergh. “That’s not why any filmmaker wants to make movies. You want as many people to see them as possible.”

Black Bag is an original script from Jurassic Park and Mission: Impossible writer David Koepp and stars Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rege-Jean Page, Pierce Brosnan and more. The movie centers on Fassbender's spy George Woodhouse, who has to try and figure out if his wife (Blanchett), a fellow spy, betrayed her country before a catastrophic event occurs.

That seems like the exact kind of antidote to what so many people I hear complain about with the movies. It’s not based on any existing IP, it’s not simply geared toward a child or middle-brow audience. Heck, the movie isn’t even long — Soderbergh packs a fully effective, taut spy thriller into just over 90 minutes.

And again, this isn’t me stumping for a little publicized movie that had mixed reviews. This is a movie that had the backing of a big-name specialty distributor that is part of a larger studio, Focus Features, and its 96% “Certified Fresh” score from critics is among the best of the year, with a positive audience rating as well on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite all of that, Black Bag performed less than other 2025 new movies Flight Risk and Snow White at the box office, both of which were panned by critics.

We’re seeing time and time again that people are willing to go back to the movies. Sinners has become one of the biggest hits of the year and is rejuvenating moviegoers, which is perfect timing as we head into the 2025 blockbuster movie season. Like Soderbergh, though, I’m surprised that that same level of enthusiasm can’t be found for a movie as well-made as Black Bag.

If this continues to happen, as Soderbergh warns, it could spell doom for these mid-budget movies, which are often where filmmakers get to do some fun and different things (even Sinners was made for less than $100 million, less than typical Hollywood tentpoles in the superhero genre).

Again, at this point there’s nothing we can do to fix Black Bag’s box office performance. But this is where streaming can do what it does best — give an overlooked movie or TV show a second chance that shows we do want these type of projects.

Black Bag is now streaming exclusively on Peacock in the US, though it is available to buy or rent via digital on-demand as well worldwide. Watch the trailer directly below:

It can be easy and quite relaxing to just stay in and watch a movie, new or old, from the comfort of your own couch. But when you see a good movie on the big screen, there’s something extra special about the experience. Looking ahead at the 2025 new movies coming to movie theaters in April, there are definitely a number of titles that I think could create those kinds of experiences.

Though the weather is getting warmer, we’re not quite at the summer blockbuster phase just yet (that is going to kick off in earnest with Marvel’s Thunderbolts in early May). Still, there are a number of big-budget movies coming this month that will warrant your attention. Below you’ll find the five movies coming to US movie theaters in April I’m most excited about (we’ll note if they have a different release date for the UK) and why they’re worth the price of a movie ticket (though if you’re looking to save some money, movie theater subscriptions and memberships are good things to explore).

I’ve included a full list of the 2025 April movie release schedule so you can know when a movie you’re interested, but I haven't mentioned, debuts. But first, here are the five April 2025 movies I can’t wait to watch (by order of release date):

The Amateur (April 11 everywhere)

Slow Horses is one of my favorite TV shows right now, so I am very intrigued to see what James Hawes, who directed all of Slow Horses season 1, gets to do in the big-screen spy thriller The Amateur. Rami Malek stars as a CIA decoder who is compelled to head into the field to track down the group that was responsible for the terrorist attack that killed his wife. While this scrawny analyst is not your typical CIA asset, he uses the skills he does have to take down his targets. Malek is joined in the movie by Rachel Brosnahan, Jon Bernthal, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany, Julianne Nicholson and Laurence Fishburne. Any spy fan is going to want to check this one out.

FYI, The Amateur, based on the book of the same name by Robert Littell, is actually a remake. If you’re interested before or after seeing the movie, the 1981 version of The Amateur is streaming on Hulu in the US; via digital on-demand in the UK.

Warfare (April 11 US, TBD UK)

My anticipation for Alex Garland’s new movie rose when the Warfare Rotten Tomatoes score was revealed on March 28, as the movie is scoring solidly in the 90th percentile with the critics that have seen it. Garland, whose Ex Machina and Annihilation are two of my favorite sci-fi movies of the last decade, co-directed with real-life Iraqi War veteran Ray Mendoza to bring what is being described as one of the most brutal, realistic battle scenes to the big screen. And I mean the biggest screen, as Warfare is going to be playing on IMAX screens where available. This one definitely won’t be for the faint of heart, but early indications are this is the kind of movie the theatrical experience was made for.

Sinners (April 18 everywhere)

Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler have proven to be a fantastic team, having worked together on great movies Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther. Any time these two get together is going to get me pumped, and that is without a doubt the case with Sinners. Jordan is playing dual roles as twin brothers who are putting on a party in the early 20th-century South, only for a great evil to put their lives in jeopardy. Joining Jordan in the movie are Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Li Jun Li, Omar Benson Miller and Delroy Lindo. A mix of action and horror, there should be plenty of entertainment on display here.

The Wedding Banquet (April 18 US, TBD UK)

If spy thrillers, action or action/horror movies aren’t your thing, don’t worry, there are other options this month. Perhaps best among them is The Wedding Banquet, which stars SNL’s Bowen Yang, Killers of the Flower Moon's Lily Gladstone and Star Wars’ Kelly Marie Train in an indie romantic comedy. The movie, a remake of an Ang Lee movie from the 90s, centers on two couples, one gay and one lesbian, who decide to help each other out by faking a heterosexual marriage for a conservative relative. After premiering at this year’s Sundance, where it got reviews that currently have it at a 96% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences will get the chance to fall in love with it this month.

The Legend of Ochi (April 25 everywhere)

There’s a reason why we remember movies like E.T. and The Goonies so fondly — they have a certain magic quality that may be primarily aimed at kids but can resonate no matter how old you are. When I watch the trailer for The Legend of Ochi that is exactly the kind of feeling that I get. Part of that is definitely the titular creature, the Ochi, being done practically, which just elicits memories of the old school moviemaking that I grew up on. The movie may lean toward a slightly younger audience, but this could be a movie that the whole family enjoys.

Those are my personal picks, but take a look at what other movies are releasing in April to find out what you are going to want to see in movie theaters (all dates based on US release schedule):

April 4

• Freaky Tales
• Hell of a Summer
• The Luckiest Man in America
• A Minecraft Movie
• A Nice Indian Boy

April 11

• The Amateur
• Drop
• The King of Kings
• Sacramento
• Warfare

April 18

• The Shrouds
• Sinners
• Sneaks
• The Wedding Banquet

April 25

• The Accountant 2
• Cheech and Chong's Last Movie
• The Legend of Ochi
• On Swift Horses
• Until Dawn

Michael Fassbender is on the hunt for a traitor in Steven Soderbergh’s spy thriller Black Bag. But with a star-studded list of suspects that include Cate Blanchett, Pierce Brosnan, Rege-Jean Page, Naomie Harris and more, just who is the traitor and what were they trying to do?

We’re obviously going to get into some Black Bag SPOILERS as we go into depth on the movie to answer those questions for you, so if you have not, here’s how you can watch Black Bag right now. As I make clear in my Black Bag review, I recommend that this is one you're not going to want to miss or be spoiled by.

Black Bag begins with George Woodhouse (Fassbender), a brilliant intelligence agent, receiving information that a dangerous device known capable of killing thousands of people has been stolen and that there are five suspects within his organization that are the primary suspects. One of them is his wife, Kathryn St. Jean (Blanchett). Over the course of the next week George must try to determine who the traitor is and retrieve Severus before it can land in the wrong hands.

In addition to Kathryn, George’s lineup of suspects include Col. James Stokes (Rege-Jean Page), Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela) and the agency psychiatrist Dr. Zoe Vaughn (Naomie Harris); adding to the intrigue, both Stokes & Zoe and Freddie & Clarissa are sleeping together, though the relationships have issues. George is an expert at finding the truth, but how will that work against a group of fellow spies? And if signs begin pointing to Kathryn, what will George do?

When George finds a movie stub in Kathryn’s waste basket of something they haven’t seen together, George can’t help but become suspicious. He finds out that she is heading out of the country, but doesn’t tell him where, though he ultimately finds out she’s going to Zurich. Then when Stokes informs George an offshore account under an old alias Kathryn used recently received a lump sum payment of £7 million, he has no choice but to spy on his own wife.

Forcing Clarissa to help him, George discretely redirects a satellite to the exact coordinates his wife is going to be at while she is in Zurich. He sees that she meets with a Russian man and, using AI technology, is able to determine she isn’t selling, she’s looking to buy something from the man, but George runs out of time before he can get the full picture.

However, George’s actions backfire. He soon learns that while he had the satellite diverted, a Russian, Pavilchuk (Daniel Dow), who the agency was monitoring, escaped their surveillance; meaning he had a contact in the agency that knew this would happen. An agency higher up, Stieglitz (Brosnan), expects Pavilchuk is now heading to Russia and has obtained Severus, which the agency designed to covertly cause a nuclear reactor meltdown that could destabilize a government. George, for the first time, is rattled as he may have indirectly jeopardized thousands of innocent lives. The only way to stop it is to find the traitor and stop their plan in time.

Who is the traitor in Black Bag?

Clarissa tells Freddie what George did with the satellite, which sends Freddie into action, including calling an unknown individual and then meeting Kathryn upon her return from Zurich before she sees George. He fills her in and wants her help to fix it, but Kathryn says she needs a night to think.

The bond between George and Kathryn is too strong though, as the two promise to work together to stop Pavilchuk and find the traitor.

On the first part, Kathryn meets with a CIA contact to have them order a drone strike on Pavilchuk as he travels to Russia. We learn it was Stieglitz’s plan to get Severus to Pavilchuk, hoping he would use it to destabilize Russia and end the war (never specified, but presumably the one with Ukraine), ignoring the cost of innocent lives. But Kathryn and a successful drone strike put a stop to that.

Now it’s George’s turn, as he runs Stokes, Freddie, Clarissa and Zoe through a polygraph test to find out who is the liar. However, he’s not 100% sure, so he invites them all to dinner for one final reveal.

When everyone is there, Kathryn places a gun on the table (she is no longer a suspect), saying whoever doesn't answer George’s questions correctly will be shot. George reveals his theory that there were two plans involving Severus at the same time.

First, he knows Zoe and Freddie are sleeping together and collaborated on one of the plans. They were specifically trying to influence Kathryn and George so they would stop Stieglitz’s plan and save the innocent lives that would be at risk if Severus was used.

George then commends Clarissa for being able to manipulate the polygraph machine better than anyone he has ever seen, but he acknowledges that she had nothing to do with this situation.

That leaves Stokes. George reveals he was able to obtain pictures of Stokes in Myanmar, where the account he had claimed was set up by Kathryn was originally created, pointing to Stokes being the traitor. Stokes’ response is to grab the gun on the table and proclaim George has no evidence that will hold up. George then points out he’s been recording the whole proceedings, now including Stokes' confession. Furious, Stokes attempts to shoot George, but his gun is filled with blanks. Kathryn’s, however, isn’t, as she pulls it out of her purse and kills Stokes.

So George and Kathryn save the day and, as revealed in the final moments, get a nice bonus. Kathryn asks what happened with the £7 million that was in the account Stokes created. George says it is going to remain there, alluding that they are keeping it for themselves.

What does Black Bag mean?

Now that we’ve covered the key plot points, there is one other question viewers may have from the movie — what does Black Bag mean?

It appears the term is a catchall for the agency’s spies when dealing with sensitive information, likely because a black bag would be able to hide what was inside it.

Clarissa explains it best when George comes to ask for her help with the satellite. She says that whenever George, Kathryn, Freddie or any other spy wants to avoid revealing details (whether it’s about a mission or even something personal) they can simply say it’s black bag and that ends the conversation.

Black Bag is now playing exclusively in movie theaters.

Michael Fassbender is a spy in search of a traitor in the new thriller from Steven Soderbergh, Black Bag, which is now playing. One of the best reviewed 2025 new movies (read our Black Bag review for our thoughts), we’ve got everything you need to know if you want to watch Black Bag right now.

If you’re thinking, “didn’t Steven Soderbergh just have a new movie come out?” Yes, the prolific director is living up his reputation, as his well-reviewed haunted house thriller Presence hit theaters in January and is now available at home. Can you watch Black Bag at home as well, or is it only playing in movie theaters?

Read on for those answers and more below.

How to watch Black Bag in movie theaters

Black Bag is now playing in movie theaters in the US, UK and elsewhere around the world.

To find when and where Black Bag is playing near you, check out the movie’s official website or visit Fandango. Both sites will allow you to see all of the movie theater’s in your area where Black Bag is playing as well as available showtime. You can get your Black Bag tickets directly online through these sites.

Another option if you are a frequenter of a particular movie theater chain is to sign up for a movie theater subscription or membership program. Offered by numerous US and UK movie theater chains, these programs allow you to get free, discounted or an allotment of movie tickets every month, while also giving you deals on concessions and other moviegoing perks.

Is Black Bag streaming?

Black Bag is now available to watch at home in the US. It is not included on any major streaming service, but it is available to buy or rent on-demand via various platforms (Prime Video, Fandango at Home, Apple TV, etc.)

As for the movie's streaming plans, as a Focus Feature movie, Black Bag is presumably destined to make its streaming debut on Peacock in the US, as all other Focus Feature movies do.

We’ll update this post with news about Black Bag’s at-home release plans when they become available.

What else to know about Black Bag

Soderbergh directed Black Bag from a script by David Koepp (a frequent pairing of late as the two worked together on Kimi and Presence) and put together a star-studded cast that includes Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rege-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela and Pierce Brosnan.

Here is a synopsis for Black Bag:

“Black Bag is a gripping spy drama about legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse and his beloved wife Kathryn. When she is suspected of betraying the nation, George faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country.”

The link to WTW’s official Black Bag review can be found at the top of this article, but as we said this is one of the better reviewed movies of 2025. That is clear from Black Bag’s “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which sits at 96% as of publication.

If you need any final convincing on whether or not to see Black Bag, check out the trailer for movie right here:

Steven Soderbergh remains one of the most prolific filmmakers in Hollywood, as Black Bag is already the director’s second 2025 new movie (following Presence) and his sixth movie since 2020. To be honest, I’ve found myself siding more with general audiences than other critics in the surprising divide on liking Soderbergh’s recent output. That has changed with the sharp, taut and suave spy thriller Black Bag.

Soderbergh once again directs a script by David Koepp (the two have collaborated on Presence and Kimi in the last three years) to tell a story about intelligence agent George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) as he is tasked with finding a traitor in his organization that has stolen a device that could cause nuclear devastation. He has five primary suspects, one of which includes his wife, master spy Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). Rege-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris and Pierce Brosnan also star.

While the missing nuclear device serves as the macguffin for Black Bag, the movie is truly about the interpersonal relationships between the characters — their desires, the lies they tell each other and realizing just how far you would go for someone before turning against them.

To depict that, Black Bag does away with any kind of action or chase sequence (save for one instance, but it’s far from a Mission: Impossible type moment). Instead, the most intense scenes take place sitting around a dinner table with the characters just talking. It works because of the great combination of Soderbergh’s direction, cinematography and editing (he once again pulls triple duty) and Koepp’s sharp dialogue and intriguing characters. The only downside to this is that the stakes of the movie can feel small (despite the threat of thousands of innocent lives lost), but how these characters interact is plenty entertaining enough.

Of course helping bring Koepp’s characters to life are the actors, highlighted by Fassbender and Blanchett. Fassbender’s George — who feels like a nod to John Le Carre’s George Smiley — is cold and calculating, with the actor playing him almost as a robot; that’s all the more effective when there’s a moment he briefly loses control and we see the panic on his face. Blanchett, meanwhile, has the fun, sexy and mysterious role, which she absolutely nails. Together, Fassbender and Blanchett are phenomenal and create a dynamic on-screen power couple worth remembering.

The rest of the supporting cast are all solid, with Abela and Burke being my personal standouts, though Page, Harris and Brosnan all have their moments.

It is also worth mentioning that the movie has a runtime of just over an hour and a half, which feels like a rarity these days. The benefit is that there is no waste in this movie. Every scene is important for moving the plot along and revealing something about the characters.

A small bugaboo that I just couldn’t get out of my head came with the score — it kept making me think of Ocean’s Eleven. That perhaps shouldn’t be surprising, as the Ocean’s franchise composer David Holmes served in the same capacity for Black Bag. It doesn’t hurt the movie at all, for me it was just a weird thing that I couldn’t get out of my head whenever the score came in, taking me a bit out of things.

Even so, Black Bag is a gripping spy drama that will keep you guessing and feels sleek and cool like many of Soderbergh’s fan-favorite movies (the Ocean’s movies, Out of Sight). It is indeed one of my favorites of his in some time.

Black Bag releases exclusively in movie theaters on March 14.

The spy games continue for Michael Fassbender, as the actor’s TV show The Agency is preparing for a second season. Following the thrilling end to the mission in The Agency season 1, we’re eagerly awaiting what is next in line for The Agency season 2.

The Agency is based on the hit French TV drama Le Bureau des Legendes, with Jez and John-Henry Butterworth adapting it for US TV. The show quickly earned its second season renewal after becoming the most streamed new series in Showtime history, so there are plenty of fans who, like us, will be looking forward to new episodes.

Here’s everything we know about The Agency season 2 right now.

The Agency season 2 release date

The Agency season 1 wrapped in January 2025, and at this time we don’t have any info on a release date for The Agency season 2.

However, according to The Wrap, production on The Agency season 2 has begun, so the show is inching closer to a return.

We’ll update this page as news about The Agency season 2 premiere plans are announced.

If you want to catch up with The Agency season 1, you can stream the show on Paramount Plus with Showtime in the US and Paramount Plus in the UK and elsewhere.

The Agency season 2 cast

Most of the team from The Agency cast is set to return for season 2. That is headline by Michael Fassbender, but also includes Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith, Katherine Waterston, Harriet Sansom Harris, John Magaro, Saura Lightfoot-Leon, Andrew Brooke, India Fowler, Reza Brojerdi, Alex Reznik and Richard Gere.

The Agency season 2 plot

We don’t have any details on The Agency season 2 plot at this time. However, with how The Agency season 1 ended we can make some inferences about where the storyline could be heading (SPOILERS ahead).

Season 1 hinged on two main storylines — the mission to rescue Coyote and Martian’s relationship with Sami. Well, the Coyote mission was successful, so that storyline is wrapped up. Things are more complicated with Sami.

As Martian searched for a way to save Sami after being taken by Osman, he is approached by Richardson with a risky proposal — become a double agent, spying on the CIA for MI6, in order to help save Sami. While Martian is initially reluctant, by the end of the season we see that he takes on this new arrangement. How Martian handles his new role we have to assume is going to be a critical part of the next season.

Elsewhere, we should expect to see more of Danny on her mission in Tehran. Anything else we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Agency season 2 trailer

There is no trailer for The Agency season 2 at this point.

The Agency season 2 behind the scenes

A number of big names are executive producers for The Agency, including Fassbender, George Clooney and Joe Wright. The rest of the producing team includes Keith Cox, Nina L. Diaz, David C. Glasser, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, Bob Yari, Grant Heslov, Alex Berger, Ashley Stern, Pascal Breton and the Butterworths.

Ever since Coyote (Alex Reznik) was arrested at the start of The Agency, the goal has been to get the deep-cover CIA operative home alive. After struggling to locate the captured agent, The Agency season 1 finale sees the team finally with a plan in motion that, all going well, will save the US government from public humiliation and protect ongoing operations.

Tension is high in the London field office, but Martian (Michael Fassbender) is also trying to formulate a plan to save Sami (Jodie Turner-Smith) after he didn’t give Osman (Kurt Egyiawan) top-secret information. Meanwhile, Danny (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) faces her first challenge in Tehran.

It is a finale filled with suspense, action, and betrayal. Here's our recap.

Who targeted Martian? 

Martian is riding a motorbike on his way back to the office when he gets a call from Owen (John Magaro). “We have a situation,” Owen says. Owen suggests aborting the Coyote mission as General Volchok’s (Juris Žagars) Valhalla troop is more considerable than expected. Martian disagrees, telling Owen the team should move the kill zone 300 meters up the road. They are still talking when a car hits Martian, sending him flying off his bike into the London street, where passers-by stop to help the unconscious agent.

Rather than show the aftermath of the crash, the next scene is six hours earlier. The general mood in the office is tense as the SAC (Special Activities Center) is running the Coyote mission. Not even Owen, who can identify Coyote, is allowed in the room.

At the clinic where the Russian minister is due to visit, Sasha (Oleksandr Rudynskyi) is still unhappy the plan to kill the minister has been aborted.

If matters aren’t already fraught enough, Naomi (Katherine Waterston) tells Martian that Henry (Jeffrey Wright) knows where Sami is. Martian goes to Bosko (Richard Gere) to ask for help to save Sami’s life, but Bosko can’t do anything.

A desperate choice

Of course, Martian has a few other options, including meeting with Dalaga (David Harewood). Martian offers Dalaga asylum in the UK in exchange for Sami’s life, but Martian directs these comments toward MI6 — who is monitoring their talk.

Richardson (Hugh Bonneville) ignores Dalaga, as he has set his sights on Martian. Richardson proposes Martian take on a rogue operation, but the CIA agent is horrified at the prospect of being a double agent for MI6. Richardson says they have an SAS unit on standby to rescue Sami. When pushed, Martian agrees to this plan, but Richardson laughs in his face. The whole thing has been a ruse to see how far Martian would go for Sami.

In Tehran, Danny is questioned about her identity and the trip’s real purpose. Henry thinks Danny’s cover isn’t blown because they wouldn’t march a known spy through the airport. Naomi hopes Danny will pass with flying colors. Danny starts to cry when the officer yells at her, which is very convincing.

Owen finally gets access to the situation room and reports the update to Martian, as shown in the opening sequence. This time, we see Owen’s side of the conversation; he hears passerbys trying to determine if Martian is breathing. Naomi goes to the hospital, where a doctor tells her that Martian is in surgery to remove a clot between the skull and brain.

But Martian isn’t in surgery because there is no blood clot, as we learn Richardson orchestrated the crash. If Martian refuses to talk, the blood clot story will become fact, and doctors will tell the CIA that he didn’t survive surgery. Throughout the season, flashforwards have shown the Martian sharing his story, now we know it is Richardson who he's been talking to.

Saving Coyote

At the London office, the Coyote convoy is 5000 meters from the kill zone. At the clinic, Sasha excuses himself to go to the bathroom during the Russian minister’s photo op. Sasha retrieves a hidden handgun and when he joins the line of well-wishers he shoots the minister under the armpit (because he is wearing a bulletproof vest). Sasha runs, but the Russians quickly shoot him dead.

Charlie (Edward Holcroft)and Dr. Koval (Sergej Onopko) are told to give medical treatment, and they realize their original target might live. Nearby, the convoy stops to assess what is happening at the clinic. Coyote is allowed to go to the bathroom, giving Owen a clear visual, and he confirms his identity. Unfortunately, they are 100 meters outside of the kill zone.

Charlie and Dr. Koval load the minister onto the chopper and decide to complete their original mission “for Sasha.” As they exit the helicopter, Dr. Koval rolls a grenade inside and closes the door. It explodes as it takes off, killing everyone on board.

The convoy hears this explosion and immediately starts to move. When the convoy enters the kill zone, the US special forces launch their assault and kill every single man (including General Volchok). Coyote is alive, and Charlie and Dr. Koval arrive unscathed at the extraction point. Henry is relieved to see his brother-in-law is okay, contacting his wife at the first opportunity to tell her that Charlie is safe.

The cost of spying 

In other good news, Danny passes her interrogation and is met at the airport by Reza (Reza Brojerdi). Naomi breathes a massive sigh of relief when she receives Danny’s confirmation email that she is safe. Now, Danny has to get to work infiltrating the Iranian nuclear program.

Naomi visits Martian in the hospital and tells him they got Coyote: “Everything’s going to be fine.” The scene cuts to Martian asking Richardson if they have a deal, making good on rescuing Sami? While Richardson doesn’t explicitly confirm, his tone suggests Sami will be okay.

Richardson gives Martian a to-do list that begins with returning to work and embracing a hero’s welcome. “Move up the ranks, become very important. And we’ll meet from time to time,” says Richardson.

The rogue MI6 agent wants it to be business as usual with a betraying your country twist. Richardson says he can be a spy in the field with the comforts of home. “All you have to do is keep a secret,” is Richardson’s ominous command. Martian has made a devil’s bargain, but will he keep it?

All episodes of The Agency season 1 are streaming on Paramount Plus with Showtime in the US; Paramount Plus in the UK.

Continuing to build off her breakout role in Netflix’s Bridgerton, Phoebe Dynevor is taking on the spy genre in the 2025 new movie Inheritance.

This thriller sees her play a woman who discovers that her dad is a spy and quickly finds herself in the middle of an international conspiracy. Intrigued?

Here is everything you need to know about Inheritance, from when it premieres to the movie’s trailer.

Inheritance how to watch

Inheritance is available to buy or rent via digital on-demand platforms in the US.

At this time there are no release details for Inheritance in the UK.

Inheritance cast

Dynevor leads the cast of this spy thriller as Maya. While her breakout undoubtedly came from playing Daphne Bridgerton in the popular Netflix series, Dynevor also had runs on TV shows like Waterloo Road, Snatch and Younger. More recently she received some strong acclaim for her performance in the Netflix thriller Fair Play.

The other recognizable name in the Inheritance cast is Rhys Ifans, who plays Maya’s father. Ifans has most recently starred in House of the Dragon, Venom: The Last Dance and Nyad, but has memorably also appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man, Berlin Station, Anonymous and Notting Hill.

The rest of the cast features Necar Zadegan (Mayor of Kingstown), Kersti Bryan (Perry Mason), Ciara Baxendale (Trying) and Majd Eid (Holy Spider).

Inheritance plot

Neil Burger and Olen Steinhauer wrote the script for Inheritance. Here is the official synopsis:

“When Maya learns her father Sam was once a spy, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an international conspiracy. As she seeks answers, Maya herself becomes a target and must quickly learn the skills of her father in this nervy, fast-moving thriller.”

Inheritance trailer

Watch the trailer for Inheritance right here.

Neil Burger movies

In addition to co-writing the screenplay, Neil Burger is the director of Inheritance. Burger has been behind a number of big movies over the course of his career, here’s a look at his feature film resume:

• Interview with the Assassin (2002)
• The Illusionist (2006)
• The Lucky Ones (2008)
• Limitless (2011)
• Divergent (2014)
• The Upside (2017)
• Voyagers (2021)
• The Marsh King’s Daughter (2023)

Inheritance behind the scenes

Inheritance is produced by Bill Block, Neil Burger and Charles Miller, with Miramax as the production company and IFC Films handling distribution.

One of the interesting things about the production of Inheritance was that Burger and his crew wanted to cause as little disruption as possible. Per the official press notes on the movie from IFC, at all of their locations (New York, Cairo, New Delhi and Seoul) they shot with “a tiny crew, no lights, no boom mikes, trying to make ourselves invisible.” This also allowed them to react in the moment without drawing much attention themselves, including one anecdote when filming in a New York airport that Dynevor, in character, stole a pair of sunglasses from a store (they were returned after they were done with them).

After spending weeks juggling secrets, escalating dangers means it's time for Martian (Michael Fassbender) to share with Henry (Jeffrey Wright) why his former contact Sami (Jodie Turner-Smith) is in London. The problem is Osman (Kurt Egyiawan) has gotten too close to discovering who Martian is; in doing so, Martian’s teenage daughter Poppy (India Fowler) is a target. Martian must also consider Sami’s safety, as her security detail closely monitors her every move in The Agency episode 7.

