A return to the Agency for McCall with a personal element to her mission and an internship opportunity for Delilah falls far short of her initial expectations in two intriguing, yet very different tales…

McCall’s adventure this episode sees the return of Colton Fisk as she is thrust back into the world of espionage. Fisk considers her suited through an existing relationship with the contact, disavowed British MI6 agent Rick Dawson as they attempt to retrieve a file, in a somewhat classic spy tale setup. There is initial distrust from Dawson as he seems to have a target painted on his head from the outset, which makes him appear quite volatile at first, but it is soon clear that this is from a place of understandable paranoia and fear for his own life.

The mission takes a number of twists and turns, including the realisation of why he lost his status with the British in the first place. The dynamic between McCall and Fisk continues to entertain as the slippery Agency contact retains his knack of being economical with the truth, and reminding McCall at every turn why she was keen to get out. Each time she falls upon one of his tricks or omissions, which invariably endanger her further, she notes that the presence of his ulterior motives and in the end calls him out on it hard. The big twist in it is a matter Fisk is all but aware of from the outset, and in many ways would have prepared both McCall and Dawson better in their mission, though it would have denied the audience a chance to put everything together themselves. By that same matter, the true history McCall and Dawson have with each other is revealed organically over the course of the episode, and for a moment gives the audience wonder as to whether this will create a complication in her personal life, especially with Dante’s absence from the episode.

All intrigue aside, the plot holds together a heavily action-orientated tale, involving combat, chases and tradecraft much as might be expected in the Fisk era of CIA mission episodes. Fisk appears to bring big guns with him in some capacity whenever he appears, whether he is using them personally or not, and this episode is no different. It also provides a change of location, for McCall’s involvement anyway, as the operation takes place in Western Europe.

On the matter of changes of location, Harry and Melody embark on a house buying adventure as a property they coveted in the past comes on to the market. As well as providing their usual technical support, they also carry the episode’s comic relief, which is a good decision given the few opportunities for light relief elsewhere.

As lively as McCall’s exploits are this time around, Delilah finds herself dealing with an altogether different type of violence to the physical kind. What appears to be a dream internship for her very quickly turns out to be nothing of the sort as she swiftly finds her hopes dashed through institutional racism in the workplace. Dee identifies this immediately as she is relegated to a backroom role, not at all a role she signed up for, before she signs the paperwork. The reason for this is her hairstyle, deemed ‘too ethnic’ for store manager Rowena’s liking which everyone else correctly interprets as a racially discriminatory practice.

This story is reinforced by the presence of Stacey, who serves as a mirror to Dee. Stacey herself is a Black woman at the store but notably wears her hair straight, not solely by her own choice but instead choosing to confirm to the racist policy Rowena enforces. Given that it is made clear this is in fact breaking the law, this only serves to make Stacey’s stance appear even worse to Dee.

The real interest with this story though is that Stacey has made her decision for a fairly sympathetic reason. She informs Dee that she is a student and has crushing tuition fees to navigate and study hours she must adhere to. Stacey has fundamentally made a deal with the devil to ensure she has sufficient income to survive and flexible working hours.

What this presents us initially is that Stacey’s decisions are understandable to an extent, even though Delilah could not be any more opposed to such compromises. What is not highlighted is that Dee carries a certain amount of privilege to do so which Stacey insists she does not have, even though every single decision Stacey takes is one of appeasement to Rowena in order to keep her place. Hence it appears a little more complicated than is first clear, and the circumstances presented are some the audience must decide at first whether or not are sufficiently mitigating.

However, this situation benefits from deeper examination. Dee and Stacey are far from alone in facing this choice. It remains a global issue in which similar tales frequently surface, when reported at all. Just weeks previous to this episode airing, a local news report in London revealed a Black British applicant to a major hotel brand which maintained a discriminatory policy regarding hairstyles of people of colour. The fictional fashion boutique referenced in the show merely echoes an old and ongoing challenge. Despite any progress being made in terms of equality, matters such as this show just how far we still have to go. The ignorance and stigma attached to such cases, remains as institutional as it is archaic, despite being a protected employment characteristic, certainly in the UK and USA. Vi references this herself in the episode.

Yet Stacey‘s role does that important task of telling us why it is rarely as simple as reporting the matter. Court cases and tribunals are costly and time-consuming and the reporter additionally has to survive the duration of it without the income they would have been making without the job. What damns Stacey however is that she has multiple opportunities to defend Delilah, one of which in a favourable public situation which the institution cannot as easily hide behind, but Stacey refuses, which instead frames Dee as a liar and a troublemaker rather than someone simply upholding their principles and their dignity. Perhaps more importantly in this context, she lets Dee down repeatedly, completely neglecting the fact that she is presented with a potentially valuable ally in Dee. Even at the end, nothing Delilah tells her seems to have been absorbed. It makes for a bittersweet ending for the show here too as Dee’s resolution is not a happy result in a pure sense, yet the strength, integrity, and dignity she displays allows her to stand tall.

Verdict: An episode with two very good stories, where perhaps the B-plot resonates with talking points, yet McCall’s mission still has plenty of emotional impact as well as high-impact action at a breakneck pace and the odd twist in the tale. The conclusions to both are bittersweet, and probably the right conclusions to reach. Thought-provoking as well as nail-biting, there is a lot crammed into an hour here. 9/10

Russell A. Smith