Having agreed to work for Blunt and his organisation, Alex sets about trying to balance his new obligations with his regular life, when an unexpected interruption occurs.

Opening exactly where the previous episode left off, this instalment wastes no time, with Alex being sat down at the headquarters building for The Division to be briefed on exactly what it is that the organisation wants from him – the infiltration of Point Blanc to gather intelligence on what is going on there. That seems simple enough, but from there on in things get a little more complicated.

For starters, Alex’s double life isn’t going to be easy to maintain. Jack isn’t the sort of woman who’s going to just brush off the fact that police arrived to deport her while child protection services simultaneously arrived to take Alex into care and then thirty seconds later he made a call and they all went away as he stepped into a car. She wants answers, and proves to be every bit as resourceful as her young charge in getting them. And when she does, she sets out some battle lines of her own.

Meanwhile, Alex has to keep his secret away from best friend Tom, not the easiest thing to do given how close they are and that Tom was with him when they made their initial investigation of his uncle’s car. It’s made harder still when Alex receives a visit from a ‘grief counsellor’ at school who is clearly not what he seems, and Tom is observant enough to realise this.

Still, as Alex tries to carry on a normal life, it’s interrupted even more abruptly by a series of incidents which serve to prove to us and him just how serious a decision he has made, and the sort of life he has stepped into. Moreover, as he endures the sort of treatment designed to break men trained in the arts of spycraft, it serves to reveal to the audience just how well-prepared Alex is for this life, both by dint of training and personal fortitude. He seldom misses any presented opportunity, but he’s also got a wellspring of sheer willpower that’s equal parts teenaged wilfulness and steely resolve. He’s also a lot more observant and smarter than even Blunt has given him credit for.

As Alex-centric as the episode is, there’s also some decent work here for Vicky McClure’s Miss Jones, who’s less and less on-board with Blunt’s plans with each passing hour. Though the show isn’t giving us much about the character’s background, McClure’s performance makes it clear that she feels a certain maternal protectiveness towards the boy, as well as a simmering anger at Blunt for putting Alex and herself in the positions he has.

In the best traditions of spy fiction, there are a few double-crosses and surprises along the way as well, some of which are more immediately obvious than others. Tonally it’s still very much aiming for a more mature audience than you might expect, although there’s nothing here that teenagers shouldn’t be watching.

Verdict: Takes the setup from episode 1 and runs with it. If there is such a thing as a believable way to portray a schoolboy with the resourcefulness and ability to be a secret agent, this is absolutely it. 9/10

Greg D. Smith