Elsewhere, plans to locate missing agent Coyote (Alex Reznik) continue as the team looks closer into General Volchok (Juris Žagars) and the mercenary force Valhalla. With a limited time frame, they must act fast, putting a reluctant person into the field. Meanwhile, Danny (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) has to turn to a new friend to aid her mission.

Read on for our full breakdown of The Agency episode 7.

Threats to Sami and Poppy

News of Sami evading her security detail causes concern, so at the next round of negotiations it's made clear if she tries anything like that again her family will be punished using horrifying sexual violence methods that Sami has written about in her work.

Sami calls Martian, underscoring the severity of this threat. “Nowhere is safe,” Sami says. Martian doesn’t have a quick fix, telling her he is working on a way out and to follow the orders given by her security team.

Martian is also concerned for his teen daughter, Poppy, after Osman approaches her in a London cafe. Martian wants the teen to stay at the apartment, which she agrees to. However, as a precaution, he asks one of the field team members, Dozer (Ray BLK), to tail Poppy if she goes anywhere.

Of course, Poppy ignores her father’s instructions and heads to class. Guo (Curtis Lum) follows Poppy as she walks home, but Dozer safely intercepts, pulling Poppy out of harm's way.

An offer you can't refuse

At the office, the team strategizes about the next steps regarding Coyote, detailing everything they know about Volchok and Valhalla. The mercenaries first appeared in 2014 and have grown in size and scope in the last decade. They are registered internationally, so legally they have zero ties to Russia. They are an aggressive military force that successfully gains ground using ruthless methods.

Owen (John Magaro) says it's hard to estimate the number of forces that make up Valhalla. Rising tension between Russian higher-ups and Valhalla has only made Volchok more paranoid about potential infiltrating enemies, so it will be hard to get someone on the inside.

After undergoing intense interrogation earlier this season, it doesn’t seem likely that Alexei (Marcin Zarzeczny) will be persuaded to be the asset sent into the Valhalla compound. However, Martian doesn’t give Alexei much of a choice. They'll give Alexei, his brother and his mother US citizenship in return, but if he refuses, they will send him back to Belarus and ensure people know he has been working for the Americans.

Martian shares some truths 

Martian quickly has to switch gears when he sees Poppy in the office and learns an agent from Beijing followed and tried to kidnap her. Martian realizes it's “now or never” to tell Henry about Sami’s role in the meetings brokered by the Chinese agencies. Martian sprinkles some truth in but conceals his personal entanglement with Sami.

One big lie though is that it was a coincidence he learned Sami was in London. Martian says he accidentally bumped into her while taking Poppy to a museum (Martian gets Poppy to corroborate this story). Martian thinks he can get Sami to turn and become an asset. Henry debriefs Bosko (Richard Gere), who agrees Martian should pursue this plan.

Dr. Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris) and Naomi (Katherine Waterston) strategize options for Sami, with Dr. Blake suggesting Martian use Sami’s love for him to get her to help. Dr. Blake emphasizes Sami isn’t betraying her Sudanese home because “home is you.”

After the meeting, Dr. Blake tells Naomi Martian is still in love with Sami, but Naomi says Martian didn’t keep his feelings for Sami secret during their debriefs. Dr. Blake questions whether Naomi’s feelings for Martian have clouded her judgment, which Naomi rejects outright. But Dr. Blake is an expert in this field and looks like she hit a nerve.

Finding a way to talk to Sami will be challenging, so they decide to “attack” her cover for being in the UK. Sami must attend an in-person appointment at the university to explain her absence throughout the program, or her visa will be revoked.

Putting on a convincing show

After requesting a meeting with Volchok about sensitive matters, Alexei arrives at the heavily guarded Valhalla compound. Alexei says he works in the accounting department of the trucking company that is conning Volchok out of a lot of money on his invoices. Volchok appears impressed with Alexei’s demeanor and that he didn’t “piss his pants.”

Alexei shares intel with the CIA about who else was in the room, but Volchok thinks something about Alexei is off and correctly guesses he was there on behalf of the Americans. What's the fallback plan if this doesn't work?

Another fluid situation is Danny’s mission to get selected to go to Tehran. Unfortunately, Reza (Reza Brojerdi) has picked Jerome (Ben Lloyd-Hughes). But Danny isn’t going to quit this easily. Danny asks Edward (Elham Ehsas) for assistance in getting Jerome to drop out.

First, Edward uses vague threats, then shows Jerome he means business by gaining access to Jerome’s wife’s phone. The plan works, and Jerome passes on the opportunity. Danny and Edward are still sleeping together, and there is a sense they are growing closer — despite Naomi warning Danny not to catch feelings.

As predicted, Osman escorts Sami to the university meeting but doesn’t stay for this part of the conversation. The professor leaves through a different door, and Martian enters the room.

“Paul,” Sami says. “No,” is Martian’s response. How will Sami react to finding out everything she knows about Martian is a lie? Will Sami agree to become the latest recruit in this high-risk environment?

New episodes of The Agency premiere Fridays on Paramount Plus with Showtime in the US; Saturdays on Paramount Plus in the UK.

No matter how much experience Martian (Michael Fassbender) has in the field, he will come to a point where he is juggling too many different secrets and missions. As we begin The Agency episode 6, Martian is still coming out on top, but barely. But global security isn’t the only thing at risk as Martian’s loved ones become targets within this spy game.

The CIA London field office is still under tremendous pressure to bring Coyote (Alex Reznik) home, and significant moves to locate the missing deep cover agent continue in “Spy for Sale.” Time is running out, and Martian makes a promise he might not be able to keep.

Read on for the key things to know about The Agency episode 6.

A treasure hunt

Analyst Simon (Bilal Hasna) follows instructions to a delivery locker containing a Polaroid of a moped with a phone number on the back. When Martian first signaled to Cossack about making a deal a few weeks ago, he referred to Coyote as a stolen bike, saying he would pay anything to get it back, and this code continues.

The team discovers an online auction for Coyote. Bosko (Richard Gere) doesn’t want to work with anyone trying to sell a CIA agent to the highest bidder. The out-of-the-box setup isn’t part of the Russian FSB playbook, meaning Cossack works with someone outside the agency. When the bidding hits $350,000, Bosko suggests it's a bluff, but Martian doesn’t think they can ignore it as Cossack uses unconventional methods.

Meanwhile, Martian’s British intelligence friend James Richardson (Hugh Bonneville) has stopped by the CIA office for an unscheduled meeting with Henry (Jeffrey Wright) about the secret Sudan negotiations in London.

Henry maintains his poker face while Richardson tells him about an arrangement he had zero idea was happening. Martian interrupts with a “crisis” to aid Henry’s exit, allowing Martian to confront Richardson about his betrayal. Richardson explains he is going for the Control job at SIS (the top job at MI6) and no longer wants to jump when the CIA tells them to. Even though they served together in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen, Richardson doesn’t feel bound by loyalty.

Shaking a tail 

Martian's involvement with Sami continues to get more complicated, as he has to temper Sami’s concerns on the phone when she mentions that Abdul (Abdullahi Islaw) has his jacket. It's a tricky balance as Martian wants her to know he is fine but also needs to ensure she doesn’t endanger herself. “Do as they say,” Martian instructs.

The following morning, Guo (Curtis Lim) and another Chinese intelligence agent follow Martian to his publishers. They don’t see him exit the building because one of Martian’s CIA protection team members aids his getaway in a garbage truck. Martian claims he thought he was being followed but doesn’t divulge who.

For now, Martian must also work out who is pulling the strings behind the Coyote bidding war. Through elimination, Martian narrows down who Cossack works with based on who has “nothing else left to lose" — General Novikov (Marek Vašut), an old-school retired KGB operative still active behind the scenes. Bosko still doesn’t want to pay because it would set a precedent, but Martian suggests it's about the money. Martian’s hunch proves correct, as the cash is refunded, and an exchange is set for the following day.

In central London, Osman (Kurt Egyiawan) starts chatting with Poppy (India Fowler) when she goes to pick up her student ID from a cafe. Small talk gets more specific when Osamn mentions a lecturer called Paul Lewis. “Perhaps he doesn’t exist,” Osman replies when Poppy says she doesn’t know him.

At the same time, Martian has to shake another tail before meeting Novikov. First, he loses the agents by running at full speed before realizing his hotel key card has a tracker, which Martian plants in another taxi.

While Martian is en route to the Novikov meeting, a frantic Poppy calls to tell Martian about her conversation with Osman. Martian reassures his daughter but lets out an expletive when she hangs up.

Coyote's fate 

Thankfully Martian’s tardiness doesn’t ruin the meeting. Novikov wants to know if he can make a deal there; Martian is confident he can. They learn Coyote has given up his code name, a big no-no. They must act fast, as Coyote only has four to five days to live. Novikov doesn’t have Coyote, but he has vital information about where he is being held and by whom.

All Novikov wants in return is a recording from a 1989 conversation in Vogelsang barracks north of Berlin. Novikov says that Coyote “f***ed up” by recruiting someone connected to Russian mercenaries. “They got his psychiatrist to mess with his pills,” Novikov explains. The night Coyote was arrested for the DUI, he was drugged. A corrupt agent snuck Coyote from the police station via tunnels and sold him to mercenaries.

Now, General Volchock is holding Coyote behind enemy lines in Ukraine and will hand him over to the FSB the following week. Volchock is the commander of Valhalla, which Novikov describes as “a diabolical outfit” made up of special forces, private military contractors and ex-convicts. “You want him back? Move fast,” Novikov says.

Betting big

An update during a virtual conference call with Langley and the White House underscores how serious the Coyote situation has become. “He’ll soon be in Moscow, where they intend to use him to maximum effect,” explains Henry. The likely outcome is the Russians will go public with this news, and the US will have to “lean out of Ukraine” — not to mention potential nuclear escalation.

But Martian thinks it's good news, as the CIA has the ball and can make a move to snatch Coyote before any of that happens. Martian describes Valhalla as “a bunch of cowboys,” giving them four days to grab their agent back. However, Martian is way too confident for a man playing multiple games simultaneously. Bosko is furious at Martian for pitching an idea without passing it by him first.

Martian must also reassure his daughter that everything is okay, even though this is far from the case.

After Sami manages to shake her “protection," she finds Martian’s room empty. Sami can’t reach Martian, and Osman is already at the door when she leaves. Osman uses Sami’s phone to call Martian to chat about Poppy, “I’m very, very close,” Osman threatens. The game of cat and mouse now includes multiple innocent parties, and Martian is running out of options.

New episodes of The Agency premiere Fridays on Paramount Plus with Showtime in the US; Saturdays on Paramount Plus in the UK.

Martian (Michael Fassbender) expects risk-taking in his line of business but underestimates how his personal and professional lives will overlap in The Agency episode 5. Despite Henry’s (Jeffrey Wright) warnings, Martian continues to meet with Sami (Jodie Turner-Smith) which results in him coming face-to-face with Sudanese intelligence agent Osman (Kurt Egyiawan).

Meanwhile, attempts to find Coyote (Alex Reznik) continue with Owen (John Magaro) traveling to Belarus to search Coyote’s apartment. However, Owen lacks experience in the field, resulting in some missteps. Danny (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) also undergoes a dangerous encounter that tests her endurance skills.

Read on for our full recap of The Agency episode 5.

The values of covers

Dr. Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris) is curious about what Paul Lewis means to Martian. Martian compares a cover story to a windshield in that it can protect against bugs, but “anything hard enough, moving fast enough smashes clean through.” Osman proves not to be a bug, as he digs into Paul’s social media and travel history.

The biggest concern in the CIA field office isn’t this potential issue (Martian hasn’t shared any of this with his superiors), but finding a break with Coyote. Someone has contacted them with interest in an exchange, so Owen is tasked with searching Coyote’s apartment in Belarus for anything useful. Owen asks about a cover story, which Martian immediately vetoes as Owen hasn’t been trained.

Owen finds signs in the bathroom and bedroom at Coyotes' apartment that someone else has been there. As Coyote’s handler, Owen clocks other unusual details, such as a cat that Coyote never mentioned.

In the field

A date between Sami and Martian is interrupted by Osman, who makes Martian feel like a cop is questioning him. After Osman leaves, Martian has some follow-ups about this so-called colleague of Sami’s. But when Sami says her life will be in danger if she spills the real reason Osman is in London, Martian tables the conversation. “But Sami wasn’t a threat to me. I was a threat to her,” Martian tells the unseen woman in the flashforward.

The following morning, Osman orders Sami not to see "Paul" again. He claims to be protecting Sami, revealing his scar-covered chest (the result of six days of interrogation that proved he was telling the truth). Martian knows somebody will search his hotel room, so he leaves a copy of the manuscript of the novel "Paul" claims to be writing with eraser shavings inside (if they are disturbed, it will prove someone opened it). Martian follows Sami’s car and snaps photos of her entering a fancy building.

In Minsk, Owen meets the cat’s owner in Coyote’s apartment. Eva (Emma Nova) says Piotr (Coyte’s cover name) is her boss. She is staying at his apartment because she fought with her boyfriend. Owen ignores Martian’s instructions, pretending his name is John. They end up sleeping together.

Checking in with Danny, she's on a high after receiving an apology from Reza (Reza Brojerdi) and impressing him with her Farsi skills. She is quickly brought back to earth when she is handcuffed and detained. The interrogator ties Danny to a chair, telling her Reza works for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. “Spying is against the law in this country,” he says. Does this man work for British intelligence? The interrogation is violent, but Danny doesn’t crack. This ultimately was a test (Martian gives her a B+). Wen her interrogator informs Danny she passed, the two strike up a light flirtation — despite what he put her through — and later on, the two hook up for some out-of-office naked bonding.

Panicking

The CIA analysts pinpoint where somebody sent the Coyote-related text, a known dead drop spot. They realize Coyote must be leaking information, which means it is no longer safe for Owen to be there. Owen panics as he hasn’t told Henry about Eva.

In the bathroom, the steam from the shower reveals the word “VALHALLA;" Owen worries Eva is in on the deception. He locks Eva in a cupboard and finds a gun. Luckily, the extraction team arrives, detaining Eva before Owen does anything stupid.

While his colleagues try to learn more about Coyote's situation, Martian continues to gather intel on why Sami is in London. He learns that one of the men Sami is meeting with is Dalaga (David Harewood), the first cousin of General Hemedti. Martian also finds out that the owner of the building they are meeting is Chinese businessman Eric Zheng Huang, which will help uncover the motive for these meetings.

Martian also needs to lay a trap to ensure Osman believes the Paul Lewis cover story. Martian knows he will be followed and tested to see if he has skills that determine if he is an intelligence operative. So Martian receives specific non-fight training so he doesn’t respond to an attack like a CIA agent. When Osman’s man jumps Martian, he can't defend himself and his jacket is stolen with ease.

Martian's mistake 

Martian goes to the police station, knowing he is being watched by the man who stole his jacket because Osman wants verification that Martian reported the attack. He ultimately doesn't report the assault.

Reporting back to CIA, Owen tries to reason why sleeping with and then locking Eva in a closet was a good idea. Eva is just a secretary, but it isn’t a total bust. They have the phone, the word Valhalla on the mirror and information that Coyote was seeing a psychiatrist. Martian calls it “the most mishandled, questionable, sloppiest mission,” but Owen has “found a hole in the boat.” Is the psychiatrist the key?

Speaking of sloppy, Poppy’s (India Fowler) student ID was in Martian’s jacket pocket. Now Osman thinks he has to “get rid of someone” (note that he doesn’t specifically say Martian) and asks one of the Chinese agents for assistance.

Martian continues his off-books investigation, asking a British friend, James Richardson (Hugh Bonneville), for his thoughts on Eric Zheng Huang being part of whatever is going on. James says Eric is a self-made man who made his fortune in tech services, he is also a negotiations middleman. Martian is putting all the pieces into place. “I had to make lies real, or people would die,” Martian says. But is it too late?

New episodes of The Agency premiere Fridays on Paramount Plus with Showtime in the US; Saturdays on Paramount Plus in the UK.

Where should your loyalty lie, to your marriage or your country? That’s the question at the heart of the 2025 new movie Black Bag, a spy drama from Steven Soderbergh that features a star-studded ensemble led by Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender.

This is the second movie that Soderbergh released in 2025, following the haunted house movie Presence. It is also a return to the thriller genre that he has shown quite the knack for with movies like Out of Sight, The Limey, Traffic, Haywire, No Sudden Move and more. What do the director and his collaborators have in store for Black Bag?

Get a better idea of everything you need to know about Black Bag right here.

Black Bag how to watch

Black Bag is now playing exclusively in movie theaters worldwide.

Here's everything you need to know about how to watch Black Bag.

Black Bag cast

Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender lead Black Bag as the married couple that both work in intelligence, Kathryn and George Woodhouse. Blanchett is a two-time Oscar winner (The Aviator, Blue Jasmine), who was last seen in the Apple TV miniseries Disclaimer. Fassbender, meanwhile, is clearly enjoying the spy genre, as he currently stars in the spy show The Agency.

The Black Bag cast is rounded out by a number of recognizable stars, including Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton), Marisa Abela (Back to Black), Naomie Harris (The Man Who Fell to Earth), Tom Burke (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga) and legendary James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan.

Black Bag plot

With a script written by David Koepp, here is the official synopsis for Black Bag:

“From Director Steven Soderbergh, Black Bag is a gripping spy drama about legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse and his beloved wife Kathryn. When she is suspected of betraying the nation, George faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country.”

Black Bag reviews

Read WTW's Black Bag review for our thoughts on the movie.

As for general consensus, critics once again love Soderbergh's movie, with it being "Certified Fresh" at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences feel similarly, giving it a positive rating, ending a surprising streak of divided opinions on Soderbergh movies.

Black Bag trailer

Watch the official trailer for Black Bag right here, as Blanchett and Fassbender play spy games against one another:

You can also now see this official clip from Black Bag, seeing Michael Fassbender's character having a particular game in mind to play:

Here's another Black Bag clip:

Steven Soderbergh movies

Even with a brief “retirement” in the mid-2010s, the Oscar-winning Steven Soderbergh is one of the most prolific directors of the last 30-plus years, as evidenced by his list of feature directing credits that you can see here:

• Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
• Kafka (1991)
• King of the Hill (1993)
• The Underneath (1995)
• Schizopolis (1996)
• Gray's Anatomy (1996)
• Out of Sight (1998)
• The Limey (1999)
• Erin Brockovich (2000)
• Traffic (2000)
• Ocean's Eleven (2001)
• Full Frontal (2002)
• Solaris (2002)
• Eros (segment) (2004)
• Ocean's Twelve (2004)
• Bubble (2005)
• The Good German (2006)
• Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
• Che: Part One (2008)
• Che: Part Two (2008)
• The Girlfriend Experience (2009)
• The Informant! (2009)
• And Everything Is Going Fine (2010)
• Contagion (2011)
• Haywire (2011)
• Magic Mike (2012)
• Side Effects (2013)
• Logan Lucky (2017)
• Unsane (2018)
• High Flying Bird (2019)
• The Laundromat (2019)
• Let Them All Talk (2020)
• No Sudden Move (2021)
• Kimi (2022)
• Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023)
• Presence (2025)

Black Bag behind the scenes

Focus Features is the studio behind Black Bag, while Casey Silver and Greg Jacobs are the producers of the movie.

At this time, IMDb does not list who the credited cinematographer or editor for Black Bag is. However, if history holds true, the most likeliest candidates are Peter Andrew as cinematographer and Mary Ann Bernard as editor. Those are actually pseudonyms that Soderbergh has used for himself throughout his career, as he often performs cinematography and editing duties on his movies. The names are nods to his parents.

One role that Soderbergh hasn’t been doing as much recently is writing, as he has started a regular collaboration with David Koepp. The screenwriter, best known for Jurassic Park and Mission: Impossible, has written the script for two recent Soderbergh movies, Presence and Kimi.

Lioness season 2 has come to an end, but will there be another mission for Zoe Saldana’s Joe and her team to take on in Lioness season 3? That’s the question likely on a lot of fans’ minds after watching the action-packed season finale on Paramount Plus.

The streamer is home to a plethora of Taylor Sheridan original series, of which Lioness is one. The others include Tulsa King (a decision of season 3 is currently being waited on for that show), 1923 (season 2 set to premiere in 2025), Landman (still releasing new episodes as of publication), Mayor of Kingstown (season 4 status unclear), 1883 (done after one season) and Lawmen: Bass Reeves (future also undetermined).

The premiere episode for Lioness season 2 earned 12.4 million views across multiple platforms over the first few weeks of its premiere, per reports. With those numbers in mind, has Paramount Plus made a decision about Lioness season 3, and if so what is it? Let us fill you in on what we know. (FYI, we’re going to discuss some SPOILERS about Lioness season 2).

Status of Lioness season 3

As of publication, Paramount Plus has not made any call on whether or not there is going to be a Lioness season 3. It hasn’t been renewed, it hasn’t been cancelled. Like some of the other Taylor Sheridan shows we mentioned above, its future is still being decided.

For whatever reason, this appears to be par for the course with many of Sheridan’s shows. Outside of 1923, which was renewed prior to its inaugural season’s finale, Paramount Plus has typically given themselves some time to make a decision on Sheridan’s original programming. In fact, an official decision on Lioness season 2 was only announced publicly in May 2024, six months before the new season premiered and eight months following the end of Lioness season 1. So history tells us it could be a little bit before we get an answer on Lioness season 3.

Does it make sense for there to be a third season of Lioness? As we detail in our Lioness season 2 ending explained piece, the season-long mission of Joe’s team to strike back against the cartels and foreign nations (China and Iran) for attacking the US’s open borders is successful (though it certainly took a lot out of Joe and her team). It ends with Joe and Neal (Dave Annable) reconciling upon Joe’s return home, which if needed could be a nice end to the series.

However, should things continue there is potential for storylines to continue. Joe is still searching for her way out of the program so she can have a more normal life with her family; can she continue to prepare Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) for her role? Speaking of Cruz, what about her relationship with Josephina (Genesis Rodriguez)?

Then there is the situation with Pablo Carrillo (Demian Castro), who Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman) and Byron (Michael Kelly) installed as the new leader of the cartel with the understanding that he would work with the CIA. How will that play out? An upcoming presidential election was also teased throughout the season, could Sheridan choose to switch things up and have a new administration come in to see how Joe and the CIA react to that? If that guess proves correct, would that mean the end of Morgan Freeman on the show? Or, could they do what they did with Lioness season 2 and basically just start from scratch with a completely new mission with little to no ties to this most recent season's plot?

There are certainly plenty of options with where Sheridan and Paramount Plus could take the story should they choose to renew Lioness season 3. But for now, we’ll just have to wait and see if they are going to kick the can on any of them.

Do you want to see a Lioness season 3? Let us know in the comments below.

You can stream all episodes of Lioness right now exclusively on Paramount Plus.

After the mission at the heart of Lioness season 2 was filled with missteps and near failures, it is fitting that the season finale would be a chaotic and bloody affair as Joe (Zoe Saldana) and Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman) lead a two-pronged attack to strike back against their foreign adversaries and weaken the Mexican cartel aiding them. But does it all lead to mission success or failure? We’re breaking all the key bits of the Lioness season 2 ending right here (SPOILERS ahead).

Just in case you need the recap, Joe and her team are on their way to Iraq to send a message to their enemies that they can hit them too by launching an attack on an Iranian transport of two Chinese nuclear scientists tasked with enriching the country’s nuclear arsenal while it is still in Iran. Meanwhile, Kaitlyn attempts to fix the messy situation involving Pablo Carrillo (Demián Castro) and the cartels.

Without further ado, let’s get into what happens in the Lioness season 2 finale.

Operation Sky Hawk

As a pair of camouflage soldiers keep eyes on the Chinese scientists who are the primary targets of the mission, Joe and her team arrive at the army base in Iraq, the same one they plucked Josephina (Genesis Rodriguez) from. Bobby (Jill Wagner) starts handing out weapons to the team, but she’s reluctant to give Joe one, as she is still recovering and has been told to serve in only an observe and advise role on the mission.

Meanwhile, Josephina inspects the helicopter she is going to fly for the mission, with Cruz (Laysla De Oliveria) serving as her gunner. She says after the mission, the two of them should talk about what their situation is, though since neither of them is big into those kinds of talks, they agree to “not talk” together afterward.

Amber Whalen (Dawn Olivieri, fresh off her stint on Yellowstone season 5) goes over the details of the mission, which has been dubbed Operation Sky Hawk. The Iranian forces they are going to be running into may not be as well trained as them, but they are well armed, making it a dangerous situation. It’s noted that their backup is en route, but arrival is TBD. Now they just wait for the Iranian transport to move and get the official go.

Pablo gets a deal

Kaitlyn and Byron (Michael Kelly) arrive in Costa Rica to meet with Pablo. Since the cartel has been working with foreign enemies, they’ve been labeled a terrorist organization, which has allowed the CIA to freeze all of Pablo’s accounts. They remind him they’re not looking to build a case to prosecute but to eliminate threats to US security. In this case, Pablo’s brother Alvaro, who leads the cartel and has been working with the Chinese.

They offer Pablo a solution: he replaces his brother as leader of the cartel and forges a working relationship with the CIA, with him notifying them if any foreign enemies reach out in exchange for protection from prosecution and the freedom that comes from being in the US. Pablo accepts the deal and calls his brother to set up a meeting. When he asks if he can say that they’re CIA, Kaitlyn says yes, telling him there can be no trust with secrets, something she stresses he remembers.

At the meeting, Pablo quickly kills his brother and assumes control of the cartel. His first act is giving the Chinese agent over to the CIA, with Kyle (Thad Luckinbill) set to take him to Guantanamo Bay.

As Kaitlyn and Byron get ready to leave Mexico, Byron gets sick. Kaitlyn notes the longer you are away from the action the harder it is to be directly involved in someone being killed. That’s not what has Byron sick though; he’s sick about how despite all of this, little will actually change.

Under fire

Mullins (Morgan Freeman) brings Hollar (Bruce McGill) and Mason (Jennifer Ehle) into an observation room, letting them in on the operation he has ordered without the president’s approval. Mason quickly realizes this mission isn’t about the Chinese scientists, Mullins just wants to send a message. He openly admits to that, but assures them that they get to bask in the win if it works, but all the damage falls on him if it fails.

In Iraq, as the Iranian transport heads out, Operation Sky Hawk is a go, with Josephina and Cruz heading off in the helicopter while the rest of the team remains at base. Assisting them in the field is Cody (Taylor Sheridan), who along with another soldier sets up a sniper away from the attack point.

When Josephina and Cruz arrive at the target they open fire, destroying most of the vehicles. However, a tank manages to get a shot off and hits the helicopter, causing it to crash.

At base, Joe tells the team the helicopter is down and they need to head out. Joe sure as hell isn’t sitting this out though, suiting up and going with them.

Cruz helps Josephina, who broke her leg, out of the helicopter and takes cover as more Iranian forces are converging on them. En route, Joe is told that reinforcements will get to them in 19 minutes. Bobby points out that the six of them can’t last that long against what the Iranians have. That’s not their job, Joe reminds her, their job is to try. They come up on the Iranian forces and engage, with assistance from Cody.

But sure enough, Joe’s team is outnumbered and getting hammered. They fall back to the crash site, shortly joined by Cody as his sniper spot was found and attacked by an armored vehicle, which he ultimately manages to take out single-handedly by climbing on top of it and killing the soldiers inside.

Joe and the team meet up with Cruz and continue to engage with the enemies. However, they can’t stop their approach. As members of her team take a few hits, Joe tells Josephina to keep from using her pistol in case they need to use it on themselves to avoid being captured. She then takes a moment, closing her eyes and appears to mouth “I love you;” we have to assume to Neal (Dave Annable) and her family. Just then, the reinforcements arrive, driving back the Iranian forces.

In the observation room, Mullins breathes a sigh of relief that their mission succeeded. He is notified that the Chinese and Iranian ambassadors are looking to talk with him, but he decides he’ll let them stew for a while.

Returning home

Joe and her team return to base pretty banged up (though miraculously Joe got out of it all with barely a scratch and no lingering effects from her recent near-fatal injury). Cruz talks to Joe, telling her if she had a family and kids like Joe does, she would have just sent a missile to take care of their enemies rather than go in herself. Joe says no she wouldn’t, recognizing that she and Cruz are of the same mindset. Cruz thanks Joe for rescuing them.

Cut to Joe returning home to the US. Neal is waiting outside for her. He says he wasn’t sure if she was coming home. Joe wasn’t sure she was still going to be welcomed. But Neal assures her that she’ll always be able to come back to their home. They embrace and then head into the house to reunite with their kids.

And that’s a wrap on Lioness season 2. What did you think about the latest season? Share your thoughts in the comments below. You can rewatch all episodes of Lioness anytime exclusively on Paramount Plus.

The Agency episode 3 returns to the questions of motivations for not only becoming a CIA agent but also remaining in the dangerous, fractured working environment after spending years deep undercover. In Martian's (Michael Fassbender) case, he remains resistant to the protection protocols and rejects the therapeutic help offered by Dr. Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris).

While Martian struggles to organize a rendezvous with Sami (Jodie Turner-Smith), events unfolding in Ukraine with Henry’s (Jeffrey Wright) brother-in-law Charlie (Edward Holcroft) take priority in the London field office. Only a handful of top people know the details of the top secret mission that Charlie is part of, Operation Felix. But when station chief Bosko (Richard Gere) is brought into that inner circle, he stresses if Charlie is captured it will be an “immediate strategic geopolitical disaster.”

Read on for our full recap of The Agency episode 3.

Henry confronts Martian

Martian arranges to meet Sami at a hotel despite finding out she has been lying about attending an academic conference. Martian takes precautions to lose his tail, but Henry still tracks him down using CCTV. Martian is somewhat cold to Sami, and he tells her that his book publisher is demanding to see him downstairs (even though it's nearly midnight).

Henry confronts Martin. But lies come easily to Martian, who claims he has come to the hotel because he is sleeping with a married woman (though that part is genuine). Henry is furious Martian is still using the defunct Paul Lewis identity, as it raises a red flag about his mental state. He orders Martian not to go back up to the room.

Outside, someone (Kurt Egyiawan) is surveilling Sami, but it's unclear who this man works for.

The following morning, Henry’s wife is concerned because the Zoom link she uses to talk to Charlie isn’t working. Henry reassures her as best he can (without knowing the answer himself) that Charlie is okay.

Felix is the ball game 

Bosko tells the CIA Director (Dominic West) it's been determined that the network of the still unaccounted-for Coyote (Alex Reznik) is “sound” and that he understands that Felix is an “operation of extreme sensitivity." The director says they must recommence this conversation in “the cube.”

This one-on-one room is used sparingly (WWIII or an alien invasion, joke the tech guys), emphasizing the need-to-know status of this information, which we aren’t privy to.

Meanwhile, Martian greets Henry as “my stalker,” Henry admits he also “f***ed up recently for personal reasons. I owned it and put it right.” Henry is seemingly referring to asking his brother-in-law about Felix. In a conference room, Henry and Martian learn about the three men who came up against the Russian forces deep behind enemy lines. They know that if Charlie follows protocol, there will be a 48-hour comms blackout. After his briefing, Bosko updates Henry and Martian that Operation Felix is active again, and they must do “whatever it takes” to find Charlie and his team.

Charlie is already taking tactical steps, switching cars and noting the danger of drones that track by infrared. They need to find woodland rather than taking roads.

Despite knowing Bosko can’t confirm either way, Henry struggles not to ask questions about Felix because of how personal it is for him. Bosko understands the conflict of “heart versus job” and “soul versus duty” that Henry currently faces.

Listening in

Martian argues with his daughter Poppy (India Fowler) at his apartment about her purposefully invading his privacy. The following morning, Bosko makes it apparent to Martian he heard this argument (or has been told by someone listening) and that his door is always open. There's clearly still concern about Martian’s adjustment back to life in London.

After reviewing all of the Coyote materials, Langley has determined he's likely a double. There are three reasons why someone would flip: money, ideology and love. They have yet to determine Coyote’s motives, but they are often financial.

The conversation shifts to the needle in a haystack that is locating Charlie. Luckily, they can narrow the search because they know what methods Charlie will use to evade detection. When they put this into motion, Charlie and his two colleagues are met by allies who tell them Felix is back on. Resistance men will escort the trio to a clinic where “the target is due to arrive in a week.”

No glamour, no money, no exploding watch

In his session with Dr. Blake, Martian is hostile to the whole process, and the two are immediately at odds. We learn Martin's real name is Brandon, and he doesn’t see himself as shedding that identity when assuming another moniker.

After some back-and-forth, Martian reiterates the reality of this world is not like the movies (“no glamour, no money, no exploding watch”). He theorizes that you have to be insane to do this job and that Dr. Blake is not there to help him but to ensure he stays crazy enough. Martian confirms he's still “nuts enough” before leaving.

Despite Martian walking out on Sami at the hotel, she agrees to meet him again at a screening of Catch 22. They argue when he brings up the academic conference. “Playing the jealous husband; I already have one of those,” she responds. Sami explained it was pointless to go to those lectures to be told by a European academic about her specialist subject; she only enrolled to get a grant. Sami also came to London to escape from a place where she was scared.

Outside, Martian confronts her about what she does all day? Wondering if she came to London because she knew he would be there. Sami rejects this, pointing out she doesn’t interrogate him. The man following Sami takes a photo of them arguing on the bridge. “This isn’t working,” Sami tells Martian, and they go in separate directions. The man surveilling Sami approaches her and tells her to get in his car. She reluctantly agrees.

As Sami tries not to cry, we wonder whether she is worried her cover has been blown or if this interception is a message from her jealous husband. Only time will tell.

Episodes of The Agency are streaming on Paramount Plus.

After things went completely off the rails with the mission, it’s time for a new plan in Lioness season 2 episode 7. Mullins (Morgan Freeman) visits Byron (Michael Kelly) at his home to discuss his strategy.

Once they get through a TED Talk on how America’s ability to come together has been destroyed and all those in power (presidents, senators, congress, the media) played a part in it, Mullins tells Byron the enemy is at the gate, they need to slam it shut; it’s time they go on the offensive. Mullins tells Byron not to seek official approval until after the mission has started, but assures him that when it comes time to jump on the grenade for this, Mullins will be the one to do it.

And with that, Lioness is taking on a whole new mission and direction in its penultimate episode. If you had a harder time keeping track of all the moving pieces, read our Lioness season 2 episode 7 recap below.

Getting back to work

Though Joe’s (Zoe Saldana) fate was left open-ended last episode, we see she has survived her wound, which turned out to be from a fragment of her cell phone, not a bullet. Still, the surgery to save her requires Joe to take it easy for a week. When Joe asks what if that’s not possible because of her job, the doctor says to just make sure she thinks before doing anything that could potentially reopen the wound.

Neal (Dave Annable) is by Joe’s side to hear all of this. Despite Joe apologizing for calling him as she thought she was dying, Neal is pissed, saying if Joe dies in the line of duty it will kill him as well. Joe doesn’t want to hear it. He knows she swore an oath to her country before she married him and what that meant; he needs to toughen up or divorce her. Still, she’s looking for her way out, but hasn’t found it yet.

Later, Byron comes to talk with Joe. Joe gives him more details about the ambush at the border, believing it was actually an attempt to protect a foreign asset, not just move migrants across the border. Byron tells her they’re going on the offensive, but that she’ll run the mission from Langley. Joe won’t have it, saying she decides how her team is run. But Byron reminds her that her team is expendable, Joe isn’t.

Lie detector tests

Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman), Kyle (Thad Luckinbill) and the rest of the team rendezvous in Dallas, bringing Guiterrez (Kirk Acevedo) to the safe house where they’re holding Pablo Carillo (Demián Castro). They have some interrogations to do. Kyle hooks Guiterrez up to a polygraph machine, while Kaitlyn talks with Pablo’s maid (Sofie Calderon).

After asking some base questions, Kyle dives into the hard stuff with Guiterrez: has he ever been offered payment from a criminal organization or a representative of a criminal organization? Guiterrez admits he has, but he didn’t accept the payment. Kyle follows up with why he didn’t report the offer to his superiors or another agency? Guiterrez won’t say unless he’s assured his answer won’t leave the room. But when Kyle makes it clear if Guiterrez doesn’t answer they’ll kill him, he finally spills the beans.

The reason he didn’t report being offered payment was because the person who offered it to him was another DEA agent, who Guiterrez killed. Despite everything, Guiterrez is loyal to what he calls a lost cause, lamenting that no matter what they do, they can’t make a dent in the cartels’ business, in large part because they’ve infiltrated every level of the US that helps them bypass the guardrails against them. He asks if the CIA really thinks they can come in and fix the problem so easily?

Kyle informs Kaitlyn that Guiterrez is telling the truth. The maid backed up his story as well. So what do they do now? They decide to move Pablo to a black site in Costa Rica, and then regroup in Langley. Flying him down to Costa Rica, Kyle notes Pablo has never once asked what all this is about.

Kaitlyn then goes to talk with Guiterrez. He comments on how he realizes now the CIA does not hold back once they have their target in sight. The problem is, there’s no way the cartel doesn’t know that something is going on. She says that could be to their advantage, forcing the cartel to be reactive. She stares down Guiterrez and ultimately decides they are back on the same team, giving him back his gun and phone.

House guests

Awaiting their next orders, Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) has Josephina (Genesis Rodriguez) stay at her house on base. They get closer, emotionally and physically, with Josephina thinking Cruz could help her forget her shame and guilt, even if just for a moment. But before they can take the next step, Bobby (Jilly Wagner) and the rest of the team show up. With the base not having a house ready for them, they decide to crash at Cruz’s. They recognize that they interrupted something but just push right past it.

That night, Cruz and Josephina share a room; Cruz tells Josephina it’s OK for her to sleep in the bed with her. Josephina asks if the mission is over because of her? No, Cruz tells her. She shouldn’t have stepped in, she should’ve seen if Josephina could have gotten things under control with her father.

Joe’s choice

Kaitlyn visits Joe in the hospital. After they squabble over the failings of the mission (Kaitlyn is upset Joe led the team into that ambush, Joe brings up her objections to how the mission was put together), Kaitlyn points out they need a new target and asks how soon Joe can be ready? She’s ready to go now, Joe assures her.

Neal wouldn’t agree with that, as evidenced by how he treats Joe when he brings her home. He tries to help her out of the car, but she refuses. She then finds Neal had a medical bed put into the living room so Joe doesn’t have to climb the stairs. Joe says he’s her husband, not her doctor, so she defies him and goes upstairs to take a shower.

After Joe gets out, Neal comes in, frustrated because there’s a car outside to take Joe to work. He argues Joe can’t be stubborn about the health risks, but before he can make his case she stops him. She tells him about the girl, about the age of their youngest daughter, who had been abducted and sold into slavery, then she witnessed a suicide bomber detonate a bomb and kill that girl in front of her. She can’t and won’t rest after that. She’s going to make sure that never happens again.

When Joe arrives at Langley, Byron and Kaitlyn are being debriefed on two Chinese scientists set to be transported to Iran, presumably to help with their nuclear program. Byron says their new mission is to show Iran and China just how far the US can reach, striking the scientists’ transport while they are in Iran. They’ll deploy Joe’s team, with Josephina flying them in to execute the strike. Joe insists she joins them. Byron orders her to observe and advise only, while Kaitlyn tells her to know her limits and not to become a liability. Meanwhile, Kaitlyn will go to Costa Rica to take care of the Carillo situation.

When Cruz and Josephina awake the next morning, another tender moment is interrupted when they get an alert about the new mission. They all head to the airport where Joe meets them, telling them things are going to get spicy. Josephina asks Joe what her part is in all this. Josephina’s going to get to save the day by showing them how good of a pilot she really is.

Before takeoff, Joe calls Neal, who can quickly tell she is about to board a flight for a new mission. He asks what he is supposed to tell their daughters if she dies from her injuries or whatever danger awaits? Joe says he can ultimately tell them whatever he wants. Angry, Neal says if Joe does come home, she needs to decide if she’ll ever be able to make her children a priority like they should be before throwing his phone and abruptly ending the call. Not the sendoff Joe wanted as she boards the plane.

New episodes of Lioness premiere Sundays on Paramount Plus in the US; Mondays on Paramount Plus in the UK.

The Agency episode 2 depicts the fraught nature of covert work and the long-lasting psychological impact. Dr. Blake (Harriet Sansom Harris) arrives from Langley to assess Martian (Michael Fassbender), while her skills are also used in the field as a different operation proves challenging.

The London CIA field office still hasn’t located Coyote (Alex Reznik), a deep-cover operative who was arrested in Minsk and has vanished from custody. The concern is that Coyote’s cover is blown, which puts other assets and operations at risk, particularly in Ukraine. There is a race against the clock to assess danger levels. In addition, Martian starts questioning the motives of the woman he loves.

Read on for our full recap of The Agency episode 2 (and catch up with our The Agency episode 1 recap.)

Mission abort? 

Henry’s brother-in-law Charlie (Edward Holcroft) is a doctor working at a makeshift hospital in Ukraine. We also know he is working undercover in a top-secret capacity — Henry doesn’t know the specifics. Charlie receives a shipment of medical supplies and an update that operation Felix is “amber;" their cover is not blown at the moment — but he should be on standby.

Back in London, Martian continues to enjoy his hotel room rendezvous with Sami (Jodie Turner-Smith). Before Sami departs, she reminds Martian the last thing they said to each other was, “You and me, forever.” Is Martian about to risk it all for love? The following morning, Martian gifts the two operatives tailing him with coffee and pastries — and the bugs he has already found.

At the office, Blair (Ambreen Razia), Owen (John Magaro) and Martian continue to analyze the Coyote situation, reviewing how the missing operative’s sources are reacting to this fluid situation. Three sources (like Charlie) are on standby and a fourth “sounded spooked.” Martian thinks the fourth should be exfiltrated as they can use him.

An exfiltration will be worth the $100,000 price tag. The spy business is expensive, and Henry has to barter for every dollar from station chief Bosko (Richard Geere). If Coyote is a double agent, then anyone Coyote previously recruited might be working against the US.

Next steps

Henry notes he is concerned Martian has “post-mission disorder.” So Dr. Blake, who is on hand to evaluate mental health across the department, meets with him. Martian shows the doctor the video of the spiraling fourth source, Alexei (Marcin Zarzeczny), asking Dr. Blake to assess Alexei’s panic level.

It's determined they must do something immediately. Dr. Blake will accompany Martian to intercept Alexei. Unfortunately, Alexei is at the airport and bought a ticket to JFK. The destination makes it clear that Alexei has been working for the Americans.

Meanwhile, Danny (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) continues to prepare for covert life, saying goodbye to friends and giving over her real passport to be shredded. A trip to Israel in 2018 needs to be wiped from any airport security footage, which the CIA is more than capable of doing.

The wooden duck

Because Alexei jumped the gun, the handlers canceled his original plane ticket and told him to fly to Poland under the guise of visiting his sick brother. Martian and Dr. Blake meet Alexei’s brother and ask him to check himself into a hospital, which will support Alexei’s cover story. When Alexei arrives in Gdansk, he is taken by men against his will.

Even before Alexei’s “enhanced interrogation,” he is a sweating, screaming mess. If Alexei is a double, it will prove that Coyote is also. Martian and Henry respond to the live video, saying the team should “let him cook.”

Dr. Blake looks sickened by the whole endeavor and confused by Martian calling it a wooden duck. “Squeeze a wooden duck; it doesn’t quack," he explains. "If this guy works for the Russians, as soon as he’s had enough, he’ll quack,” explains Martian. If he does quack (aka talk), it means “we’re f***ed.”

Martian feeds commands to the agents in the Russian container, and Alexei starts to quack, spilling details about working for the Russians and Americans. As a truck driver, this includes supplying medical items like Charlie’s delivery at the start of the episode. Despite the information being little more than hearsay, JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) wants to use this intel to get their men to safety. Charlie receives the emergency abort signal, leaving the hospital with two allies.

Russian soldiers block the way out of the town, but the three operatives shoot through the blockade. It is three versus dozens, but they are all experienced, as the two other men are Ukrainian special forces and Charlie is a Delta Force operator. Despite being outgunned, Charlie surprises the Russians, and the trio triumphs.

It's revealed that Alexei isn’t in Russia but is being questioned in London; Martian puts on a ski mask and joins the interrogation, asking Alexei to identify people in his network. Martian confirms Alexei is not working against them, as the names Martian chooses are from War & Peace. They can’t confirm whether Coyote is a double agent.

Survival

Naomi (Katherine Waterston) informs Danny her mission entails identifying nuclear engineers at the University of Tehran; Danny needs to get hired by Professor Mortazevi for a research job at the Institute of Geophysics. Naomi warns Danny about the cost of doing this work; “surviving totally alone, forever.” Danny is all in and has made her first steps toward getting the research job.

Helpful analyst Simon (Bilal Hasna) has done a background check on Sami for Martian, and everything appears above board. Martian wants to surprise Sami at the academic conference. However, while Sami is registered, Martian learns she hasn't attended any lectures.

In what appears to be a flashforward, Martian says to an unseen person he could’ve gone to Henry to say, “I f***ed up.” Instead, he listened to the small voice saying, “I can do this. I can do anything.” It's concerning that Martian is in a hospital bed, revealing this error in judgment. Who is Martian admitting this to, and what is Sami hiding?

New episodes of The Agency premiere Fridays on Paramount Plus and Sundays on Showtime.

Michael Fassbender headlines a star-studded cast in The Agency, a new spy thriller that takes on fraught politics, international relations and spy psyches. Adapted from the critically acclaimed French drama The Bureau, the focus on training and handling deep cover agents remains, switching France for London as the base of operations.

The Cold War might seem like old news, but in the world of espionage, this covert conflict with Russia continues, and a crisis in Minsk, Belarus, is unfolding. Dealing with this potential global disaster is only one piece of the puzzle. At the same time, Fassbender’s CIA special agent, code-named Martian, has been pulled out of a long-term operation and is adjusting to life back in London.

Read on for a full recap of The Agency series premiere.

Trouble in Belarus 

After spending six years undercover, a no-nonsense Martian is immediately taken to a safe house upon his return to England. Martian appears unrattled but later voices frustration that he was only given 48 hours' notice to pack up his operation.

In a video debrief with handler Naomi (Katherine Waterston), Martian describes breaking it off with his married lover Sami (Jodie Turner-Smith), telling Sami he was leaving Ethiopia for a teaching job in Jordan. But Martian's verbal description doesn’t match the tender, sad scene we see with Sami. When Martian relocates to London, he immediately finds three separate listening devices his new apartment.

In Belarus, a drunk man gets into a car and immediately causes damage to other vehicles in his attempted escape and is arrested. When the scene cuts to the London CIA field office, we learn he is an agent by the codename Coyote (Alex Reznik).

To understand what they are up against, Head of Strategy Henry (Jeffrey Wright) asks Frank (Alex Jennings) to look up footage of Coyote’s “under the influence” interrogation training to make sure the agent is equipped in this incapacitated state. Meanwhile, Coyote’s handler, Owen (John Magaro), goes through their recorded conversations to see if anything is unusual.

Frank hides his concern, but the footage reveals Coyote was six years sober and refused to drink as the training demanded. Frank is sympathetic as he is also a recovering alcoholic. Coyote says if he is drunk, his cover is blown. None of this bodes well, considering how inebriated Coyote was in the footage. Frank lies to Henry, saying the tape of Coyote’s training is corrupted.

When Station chief Bosko (Richard Gere) asks Henry for an update, Henry claims “nothing special” has happened so far with the situation in Belarus.

The Cold War is back on 

Martian gathers all the Paul Lewis IDs he used while on his most recent mission but removes the driving license. He asks to see his teen daughter Poppy (India Fowler), who can’t help but make some digs about how much time her dad has been gone.

The following day, Henry catches Martian up on the political climate. Martian observes that six years ago the Russian embassy in London only had three satellite dishes; now they have 30. Henry says the Cold War is back “chilly as f***.” Plus, there is trouble in Belarus. Is this why Martian is back? Nope, Martian has to train a female agent who will be going deep cover in Iran.

At this office, Martian is greeted like a returning hero. Martian meets his handler, Naomi in person for the first time, but is distracted by a news report of a bombing at a university in Sudan.

Martian returns all the old IDs to be destroyed, making an excuse for the missing driver’s license. Simon (Bilal Hasna) must deactivate the Paul Lewis email accounts, but Martian sees a message from Sami saying she still loves him.

New and old opportunities 

The first training session with Danny (Saura Lightfoot-Leon) gives Martian a chance to instill an important lesson — “Never rely on the op to make you safe; rely on yourself.” Back at his apartment, Martian is under surveillance by the agency, which is standard protocol in this scenario. Still, he buys a burner phone undetected. He calls Sami and is relieved to hear she is in London.

The Coyote situation continues to spiral as there is no sign of him in custody. Owen explains to an impatient Bosko that Coyote’s phone is still pinging at the police station, meaning his cover is blown or he orchestrated his own disappearance.

During this meeting, Coyote’s refusal to do the under-the-influence training is revealed to Henry. If Coyote has talked, it has enormous ramifications, as roughly 60 percent of all covert ops in Russia and Ukraine might be compromised.

Langley demands an update. Bosko downplays it as a “local problem.” Their boss (Dominic West) explains the “New Domino Theory” suggests the world is three dominoes away from nuclear exchange: “Minsk is a big f***ing domino!” Later, when Frank packs up his office for good, he warns Henry that Martian is “dangerous.”

Losing his tail

When Henry gets home, his wife is chatting to her brother Charlie (Edward Holcroft) on a video call. Henry needs to ask Charlie about a mission. Charlie is in the special ops business and can’t answer specifics, but he is involved with an op with a code name “Felix.” Henry then tells his brother-in-law not to worry.

One concern is Martian knows how to lose his tail, but Martian didn’t factor in that his car would have two tracking devices, so two agents follow him to a hotel where Martian is meeting Sami. The exes make chit-chat, and Martian claims he is writing a book. They head to a hotel room and reconnect in the bedroom.

A flashback to Martian debriefing Naomi in the first 24 hours since he met Sami reveals he didn’t listen to his handler about whether or not Sami is in the game. Martian doesn’t think Sami is an enemy agent, but falling for someone is not advised because “love is blind.” Is Sami a historian, or is she a spy?

New episodes of The Agency premiere Fridays on Paramount Plus and air Sundays on Showtime.

As Lioness season 2 episode 6 begins, Joe (Zoe Saldana) looks utterly lost after going through the failed rescue mission against the cartels. Bobby (Jill Wagner) asks what they can say to the officers who responded to the scene? Since they still have agents undercover, Joe tells her to give no comment. While Bobby tries to comfort Joe that what transpired wasn’t her fault, Joe can’t help but wonder if the girl she placed the tracker on would still be alive if they didn’t try to save her.

The fallout from the incident is quickly building. When Byron (Michael Kelly) learns of it he demands Joe immediately get on a plane to debrief. Meanwhile the other agencies that have arrived on the scene don’t seem as willing to sweep this story under the rug like Joe wants. Add in a potential mole inside Joe’s team and all hell breaking loose at the Carillo household, and the entire mission is becoming a s**t show.

That’s not even mentioning the most potentially shocking development of the episode, which you can read about below with our full Lioness season 2 episode 6 recap.

Father/Daughter chat

The morning after their awkward first dinner at the Carillo household, Josephina (Genesis Rodriguez) tells Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) she doesn’t recognize her father, Pablo (Demián Castro), anymore, and that she’s scared of him. She recalls a memory when she was 9 when her father rescued a baby falling from a horse, saying she thought he was immortal. Cruz explains daughters often think of their fathers as they are in their fondest memories, and see themselves as the age they were in that memory. But Josephina isn't 9 years old anymore and her father isn’t who she thought he was. She needs to talk with him about why they’re there.

After a little chit-chat with her father, Josephina starts the tough conversation. “They know,” she tells him, the CIA; they know about his connection with her uncle’s cartel. Pablo quickly becomes furious, slapping his daughter. He yells that the CIA doesn’t care about drugs, so why would they look to destroy their family? He is about to hit her again when Cruz comes in and subdues him, confirming what Josephina is saying: they’re CIA.

All of this was seen on security footage, which brings Pablo’s men rushing toward the house. But Two Cups (James Jordan), Tex (Jonah Wharton) and Randy (Austin Hebert) also saw it and are driving in as reinforcements. They take out the security team and secure the house.

Cruz tells Pablo he has two options: they can arrest him now for his role in helping the cartels, seize his assets and put him in county jail, where he’s unlikely to last the night; or he can work with them, helping to ID a foreign asset and then place him in witness protection. Reluctantly, it seems Pablo goes with option two.

Inside man/woman?

As the team continues to secure the Carillo house, Two Cups comes upon the maid, Atzi (Sofie Calderon). While he searches her he finds she is wearing a wire. She’s apparently an informant for DEA Agent Guiterrez (Kirk Acevedo), something he failed to tell Joe and her team.

Two Cups calls Joe on her personal phone, explaining her work phone isn’t working; she pulls it out and realizes it's been destroyed by a bullet, which surprises her and immediately worries her. Two Cup fills her in on everything, saying the mission is compromised and they have nine hours to come up with a new plan before the next Carillo security team comes in for their shift. Joe instructs him to get to a secure place and fill Kyle (Thad Luckinbill) in on everything, especially about Guiterrez.

Unsurprisingly, Kyle and the rest of the team aren’t happy Guiterrez could be a mole. They get him in the car under the guise they need to get back to base. But once he is in the car they start beating him and accusing him of being a mole, promising them they will find the truth.

Medical emergency

After Joe gets off the phone with Two Cups, she removes her gear and sees she was indeed shot during the rescue mission, and with no exit wound the bullet is still inside her. She calls Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman), telling her she’s been shot in the liver and needs surgery. Kaitlyn has the plane rerouted to land at a military base in 20 minutes, but Joe is quickly getting worse.

Joe calls Neal (Dave Annable), who is with the girls at a soccer game. Through strained breath, she tells him the sun rises and sets with him and that he needs to take care of the girls; Joe seems doubtful she’s going to make it out of this one. As Neal desperately asks what’s wrong, Joe passes out.

Once the plane lands a doctor begins to treat Joe and transports her to a hospital for surgery.

The blame game

Before they go into a meeting with Mullins (Morgan Freeman) and his team in the Situation Room, Kaitlyn tells Byron that Joe is in surgery, but whether or not she’ll pull through is still unknown. She also informs him about Guiterrez not sharing that he had an informant with the Carrillos, which they can use to shift some of the blame off them for everything that has transpired.

As they enter the Situation Room, they are quickly shown a news report about the botched mission; apparently other agencies didn’t follow suit with the CIA’s desire for no comment. This sets off a shouting match with everyone pointing fingers at each other for how this mission has gotten out of hand and morphed so much from what they originally intended. Mullins gets everyone to calm down, asking how they move on from this. Is the mission still possible and what are the risks?

Kaitlyn informs them about how their lioness mission was compromised because of not being told about Guiterrez’s informant. They currently have Pablo in custody and Guiterrez detained; they’re permitted to do the latter even though Guiterrez is a federal agent because of code 2831, which is for treason, saying Guiterrez’s withholding of information can be classified as aiding an enemy of the state. However, despite all the risks, Byron adds they’re not in a position to stop; they need to shift the focus of the mission.

Instead of an undercover embedding operation, they change it to a hard target hit — killing Josephina’s uncle, Alvaro Carrillo, and hoping that the Chinese operative they're truly after is with them. Once the mission is over, they’ll kill Pablo and Guiterrez to make everything neater.

The dangers of this plan force Mullins to step out so he has deniability. While his associates say they can’t authorize a black ops mission like this, it’s implied that Byron and Kaitlyn have the green light.

Kaitlyn takes over

Kyle and the team are torturing Guiterrez at the base for information, but when Kaitlyn arrives on the scene she takes over the interrogation. She says they have all the information on Guiterrez’s family, and if he doesn’t cooperate they will release their information, putting them at risk from the cartels. This gets Guiterrez to talk, but he maintains he’s not a mole.

He’s been on Carrillo for years, including using the maid as an informant because she was his kids’ former nanny; but he didn’t have her wear a wire until the CIA showed up. Even after all of his years of surveillance, he says there’s no hard evidence linking Carrillo to the Cartel. His bank accounts are normal and he got his house because the person who built it left it to him in his will.

Kaitlyn wants Kyle to have Guiterrez take a polygraph test to confirm all this is true; if he fails, she tells him to dump Guiterrez in the river. Meanwhile, Kaitlyn takes Bobby and Tucker (LaMonica Garrett) to Dallas to meet up with Cruz and that team.

Speaking of, as they hold Pablo in a secure location he simply looks at Josephina with rage in his eyes. While she can’t quite hold back her tears, Josephina stares just as hard back at her father.

New episodes of Lioness season 2 premiere Sundays in the US and Mondays in the UK on Paramount Plus.

The team is still reeling as they arrive back at base at the top of Lioness season 2 episode 5. Leaving those children in the warehouse, waiting to be trafficked across the US border to fates unknown is not sitting well with any of them. First Joe (Zoe Saldana) takes her anger out on Guiterrez (Kirk Acevedo). When Kyle (Thad Luckinbill) tells her to calm down, that all that was a detour and they need to stay on mission, Joe corrects him: those were children, not detours.

Joe calls Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman) and Byron (Michael Kelly) asking if they can conduct a rescue mission for the kids. They tell her that’s not their job; authorities are pushing their angel that the attack was a rival cartel, so they need to stick with that. It’s time for the next phase of their mission: having Josephina (Genesis Rodriguez) go back home and begin her work as a lioness.

Read on for a full recap of what happens in Lioness season 2 episode 5.

Challenging authority

Joe’s team voices their displeasure about leaving the children behind, then Josephina says she is not going forward with the mission before storming off; Joe sends Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) after her. Kyle pulls Joe aside and tells her that if she lets her “tools” have opinions, then can start to decide how they want to be used. While she notes that she needs her team to think for themselves (something Kyle hasn’t had to worry about with his grunts), she moves to reassert control. When the team is hesitant to move out on her command, Joe calls Byron and asks who wants to talk to him about their complaints. No one speaks up, so Joe tells them to go pack.

But Joe isn’t just a tool either and has a plan. She tells Bobby (Jill Wagner) she put a tracker on one of the girls. She then ask Guiterrez what he could do if he knew when and where they were crossing the border. He can arrange for a team to intercept. That’s good for Joe, who pulls Bobby, Tucker (LaMonica Garrett), Tracer (Max Martini) and Kyle for the mission while the rest of the team will help imbed Josephina.

Of course Cruz has to convince Josephina to continue with the mission. Cruz gives Josephina some details on about her mission, how she lied to the only women she ever loved and blew her world up, the exact thing that Josephina is worried about doing to her family. But Cruz learned that 5% of people in the world are saints, 5% are evil and 90% are sheep. Is Josephina’s father a saint? No, Josephina admits. Is he a sheep? After the warehouse, she certainly can’t say he is. So he’s evil. That may not make it easier, but their job is to choose whether or not to fight, and not fighting is how you get warehouses full of children. Josephina is still not happy about it, but she stays on.

A way out

As the team flies to Dallas, Joe asks Cruz what she thinks about Josephina? Cruz says it’ll be tough for Joe to trust someone who doesn’t want to be there. Joe admits she doesn’t trust Josephina, so their best bet is to have her believe her father has a chance to escape this situation. Cruz suggests they give him a real chance — offer him immunity in exchange for helping with their mission. Joe notes a cartel operative has never successfully flipped before, but Cruz points out he’s doing this for money, not a cause, and they have his daughter making the case.

Joe pitches the idea to Josephina: if her father cooperates with their mission he'll be placed in witness protection. The alternative is what Josephina fears, her father getting mixed up and set to prison, or being killed. If Josephina wants her father to survive, she needs to make this offer to him. After that, the mission continues on as planned to find her uncle Alvaro and his Chinese contact. Josephina agrees.

After landing, Josephina and the team head out, but Joe stays on so she can head back to Fort Bliss. She gives Kaitlyn a call, giving her an update and saying Cruz is handling things. Kaitlyn notes Joe is putting a lot of trust in Cruz. Joe notes Cruz is better at this than even she was when she was in the same position. And because of that, Joe is beginning to see a way out of her role to spend more time with her family, something she talks about with Neal (Dave Annable) on the phone.

Meet the parents

As Cruz and an anxious Josephina drive to Josephina’s parents’ house. Tex (Jonah Wharton), Two Cups (James Jordan) and Randy (Austin Hėbert) set up their base of operations. Looking at surveillance footage of the Carrillo home, they note that there doesn’t appear to be a lot of security, which raises red flags. But they quickly figure out that the surrounding houses actually are where the security teams are stashed, adding to the complexity of the mission.

When Cruz and Josephina arrive at her parents’ house, they are excitedly greeted by Josephina’s mom, Mario Carrillo (Patricia De Leon). As they get ready for dinner, Josephina admits she doesn’t know how much has changed with her parents since she left home at 18; she wonders what she should talk about? Cruz says she can tell them “most of the truth,” but eventually she has to get her father alone to talk to him and make the offer. Once she does to not let him out of her sight for fear he might inform his brother. Josephina is still nervous, so Cruz asks if she found out her dad was funding terrorists would she hesitate to turn him in? No, she admits, but she has a hard time forgetting the loving memories she has of him. Cruz tells her they’re not changing memories.

After getting notified by the housekeeper about Cruz (who she describes as a soldier), Pablo Carrillo (Demián Castro) joins his family for dinner, but doesn’t say a word when he sits down. He does eventually ask Josephina if she lost her pilot’s license when she was dishonorably discharged, but she says only civilian aviators need licenses, and thinks she could still likely get one. He then asks why she was discharged? With Cruz’s encouragement she tells (most of) the truth: that a state executive drove through enemy territory, causing a fire fight that she provided air support for but was ultimately given the blame despite saving their lives. This sets Pablo off on a rant against the “woke” military and how it is a sign of the American empire beginning to fail. But after it is destroyed a new empire will rise in its place. Josephina realizes that convincing her father to cooperate with the US government may be harder than she thought.

A botched rescue

Joe meets up with her team as they head out to intercept the children being trafficked across the border. They expect the actual escorts crossing the border to be just a couple, but more enemies will already be on the US side waiting to receive them.

When they get to the location, Tucker takes the high ground to scope out the area and provide cover. Joe’s team and Guiterrez’s DEA team split up and begin to engage with the cartel men. But the cartel has more than what they were expecting, including exploding drones. Tucker is able to take out a few, but one kamikazes the DEA team.

Joe and her team continue through, approaching the traffickers and the children. They order for the traffickers to surrender, but one comes forward and opens his vest. As Tucker watches from the hill a white light blinds him (and viewers). It was an explosion. Joe seems OK from the blast, but all of the children appear to be dead.

New episodes of Lioness season 2 premiere Sundays exclusively on Paramount Plus.

Rami Malek seeks vengeance in the 2025 new movie The Amateur. The action/spy/thriller is an adaptation of the Robert Littell novel of the same name, with the director of Slow Horses season 1 behind the camera.

This is actually the second adaptation of Littell’s novel, with the previous effort coming in 1981 starring John Savage and Christopher Plummer and directed by Charles Jarrott. Unfortunately, that version of The Amateur isn’t easy to find as it’s not available on-demand.

But the new version of The Amateur is here, and we've got everything you need to know about it directly below.

The Amateur how to watch

The Amateur is now playing in movie theaters worldwide.

The Amateur cast

Rami Malek leads the way in The Amateur as CIA cryptographer Charlie Heller. Malek is an Oscar-winning actor (Bohemian Rhapsody) who has some familiarity with the spy genre. He played the villain in the James Bond movie No Time to Die, then on TV starred in the corporate espionage thriller Mr. Robot and in season 8 of 24.

He’s surrounded by a stellar supporting cast, which includes Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Caitríona Balfe (Outlander), Jon Bernthal (The Bear), Michael Stuhlbarg (The Instigators), Holt McCallany (The Iron Claw), Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown), Adrian Martinez (Focus), Danny Sapani (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) and Laurence Fishburne (Megalopolis).

The Amateur plot

Ken Nolan (no relation to Christopher Nolan) and Gary Spinelli wrote the screenplay based on Littell’s novel. Here is the official synopsis:

“Charlie Heller is a brilliant, but deeply introverted decoder for the CIA working out of a basement office at headquarters in Langley whose life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack. When his supervisors refuse to take action, he takes matters into his own hands, embarking on a dangerous trek across the globe to track down those responsible, his intelligence serving as the ultimate weapon for eluding his pursuers and achieving his revenge.”

The Amateur reviews

Read WTW's The Amateur review to find out what our reviewer thought about the movie.

As for the general consensus from critics, as of April 14 the movie has a "Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Amateur trailer

Watch the official trailer for The Amateur right here:

Also check out these clips and features for some additional looks at the spy thriller:

The Amateur director James Hawes

Despite The Amateur only being James Hawes second feature film as a director (the other was the Anthony Hopkins movie One Life), he is a veteran TV director whose credits go back to the 90s.

Most notably he directed all six episodes of Slow Horses season 1, but he has also directed episodes of Raised by Wolves, Snowpiercer, Black Mirror, The Alienist, Penny Dreadful and more.

The Amateur behind the scenes

Part of adapting The Amateur for today’s audiences was updating some details of the story. The original novel is set for a large part in Prague, which was once a hotbed of spies during the Cold War. However, as Hawes notes in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, that’s not the case anymore. So instead he decided to change the location to Istanbul, saying, “It feels a bit more dangerous in current history.”

As for some of the other parties working behind the scenes, The Amateur is a 20th Century Studios movie, alongside Hutch Parker Entertainment and Seed Productions. It’s being produced by Joel B. Michaels, Hutch Parker and Dan Wilson; Malek is an executive producer.

It’s time to join the rebellion again, as Andor season 2 returns to Disney Plus, bringing one of the streamer’s most acclaimed series back after a long hiatus. While there have been a number of Disney Plus shows set in the Star Wars universe, Andor has risen to the top alongside The Mandalorian, so fans are sure to be hyped for these next 12 episodes, which are set to be the series’ last.

Andor follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), telling the story of how he came to become the rebel spy that we meet in Rogue One. Created by Tony Gilroy, who co-wrote Rogue One, the first season of Andor was “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 96% and earned eight Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series. That’s a lot to live up to, can those expectations be met?

Says creator and executive producer Tony Gilroy, "One of the great thrills of making Andor is the scale of the story and the number of characters we're able to meet — ordinary people, Imperial overlords, passionate revolutionaries. They are real people making epic decisions, all of them staring down questions with terrifying consequences. Cassian’s journey is the soul and spine of our story, but it’s the choir that makes the show. I’m so excited for audiences to see where we go in season 2."

Here is everything you need to know about Andor season 2.

Andor season 2 next episode

The final three episodes of Andor season 2 (and the series overall) premiere at 9 pm ET/PT on Tuesday, May 13, on Disney Plus.

In order to watch Andor season 2, you must be a Disney Plus subscriber. There are various options to do this. The first is you can sign up for Disney Plus as a standalone service (ad-supported and ad-free options are available). If you’re in the US, Disney Plus is also included as part of a Hulu with Live TV streaming subscription or you can bundle Disney Plus with Hulu and ESPN Plus with the Disney Bundle.

Andor season 2 cast

Returning to his role as Cassian Andor is Diego Luna. This has become one of Luna’s signature roles, but he is also known for Y Tu Mama Tambien, Open Range, Milk, Narcos: Mexico and, most recently, La Maquina.

Other returning members of the Andor cast include Stellan Skarsgård as Luthen Rael, Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, Kyle Soller as Syril Karn, Adria Arjona as Bix Caleen, Denise Gough as Deedra Meero, Faye Marsay as Vel Sartha, Varada Sethu as Cinta Kaz, Joplin Sibtain as Brasso, Muhannad Bhaier as Wilmon Paak and Kathryn Hunter as Eedy Karn.

New members of the Andor season 2 cast include Rogue One alumni Ben Mendelsohn as Director Orson Krennic, Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera and Alan Tudyk voicing K-2S0.

Andor season 2 plot

The makers tease: "Season 2 will see the characters and their relationships intensify as the horizon of war draws near and Cassian becomes a key player in the Rebel Alliance. Everyone will be tested and, as the stakes rise, the betrayals, sacrifices and conflicting agendas will become profound."

The final season will unfold over 12 episodes broken down into four chapters of three episodes each.

Andor season 2 episodes

Here are the synopses for the Andor season 2 episodes released so far:

Andor season 2 episode 1, "One Year Later"
"An undercover mission. A sanctuary threatened. A Chandrilan wedding. A chilling Imperial plan."

Andor season 2 episode 2, "Sagrona Teema"
"Cassian caught in a rebel turf war. Mon's wedding woes mount. The Ferrix survivors face inspection."

Andor season 2 episode 3, "Harvest"
"Time is running out for everyone."

Andor season 2 episode 4, "Ever been to Ghorman?"
"Cassian and Bix adjust to a Luthen safehouse. All eyes are on Ghorman. Wilmon visits Saw Gerrera."

Andor season 2 episode 5, "I Have Friends Everywhere"
"Cassian on Ghorman. Syril on Coruscant. Bix failing. Wilmon trapped. Kleya has a serious problem."

Andor season 2 episode 6, "What a Festive Evening"
"Vel and Cinta to Ghorman. Cassian home to Bix. An argument. A heist. A party. Everything at risk."

Andor season 2 episode 7, "Messenger"
"Yavin is growing. Wilmon comes for help. Dedra's on Ghorman. Cassian heeds the call."

Andor season 2 episode 8, "Who Are You?"
"Imperial manipulation. Ghorman frustration. Cassian and Syril center stage as Palmo erupts."

Andor season 2 episode 9, "Welcome to the Rebellion"
"In the Ghorman aftermath, Mon Mathma takes a stand. Cassian must carry out a difficult extraction."

Andor season 2 trailer

Check out the trailer for Andor season 2, the final season of the Star Wars series, right here:

Andor season 2 behind the scenes and more

The series was created by Tony Gilroy, who also serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Sanne Wohlenberg, Diego Luna, Luke Hull and John Gilroy. Tony Gilroy wrote the first three episodes, with Beau Willimon writing episodes 4-6, Dan Gilroy penning episodes 7-9 and Tom Bissell putting pen to paper for episodes 10-12. The directors for the series are Ariel Kleiman (Eps. 1-6), Janus Metz (Eps. 7-9) and Alonso Ruizpalacios (Eps. 10-12).

Check out a behind-the-scenes look at the new season right here:

What to Watch also got to take part in an interview with Luna about the new season, detailing some of the motivations and emotional struggles of Cassian this season and where Andor is unique in the entirety of Star Wars. Luna said, "Cassian’s journey matters in the Star Wars universe because it shows regular people having to get their hands dirty. They have to get involved in the rebellion for survival and that’s why Andor is unique."

Sunday, November 10 is a big day for Taylor Sheridan fans. Not only is Yellowstone season 5 returning after nearly two years, but Lioness season 2 episode 1 is making its cable TV debut on Paramount Network, bringing the Paramount Plus original series to a wider audience.

Lioness is an action spy thriller starring Zoe Saldana as a CIA operative that runs the Lioness program, a group of female assets used to infiltrate and take out dangerous targets. In season 2, the CIA's fight against terror moves closer to home, forcing Joe (Saldana) to enlist a new Lioness operative to infiltrate a previously unknown threat. With pressure mounting from all sides.

The special airing of Lioness will follow immediately after the conclusion of Yellowstone season 5 episode 9 on Paramount Network at 9:10 pm ET/PT. Here is the official synopsis for Lioness season 2 episode 1, “Beware the Old Soldier”: "Joe, Kyle, and the QRF team embark on a timely extraction after a high-ranking government official is kidnapped by a cartel." Read WTW's Lioness season 2 episode 1 recap.

In order to watch the special broadcast of Lioness on Paramount Network on November 10, you must have access to the cable channel through either a traditional pay-TV provider or a live TV streaming service like Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Philo TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV.

If you’re interested in watching the series beyond this first episode, you are going to need to sign up for Paramount Plus as all new episodes debut exclusively on the streamer and as of now we’re not aware of any plans for more episodes of Lioness season 2 being shown on Paramount Network. In fact, the latest episode of Lioness season 2, episode 4, also debuts on Paramount Plus on Sunday, November 10.

This is just one part of the Taylor Sheridan dominance that will be Sunday, November 10. Prior to the primetime debuts on Paramount Network, the cable channel is airing a mini Yellowstone marathon to allow people to catch up with the series (or you can read our biggest questions for Yellowstone season 5 feature). Elsewhere, CBS is also getting in on the fun by rebroadcasting the Yellowstone season 5 part 2 premiere at 10 pm ET/PT on the broadcast network.

After learning that Josephina (Genesis Rodriguez) lied about her relationship with her family, Joe (Zoe Saldana) kicks off Lioness season 2 episode 4 explaining to Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman) and Byron (Michael Kelly) that she can’t trust her new asset. Byron asks what she expected when she basically coerced Josephina to turn on her family. Joe argues Josephina was forced on her by Kyle and other agencies meddling in the mission.

Kaitlyn offers a solution: treat Josephina as a double agent and have a shadow on her who can monitor her and take her out if she ever flips. Josephina is a free thinker used to being in a leadership position, what they need for the shadow is a blind patriot that can be pointed directly at her if needed.

Lioness fans may have quickly been able to guess who that shadow is going to be, but that’s not the only new team member Joe is forced to add in Lioness season 2 episode 4. Here’s our complete breakdown of the episode.

An unwelcome guest

Joe is driving and on the phone with Kyle (Thad Luckinbill) when she notices she has a tail. With Kyle on his way to assist, they learn that the car belongs to a man who was arrested for money laundering and is currently put away, but with the case brought by the Drug Enforcement Agency they figure that it’s a DEA agent pursuing Joe. Joe is able to maneuver herself behind the DEA agent and when Kyle arrives they box him in, cause a fender bender and come out guns drawn to ask him some questions.

The man is Special Agent Guiterez. He says the DEA is concerned about the CIA operating in Mexico and making it look obvious, warning that if the DEA knows about it so do the cartels. But Guiterez says he wasn’t surveilling Joe, he was providing cover. He stresses how dangerous the cartel is but offers his 20 years of experience to help them in their mission.

Joe can’t help but laugh at how Guiterez thinks they need his help, but still she tells him to be ready to leave with them the next day.

But perhaps Joe shouldn’t be so dismissive of the risks that Guiterez was talking about. As we briefly check in with Neal (Dave Annable), who is pissed after an unsuccessful surgery, he finds a note addressed to “Dr. Neal” lying about. He doesn’t open it, but that can’t be good.

Cruz is back

Again, to likely few people’s surprise, the shadow that Joe wants to add to her team is Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira), the asset Joe worked with in Lioness season 1. Also to no surprise considering how things were left between the two, Cruz isn’t thrilled to see Joe or with the prospect of rejoining her team.

Joe explains she doesn’t trust Josephina, but she knows she can trust Cruz, who puts mission above all else to save lives. Cruz scoffs at the idea Joe is interested in saving lives, but Joe asks her how many mosques have been blown up since their last mission? Cruz then questions if Joe really thinks Josephina will turn on and potentially kill someone in her family? Yes, Joe says, and if she doesn’t, Cruz will, calling her a true believer in the work they do.

Even so, Cruz says no. This isn’t a discussion though. Joe doesn’t have time to train someone else so she already had Cruz reassigned to her unit. Cruz’s one stipulation, she’s not wearing any dresses this time.

A side mission

As Joe’s team prepares for their mission — Bobby (Jill Wagner) is upset at the camera angles they have in Josephina’s parents’ house while Josephina is frustrated that their plan to have her meet her father is delayed — they get tasked with something else.

Meeting again with Kaitlyn and Byron, Joe is informed their new DEA agent ally has a target he wants them to hit just south of the US/Mexico border. Byron explains that every agency wants to have a piece of this mission in order to make themselves look good and push for bigger budgets, so they’re going to have to grease a few wheels or risk the entire mission. Joe dislikes the interference.

Kaitlyn then brings up Cruz, reminding Joe they need her to cooperate because she’s the only thing from exposing the program’s secrets to 60 Minutes (some nice cross promotional work there). But the last thing Joe seems worried about right now is Cruz.

To that fact, Kaitlyn tells Joe to give the DEA agent the whole dog and pony show, but don’t let him get a full sense of what they’re doing. Joe’s annoyed though, pointing out that he’s not a soldier. In fact, she warns he could be a witness against them if something goes wrong.

An unexpected discovery

As Guiterez goes over the mission with Joe’s team, he admits the photos the DEA has are a month old, meaning they don’t know what the situation at the warehouse they're attacking looks like currently. Unacceptable, Joe uses the power of the CIA to get a live feed, showing a large amount of enemies at the location. That’s just one challenge, as they also need the operation to look like it was done by a rival cartel. They get the best bad plan they can and gear up.

Josephina quickly learns this isn’t going to be like her army missions, as Joe tells her there is no radio and the only contact she has is with her. Then after dropping them off outside the warehouse, Joe tells her to hover at 2,500 feet. When Josephia points out the enemies will hear her, Joe says that’s the point, to distract them.

Despite everyone complaining about the mission, they make it look easy on the ground. Even the unexpected arrival of police cars is quickly dispatched by Josephina (though she does need to confirm with Joe multiple times before pulling the trigger). However, the team is surprised by what they find inside the warehouse: hundreds of children being trafficked.

Though they can’t bring these children to safety themselves, Joe appears to put a tracer in a girl’s shoe so that they can be picked up. But the team is definitely shaken by what they saw.

New episodes of Lioness season 2 premiere Sundays on Paramount Plus in the US and Mondays on the stream in the UK.

The mission against the Carillos is officially underway in Lioness season 2 episode 3, as Joe (Zoe Saldana) and Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman) oversee their team planting a device in the Carrillo home that gets them access to footage (not the bedrooms and bathrooms, Kaitlyn points out, but it’s a start).

Joe has an issue though with their new Lioness Josephina Carrillo (Genesis Rodriguez), as she doesn’t trust her. She’s skeptical that a second-generation Mexican doesn’t have close ties to her family, doesn’t speak Spanish and hasn’t been to Mexico. Kaitlyn suggests Joe treat Josephina like an agent she is trying to flip, reminding her that she can never trust any of the people they recruit to the Lioness program.

Read on for our full breakdown of what happened in Lioness season 2 episode 3.

Planting the seed

Joe gets some more time back home with her family before heading down to Fort Bliss. Though when she gets there no one appears to be home. This makes her nervous. She searches the house, calling for Neal (Dave Annable), only to find him in the bath with headphones on. He jokes about how nervous she is, asking if they need to be worried about kidnapping; it’s only when he doesn’t get a straight denial that he begins to think it may be a real possibility. She acknowledges their target operates in the US and does do kidnappings, but says their family should be fine.

After Joe and Neal move from the bath to the bedroom, only to have Kate (Hannah Love Lanier) walk in on them, Joe gets a call from Kaitlyn to turn on the news. The story about Josephina being court-martialed following a friendly fire incident airs. Neal believes the story to be real, but Joe tells him not to believe everything he sees on the news. Her family time is up, she is heading back to work the next day.

However, the administration still has some concerns over the plan. Mullins (Morgan Freeman), Hollar (Bruce McGill) and Mason (Jennifer Ehle) meet with Byron (Michael Kelly) and Kaitlyn, saying the kidnapping of the congresswoman did little to convince the politicians to support broader action, as they all remain divided. But Kaitlyn and Byron note this wasn’t just a kidnapping, it was a probe; America’s enemies (in this case China) seeing what the US’s reaction would be to this situation and then planning their next move accordingly. Byron and Kaitlyn now need to convince some senators that this is the case in order to get full backing.

Wining and dining

Kaitlyn brings Errol (Martin Donovan) along for her dinner with a Democratic senator, hoping that his economic knowledge can help add some additional layers to her argument. The senator expresses her concern that Republicans are going to use the kidnapping as a bulldozer for their border agenda. Kaitlyn doesn’t doubt that, but it would be much worse for the Democrats if there’s another attack on US soil before the presidential election, just six weeks away; voters would likely run to Republicans in that event. Kaitlyn explains how the kidnapping was a probe and shares that it is China, not Mexico, pulling the strings, hoping to open a new trade route with Mexico while shutting the one with the US down. Errol chimes in with his notes that if the US suffers another 9/11-like event, they’ll have an economic crash worse than 1929.

Having made her pitch, Kaitlyn meets up with Byron at the bar, then shortly after by Mason. They were successful in convincing the politicians and now have full access to their “war chest” to fund the mission.

Awkward introductions

Josephina is flown into Fort Bliss and picked up by Bobby (Jill Wagner). Right away, she is shown that working with the CIA is not going to be like her time in the army. Things get no better when she meets the rest of the team, who basically ignore her. She asks what they have to do to get past the awkwardness? But the team says nothing, they don’t want to know anything about her aside from her cover, and she doesn’t need to know anything about them.

The next morning Josephina gets a rude awakening to the team’s living arrangements, as they all share a single latrine. She’s apparently shy about showing herself naked, but Tucker (LaMonica Garrett) tells her where she can get some privacy.

She doesn’t have much time for that though, as Kyle (Thad Luckinbill) arrives and tells her he wants to see what she's made of. He has her observe the team run a drill where he says they rely on “s**t hits the fan tactics.” One watch and then it’s her turn. But first, she gets a lesson in shooting, with her taking target practice as everyone else makes noise and yells at her, noting there is no such thing as a “peaceful gunfight.” She then does the house drill, complete with loud noises and strobe lights to distract her, she hesitates in certain situations but ultimately completes the drill as instructed.

Joe arrives and asks Kyle how Josephina is doing? He says she doesn’t know anything, but she learns quickly, follows directions and does what she’s told without asking too many questions. A good place to start. Next Joe wants to have her run through the simulator.

Pushing for the truth

Wearing a VR headset, Josephina is put through a simulated situation where she has to take out a number of enemies on a Mexican street. She comes upon a man holding a young woman hostage. She yells at the man (a simulation, mind you) to let the woman go, but instead, the man shoots at Josephina, ending the simulation.

Joe scolds her for her performance, telling her they're not a hostage rescue team, they’re a kill team; eliminating their target is their only mission and any obstacle to that must be overcome. Josephina asks how Joe would suggest she overcome a 16-year-old girl with a gun to her head? Shoot the girl yourself and then the enemy, Joe answers. Josephina says that’s murder, but Joe corrects her, it’s survival.

Joe needs more time to train Josephina, but Kyle points out that they don’t have it, she has to be embedded soon. It’s time for Joe to get tough with her.

She tells Josephina the next part of her mission is going to have her go home to her parents. When Josephina argues she doesn’t have a close relationship with her family, Joe rips into her on that. She doesn’t believe she’s oblivious to her father’s cartel connections and wants to know what else Josephina failed to tell her. Kyle and the rest of the team come over to add to the intimidation factor. When they speak Spanish to her, Josephina breaks and reveals she can indeed speak Spanish. They now claim Josephina is a mole and will have military police take her.

Josephina pleads her case, saying she stayed away from her family because she didn’t want to know their business. But Joe is confident she does know about it and that she could just be protecting her family. Josephina says she joined the Lioness program because she loves her country. Enough to put her father and other members of her family in jail, Joe asks?

Joe gives Josephina one chance, putting her phone in front of her. Through tears, Josephina picks up the phone and calls her dad.

New episodes of Lioness season 2 premiere Sundays exclusively on Paramount Plus.

One of John Krasinski's most famous TV characters is heading to the big screen, as a new Jack Ryan movie is in the works from Amazon MGM (sorry for anyone who might have been hoping it was a movie of The Office). The hit spy drama that streamed exclusively on Prime Video wrapped up its run with Jack Ryan season 4, but now the CIA agent has another mission, with a number of familiar faces joining him.

The Hollywood Reporter shared the news about Krasinski’s return to the Jack Ryan character, adding that show co-star Wendell Pierce is also set to return for the new movie, while Michael Kelly is currently in negotiations to return. The movie is also going to be directed by a Jack Ryan vet, Andrew Bernstein, who was an executive producer and director for Jack Ryan season 2, while Jack Ryan season 4 co-executive producer and writer Aaron Rabin is penning the movie screenplay.

Beyond that, everything about this Jack Ryan movie is top secret. We don’t have a plot, we don’t have a title and we don’t have a release date. We also don’t know if this movie is going to be released in movie theaters or if it is going to be a streaming exclusive.

The Jack Ryan is a character created by best-selling author Tom Clancy. Krasinski’s series began with the titular character as he was an up-and-comer in the CIA, who each season got himself in the middle of highly dangerous global missions. All four seasons of the show are streaming exclusively on Prime Video, though you can also find individual episodes available on other digital on-demand platforms for renting.

Krasinski is part of a long list of actors that have played the Jack Ryan character. That includes Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October), Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger), Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears) and Chris Pine (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit). If you want to watch any of these previous Jack Ryan movies, they are all streaming on Max in the US; on Paramount Plus in the UK.

Aside from The Office where he played Jim Halpert, Jack Ryan has become one of Krasinski’s most memorable roles. However he has also proved to be a talented director, having helmed A Quiet Place, A Quiet Place: Part II and IF.

After the chaos that was the rescue mission in Mexico, Joe (Zoe Saldana) is back in the states at the start of Lioness season 2 episode 2 to meet with Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman) and other military officers. They have lined up three potential Lioness candidates, but Joe isn’t having any of it. She runs the operation and she picks her assets. When they need the military she’ll give them a call.

Joe stresses with Kaitlyn that she needs to figure out the way in before they identify a Lioness, as her skillset needs to support the mission, not the other way around. So Joe needs some time to do that. Kaitlyn gives her time, then she’ll meet her at Fort Bliss, reminding Joe that everyone is watching how this mission unfolds.

Who will be Joe’s next Lioness? Read on to find out with our Lioness season 2 episode 2 recap.

Family time

Before Joe dives into the mission, she returns home for a little bit. She first runs into Charlie (Celestina Harris), who is selling lemonade and some art with a friend. When a customer buys Charlie’s art and invites her to see how she is going to hang them up in her van, Joe’s alarm blares and she goes into CIA mode, drawing her gun and approaching the van. Thankfully, the customer is just showing Charlie how her art work will look in her van. Joe gives Charlie a reminder to not run off with strangers.

Back at her house, Kate (Hannah Love Lanier) quickly tells her mom that she saw her on the news with the Mexico incident and asks why this is the job she picked. Joe says her grandfather immigrated from the Dominican Republic and quickly joined the army when he was 17 after Pearl Harbor. Later, his son (Joe’s father) asked why he risked his life for a country that he barely knew at that point. He said he didn’t want to learn German or Japanese after he had just learned English. Kate laughs, but to Joe it isn’t a joke. She has the same feeling; she doesn’t want her daughters to have to learn Chinese or Russian.

Joe then catches up with Neal (Dave Annable), telling him that her next job will keep her closer to home. With that being the case, Neal wonders if they can break their rule about not talking about her work, as it’s very possible that her work may end up on the news again. She just tells him not to watch the news.

After gearing up, Joe says goodbye to her family and that she loves them. Kate can’t help but cry after she leaves, worried about what her mom is getting into.

Team meeting

Joe and Kaitlyn rendezvous with their team at Fort Bliss, which includes Kyle (Thad Luckinbill), Cody (Taylor Sheridan) and, for some comedic relief, Bobby’s (Jill Wagner) last boyfriend before she came out as gay.

Kyle delivers a brief, detailing Alvaro Carrillo, the leader of the Los Tigres cartel, and his brother, Pablo Carrillo, an immigration attorney and former US soldier who has a $3.5 million house on a $110,000 a year salary. Kyle also notes Pablo’s daughter, Captain Josephina Carrillo (Genesis Rodriguez), is a helicopter pilot in the US army. Kyle clearly thinks Josephina should be Joe’s next Lioness. Joe notes they couldn’t hide Josephina’s past, but Kyle thinks they should be steering into that.

Joe thinks about it. If they have her dishonorably discharged her background as a pilot could be appealing to Alvaro for delivering helicopter loads into the US. Bobby asks why not just have Josephina kill Alvaro? Joe explains because he’s not the target, they’re really looking for the Chinese agent that is pulling the strings.

Kaitlyn calls Byron (Michael Kelly) and lays out the idea. As they figure it out, Joe has to confirm the asset will join the Lioness program. To do that they have to speak with her. The problem with that is she is currently deployed in Iraq.

Is it worth the risk?

Byron and Kaitlyn meet with Mullins (Morgan Freeman), Hollar (Bruce McGill) and Mason (Jennifer Ehle) to discuss their plan. They detail Josephina’s strong service record and her more than 800 kills (numbers tend to rack up flying an Apache). Mullins asks why she hasn’t been promoted. Kaitlyn believes she is still a captain so she can stay in the action.

They then go into the plan. They can’t fake Josephina’s discharge, so her military career would be over, but Byron notes that could either go into witness protection or join the CIA if she wanted to continue to serve after the mission. She’d then go home where they expect her uncle would seek her out for her pilot skills so she can do runs for him and where hopefully her position as a family member will give her access that no one else can get. She doesn’t need to be trained to kill a target, as she can simply fly the operators that would eliminate their target; Byron calls her a Trojan horse.

So what are the risks? The big one is interference from the cartels, DEA and Homeland Security. The preference is she’s discovered by the cartel, who would just kill her. If she’s caught by US agencies, it would lead to a public prosecution, exposing this was a CIA operation and let China know that the US engaged in an act of war. So Kaitlyn points out that if Josephina were engaged by the DEA, she would return in kind. They chase her, she runs. They fire, she fires back.

After Mullins and his team have a brief discussion, they give them the go ahead. But Mullins is sure to remind Byron that the buck stops within him, so don’t get caught.

The interview

Joe is already in Iraq when Kaitlyn says they’re a go, so now she needs to close Josephina. On their way to base, Joe’s escort drives over a road mine and the convoy is attacked by a group of Iraqi militants. Pinned down, Joe orders in some backup, which quickly comes in the form of a helicopter that quickly eliminates the opposing forces (two episodes and two major firefights for Joe; rough go to start the season).

Back at base, Joe goes to talk with the helicopter pilot, Josephina. However, Josephina comes out hot, blaming Joe for making a mess of the situation. Joe doesn’t take being yelled at well, and the two get in a fist fight. When Josephina’s commanding officer breaks it up, Joe asserts that she is in charge and demands that Josephina meet with her in 10 minutes.

Joe asks how well Josephina knows her uncle? But the soldier denies she has an uncle. Joe asks her how her Spanish is? Josephina doesn’t speak Spanish. Her father’s house? Josephina doesn’t know anything about that. Josephina then asks what Joe wants with her. “Do you love your country,” Joe asks?

Joe reveals she’s CIA and has been tasked with finding the men behind the kidnapping of Congresswoman Hernandez. Josephina puts together Joe’s part of the Lioness program. She tells Joe that she’s a soldier, not an assassin, and she’s never met anyone that has come out of the Lioness program alive. Joe just continues asking if Josephina loves her country, wanting a simple yes or no answer. After a few attempts to deflect, Josephina, through tears, finally says yes, seemingly submitting to joining Joe for this mission.

Joe then asks if Josephina has any tattoos. She says no. But Joe wants her to prove it to her, closing the door to the room as the episode ends.

New episodes of Lioness premiere Sundays exclusively on Paramount Plus.

In the dead of night, men in tactical gear stealthily enter a house, guns drawn. When a man wanders out into the hall they quickly kill him, as well as his young son when he opens the door. They continue to search the house for their real target, US Congresswoman Hernandez (Czarina Mireles). Having heard the noise, she tries to make a run for it but is ultimately captured and taken off into the night. This is how Lioness season 2 gets things rolling.

• Also read: Lioness season 1 ending explained

This issue quickly comes to the attention of Joe (Zoe Saldana), who sees a news alert that details Hernandez was pushing for legislation that would allow the US military to be deployed on US soil to battle illegal immigration. Zoe knows her extended and peaceful time with her family is over, but she doesn't know how messy of a situation she is about to dive into.

Read on for our full recap of Lioness season 2 episode 1, “Beware the Old Soldier.”

The situation

Kyle (Thad Luckinbill) arrives at Hernandez’s home to assess the situation. He learns the congresswoman was able to get a tracker on herself before being taken, so they know she is being held just over the border in Mexico. However, the US can’t just storm in and get her.

That’s why Kaitlyn (Nicole Kidman) is called into the White House to go over the situation and how her and Joe’s team can assist. As she leaves, her husband Errol (Martin Donovan) tells her to be careful, a Mexican cartel wouldn’t kidnap a congresswoman on their own, telling her to look at Mexico’s oil exports.

At the White House, Kaitlyn meets with Bryon (Michael Kelly), who gets her up to speed on the info Kyle shared before they’re brought in to meet with Secretary of State Mullins (Morgan Freeman) and his team (Jennifer Ehle as Mason, Bruce McGill as Hollar). The administration wants a visible, “messy” operation, but one that falls on the CIA and Kaitlyn’s team. The reason this can’t be an official military operation is because they believe the criminal organization behind the kidnapping did so with the backing of the Mexican government, which must have been pressured by an outside force, likely China. Byron notes that a US military operation would weaken their stance and ability to punish China if they invade Taiwan.

Joe arrives in the situation room, where she is told what her part in all this is going to be. The administration wants to deploy a lioness or two to get “trophies,” specifically ahead of the upcoming political conventions for a presidential election. Their target is the leader of the Los Tigres cartel. They want him dead and intel on his connections to the Mexican government. Joe notes that lionesses’ jobs aren’t to gather intel, but to hit hard targets, but she gets no sympathy from Mullins or Byron, told just to do her job.

But first, Joe must head down to Texas to assist in the rescue of Congresswoman Hernandez with Kyle and a bunch of freelance soldiers known as “gray men.” Before she leaves she calls her husband Neal (Dave Annable) to tell him she loves him and their girls. Neal realizes that she must be going on a very dangerous mission.

All Hell breaks loose

Joe meets up with Kyle and their team of gray men in Texas, which includes Cody (Lioness creator and director for his episode Taylor Sheridan), someone Joe has worked with in the past. When she jokes that he’s getting a little old for this line of work, he reminds her “beware the old soldier, he’s old for a reason.”

They get through the Mexico border with no issue, but when they pull over to gear up they’re approached by a group of Mexicans who pull guns and attempt to rob them. Unfortunately for the Mexicans they don’t know who they’re dealing with and are quickly dispatched. Once team is ready to go, they see the congresswoman is being moved and head to intercept her.

Smashing into the car driving the congresswoman, Joe and her team kill all of the enemies and rescue Hernandez. The problem is that their planned exit route is now blocked by Mexican forces, so they have to find another way back to US soil. Adding to it all, Mexican authorities are aware of their attack and are coming after them.

As they are forced to engage with the Mexican forces, they’re told to head toward a river to make their escape. But first, they have to take care of the caravan of opposing forces. So Cody stops the car and the team opens fire. Once that is taken care of they head back off.

Nearing the exit point, they’re told the road to the river includes a big drop-off directly into a deep section of the river. There is an easier crossing point, but it would run them directly into more approaching Mexican forces. So they have no choice but to drive into the river. Unfortunately, once they do, they’re pinned down by the Mexican forces firing at them from the ridge. They’re saved though when air support arrives and drives the Mexicans back. This allows Joe and the team to swim for the US border.

Paying the price

Safely back on US soil (though just barely, as they regroup on the other side of the river), Hernandez asks Joe what happens next. “Now we play offense,” she tells the congresswoman. Hernandez has a favor to ask, but Joe knows what it is without her saying it. She tells the congresswoman her team doesn’t do courtrooms, they’re goal is to kill whoever is responsible for this incident.

Joe then talks with Cody, apologizing that one of his team members was killed (apparently when the car crashed into the river). She asks if he is sticking around for the rest of the mission. He says no, but if the situation gets “f**ked” again then he may come and help out. Too bad for Joe, who is not looking forward to having to work with Kyle on the mission moving forward.

Stressing her point, she punches Kyle for leading them into the situation without a plan and almost getting them all killed. But Kyle says it worked, they got the congresswoman. When Joe brings up that they lost one of their team members Kyle reminds her that is the price they all signed up for. Joe makes it clear that if they’re going to work together, he can’t do this cowboy crap with her team.

With that addressed, Joe calls Neal. He was watching the news coverage but tried to hide it from their daughters, Kate (Hannah Love Lanier) and Charlie (Celestina Harris), though Kate does take more of a note of it. As she talks with her family, Joe struggles to hold back the tears after such an overwhelming experience, but she tells them she's fine and that she loves them. Once done, Joe wades into the river a bit, catching her breath from everything that happened and trying to ready herself for what’s to come.

New episodes of Lioness season 2 premiere Sundays on Paramount Plus in the US, Mondays in the UK.

Now that The Old Man season 2 has reached its end, the question becomes if/when The Old Man season 3 is going to happen. The acclaimed spy drama that stars Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Alia Shawkat and Amy Brenneman certainly gave every indication the story is set to continue following The Old Man season 2 ending, but has FX given the official green light?

The Old Man follows retired CIA agent Dan Chase (Bridges), who after years of living a peaceful life in hiding has his cover blown, leading him to face his past. Based on the book of the same name by Thomas Perry, the TV show has really put its own spin on the story, as evidenced in The Old Man season 2, where the world expands well beyond Perry’s original novel. But it’s proven to be a good choice, as The Old Man is an Emmy-nominated series and both seasons have been rated “Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes.

So are we getting The Old Man season 3? Here’s everything we know about that question right now. (Heads up, we’re going to be discussing some The Old Man SPOILERS, so be cautious if you are not caught up.)

What’s the status of The Old Man season 3?

FX officially made the decision to cancel The Old Man after two seasons, so there will not be The Old Man season 3. The decision comes despite the show indicating where season 3 would have gone and from some of the cast they hoped the show would continue.

One comes directly from The Old Man star Amy Brenneman, who said while on Playlist’s Bingeworthy podcast “it would be kind of odd if there wasn’t” a third season based on how season 2 ended and what she described as show creator Jonathan E. Steinberg’s vision of the show as being a “three-act play.”

Going off the point she makes about how The Old Man season 2 ended, the final moments of The Old Man season 2 episode 8 lays out what would presumably be the crux of The Old Man season 3 plot. After killing Pavlovich, Chase and Zoe (Brenneman) go into hiding and are enjoy a quiet life together. That peace is shattered when Emily (Shawkat) finds him and arranges for them to meet. While Chase is happy to see his daughter alive, she sought him out because she needs his help to rescue Harper (Lithgow), who is being held hostage by Marion (Janet McTeer) and used as a bargaining chip to try and regain control of the valuable rare metals deposit that Emily and her Afghani family control. Specifically, she needs Chase’s help in accessing Lou Barlow, which is actually another alias for Chase, but one with which he did terrible things and doesn’t want to go back to. However, Emily is not giving him a choice, as her influence allowed her to get the FBI on her side and will force Chase to go along with her plan.

So barring another network coming in to resurrect the show, we will not see how The Old Man story continued.

You can stream The Old Man on Hulu in the US and on Disney Plus in the UK.

After the big reveal that Emily (Alia Shawkat) is still alive, The Old Man season 2 episode 8 (the season finale) gives us a look at her side of the story.

We see the end of her conversation with Chase (Jeff Bridges) just before Pavlovich’s soldiers burst into the room. Khadija (Jacqueline Antaramian) is quickly killed, then the soldiers ask who there is a Hamzad? Emily says she is the only Hamzad left. She tells the Russian captain (Nicholas Kolev) if he lets everyone else live, she will give him everything he needs to know about Hamzad’s work. He accepts the deal, putting her in a guarded room.

That’s just the start of the big The Old Man season 2 finale. Read on for our full recap.

Empathy and ruthlessness

A Russian soldier, Pavel (Daniyar), brings Emily food. They connect as she speaks Russian with him. Pavel learns that Emily is an American but her family are the people of the village. He asks why she is betraying them by helping the Russians? “To protect them,” she says, because she loves them.

We spend a little time with Pavel. It’s clear he's not a fully committed soldier. He stays up at night looking at pictures of his wife and child. He also doesn’t seem comfortable around the other soldiers.

One night he brings a nice meal and a bottle of vodka to Emily, a reward from the captain for her info. But now the captain wants a list of names of people who could be trouble; a kill list. Still, Emily begins to write. Pavel asks if she thinks her family, who she is compromising herself for, will be able to accept what she is doing and welcome her back? It’s pretty clear he is talking about himself as much as he is about Emily. She responds with her own question: what if they were always this way, capable of doing whatever necessary to keep the people they love safe?

She hands the list to Pavel, but as he looks it over she grabs the vodka bottle and smashes it over his head, knocking him out. When Pavel comes to, he sees Emily has escaped. As he looks for her, he finds multiple Russian soldiers dead. Emily has freed the villagers and they have overrun the Russians. This includes one villager coming up from behind and killing Pavel.

This shows how Emily came into her position of leadership with Hamzad’s village, and how she used the strategy of empathy and ruthlessness that Bote taught Chase and which Chase passed down to her.

Harper’s sacrifice

Harper (John Lithgow) and Marion (Janet McTeer) learn the Russians have lost the Meshbahar deposit, with rumors of it being taken by a group of local fighters led by an American woman. Harper realizes that Emily is alive. Perhaps not for long though, as Pavlovich (Rade Serbedzjia) is summoning his entire force to take back the deposit. Harper urges Marion to use her power to stop Pavlovich, reminding her that Emily, with her influence as Parwana Hamzad, would be a better partner. Marion reminds him he said he would never allow her to get near Emily. But with her life at stake again, as well as Chase’s, Harper says there may not be a limit to what he’ll do to save them.

Part one to achieve that goal is already in place, as Zoe (Amy Brenneman) and Julian (Gbenga Akinnagbe) are driving to find Pavlovich. Zoe wonders if Julian has any real stake in finding and saving Chase. He says if she helps him get Pavlovich, he’ll help her with Chase.

After Harper checks in with Julian, he pushes Marion again to use her influence to defeat Pavlovich, asking how long until he does something impossible to clean up? Marion resents Harper’s use of the word “impossible,” saying he’s used it to put up barriers on his career and their relationship, saying he was too beholden to absolutes. Some things are absolute, Harper argues, like what we owe people we love being. Marion asks if that’s the case with Emily, is willing to make a major sacrifice? Harper hesitates for a moment, which causes Marion to retort he could have been a great man if he wasn’t frightened about disappointing anyone. But a “f**k you” response suggests Harper is ready to pay Marion’s price.

She gets a call from the cartel director and offers a solution to their Pavlovich problem. Harper then calls Julian, telling them they’re mission is a go.

The race for Chase

Julian and Zoe drive into the complex where the cartel is meeting. Harper tells them all of the security details of the cartel members aside from Pavlovich have been informed to pretend Julian and Zoe don’t exist for the next 15 minutes, allowing Julian to go kill Pavlovich. Zoe asks what she can do? Nothing, Julian says, but he promises he’ll keep one of Pavlovich’s men alive to get info on where Chase is. He heads out, and Zoe puts in an earpiece to be patched in with him.

Gun drawn, Julian quickly kills several of Pavlovich’s men, but his gunfire causes two Russians who were sitting in the parking lot to sprint that way. Zoe warns Julian they’re coming as the assassin continues his way through the cabana. Julian finds Pavlovich and engages with him and his men. Eventually, Julian confronts Pavlovich, helpless and shot in the leg. The Russian asks if Julian knows who he is. He says the guy that killed the old man, but he’s the man that got Pavlovich, shooting and killing him.

Zoe gets tired of waiting. She makes her way to the Russian car and looks up their most recent destinations on the GPS, figuring it must be where Chase is. She drives off to rescue him.

When she arrives at the church she finds a passed out Chase. She gives Chase the antidote. When that doesn’t work she performs CPR on Chase. The camera pans out as Zoe continues trying to resuscitate Chase.

A new mission

The scene cuts to Chase waking up in a bed, his trusted dogs Dave and Carol by his side. Zoe comes in, letting him know they are at an old safe house of Bote’s. Chase is immediately anxious, believing they need to move, but Zoe assures him no one but Julian and her son know where they are; Harper doesn’t even know as they weren’t sure it was safe to contact him. She did everything she could to ensure they were safe.

They begin to enjoy a normal life together. The only person they seem to have contact with is Zoe’s son, who she talks to only on a computer at the closest local library. However, Chase admits he’s been ignoring potentially dangerous questions. What happened with the cartel: why hasn’t it been exposed yet? What happened with the spook Zoe met in the police station; did he tell his friends about them? Zoe asks if these things have been bothering him, why has he been ignoring them? It’s because he doesn’t want this new life to end.

It becomes impossible to ignore them though when a package is dropped off at their mailbox. The box has no address, but a drawing of where to deliver it. Chase opens it, inside is a phone and a piece of paper with a phone number. He gives it a call.

The next thing we see is Chase and Zoe arriving at a diner, where Emily is waiting for them. Stunned, Chase hugs his daughter and introduces her to Zoe. While Emily promises she’ll tell Chase all that happened to her, right now she needs his help. Harper was taken by Marion and is being used to bargain for control of the Meshbahar deposit, which she now controls, having become the de facto leader of her Afghani family. Emily is determined to get Harper back, but she needs Chase. He agrees to do what she needs. But what she needs is access to Lou Barlow, the man Chase previously told Zoe was the worst person he ever came across. This makes Chase hesitant, trying to convince her there are other ways to get Harper back.

Zoe asks who exactly Lou Barlow is. Chase reveals he was Lou Barlow, and the reason he didn’t tell Zoe that before was because as Barlow he did things “uglier than violence.”

Emily is steadfast that Lou Barlow is how to go after Marion and get Harper back. It’s what Chase taught her and what they owe Harper for saving their lives. She wonders if his reluctance is because he doesn’t want to do what it would take, or if he doesn’t want Zoe to see that side of him?

Either way, Chase doesn’t have a choice. Cars drive up to the diner. Emily explains now that she is in control of the deposit she has a lot of influence. She used it to have the FBI tap Zoe’s son’s phone, find Chase and now transport them out of the country. Chase coldly says, “Parwana Hamzad gets whatever she wants,” referring to Emily by her birth name, acknowledging she is not entirely his daughter anymore. Emily says, “yeah, she does,” bringing the season to the end.

All episodes of The Old Man season 2 are now streaming on Hulu in the US.

UPDATE October 24: The Agency release date has been officially announced as Friday, November 29, on Paramount Plus ahead of its cable debut. The first two episodes of the series are going to premiere on November 29.

About a week ago the first images for the upcoming spy drama The Agency starring Michael Fassbender were shared with the added nugget that info on a release date would be coming “soon.” My expectation was that maybe it would sneak into the final days of the 2024 calendar or the first few weeks of 2025 at the earliest. So I was pleasantly surprised to discover that The Agency is premiering much sooner than that.

The Agency is going to premiere on Paramount Plus on Friday, November 29, for US subscribers to Paramount Plus with Showtime ahead of its debut on the Paramount Plus with Showtime (formerly just Showtime) cable channel in the US. For those outside the US that have Paramount Plus, including the UK, Canada, Australia, Italy, Germany, Latin America and Brazil, The Agency will only be available on Paramount Plus.

With that news, The Agency immediately jumps to one of my most anticipated shows to come in 2024. Based on the French TV series Le Bureau des Légendes (aka The Bureau), The Agency follows Martian (Fassbender), a covert CIA agent ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London Station. When the love he left behind reappears, romance reignites. His career, his real identity and his mission are pitted against his heart; hurling them both into a deadly game of international intrigue and espionage.

In addition to Fassbender, the series stars Richard Gere, Jeffry Wright, Jodie Smith-Turner, John Magaro, India Fowler and more, including a guest star role for Hugh Bonneville. George Clooney is also on board as an executive producer for the series.

At the time of publication there is no trailer for The Agency, but considering we’re just a little more than a month away from its premiere, we expect that to change in the near future.

For a fan of spy dramas like me, the sooner-than-expected arrival of The Agency is fantastic news. Slow Horses season 4 recently wrapped up, and The Old Man season 2 is ending on October 24. And while Netflix has multiple upcoming entries to the genre with The Diplomat season 2 and Black Doves (the latter premiering after The Agency), these are expected to have all their episodes available at once for bingeing, while The Agency is expected to release episodes weekly, giving us a longer time to enjoy it.

If you want to watch The Agency when it premieres on Paramount Plus, you must have a subscription to the streaming service.

After being taken at the end of the previous episode, Chase (Jeff Bridges) is tied to a chair in an abandoned church at the beginning of The Old Man season 2 episode 7. However, he’s not alone. Emily (Alia Shawkat) in his head saying they’re close to the end, close to being even.

Pavlovich (Rade Serbedzija) enters, saying he’s known Chase by his various aliases for a long time, but now it’s time for all of them to come to an end. Though why did Chase give himself up now? Chase reveals he needs the antidote. Pavlovich details the neuro agent, which by now is altering Chase’s brain function (explains the Emily hallucinations), and in a few hours, it will render him disabled and by morning kill him. If Chase wants the antidote, he’ll have to give Pavlovich something that outweighs the danger of keeping Chase alive and risking his position with the rare earth metals cartel. Chase says he and Zoe can either ruin Pavlovich or solve all of his problems. The Emily hallucination says Chase has Pavlovich right where he wants him; he’ll be cut free and have the chance to kill Pavlovich. Sure, it’ll cost Chase his life and possibly Zoe’s, but Emily will know Chase loved her.

Read on for our full recap of The Old Man season 2 episode 7, which also sees Harper (John Lithgow) confront Marion (Janet McTeer).

Zoe turns herself in

Zoe (Amy Brenneman) arrives at a police station saying she needs to be taken into custody. She’s witnessed the murder of Nina Kruger and the murderers aren’t far behind. She wants the police to protect her and to call the CIA. This all sounds far-fetched to the officer behind the front desk (Lauren Baldwin), but Zoe pushes her to call the US embassy and say the people who killed Kruger also killed Morgan Bote; they’ll know the importance of that. When the officer asks for Zoe’s name she says Marcia Dixon.

Eventually, a man arrives to talk with Zoe. He introduces himself as Pete (Nick Boraine), saying he came running when he heard she knows the identity of Bote’s killer. Before she talks though, Zoe wants immunity from anything she has done. Pete explains that’s easy enough to get, but warns her that Bote’s death made a lot of dangerous people angry. He calls them monsters who won’t stop until they have their revenge, and if they have any reason to suspect Zoe had something to do with Bote’s death, there’s no immunity from them. Is she sure she wants to do this? Zoe tells him to make the call, then she’ll tell him everything.

However, someone else is also making a call. A spy for Pavlovich is stationed outside the police station, awaiting instructions on what to do next.

Chase makes his choice

Chase explains the chaos that will be unleashed if Zoe reveals Pavlovich killed Bote; the Russian will sleep with one eye open for the rest of his short life. The alternative is Zoe could give Chase’s name, telling a story that Bote’s former protege was looking for revenge after his daughter was kidnapped, killing Bote, killing Hamzad, but that when he came for Pavlovich, Pavlovich killed him. In exchange for this story, Chase would get the antidote, a bag of cash and he and Zoe would go free. But Pavlovich is skeptical, believing there is more. And there is.

Chase reveals Emily was Hamzad’s daughter and that she was in the village when Pavlovich’s men attacked. Both Pavlovich and the hallucination of Emily are confused by Chase sharing this info. In addition to the antidote and the money, he wants Emily’s body so he can say goodbye and put her to rest. Pavlovich asks how he could believe Chase isn’t harboring anger over Emily’s death. Chase admits all he has is anger, and normally Pavlovich wouldn’t have seen Chase coming, but Chase made a promise to Zoe to make it back alive, which he intends to keep. He's willing to give up his vengeance for a life with Zoe. Pavlovich cuts Chase loose and gives him a phone to call Zoe. Before he does he apologizes to Emily.

However, Chase soon notices something is off with Pavlovich. The Russian nixes the deal. Someone has attacked Hamzad’s mineral deposit and he can only assume Chase is involved. He leaves Chase with one of his assassins (Nikolai Nikolaeff), whose father was killed by Chase in Afghanistan years ago, and taunts Chase by breaking the vials of antidote one by one. Pavlovich also orders his men to kill Zoe.

Harper confronts Marion

In Hong Kong, Marion is spending time with her family in a market when she spots Harper, who needs to talk to her urgently. Once alone, Harper reveals he knows about the cartel and wants to know how Marion is connected.

Marion tries to dance around it all, saying she had nothing to do with Bote’s death. Harper admits in the past he may have fallen for her tricks, but now he’s tired and his friends are in trouble, so they need to stop “f***ing around.” Marion starts taking things seriously.

She reveals she no longer has a relationship with Pavlovich because he doesn’t need her anymore. She brought him into the realm of the cartel hoping to use his muscle and infrastructure as they tried to negotiate with Hamzad for the deposit. But Hamzad was determined to only work with American partners for American interests, something Marion couldn’t understand. That is until Harper called about rescuing Emily. Marion realized Hamzad needed a connection to the Americans to find his daughter. Harper then pieces together Marion wanted Harper and Chase to weaken Hamzad so he would be forced to partner with her, Pavlovich and Beijing, as Marion works with the Chinese government.

This last bit of info reveals Marion’s true allegiances. She was born in Hong Kong when it was a British colony. Despite it now being run by the communist Chinese government, she still places her loyalty to it. Harper knows, though, that in order to be trusted by the Chinese government she had to reveal the identities of multiple British undercover agents. But all that’s background, as Harper refocuses on what her role in all this is.

She says she was hoping for a new partner: Emily, or more precisely, Parwana Hamzad. Emily’s connections to America, Hamzad’s tribe and her counterintelligence training would have made her a valuable asset. Harper says Emily (though he still refers to her as Angela) was his daughter in every way that mattered to him, and he never would have let her anywhere near Marion.

Marion’s phone rings. It’s Pavlovich, asking if she knows why he’s calling? She doesn’t, but he hangs up before saying anything else. Marion realizes how scared Pavlovich must be to call her, but of what?

Taking action

At the police station, Zoe hears gunshots. Looking outside, she sees Pavlovich’s man kill Pete and the desk officer, and is now coming after her. She locks the door, but then she remembers something. The episode features flashbacks of a young Zoe (Caitlin Duffy) on her wedding day talking to her soon-to-be father-in-law (John Ales). He offers some advice about love and tells her the benefits of having a partnership, including the things you can learn from each other. As we see in the flashback, the family she is marrying into were hunters who taught her how to shoot. In the present, she finds the key to the gun locker, gets a shotgun and kills Pavlovich’s assailant. She then goes outside when Julian drives up, saying Harper sent him and asks if she is coming with him for the next part of the plan? We don’t get her answer, but come on, Zoe’s all in at this point.

Meanwhile, Chase has to deal with his own assassin. The assassin knocks Chase to the ground, but right near some broken glass that allows Chase to cut himself loose, grab a shard and stab the assassin. He then uses a chokehold and strangles the assassins to death. Chase goes to see if there is any antidote left, but he can’t find any.

Pavlovich is also in a tricky spot as we end the episode. Meeting with the other members of the cartel, he tries to assure them everything is fine at Hamzad’s deposit, that there’s no truth to the reports he has lost it. However, as the board discusses it, we see the aftermath of the battle that took place at the deposit. The camera zooms toward a figure amidst the smoke, eventually revealing Emily, alive and leading Hamzad’s tribe in the attack.

New episodes of The Old Man premiere Thursdays on FX, then are available to stream on-demand the next day on Hulu.

The Slow Horses just keep chugging along, as Apple has officially announced that Slow Horses season 6 is coming just days after Slow Horses season 4 ended and they teased us with what’s to come in Slow Horses season 5. But there was more to the announcement than just an official green light. Some plot details teased exciting developments that will change the game up for the characters, but also a major tweak in how the show's been adapting the Mick Herron books its based on.

Here is the quick description of the Slow Horses season 6 plot that Apple teased in its announcement: “Season six sees the Slow Horses on the run as Diana Taverner embroils them all in a fatally high-stakes game of retaliation and revenge.” That’s interesting as it could also foreshadow a messy situation in Slow Horses season 5, but another detail adds to the intrigue. Slow Horses season 6 is being adapted from two of Herron’s books, Joe Country and Slough House, a change in format from the first five seasons.

Each of the Slow Horses seasons to date, and the one upcoming in season 5, have been adapted from a single book in Herron’s Slough House series. Now Emmy-winning creator Will Smith is combining two of Herron’s books into a single season that, like all the others, is going to be six episodes long. Though I haven’t read most of Herron’s Slough House books, I can certainly understand how combining two into one season without an expanded number of episodes could cause some concern.

Also, a bit concerning is what this means for the future of the show. Clearly Apple TV Plus sees it as one of their flagship series (hence the early greenlight on season 6), but this combination of books into a single season could mean we’ll ultimately get less Slow Horses than we thought. Herron, to date, has published eight books in the Slough House series. Joe Country and Slough House are number six and seven, respectively, meaning there is only one more book in the main series. Could that mean we’re only going to get one more season of Slow Horses after season 6?

To be fair, there are other books by Herron that are set in the Slow Horses universe that could be used for additional stories should they so choose. And book eight in the series, Bad Actors, was published in April 2023, after the show premiered, so there could be more books on the way, but we'll see. And what happens if the show catches up or surpasses Herron's writing? Game of Thrones fans may have just had a chill run down their spine.

Focusing on the positive though, aside that more Slow Horses is on the way, the main ensemble — Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Ruth Bradley, Joana Scanlan and Jonathan Pryce — are all mentioned in the announcement, meaning there’s a good chance they’ll all be part of season 6 (unless its a misdirection so we’re not spoiled on season 5). Also, Samuel West, who did not appear in season 4, is listed, revealing that his character, Peter Judd, will be back.

Slow Horses season 5 does not have a release date yet, but if it follows the timeline for each season it won’t come out until the second half of 2025. Slow Horses season 6 then is likely not arriving until 2026. So whether or not this bit of news is any kind of signal about Slow Horses winding down (we hope not), we still have multiple years left to enjoy the series.

All episodes of Slow Horses are available to stream exclusively on Apple TV Plus.

The Old Man season 2 episode 6 begins by reintroducing us to Julian (Gbenga Akinnagbe), Morgan Bote's special ops agent. Following the events of The Old Man season 1, he's trying to move on with his life, leaving his past career behind him. 

That primarily comes in the shape of a new girlfriend (Jessica Parker Kennedy), who he helped get on the bus when she was injured back in season 1 and ran into again in this episode. She helps Julian come to terms with trying to enter a new phase of his life. But sometimes you can't escape the past.

That's proven true when Julian finds Harper (John Lithgow) waiting for him at this apartment, believing Bote sent him an email just before he was killed and he needs to see it.

Using your weapons

Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Zoe (Amy Brenneman) check into a hotel in London as the Dixons. Chase is very particular about what room they get, requesting the 12th floor, between rooms 01-05 and that it be an odd numbered room. As they get settled, Chase has a mini panic attack as he thinks about Emily, telling Zoe he's not able to turn this feeling off. She says it's OK to be angry. He knows there's a time for that (killing Pavlovich), but right now they need their wits as they try to get some answers.

They prepare for the meeting Zoe has with Nina Kruger (Rowena King), Hamzad's lawyer, to figure out what she knows about Pavlovich's involvement with Hamzad's mineral deposit. Zoe recalls things Bote told her, including that she wields two weapons in concert, one of which is empathy, something Chase previously told her as well. Zoe adds that to use her weapons she has to be OK with never trusting anyone ever again, never getting close to anyone. This she came up with on her own. Chase thinks she's implying if they get close again Zoe is worried he might be ruthless with her. She knows it's a possibility, but she's more worried about herself, because she's someone who breaks things and now she's armed with these new weapons.

Back in the US, Harper is using the weapons at his disposal to get Julian to help him. Julian claims he didn't get an email from Bote, saying Harper has the wrong person. Harper mentions how Bote took care of the people in his circle, built walls around them to keep them and those they cared about safe. With Bote dead, cracks in those walls are starting to appear, and they're only getting bigger, meaning both Julian and his new girlfriend aren't safe. Harper gives him his phone number and says if Julian helps them he'll make sure his walls don't fall for a long time. If he doesn't, he's on his own.

Where's Kruger?

Zoe waits at a restaurant for her meeting with Kruger, talking with Chase on an earpiece as he keeps eyes on her from above. After Chase reassures her that feeling like all eyes are on her is normal and they have a playful banter about Hamlet and revenge, Zoe asks how he made all his money as Henry Dixon? Chase says he came across information people wish he didn't have, which led to some good investment opportunities.

Then she asks who Lou Barlow is. Bote brought that name up, but she could tell he wasn't being entirely truthful when he talked about him. Chase says that kind of money changing hands can bring out the worst in people, and Barlow is the worst in people, someone Chase wishes he never crossed paths with. She asks what that means? He promises he'll tell her someday, but as they're talking Chase sneaks up behind her and says they're leaving. Kruger isn't coming. To confirm this he calls her assistant, Anna (Ana Mulvoy Ten), who says Kruger is dealing with a personal matter and won't give any info on how to reach her. Now they'll need to ask her another way.

After picking up some supplies at a hardware store, Chase builds what Zoe refers to as a "laser rifle" in the hotel room. Zoe is a flummoxed as she realizes Chase had this whole plan in place before they left the US: finding Anna, where she lives and knowing they would likely have to take these steps. She thought she was starting to understand the spy game. Chase tells her she understands the hard parts, what he's doing is just bells and whistles.

Anna arrives at her apartment door when Chase appears in the hall and asks for her help to find someone: Nina Kruger. Anna immediately becomes nervous. Chase says this was a courtesy, next time she won't see him coming. Anna quickly goes into her apartment and locks the door. But Zoe now has eyes on her, with the laser rifle pointed at her, which is able to pick up audio and pair Anna's phone with their computer. When Anna calls Kruger to let her know someone is looking for her, the computer is able to ID Kruger's phone number, which allows them to track it.

Zoe's self reflection 

After they get the number, Zoe asks how Chase knew Anna would call Kruger. He says when you look someone in the eye and show them you're willing to do what they're most afraid of, almost everyone will do what you want them to. Zoe recalls Chase looked at her that way once, but she had a different reaction. She found what he feared and used it to hurt him, saying again she's "a person who breaks things." She's becoming unsettled as she realizes that doing this type of thing feels easy to her.

The next day as they're driving. Chase tells her how he once broke a dish and Abbey told him "a person who can't help but break everything they touch shouldn't be allowed in the house," that they should be outside with the animals. He wants her to know he understands what she is going through, because he feels the same way. She says she doesn't want to live outside with the animals. Neither does Chase.

Pavlovich's goals are revealed 

Chase and Zoe arrive at Kruger's country home. He tells her to keep an eye out while he goes to check it out. As he approaches, the door is already cracked. He carefully walks inside and finds Kruger sitting in a chair, in distress. But there's someone else in the house as well, a man wearing a gas mask rifling through the study. Chase sees they have a gun (at the moment set on the floor), so he picks up a cane and attacks the man. As the fight ensues Chase gets knocked to the ground, but it allows him to grab the gun and kill the man. He searches him and finds a broken injector.

Chase takes Kruger out of the house. Zoe approaches but Chase tells her to stay back. The man released some kind of airborne poison in Kruger's house, and now Chase is exposed. He suspects the broken injector was the antidote. Kruger, through strained breath, sees Zoe and says the man didn't find what he was looking for, a thumbdrive hidden in the study. Once she says this she dies. Chase goes back into the house to grab the thumbdrive. 

In it, Kruger explains Hamzad's mineral deposit is one of many around the world in places not friendly to western governments. Now those with access to those deposits are forming their own cartel for rare earth metals, which if successful could bring western economies to their knees. Pavlovich is involved in the cartel, but his association with Zoe and Chase threaten his position, as the others worry they can't trust him. So Pavlovich is on a mission to destroy any trace of those connections (specifically, them).

With this new information, Chase says they need to split up and Zoe needs to get somewhere safe and call Harper. He's going to let Pavlovich's men (who are on their way) take him as they are the only ones that have an antidote to what he was exposed to. Chase promises he'll come back.

Harper also finds out a key piece of information on Pavlovich. Julian meets with him again and shares the email Bote sent him, which he tried to delete but ultimately couldn't. As Harper looks at the paper he recognizes Pavlovich, but someone else as well: Marion (Janet McTeer), his ex-wife.

New episodes of The Old Man season 2 air Thursdays on FX, then become available to stream on-demand the next day on Hulu.

There's no rest for the Slow Horses, as the ragtag group of spies are back for another mission in Slow Horses season 5. And we now have a new trailer (in the trailer section).

Slow Horses has become one of the longest-running and most successful Apple TV Plus originals. Its third season earned the show its first slate of Emmy nominations, including one for Outstanding Drama Series and a win for creator Will Smith in Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, while the show has also racked up 11 BAFTA TV nominations and two wins over its run thus far. There are no signs of it slowing down, as there are eight books in his Slough House series, four of which haven't been adapted by the show.

What book are they tackling next? When can we expect to watch Slow Horses season 5? We've got everything we know about the latest season of the spy drama right here.

Slow Horses season 5 release date

Slow Horses season 5 premieres on Wednesday, September 24, worldwide on Apple TV Plus.

The first two episodes of the six-episode season will be available immediately, followed by one new episode a week on subsequent Wednesdays until the season concludes on October 22.

You will need an Apple TV Plus subscription to watch the new season of Slow Horses. If you already have it or sign up ahead of the season 5 premiere, you can also catch up with the show from the beginning to now on the streamer.

Slow Horses season 5 cast

The main ensemble cast is all back for Slow Horses season 5. Led by Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the rest of cast includes:

• Jack Lowden as River Cartwright
• Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner
• Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy
• Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish
• Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho
• Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley Dander
• Ruth Bradley as Emma Flyte
• James Callis as Claude Whelan
• Tom Brooke as JK Coe
• Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright

There is one confirmed guest star for Slow Horses season 5 at this point — Ted Lasso's Nick Mohammed.

Check out some Slow Horses season 5 first look images right here:

Slow Horses season 5 plot

Here is the official synopsis for Slow Horses season 5 from Apple TV Plus:

"In season five of Slow Horses, everyone is suspicious when resident tech nerd Roddy Ho has a glamorous new girlfriend, but when a series of increasingly bizarre events occur across the city, it falls to the Slow Horses to work out how everything is connected. After all, Lamb knows that in the world of espionage, the London Rules — cover your back — always apply."

This season is based on the Slough House series book London Rules. Here is the book synopsis for some more background.

"At MI5 headquarters Regent's Park, First Desk Claude Whelan is learning this the hard way. Tasked with protecting a beleaguered prime minister, he's facing attack from all directions: from the showboating MP who orchestrated the Brexit vote, and now has his sights set on Number Ten; from the showboat's wife, a tabloid columnist, who's crucifying Whelan in print; from the PM's favorite Muslim, who's about to be elected mayor of the West Midlands, despite the dark secret he's hiding; and especially from his own deputy, Lady Di Taverner, who's alert for Claude's every stumble. Meanwhile, the country's being rocked by an apparently random string of terror attacks.

"Over at Slough House, the MI5 satellite office for outcast and demoted spies, the agents are struggling with personal problems: repressed grief, various addictions, retail paralysis and the nagging suspicion that their newest colleague is a psychopath. Plus someone is trying to kill Roddy Ho. But collectively, they're about to rediscover their greatest strength — that of making a bad situation much, much worse.

"It's a good thing Jackson Lamb knows the rules. Because those things aren't going to break themselves."

Slow Horses season 5 trailer

Fans were treated to a preview of Slow Horses season 5 at the end of the Slow Horses season 4 finale. Highlights include someone trying to kill Roddy, River kissing Louisa and Lamb's epic backhanded compliment of his team ("at least my lot f**k up on an epic scale, they're not just run of the mill f**k ups like yours.")

Apple TV Plus has now released a full trailer, which sees Ho getting a girlfriend and Lamb telling him: "Nothing raises my spider-senses as much as hearing a woman is happy to spend time with you."

Slow Horses behind the scenes

It's already been confirmed that there is going to be a Slow Horses season 6, so no need to worry about season 5 being the last in the series.

However, The Wrap reports that season 5 is set to be the last season with Will Smith as the lead writer and executive producer. New writers for season 6 and season 7 have already been hired, with Gabby Chiappe tackling season 6 and Ben Vanstone taking on season 7.

Also, for a bit of fun, watch this video that sees the cast of Slow Horses guess which characters said certain lines:

As police arrive at the crash scene where we left off in Slow Horses season 4 episode 5, Emma (Ruth Bradley) staggers to her feet. As she gets her bearings, Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) calls for an update and is stunned to learn one man killed four Dogs. Taverner asks to speak to River, but Emma informs her he was taken. 

Back at MI5, Taverner tells Whelan (James Callis) they need to find and eliminate Patrice and get River into an interrogation room to figure out the extent of this situation. But Whelan decides he's taking command now, issuing a shoot-to-kill order on River in the hopes of containing this whole cold bodies fiasco. Taverner protests, but he doesn't back down. If he's wrong, only River dies; if she's wrong, it could be a disaster. But first thing's first, where is River?

Read on for a full breakdown of Slow Horses season 4 episode 6, the season finale.

Father and son

Patrice (Tom Woznickza) brings River (Jack Lowden) to a restaurant where Frank (Hugo Weaving) is waiting. River goes to talk with him alone. Once he sits down he says "hello dad," and Frank confirms the truth when he says back "hello son."

River pieced together their connection when he confirmed the mural at Les Arbres was identical to birthday cards his mother sent him. River asks if Frank and his mother were ever in love? She was, Frank says, but for him everything at Les Arbres was about securing means to build his own loyal army. That army is now depleted, but River can help with that. Frank can tell River is underappreciated at MI5, but he has potential, which Frank can unlock, teaching him to think counter intuitively: stand still while you're pursued; when someone offers you their hand, show them your fist. But River is not a fan of Frank's TED Talk.

Frank then tries to play a bit of the father, sorry River had to be raised by David (Jonathan Pryce). River preferred it to being a child soldier. Frank claims his children/assassins are loyal, but River correctly guesses Robert Winters blowing up Westacres was more of an attack on Frank, not London. As they talk, River pulls out Standish's phone (which he finally turned back on while being transported in the trunk) and tries to call Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar), but Frank can tell what he is doing. He forces River to hand over the phone, hoping he isn't too attached to whoever he called.

The Slow Horses rev into action

Standish (Saskia Reeves) and David arrive at Slough House to hide out. Louisa asks Standish if she just tried to call her, but Standish reminds her River has her phone. Even though the line is now dead, Louisa gets Ho (Christopher Chung) to track it.

Ho also found CCTV footage of Patrice kidnapping River at the crash scene and learned there's a shoot-to-kill out on River. This puts Louisa, Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan) on high alert, so much so, Marcus goes to buy his gun back (unfortunately the dealer is not sympathetic and makes him pay two grand more than what he sold it for). Meanwhile, Louisa heads out and tells Ho to contact her as soon as he figures out where River is.

But first Louisa heads to the crash scene, where she finds Emma, who's not thrilled to discover Louisa is actually a Slow Horse. Louisa couldn't care less, instead wondering why the Park wants River dead? Despite Emma not thinking River is a threat, Whelan overruled everyone. Ho informs Louisa that River is at St. Pancras, but the Dogs figure it out too and are on their way.

While the members of Slough House appear in top form as one of their own is in danger, there's always bound to be a screw up. That comes from Moira (Joanna Scanlan). As Lamb (Gary Oldman) gets to Chapman's office, he finds the former agent dead. He also sees there's a message on his phone. It's from Moira, letting Chapman know David is at Slough House and that she left the same message on his mobile. Lamb checks Chapman just to make sure, but his phone is gone, meaning Patrice has it and now knows where David is.

Under attack

Frank makes one last push for River to join him, building a new business together as father and son. But River tells him no. Rejected, Frank admits he's under pressure from not only the authorities but his client, so he needs to close all loose ends, which will include River if he doesn't change his mind. But while Frank is threatening him, River's eyes move toward something. Frank checks and sees it's a group of policemen arriving on the scene. So Frank gets River up and leads him at gunpoint out of the restaurant.

As Frank and River head outside, Louisa, Emma and the Dogs arrive on the scene as well, creating chaos as everyone is barking orders. Eventually, Frank has had enough, pulling out a grenade and placing it in River's hoodie, pushing him toward everyone while he makes a run for it. Louisa and River fumble around trying to get rid of the grenade, with Louisa finally grabbing it and tossing it in the river just before it explodes. With the shoot-to-kill order on River rescinded (how or why isn't really explained, but whatever), they all chase after Frank, who's heading toward the train station.

Action also comes to Slough House. Shortly after Marcus returns with his gun, Patrice breaks in and starts shooting the place up. Ho, Standish, Moira and David barricade themselves in Lamb's office, searching for Lamb's gun, while Marcus gets in a fire fight with Patrice and Shirley tries to help. Even JK (Tom Brooke) gets in on the action, boiling a kettle of water and throwing it at Patrice, scalding him. It works, allowing the three agents to get to a better position, but Patrice keeps coming. Patrice is able to shoot JK, but he gets to safety outside. Marcus then returns the favor, hitting Patrice, which gives him and Shirley time to get into Lamb's office. Marcus knows he's still out there though, so despite Shirley's protests he goes back out.

Moments later a gunshot goes off, but we don't see who was hit. Shirley gets Standish to give her Lamb's gun, which she aims at the door as someone approaches. It's Patrice, who opens fire into the office. Shirley is able to avoid getting hit and returns fire until she empties the gun. It goes quiet. Moira says she found another bullet for the gun, but just then Patrice bursts into the room. He's about to shoot Shirley when Lamb arrives and knocks him out.

With Patrice subdued, Shirley goes to check on Marcus. Lamb tries to stop her, but she goes anyway and finds Marcus' dead body. She goes to kill Patrice when JK reappears, telling her killing Patrice won't help her pain. With his behavorial science knowledge, he tells her Marcus loved her and he wouldn't want her to do this. This convinces Shirley to stop. JK, however, won't have those regrets, so he kills Patrice.

Frank's fail-safe 

After chasing him throughout the train station, River remembers what Frank says: when you're being pursued, stay still. So he stops running and goes to sit down at a restaurant in the station, where Frank is hiding out. Rather than try and fight, Frank gives River his gun and lets himself be arrested. But why?

When Taverner interrogates Frank he says it's just a matter of time until he is let out. Taverner soon finds out why. Lamb was told by Molly Duran (Naomi Wirthner) about five envelopes Frank left at her apartment. They are for the heads of service, Whelan included. If Frank isn't released in 12 hours, all the dirt he has on these people will be released on the internet. So it appears Frank's release is inevitable, putting him at large for potential reappearances in future seasons.

Lamb is there for his team

Perhaps everything the Slow Horses have been through these four seasons is finally softening Lamb. Not only did he fight for Marcus' family to get benefits that reflect a field operational agent, but he followed through on getting Moira back into the Park, where she uses her knowledge of Whelan's shady activities to snag better benefits.

Meanwhile, River takes David to an assisted living home, which the old spymaster is none too pleased with. He said River promised he would never put him in a place like this, but River has no other choice. He can only hug his grandfather and leave. Lamb then gives him a call and tells River to meet him at a pub.

He wants River to sign documents to account for his movements in the field, which River initially sees as pointless office work. But Lamb invites him to stay for a drink, so long as River pays for it himself and shuts up. So the two Slow Horses share a drink together to end the season.

All episodes of Slow Horses season 4 are now streaming on Apple TV Plus.

There have been multiple new faces in Slow Horses season 4, but few have stood out as much as Ruth Bradley, who plays Emma Flyte, the new head of MI5's enforcement unit, known as the Dogs. Flyte has had to interact with just about all of Slough House this season as they once again find themselves at the center of a dangerous conspiracy. Whether or not Emma has enjoyed the time spent with the Slow Horses, Bradley told What to Watch in an interview that joining the ensemble has been a "dream."

The show also gave Bradley, whose most notable roles prior to Slow Horses include playing Karen Voss on Humans, a recurring guest role on Ted Lasso and as part of The Gold, the chance to do something she hadn't in her career: a big fight scene. She was a major part of the sequence that closes out Slow Horses season 4 episode 5 where Emma has to fight Patrice (Tom Woznickza).

"I've done a few stunt sequences and stuff, but never like fighting and that kind of thing," Bradley told us. "I wanted to feel like — obviously nobody could take Patrice in a fight, really — but feel like I could go for something and not be afraid of it."

She spent a lot of time rehearsing for the fight scene to get to a point where it felt like it was second nature, but then on the day the director of the episode, Adam Randall, thought something was off. "[Randall] was like, 'it's too clean, you know. This fight is too perfect. These are people who are going to die. It needs to be messy.'" Despite the last minute change, Bradley thought it really helped the scene be more interesting for both her as an actor and for audiences.

And of course it sets up the Slow Horses season 4 finale, one that she teased won't leave fans "unsatisfied."

Find out more about Bradley's experience on the show and what's to come on Slow Horses with the full transcript of our interview below (edited for clarity and length):

What was your experience coming in as the new addition to the already established cast? 

Ruth Bradley:  I mean a dream really. Any nerves that I would have had totally melted away when I had my first rehearsal for Gary [Oldman], because he totally sets the tone really, and he's such a warm, generous actor. I think it often comes from the top and it just kind of trickles down. Everyone is just really gorgeous, the cast and crew.

You got to do scenes with most of the main characters in the show. How fun was getting that opportunity as a new cast member and were there any moment that stood out?

RB: Hmm, I had great fun with everyone for different reasons. What's great about Emma in this season is she kind of… I always felt it was kind of like an audience member, what would you do if like you, Michael, were thrown into Slow Horses world. Because she's meeting all these new people for the first time and figuring them out and who are they? It felt like she was a mirror for the audience, this is kind of a way in for the audience as well. But I mean it was super fun having a night shoot with Gary and just like playing around with this amazing… these quips to each other in this back and forth tennis match in the opening scene of the first episode. Riding around in the back of cars with Jack for months. It was all great fun. 

When you first read Emma in the script, what popped out to you?

RB: I think how she could handle herself and how she never, even though she is so wrong footed by all of these people... she is just very capable of deflecting and coming across well and being able to handle anything that anyone throws at, namely Lamb initially. I was kind of struck by what has she been through before. Where was she born? Who are her family? Where did she work that she is so able for this stuff? Eventually as it continues on we do see her crumble a bit and you see a little bit more vulnerability. But I think what really gets her and what makes her crumble is that she is generally trying to do the right thing. Not necessarily for her career, because she probably could have done better, but she wants to do the morally right thing for these humans.

Episode 5 ends with a big action sequence that you are heavily involved in. Had you had a lot of experience with that kind of scene, that kind of action, with your past roles?

RB: Never, never. I've done a few stunt sequences and stuff, but never like fighting and that kind of thing. So I knew that was coming up from way early on, obviously we had all the scripts, so I kind of started working with a weight training personal trainer, like heavy weight lifting, which is something I had never done before or had never occurred to me. But I kind of felt like I wanted to feel like — obviously nobody could take Patrice in a fight, really — but feel like I could go for something and not be afraid of it. That kind of helped me in the physicality of Emma too, that I knew that under this big baggy coat I've got some guns, so I can do my best. We kind of rehearsed that fight sequence so much that it was like second nature to us by the time we got to shoot it. It was really fun and really rewarding actually.

What was shooting the fight scene like on the day? Was there anything that was unexpected or surprising?

RB: Totally. We had about four or five nights to shoot it, and we had rehearsed it to an nth degree, so we knew exactly what we were doing. And by the time we got to shooting, Adam Randall, the amazing director, was like, "it's too clean, you know. This fight is too perfect. These are people who are going to die. It needs to be messy." So essentially we kept all the same moves but totally changed the performance of it on the day. So that came out of nowhere. Because I guess I had seen it as like, cool, she knows what she's doing, you know. He was like, "no, no, this is like the last moment of your life, you know, it needs to be a big terrifying mess." That was surprising and so much more interesting to play and do. That's what a great director can do. 

It seems to work a little bit more in the context of the show, where they're not the suave spies. They're very much just figuring it out and half the time almost stumbling.

RB: Totally. And it goes to show you how many times we watch this genre and people are just like, "I know what I'm doing." But actually human beings so often, even if you are well equipped, if you come across a terminator you're going to be like "oh my God, this is not a real situation, this is not a fair fight. This person is like inhuman," in that kind of scene. And that's so apparent from the second Patrice hops out of that truck… The look on his face, it's like, "God, what's going to happen?" It wasn't difficult to play. 

Heading into the finale, if you were talking to fans — not going into spoilers — how would get them excited for what’s to come? 

RB: I would say you won't watch the finale and be disappointed by unanswered questions. You know sometimes I find it so disappointing when I'm really invested in this show and then by the end I'm like they didn't answer any of my questions. There is something so satisfying for an audience member to see the puzzle come together. Which I think is something so gorgeous about Slow Horses. At the end of the each of season, it's really for the audience. So I would say please watch it, because you won't be left unsatisfied.

The Slow Horses season 4 finale premieres on Apple TV Plus on Wednesday, October 9. All other episodes of the spy series are available to stream exclusively on Apple TV Plus.

The funeral for Faraz Hamzad opens The Old Man season 2 episode 5. Emily (Alia Shawkat) narrates her own feelings about the proceedings. While she doesn't understand the language of the villagers, she can understand what Hamzad meant to them. That is harder for her to quantify, but she wants to say goodbye in her own way. So like she did with her mother, she writes a letter. 

In it, she says she is grateful she and her father "passed each other in darkness, even if for just an instance." She asks when he sees her mother to be kind to her, as she was just as fractured as they were and did the best she could. But she wants him to let her know she found her way home. She burns the letter and scatters its ashes at Hamzad's grave. 

After the proceedings, Emily says goodbye to Farouk (Michael Sifain), who is leaving with Tarik (Amir Malaklou) to get out of the village, presumably to America, before the Taliban arrive. Khadija (Jacqueline Antaramian) asks what Emily said to Farouk? She told him he'll be safe, but he's going to be scared and alone, knowing from personal experience it's not good to lie to a kid when the truth is important.

Sending Farouk away was not a moment too soon, as Khadija notices smoke in the distance and the sound of gunfire. Hamzad's enemies are on their way.

Refuge at the Harper household

Back in the US, Cheryl (Jessica Harper) is trying to address a big leak in her basement when Harper (John Lithgow) comes rushing in. He reminds her he tried to leave his work at the door and not have it interfere with their lives, but things are too complicated now. He explains Angela (referring to Emily as Cheryl knows her) is still in Afghanistan and in danger, and so are they. He wants her and their grandson, Henry, to stay in a hotel for now. But Cheryl reveals Henry doesn't live with them anymore. They have to drop this conversation as Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Zoe (Amy Brenneman) come in from the rain, eagerly trying to reach Emily and worried about having Bote's car in the driveway.

After they get settled, Zoe asks how the attackers found them? Chase thinks Bote got too close to Pavlovich's pursuit of Hamzad's mineral deposit. Though he's confused why Pavlovich would think killing Bote on US soil would help him, as it will cause major blowback. There's something they don't understand yet.

Harper and Cheryl pick up the Henry conversation. She sent him to live with his other grandparents because she wasn't sure Harper was coming back and it wasn't fair to Henry to not be able to ask questions or expect to get answers. Cheryl knows what she signed up for when she married Harper, but even she admits she's drowning in the absence of answers. So Harper gives her some: Angela Adams was a fiction.

How hard that must be for Cheryl hits home when Zoe finds a photo of Emily with the Harper family. She asks if Chase knew how close Emily was with all of them, if it was hard for Chase to be on the outside of all that since he once was close with Harper too? He says that was part of the deal he and Abbey (his wife and Emily's mother) made, a clean break. Abbey and Emily were all he needed. Zoe notes that needing and wanting are two different things.

The phone call

The power goes out in the Harper house because of the leak, but before they can do anything about that, Emily answers Chase's call. Everyone comes in so they can hear. Chase tells her that Bote is dead, so she has to get out of there because he can't protect her from what's coming. But Emily reveals the enemy is already there. Chase again urges her to get out, but she refuses. She tells them Hamzad is dead. Before she can say anymore, she has to move as the enemy forces are getting closer, but she promises to get back on when she can.

As Harper scrambles to figure out how they can help, Chase remembers a time when he lost a young Emily at the park. He says through all the wars and horrible things he's been through, he's never experienced a feeling like that before and he swore he would not let himself feel that again. But certainly, it must be creeping in now.

Emily gets back on; the enemy is breaching. Chase tells them to use the tunnels in the village to get out, but the enemy is using those exact tunnels. So all that is left for Emily to do is say her goodbyes. 

She apologizes for putting Harper and Cheryl through this again after losing their son. She also adds she doesn't blame Harper for what he did (she doesn't overtly say he shot Hamzad in front of Cheryl). She then tells Chase she needs him to know that her choice to stay was not a rejection of him or Abbey and that she needs to know he's not going to spend his life resenting the new family she found; she chose this. Before Chase can answer, the soldiers break through and gunfire goes off. The last thing they hear before the line goes dead is Emily saying "no, wait!"

Needing answers

Knowing he has lost Emily forever, Chase is distraught. As he tinkers with the leak he repeatedly says he should have stopped Emily, but Zoe asks how could he have? She comforts him as he sobs. He stops when Harper comes in, saying they need to go. Not yet, Chase says. He confirms Harper heard what he heard on the call and says he wants answers, now. Harper relents, telling Zoe to keep Cheryl distracted. Zoe asks what it is they heard on the call? The men who attacked the villagers weren't Taliban, they were speaking Russian, which means Pavlovich sent them.

Chase and Harper grab one of the attackers from Bote's they kept alive and stuffed in the trunk of the car to extract answers from him. Meanwhile, Cheryl and Zoe are in the kitchen. Cheryl asks if Zoe is inside or outside all this; does she know what's going on, or does she wonder what the people who know what's going on are thinking? Zoe says she's in a transitional phase. Cheryl isn't, which kills her because Emily's final words to Harper — not blaming him — will be something she never knows about. Zoe decides to tell Cheryl that she was told to distract her and that Bote is dead, killed by Pavlovich's men, who also killed Emily.

As Chase tortures the attacker for answers, Harper says he can help, as getting answers out of people was his job. "Not like this," Chase says, sending Harper upstairs. So Harper goes to be alone in his son Chip's old room. There he imagines Chip and the two have a conversation about how all of Harper's own fiction he used to protect his family is falling apart. The imagined Chip says he never truly knew Harper, as some part of him was always left with his work. Harper regrets that he messed up being a father and wishes he had the chance to say goodbye, to have last words with Chip, Emily, and even Henry. This thought sets off a light bulb in his mind.

Harper finds Zoe and asks if Bote said anything before he died? No, but he had his phone and was trying to send something. Harper believes that's an important piece to his puzzle, something Bote wanted to make sure didn't die with him. And Harper may have an idea on who Bote was messaging.

Chase comes up from the basement. The attacker didn't know anything about Pavlovich, he was just a hired gun. But Chase did learn one thing: Bote wasn't the only target. He and Zoe (or Marcia and Henry Dixon, the aliases they used when they met Pavlovich) were also meant to be killed. Chase thinks their best option to find out what's going on is to meet with Hamzad's lawyer, who had something to tell Zoe. Off to London they go.

As they say goodbye, Cheryl tells Harper she understands the situation now. Maybe not everything, but enough. But now she feels like she understands Harper less. Harper intends to find a better way to make everything work when he gets back.

After Cheryl leaves, Harper goes down to the basement. He grabs a saw and moves toward the attacker. Whether he's going to just cut up an already dead body or cause him additional pain is unclear. But what is clear is that Harper is ready to get dirty.

New episodes of The Old Man air on Thursdays on FX, then stream on-demand on Hulu the next day.

Slow Horses season 4 episode 5 begins with a check-in on Molly Doran (Naomi Wirthner). MI5's archivist arrives home when there is a knock at her door. It's Frank (Hugo Weaving), who tries to pose as a handyman so Molly will let him in. She's not buying it, so he reveals his gun. That does the trick.

Frank explains Molly would know him as Mitch Philpott, someone from Molly's past. However, the real Philpott has been dead for a few years. Frank posed as him online to get David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce) and Chapman's addresses; turns out, Molly is Frank's unwitting source. Now he needs her help again. He wants her access codes for the Park so he can track the Dogs. When Molly refuses, Frank drops his playful nature and threatens to chop off her limbs until she gives him what he wants.

That's quite the start to the penultimate episode of the season, but let's review everything that happened in Slow Horses season 4 episode 5.

Omissions

Having apprehended River (Jack Lowden), Emma (Ruth Bradley) asks why he came back to David's house and what he was doing in France. River won't answer unless Emma can guarantee protection for David. When she asks why David would need protection, River again is tight-lipped. It's no deal, and Emma is taking River back to the Park.

In the car, Emma finds the photo of Frank, Robert Winters and the others River had. But River reiterates he won't talk until he's spoken to David. She tries to guilt him with the possibility of another bomb, but Rivers says Westacres was a one-off (he thinks). Emma finally relents, promising River five minutes with David, he just needs to tell her where he is. He says at Standish's (Saskia Reeves). Emma says Lamb (Gary Oldman) already tried that; he's not there, which of course is news to River.

Emma calls Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas), saying she has River but he won't talk until he talks with David. Taverner asks Emma to bring the Adam Lockhead passport to her. Emma notes she should log it first, but Taverner demands she skip that and bring her the passport. When she gets off the phone, it's River who has the questions: where's his grandfather? Does Lamb have him? Why didn't Emma tell Taverner about the photograph? Now Emma isn't answering.

Regrouping

Still driving around, David tells Lamb and Standish to let him go, that they work for him. Lamb reminds David that's not the case anymore, so now he has to listen to his questions: who did David send the guns and money to in France? David says he doesn't have to answer to Lamb. Instead, David wants to know where Lamb is taking him. It's not to the Park or Slough House.

Conversely, Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar), Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan) and Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) are on their way back to Slough House. Shirley is still upset Marcus sold his gun. When Louisa overhears this, she correctly guesses he sold it to Dancer Blaine, who she ran into while she was undercover. Marcus asks Louisa to tell Shirley Blaine doesn't sell to drug gangs. He doesn't, she confirms, he sells to organized crime. 

That conversation is cut short when Louisa gets a call from River's mother, who Louisa had previously reached out to when she thought River was dead. She explains what happened to David and River, but River's mother isn't all that interested. She hasn't spoken to David in years and she just wants Louisa to remind River she exists.

Back at Slough House, Roddy (Christopher Chung) has figured out why Moira was sent there. When she was working the duty logs she noted someone with the code name "Galahad" picked up a prostitute. Turns out Galahad is Claude Whelan (James Callis).

Once they get back to the office, Louisa tries to figure out how they can support River and Lamb. JK (Tom Brooke) says they can't, citing the Slow Horses are all checked out, something he apparently can ID because he was previously in a psych evaluation. Shirley scoffs at this, but JK then breaks her down with pinpoint accuracy, which shakes her a bit. Louisa gets them back on track by figuring out what could have happened to Patrice after he attacked Chapman? He was injured, so they figure he could have gone to a back alley doctor. Moira says there's a database of those for undercover agents.

Burying the past

Whelan shows Taverner what Giti (Kiran Sonia Sawar) found out about Adam Lockhead. He was in Munich when a car bomb went off, in Paris when a Palestinian human rights activist was poisoned and Stockholm for another killing; so was Robert Winters. Taverner pieces together that MI5's cold bodies are being used by a "death squad." With this revelation, Whelan has come around to Taverner's way of thinking: they need to bury this. Taverner agrees. When Whelan brings up the Cartwrights, she says they'll buy their silence by promising to keep whoever killed the imposter out of jail.

Still on their way to the Park, River guesses Emma didn't mention the photo earlier because she thinks Taverner will destroy it. Emma admits she left her old job because of corruption, but MI5 is turning out to be the same — people doing whatever they need to regardless of consequences. River clarifies all he's trying to do is protect his grandfather, but since he's in handcuffs, that responsibility falls on Emma. He asks her to send the photo to someone she can trust (in this case Giti), find out who everyone in the picture is and take it to Whelan (who Emma copies on message).

Elsewhere, Lamb takes David to an old church. He explains to Standish that David created the cold body that blew up Westactres, but he needs to figure out who he gave it to and why. Standish is worried Lamb is going to hurt David, but instead, he leads him to David's wife's grave, with Lamb goading David to tell her he killed River. Lamb continues to badger David with this lie until David admits he "did it for her." The girl he extracted from France was David's daughter, as he wanted to get her away from Frank, who organized preemptive assassinations with his group of children, "killers raised from birth." David never told anyone what he did. Standish wonders if that's the case, why does Frank want him dead? Lamb figures it's because he can connect Frank to Westacres. Standish says they should take David to the Park, but Lamb knows they don't want to be connected to Westacres either, so they'll take him back to Slough House.

Best laid plans

Frank, having gotten the access codes from Molly without torture, is tracking River. Patrice shows up. He didn't get David's location from Chapman, but he has Chapman's phone in case David calls. Using Molly's computer, Frank pulls up pictures of Lamb and the Slow Horses, who Patrice confirms are the people who stopped him from getting Chapman. When Frank points out they're "burnouts," Patrice says he deserves to be punished. Frank doesn't want to hear that, instead, Patrice needs to channel his emotions to the next step. In this case, it's Patrice beating up trash collectors, stealing their truck and driving off. Frank, meanwhile, leaves Molly's, but also leaves behind a handful of closed envelopes with names on them, including Claude Whelan.

At the Park, Giti tells Taverner and Whelan she completed the task Emma sent her. This catches them off guard as Whelan didn't check his phone. Giti continues she was able to ID Patrice, who used another cold body, Paul Wayne, and Frank, then lists off their litany of terrible crimes. Taverner sends Giti off to get descriptions of Patrice and Frank to agents. Whelan asks "we don't have a concrete box big enough for this, do we?" Taverner says no.

Having cracked into the database, Roddy found that one doctor on the list died that day, then spots Patrice on CCTV footage at the doctor's location. He also finds out that the Dogs have River. Louisa calls Lamb with these updates and says Chapman is likely still in danger (they don't know Patrice already got to him). Lamb has Standish take David back to Slough House while he'll go check on Chapman.

Crash

Emma and River are starting to get along, particularly when they start talking about Lamb. But their chit-chat is cut short when Patrice crashes into their car with the garbage truck. They try to turn around but the car is blocked in.

One of the Dogs tries to get out but Patrice quickly shoots him, then kills the other Dog. Emma starts to fight Patrice, but is knocked out. Patrice pulls the gun on River, but instead of killing him, shoots his handcuffs off. He then kidnaps River at gunpoint, steals a car and puts River in the trunk (aka a boot in the UK). But where is Patrice taking him?

New episodes of Slow Horses release on Wednesdays on Apple TV Plus.

At the heart of FX's The Old Man has always been a handful of fatherly relationships. The key one to date has been that Angela/Emily/Parwana (Alia Shawkat) with her three "dads': the one who raised her, Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges), her surrogate work dad, Harold Harper (John Lithgow) and, as we get to see in The Old Man season 2, her biological father Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban).

But only one character has been referred to by the show's title, "the old man" — Joel Grey's Morgan Bote. That is what Harper called Bote when he met face to face with Chase after Emily had been kidnapped at the end of The Old Man season 1. It was laid out that both Chase and Harper had a long history with Bote, as he helped train them early in their careers but things have clearly gotten complicated over the years and after Chase went into hiding.

However, after The Old Man season 2 epsode 4, there may be a deeper connection between Morgan Bote and Dan Chase: it feels heavily implied (though never explicitly confirmed) that they are actually father and son. Let me make my case for that argument. Fair warning, I'll be getting into some The Old Man SPOILERS, so if you're not caught up probably best to do so before you continue reading.

First off, it's been established that Dan Chase is not Bridges' character’s real name, it's one of his aliases. We don't know his real full name, though Harper has referred to him as Johnny both in flashbacks and in the present storyline. Whether or not Johnny is his real first name, we've never heard a last name with it. Could it be Bote?

Looking specifically at what happened in The Old Man season 2 episode 4, Chase and Bote's complicated history is brought up numerous times, with Harper saying that it's so bad there's no chance that Bote will listen to Chase. He also mentions Bote's advanced age (saying he's basically 100); even if that's exaggeration, there could be enough of an age gap where Bote being Chase's father could work.

When they come face to face, Chase does try to appeal to Bote, revealing he told him years ago when Bote helped get Emily into the FBI that she wasn't his real daughter, adding a curious connection to Bote: "I said she didn't need to be your granddaughter for you to help anymore than she needed to be my daughter for me to ask."

The other big clues in the episode are Zoe (Amy Brenneman), who constantly refers to how similar Chase and Bote are in mindset, and the fact that Bote is so angry at Chase; it feels like the kind of hurt that can generate from a father and son having an irreconcilable rift.

In fairness, holes can be poked in any of these arguments: Bote could just be mad at how Chase chose to handle his exit from Afghanistan and the agency all those years ago, feeling betrayed by the young man he trained. And just saying Emily didn't need to be Bote's granddaughter for him to help her doesn't necessarily mean that he thought he was, the plan could have been to have her appear to be Bote's granddaughter. As far as Zoe's mentions of similarity, that doesn't necessarily have to be a familial trait, it could have just been what Bote drilled into Chase as he trained him.

And yet, the possibility of Chase being Bote's estranged son feels on brand for the show. As we said, different paternal relationships are a big theme of the show. So Chase having a prickly relationship with his own father would add additional layers to all of that.

We don't get a straight answer to this question in The Old Man season 2 episode 4, and it's possible we never do since Bote was killed at the end of the episode. We can't go back to the source material (Thomas Perry’s The Old Man) to check either, because the show is so dramatically different. But at the very least it's another interesting dynamic in a show that is as much about the relationships as it is the thrilling action sequences.

New episodes of The Old Man season 2 air Thursdays on FX, then are available to stream the next day on Hulu.

In the aftermath of the attack and killing of Omar, The Old Man season 2 episode 4 begins with Khadija's son Tarik (Amir Malaklou) doing damage control with the Kabul government, but the minister is shutting them out. He tells this to Hamzad (Navid Negahban), who is receiving medical treatment for his gunshot wound, Khadija (Jacqueline Antaramian) and eventually Emily (Alia Shawkat); aka Parwana, as they refer to her. Tarik figures they have 72 hours. After that, anyone still in the village will be killed by the Taliban.

Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Harper (John Lithgow) wait for Emily before they leave. Harper tries to comfort Chase after the attack, saying Emily has handled the emotion of killing people before. But Chase says they're not all the same. 

Emily arrives with young Farouk (Michael Sifain), who has become attached to her after his mother was killed. She tells them the situation: the army is coming and Hamzad and the village are vulnerable because Morgan Bote (Joel Grey) froze their funds. She needs them to get Bote to reverse this. She says she is still the person each of them knew, but she cannot leave these people to die. She trusts they can get the job done, but if they refuse she would no longer recognize either of them. So off Chase and Harper go on a new mission.

How to handle Bote

As they head back to the US, Harper asks what Chase meant when he said not all killings are the same. Chase explains when you kill to show somebody you love them, there's no going back. He recognizes some part of Emily is gone and a new part is being born. What that results in is still a mystery.

Harper lays out his plan for how to deal with Bote: he'll do all the talking. Bote may not listen to him, but he certainly won't listen to Chase, citing their complicated history. Chase is disinterested in Harper's plan, just wanting to torture Bote into doing what they want. Harper puts his foot down. Chase won't say anything when they get there, letting Harper talk Bote into this. Chase warns Harper to talk fast.

Stay or go

Hamzad says he hears Emily is caring for Farouk. She admits she doesn't know why, but being with her comforts him. Hamzad says "why" is a strange question lately. What "why" could explain everything that they have done?

Hamzad tells her some people will remain in the village to fight the Taliban, while others will be evacuated. Emily doesn't want to hear it's too dangerous or that she doesn't belong in the village. Hamzad assures her she belongs, but he is still asking her to leave because there are other things she can help with, other fights that need fighting.

Emily leaves Hamzad, then runs into Tarik, who officially introduces himself. He asks what Hamzad said, and she reveals he wants her to go back to America with Tarik and help handle the business. Tarik also has a favor to ask of Emily: to convince Hamzad to save his own life.

Tarik explains Hamzad sent him to America when he was a child for school so he could "do more, be more." While there he found his own purpose: getting his family out of the valley. He says he told them a thousand times where they could go, how it could be better, but they didn't listen to him. He thinks it may be different if Hamzad hears it from Emily.

When she brings up the family's roots in the valley, Tarik asks how many of the men and women who died defending their land would have left if they had the option of some place that offered comfort and security? A lot he wagers. But she grew up with comfort and security; it didn't save her, she drowned in it. Tarik reminds her she was lied to, part of an orchestrated fraud. This would be a family moving together so their daughters and sons could have a better life with more opportunity. He admits it won't be easy, but it's the right thing to do.

Khadija then comes out and reveals Hamzad has died from his wounds. As they mourn together as a family, Khadija tells Emily she has a choice to make: stay or go. Emily, feeling guilty, explains Hamzad was really shot by Harper, not the Taliban, but Khadija knows. She assures Emily no one will blame her for what has transpired. They will say Hamzad died defending his daughter and that she has sent Chase and Harper to go fight for them in the US.

The real story

As Chase and Harper arrive at Bote's house, Harper gets a call from Marion, which he ignores. Chase notes it's the third time he's done that. Harper corrects him, it's the fifth, hoping ignoring her will make the problem go away.

Bote is waiting for them. Harper lays out the situation, which Bote already knows, adding if he knew Emily wasn't Chase's kid a long time ago they wouldn't be in this mess. Harper continues anyway, asking Bote to unfreeze Hamzad's assets so they can protect themselves against the Taliban. Bote says neither of them understand what story they are in. As he says this, Chase hears dogs barking. His Rottweilers, Dave and Carol, run in, followed by Zoe (Amy Brenneman). Chase blames Bote for bringing Zoe into this, but Bote counters Chase did that, Bote's trying to get them all out.

Zoe explains she did what Chase said — come back, pick up the dogs — but she couldn't start her normal life again. So she tried calling Nina Kruger, Hamzad's lawyer. She eventually got a call back, but not from Kruger, from Bote, who was monitoring Kruger. Harper asks what they are missing in this situation?

Bote explains it's all about the lithium mine Hamzad controls. Not the money it generates, but the power to control technology and, tangentially, civilization, so the US needs it. But another party is trying to steal it from them: Suleyman Pavolvich (Rade Serbedzija), the Russian gangster Chase and Zoe met at the Moroccan party in The Old Man season 1.

Zoe gets a phone call. Bote explains it's Kruger, who he believes is the key to stopping Pavolvich from getting the mine and right now their best play is to have her talk with Zoe. Zoe says Kruger has set up a lunch meeting for them to talk next week. But that's too long, Harper protests, saying a lot of people (Emily included) are going to die if Bote is wrong. But Bote believes if he's right it would be far worse.

Chase gets heated with Bote. He told Bote Emily was not his daughter when he asked him to get her into the FBI. Not directly, but he said she didn't need to be Bote's granddaughter for him to help anymore than she needed to be Chase's daughter for him to ask (are Chase and Bote father and son?) He tells Bote he understands the importance of everything going on, but the only reason Bote can't find a solution is because he's not looking for one, asking him to ignore his feelings for Chase. When Bote tells them to come back tomorrow, Chase grabs Bote by the shirt, but Zoe convinces him to talk outside.

Harper says Chase isn't wrong; Bote's not helping because he wants them to know he doesn't have to. Bote says Harper never understood the difference between what they want and what they owe, adding if Harper didn't want Bote to be angry, he would have left Chase outside.

The game changes

Chase is steaming, telling Zoe he won't leave until he gets Bote to give him what he wants. Zoe says Bote won't do that, but he will give it to her. She tells Chase to go and to trust her, she can get what he needs.

In Bote's office, he knows Zoe is going to ask for him to help, but he doesn't know why. Because she believes he can and that deep down he wants to. He warns her to be careful with men like him; if she thinks she knows what they're thinking, it's probably because they want her to. 

In another room, Dave and Carol start barking. Bote grabs a gun from his desk and shoots an intruder as he rounds the corner while Zoe takes cover. But another intruder comes in and kills Bote, snapping a picture of his dead body. The intruder begins to look for Zoe when Chase arrives with Dave and Carol, siccing the dogs on the intruder, killing him. Chase guesses the men were sent by Pavlovich.

In an unknown location, Pavlovich is shown the photo confirming Bote is dead. He asks about the "actual targets" (Chase and Harper?), but the team hasn't responded (and won't because they're dead). Pavolvich says there is too much at stake to risk loose ends, so when he does find out Chase, Harper and Zoe are still alive, as Chase said, this is just the beginning.

New episodes of The Old Man season 2 air Thursday on FX, then are available to stream on Hulu the next day.

In case you needed it yourself, Lamb (Gary Oldman) and company start off Slow Horses season 4 episode 4 with a quick recap of everything that's going on. They determine the man who's after Sam Chapman (Sean Gilder) is a pro, but Chapman doesn't recognize him. When Lamb asks him about Lavande, it clicks for Chapman: this is all about Les Arbres, which houses a team of professional killers. He doesn't want to be debriefed at the Park though, worried they'll lock him up for whatever he did, so instead they take him to Slough House.

Speaking of those professional killers, their leader Frank (Hugo Weaving) meets with his employer: royalty from an unnamed Middle Eastern country who is none too pleased about how Westacres went down. While Frank admits they messed up, his employer simply wants to tie off all loose ends rather than risk the British government finding out about their involvement — meaning killing Frank. Frank says others are already aware something is up, but he can kill them to close the loop. His employer gives him until midnight. So now there is a target and a ticking clock on both Chapman and David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce).

Read on for a full breakdown of Slow Horses season 4 episode 4.

The history of Les Arbres

As Lamb and Chapman arrive at Slough House, an MI5 car is waiting. Lamb checks it out, discovering Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas). She's got a general idea of what has happened but has two questions for Lamb: why would someone want to kill David now and where is River (Jack Lowden)? Lamb gives her the bare minimum of information and needles her when he realizes Flyte (Ruth Bradley) hasn't been keeping her up to date on everything going on. She tells him to inform her if either of the Cartwrights shows up.

Inside Slough House, Standish (Saskia Reeves) is waiting and like everyone else is confused by JK (Tom Brooke), though she thinks his fidgeting fingers are his attempt to block something out. She then tells Lamb that David got out. Since he wanted to speak to First Desk, she sent Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar) to keep an eye out for him at the Park. Lamb then tells Standish to join him on the debrief with Chapman.

Chapman explains he went to France once for David, taking a car that was packed full of guns, ammunition, explosives and IDs — MI5's cold bodies. He brought all this to Les Arbres to exchange for a woman. In a flashback we see a young Frank, though Chapman doesn't know his name, only calling him a "scary f***er." As the young woman is leaving, Frank whispers something into her ear that we don't hear, she then slaps him across the face before getting into the car. He recalls she didn't say a word the whole way back to England, then gave Chapman the slip as soon as she could. However, what he really thought was strange was that David didn't seem to care.

With this intel and Standish saying David wanted to speak with First Desk, Lamb pieces together he isn't heading for the Park, but "the old building," the previous headquarters of MI5.

The race to the Cartwrights

Lamb isn't the only one to figure this out. After getting a talking to by Taverner that if she keeps any more information from her Flyte will be fired, Flyte gets a call from "the old building." It has been converted to a hotel but they are still aware enough to let MI5 know when David shows up asking to speak with First Desk. Flyte tells the concierge to keep an eye on David until they get there. So it's a race to the old building as Lamb, Chapman and Standish try to beat Flyte there (who on the way appears to recognize Louisa standing outside the Park).

Meanwhile, Taverner tells Claude (James Callis) they found David and she'll debrief him when he gets to the Park. However, Claude has a surprise for Taverner. He reveals Giti (Kiran Sonia Sawar) got more info on the cold bodies and found Adam Lockhead, the alias used by River's doppelganger. He's angry she kept this from him and says they'll have to have a complete and public investigation into the situation. Taverner calls him a fool, saying their only priority is to find out if another bomb is going to go off, opening themselves up to the public won't do any good. One thing did come of this for MI5 though, as Giti notifies them that Adam Lockhead's passport is on its way back to London, meaning River is on his way back. Taverner calls Flyte and tells her to split her teams to go after both David and River.

Lamb, Chapman and Standish arrive first at the old building. Chapman goes to talk to David while Standish attempts to figure out how to distract the Dogs on their way; Lamb waits in the getaway car. David doesn't immediately recognize Chapman, but even when he does he won't be moved, saying he is waiting for First Desk.

As the Dogs arrive at the hotel, Standish sets off the fire alarm to cause confusion. It works, as the agents walk right by David and Chapman to speak with the concierge. However, when the concierge points out where David was sitting, he and Chapman are gone.

With David in the car, Chapman says he is going to break off, grab his flight fund and head out of the country to avoid prosecution from the Park. However, he's not out of the woods. We saw earlier Frank meet with his assassin, Patrice (Tom Woznickza). He also knows where Chapman stashed his flight fund. He's able to sneak up on Chapman, beating him to get info on where David is and then presumably finishing what he failed to do previously and killing him.

River's unwelcoming return 

On the train, River continues to look at the picture of the mural at Les Arbres on his phone; there's something about it that clearly has him curious.

As the train arrives, Flyte and her team race to intercept River. Frank is also at the station, but hangs back as he spots Flyte. To figure out how the Park is ahead of him, Frank plans to go through the same channel they used to get David's address originally. 

River evades Flyte and her men on the train platform, but they eventually track him down and give chase through the station. River is only able to elude them when he slips onto a metro car at the last second, with the door closing on Flyte and the other agents' faces. Still, Flyte believes she knows where River is going: home.

Home being David's house, where River is able to sneak in. He finds a box of pictures in the house, including drawings that are similar to that of the mural, causing him to say "f**k me." That same sentiment can be applied when he hears Flyte and her team arrive at the house. However, River is able to hide in the attic, seemingly avoiding them. That is until he drops down and finds Flyte waiting for him.

New episodes of Slow Horses season 4 premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV Plus.

The first two episodes of The Old Man season 2 left us asking who was on the other end of that final gunshot: Chase (Jeff Bridges) or Hamzad (Navid Negahban). The spy drama doesn't keep us in suspense for long, as we see the scene play out in the opening moments of The Old Man season 2 episode 3.

As Hamzad stands over Chase, gun in hand, it's Harper (John Litghow) that gets off the shot, hitting Hamzad in the gut, though the Afghan leader is still alive. Emily (Alia Shawkat) comes to the cave, seeing all three of her father figures are there. She first goes to Hamzad to treat his wounds, then she hugs Chase. She asks how they got there, with Harper explaining it was Marion (Janet McTeer), who will also help get them out. But Emily isn't ready to leave, not with Hamzad in his state. She pleads with them to help get him back to his village. Chase agrees.

Harper isn't as enthusiastic about this plan, wondering why they should help Hamzad. It's not for Hamzad though, Chase explains. He realizes if they don't help they could lose Emily forever, which he's not willing to risk.

The man pulling the strings

Back at Hamzad's village, the standoff between Omar (Artur Zai Barrera) and Khadija (Jacqueline Antaramian) continues. She tries to convince him Hamzad is not as weak as Omar believes he is, but Omar brushes it off, believing if Hamzad had any pull left he would have been told to stand down. On cue, a helicopter flies over the village and lands on the outskirts. 

The helicopter brings a young man (Amir Malaklou) to the village, who walks right up to Omar. The man explains Omar has no idea what he stumbled into or how much trouble Omar is going to be in if he antagonizes the villagers any more. He says Hamzad's last payment, which the delay of prompted Kabul to send Omar as a message, was slowed because of the complicated sanctions against the Taliban government. The man admits they got mired in them, but now they have the money, so the issue is closed. Anything Omar does now he'll have to answer for. The man tells Omar to leave, which the soldier does silently, though clearly frustrated.

Khadija asks the man, who is her son, where he got the money. He tells her she doesn't want to know, but right now they have bigger problems. Namely, Morgan Bote (the shadowy government figure played by Joel Grey). Bote arranged the initial trade for Chase, but he was furious when Hamzad broke the deal and took Emily/Parwana instead. In retaliation, Bote has frozen all of Hamzad's assets around the world and intends to see them ruined.

Omar, still stewing, spots Farouk (Michael Sifain) walking back toward the village. He stops the young boy and wants to ask him a question: has there been a new woman in the village, one that doesn't speak their language? While Faruza (Sara Seyed) attempts to rescue her son, she is held up, and the young boy is forced to answer Omar. Farouk nods yes. Omar then asks the woman's name, but this Farouk won't answer. He slaps Omar and tries to run back to his mother, but he is grabbed by another Taliban soldier. Faruza breaks free and runs for her son, but she is shot and killed by the Taliban. This causes the villagers to open fire against the Taliban. Khadija arrives and shoots two Taliban soldiers in the process of getting Farouk back into the village as the firefight continues.

Like father, like daughter

Chase, Harper, Emily and Hamzad overlook where Hamzad left their horses, which is now being watched by Taliban soldiers. Chase jokes he could have parked some place less public. Hamzad isn't in the mood for jokes though, telling Chase to go ahead and ask him what he wants to ask. That's just one thing for Chase: what did Hamzad tell Emily? Hamzad points out Chase had a lifetime to tell his side of the story, now he's concerned that Hamzad had the chance to share his. Chase asks again, but Hamzad tells him he can keep his concern, refusing to answer.

Chase and Emily go down to deal with the Taliban soldiers together. As they continue to scope it out, Chase starts to say, "Listen…," but Emily cuts him off. She can't deal with anything that starts with "listen" right now. She knows what's going on in Chase's head, saying how alike they both are, though that is a confusing sentiment now that she knows her true parentage. She admits she doesn't know what is happening to her, but she needs Chase to respect how important this situation is to her. He agrees. As they get ready to go, Chase tells Emily to get behind him. When she challenges that she knows what she is doing he doesn't doubt it, but her staying behind him is important to him right now.

Back on the ridge, Harper calls Marion, who is getting them a special task force helicopter to get them out of the country. When Harper asks what he owes her for this, she just says dinner, but Harper is nervous about what she really wants and tries to convince her whatever astronomical thing she may think she can get out of Harper, she can forget it. Marion ignores him, simply stressing for them not to cause an international incident.

Chase attacks the Taliban soldiers, easily killing one and then wrestling with the other. As Chase attempts to strangle the soldier, the Taliban desperately reaches for his gun that fell to the ground. He's just about to grab it when Emily arrives and stops him. This allows Chase to finish him off.

Omar calls in on the radio to check the status of the soldiers, but it's Hamzad who responds. Omar tells Hamzad if he surrenders and comes with him to Kabul, he'll spare the village. Hamzad knows he must go back, even if it means his death. Emily offers to go with him, thinking she can help defuse the situation. When Harper asks how, she says by explaining she is not FBI agent Angela Adams, she is Hamzad's daughter, making the incident a family issue and not compromising Hamzad's position. But Hamzad refuses, he says he created this situation and he won't let Emily risk herself.

As they head for the village, Harper tells Chase he was right: Harper's reluctance to help Hamzad means Angela Adams, the version of Emily he knew, is now gone. While he's frustrated, he realizes Emily came all this way to find out answers she's been searching for her entire life, to stare the truth in the eyes. Then when Harper tried to pull rank, she stared him down and told him to "f**k off." Harper believes Hamzad can say whatever he wants, but Chase raised a hell of a kid.

Showdown at the gates

The shooting has stopped, but Omar and his soldiers still wait outside the village, ready to attack. Inside, Khadija asks her son if they can call the Taliban minister for help. But with Bote seizing all of their assets, they're defenseless. Had he known what they were trying to do with Emily/Parwana he could have helped, but the cost of Hamzad keeping it a secret is just beginning to be known.

On a cliff overlooking the village, Hamzad prepares to leave, planning to go right up to the gate to meet Omar. Emily attempts to say something, but Hamzad cuts her off. He's sorry things worked out this way, but he's not sorry she saw her home. As Harper and Chase prepare their exit strategy, Emily decides she won't let Hamzad face this alone, riding off after him.

Hamzad arrives at the village gate and faces Omar. The Taliban soldier asks if Hamzad will come with him willingly or if they'll have to finish off the attack on the village. Hamzad doesn't answer, instead collapsing from his wounds. But Emily arrives shortly behind him, helping him up.

Omar, realizing this is the mystery woman, asks who she is. Emily doesn't answer. Omar continues: is she the abducted FBI agent that started all this mess? If he tells her what he is missing, he'll make things easier for everyone. Emily walks toward Omar, reaching her hand into her pocket as she does. She looks him in the eyes and says her name is Parwana Hamzad. As Omar's shock registers, Emily stabs Omar in the neck.

The shooting starts again, but this time Chase is providing an assist, firing a sniper from the cliff, while Harper calls redirects their ride's pick up spot. The chopper then arrives and opens fire on the Taliban, eliminating them (so much for not causing an international incident).

Emily and Hamzad survive the attack. Once everything has stopped, she sees Omar crawling away. She walks toward him, grabs a gun and kills him, very reminiscent of Chase from the first episode of the season. But is this Emily, or is she now Parwana?

New episodes of The Old Man premiere Thursdays on FX, then stream on Hulu the next day.

After River (Jack Lowden) was kidnapped at the end of the previous episode, Slow Horses season 4 episode 3 wastes no time revealing his fate. The young MI5 agent wakes up in a rundown house. Through a window he sees someone waiting on a bench, seemingly watching him. 

While he isn't cuffed, River is locked in the room. He hears footsteps coming up the stairs, so he grabs a pot to defend himself. But he's immediately outmatched when the man who kidnapped him (Eric Savin) bursts in with a shotgun. River doesn't fight, he just wants to know what's going on. All the man tells him is that someone is coming to talk to him.

What's going on with River and what's happening with the other Slow Horses? Read on to find out.

All eyes on David

David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce) is still struggling to get a grip on what's going on. At Standish's (Saskia Reeves), he talks about River and the bomber before insisting he speak with First Desk to warn them about what's coming. Standish calms him by saying First Desk is busy reading wires from Berlin, as if it's still the Cold War, but promising to set up an appointment. This works, but David still rambles on, saying it's all his fault.

Back at Slough House, Lamb (Gary Oldman) immediately notices a footprint in the entryway, quickly figuring out it belongs to Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley). Knowing it can't be good, he tells Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar) to go to Standish's and get her to move David.

Meeting with Emma in his office, Lamb correctly guesses they finally pieced together the dead body isn't River. He deflects blame saying River is his agent, and since he clearly wanted to be thought of as dead, Lamb was going to keep it that way as long as he could. Emma handcuffs Lamb for obstructing the investigation and plans to take him to the Park. Guessing he's a sacrificial lamb (no pun intended) to Taverner after Emma screwed up the River situation, he offers an alternative: telling her where David is. When Emma asks why he would do this, Lamb says, "Because going to the Park is like being in IKEA, you can never get out of the f***ing place." Emma agrees.

As Emma goes to leave, Roddy (Christopher Chung) tries to hit on her as he feigns a workout on a weightlifting machine. Emma slowly approaches, gets inches away from his face before handcuffing him to the machine, leaving him stuck and embarrassed.

Louisa is on her way to Standish's apartment but is unable to get a hold of her (remember, River has her phone but also took the SIM card out). As she arrives, she sees Emma has beaten her there. Louisa attempts to remedy this by telling Emma she is being followed and wants her help, but Emma just passes it off to one of her subordinates and heads inside.

Emma uses her authority to get into Standish's apartment and search for David, but when she can't find him she quickly loses her cool. Standish asks who told her David was at her apartment, and as soon as Emma says Jackson Lamb she realizes he must have played her.

After Emma leaves, Louisa meets up with Standish. She assumed if Lamb could figure out where David was so easily, someone at the Park was likely to do the same, so she put him in a friend's apartment. However, when they go to get David, they see the back door is open and David is nowhere to be found. He's out somewhere in the streets of London.

Whelan makes his move

After getting sideswiped by Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) on the Robert Winter cold body situation, Whelan (James Callis) attempts to regain some of his power as First Desk. He recruits Giti (Kiran Sonia Sawar) to check archives for any additional cold body "glitches," asking her to report directly to him; no need to worry Taverner.

Down in archives. Whelan tells head archivist Molly (Naomi Wirthner) what Giti is going to be doing. Molly is tired of being in the middle of these games between First and Second Desk. Claude tries to assert his rank, asking who she thinks is the one with the real power. But she quickly rebukes him by saying Taverner does.

Handcuffs and guns

Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan) is heading out to sell his gun so he can pay his gambling debts, despite Shirley's (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) protests. Shirley then gets a call from Roddy asking for help. She isn't interested until he reveals he is handcuffed to his weight machine. JK (Tom Brooke), who is starting to talk more but is still acting weird, joins her.

JK quickly opts to help Roddy out, much to Shirley's chagrin, who pulls his hood back. JK pulls a knife and holds it to her throat, telling her he was previously handcuffed to a chair for 72 hours and tortured, so seeing Roddy this way is triggering for him. Once free, Roddy tries to fist-bump JK for the help, but JK doesn't like to be touched (clearly).

Meanwhile, Marcus meets with an illegal arms dealer named Dancer Blaine (Turlough Convery). He's leery of Marcus, but recognizes he must be in a jam, so he offers £3,000 for the gun; despite his attempts to negotiate, Dancer holds firm and Marcus relents to his price.

The French connection

As River watches more people gather outside the building, a woman (Coralie Audret) enters the house. She and River's kidnapper come back in, wanting to know who River is and why he has Bertrand's passport? River explains Bertrand came to his grandfather's house with the intent to kill him, but David shot him instead. 

It turns out the woman is Natasha, Bertrand's mother, while the man is Victor, Bertrand's uncle. They tell River to leave, but with the growing mob outside seemingly waiting for him (they think he is Bertrand), River reveals he is MI5 and shows the picture he found at the chateau. He wants to know about the man Bertrand is with in the picture, saying he is responsible for the Westacre bombing and he needs to find him before another bomb goes off.

Natasha explains the older man is Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving). He had sons with multiple women from different countries. River asks if Natasha painted the mural he found, but she says no, one of the other women did. As they talk, even more people gather outside with the mob. Natasha explains the leader of the mob's daughter was assaulted and put in the hospital by Bertrand. Victor tries to go explain the situation so River can leave, but he is quickly knocked out and the mob attempts to break into the house.

River races through the house and is able to escape through the bathroom window. However, the mob won't stop that easily, continuing to chase him through the streets. River eventually is able to steal a moped off a local, which allows him to get away.

The next target

Moira (Joanna Scanlan) tells Lamb her contacts at the Park weren't able to find any evidence David was ever in France. However, his bagman, Sam Chapman (Sean Gilder) was in the early 90s. This is enough for Lamb, telling Moira he'll follow up on his end and try and get her out of Slough House.

Lamb calls Chapman and tells him they need to meet. However, the Frenchman (Tom Wozniczka) is watching Chapman and is given orders by Frank to follow and kill him. Chapman soon realizes he is being tailed and calls Lamb to abort the mission, but Lamb tells him to keep moving and he'll get his Slow Horses to help out.

Shirley and Marcus, back from his gun deal, are on it. They think they have eyes on the Frenchman but lose him, until he comes running up and shoves Marcus into a store window. Shirley picks up a shard of glass and goes after the Frenchman.

Chapman makes it to the rendezvous, an old garage, takes out his baton, grabs a wrench and hides. The Frenchman searches the place, gun drawn, when Shirley rushes in and stabs him with the glass shard. He knocks her out and is about to pull the trigger on her when Chapman comes out and fights the Frenchman. Marcus then joins in. Lamb walks by the garage and sees the fight but just keeps walking. The Frenchman eventually gains the upper hand against them and is poised to kill Chapman, but that's when Lamb bursts in, driving a taxi and running over the Frenchman.

He checks on Chapman and his team before going to grab the Frenchman, but he has disappeared.

New episodes of Slow Horses season 4 premieres every Wednesday on Apple TV Plus.

The Old Man season 2 episode 1 brought us up to date with Chase (Jeff Bridges) and Harper (John Lithgow) as they search for Emily (Alia Shawkat), but in The Old Man season 2 episode 2 we see Emily's experience after her kidnapping by Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban).

The FBI agent is brought into a room where she meets Khadija (Jacqueline Antaramian), Hamzad's sister and trusted advisor, who reveals the truth: Emily is Hamzad's daughter, Parwana; she was stolen away by her mother and Chase as a toddler. Emily is skeptical of this. But an old home movie shows a young Hamzad (Pej Vahdat) holding a young Emily and singing to her; a young Chase (Bill Heck) is also visible in the background. Tears of shock stream down Emily's face as she realizes the truth. Outside, Hamzad overlooks where Emily is being kept, singing to himself the same lullaby as in the movie.

Here's our recap of everything that happened in The Old Man season 2 episode 2.

Emily has some questions

Emily is taken to Hamzad. He asks her why she is there. She points out he's the one who kidnapped her, but he wants to know why she got on the plane with Harper in the first place? Emily eventually admits she wanted to know where she came from.

Hamzad speaks of his father and great grandfather, describing how they fought to protect their families and land from invaders. This is where she came from. From a people that sacrificed and fought multiple invasions to keep their children safe and their country free. This isn't what she meant though. Emily truly wants to know about her mother. Who was she and who was she to Hamzad?

He asks what "they" told her? Emily says Chase (who she still calls her father) said Hamzad was dangerous to her mother, that they escaped from him. Hamzad describes Abbey/Belour as "cold and unfeeling;" manipulative, a liar and someone who would betray anyone when it suited her. But Emily believes there must be something else to her; hope, love, something she never saw herself, begging Hamzad to say one good thing about her. But he doesn't, quietly rising from his chair and walking away.

Word gets out

Khadija worries about what Hamzad kidnapping Emily could bring them. Very quickly those worries manifest into Omar (Artur Zai Barrera). He arrives at the village after hearing Hamzad has taken an FBI agent, though Hamzad denies it. Omar continues to prod, telling Hamzad his tribute payment to the Taliban, which allows him to ignore their rules, is late. Now he supposedly has this ticking time bomb, which could cause all kinds of problems. Omar suggests it can all be solved if Hamzad hands Emily over to him. Hamzad ignores the request, confident in his position with the Taliban. As Omar leaves, he also mentions two Americans are supposedly attempting a rescue mission for Emily (Chase and Harper).

Hamzad asks Khadija why their payments are late. She tells him straight: it's his pursuit of Emily. Their position is weakened by what he's done, and Omar knows it. Caught between two enemies, they have to be smart. If they release Emily, they would then have to explain why they took her, which brings its own problems. They've reached a breaking point, the only question is how much will it hurt?

That night Hamzad goes to see Emily. He tells her there's nothing more to say as he holds a gun, planning on killing her. Emily is exactly what he was afraid she would be after all these years: her mother. Emily calls him a coward, chiding him for being too afraid to ask her any questions. Her yelling at him takes Hamzad aback, which allows Emily to knock the gun out his hand. They scuffle. Emily attempts to get the gun, but Hamzad manages to pin her on the ground and chokes her until she stops moving. He pulls off and starts to whimper as Emily's body lies motionless.

But then, she gasps for air. She gets up, gets the gun and points it at Hamzad. But she can't pull the trigger either. Khadija eventually comes in and finds them both on the floor, silent.

Settling in

Emily is taken to a new room, where she is now going to stay and be looked after by Faruza (Sara Seyed), her cousin. Faruza says while no one talks of such things, she remembers there always felt like an empty space in their home, the feeling that someone (Emily) was missing.

The next day, Emily speaks with Khadija, wanting to understand what is happening. Khadija admits she thought Emily would be dead by now, but if there was a plan before, there isn't one now. Emily's intentions haven't changed though; she wants to know about her mother. She asks why her mother left? Khadija would have assumed Emily's mother would have explained it by now, but Emily reveals her mother is dead. She continues with her questions, but Khadija says they're not the right ones. When Emily is ready to ask different questions, Khadija will answer them.

Emily then begins to settle into the routines of the village. She makes friends with Faruza's son, Farouk (Michael Sifain), who helps teach her some Dari. She also learns Faruza's husband was one of the first to die when the Taliban came back into power, but they were kept safe by just one letter Hamzad sent to Kabul. He protects them, she explains, saying things would be very dangerous without him. 

The Taliban make their move

For the first time in the episode we leave the village, catching up with Omar after Chase and Harper escape him. Meeting with his superior in Kabul (and wearing an eye patch after Chase slashed him in the face with a knife), Omar says Hamzad lied to them. His superior agrees it's time they reevaluate their relationship with Hamzad, including exerting more control over the lithium mine and having Omar pay him another visit.

At the mine, Khadija sees the Taliban at the site, having stopped production. She calls someone on the phone. Speaking in English (meaning it's likely an American contact), she says they were given assurances they would be immuned from sanctions; either someone has violated those assurances or they're dealing with someone powerful enough to disregard them. She fears what all this may mean.

Later, Khadija meets Omar at the village gate. He demands Hamzad, knowing they lied about Emily and revealing the Taliban government is no longer protecting them. Khadija invites him in. However, when they reach the village center, Hamzad's men emerge from hiding and surround Omar and his men. Khadija chides Omar, saying Hamzad would have given him a bribe or helped him gain influence in Kabul, but now he's made it worse. Omar gets angry, saying he was only coming for Hamzad, but now he'll conscript every boy in the village into the Taliban after he gets Hamzad. There's just one problem, Hamzad isn't there.

A tough lesson

Before Khadija let Omar into the village, Hamzad and Emily escaped into the mountains. He plans to take her to a cave he told her mother about, which should keep them hidden until Hamzad can arrange for Emily to be sent away.

As they make the journey, Hamzad finally has questions for Emily. As they talk, he imagines her as a young girl. He admits he doesn't know why he brought Emily back, just describing it as a need beyond word or choice. He thinks he needed to say goodbye to her for the first time, and the last time. He asks if the life he'll be returning her to is one where she'll be happy? Emily doesn't know though.

Emily has a question now: what does Hamzad think of her? Rather than answer directly, he goes back to her very first question about wanting to know something good about her mother. Hamzad says she taught him the most valuable lesson in his life — you can love someone or you can trust them; no matter how deep either feeling is, eventually you must choose between the two. Emily, seen by Hamzad as her older self again, doesn't believe that. Hamzad is glad he heard it from him then, so she has time to make peace with it before the lesson decides it wants to be learned.

Hamzad hears a noise coming from the cave. He goes to check it out, telling Emily to stay behind. When she hears a gunshot she goes to the cave entrance to see what happened. But just like in episode 1, we don't see who shot who, so we'll have to wait for The Old Man season 2 episode 3 to find out what happens when Chase and Harper are confronted by Hamzad and Emily.

New episodes of The Old Man season 2 premiere Thursdays on FX, then stream on Hulu the next day.