Skinner is in every city on Earth, as a hacker seeds a digital fake into every CCTV system. While Eleina tries to crack the hack, Axel and Doug go and visit old friends while Chris and Leland ransack Skinner’s house.

This feels like a much stronger mix of character and plot. It’s the Axel show again in some ways but much less so as he and Doug figure out how to work together as they both find connections at the same homeless camp. For Doug, it’s a mentor who stood up for him back when he was a scientist. For Axel, it’s an old prison buddy.

This plot is one of the best beats in the show so far. The casual dystopia Hapna has caused touches every life, and Klein, Doug’s mentor, is a window into both the world and the man Doug used to be as well as providing a vital clue. Jill, Axel’s old friend, is even cooler. A community leader, she’s also a trans woman whose instant acceptance by the characters is as welcoming as it is surprising. Jill’s focused, calm and all too aware as she explains that as a trans woman who has a prison record and has experienced bankruptcy, she’s much less bothered about the world ending than everyone else. Jill’s a great character and an important line in the sand for the show to draw.

Leland and Chris’ plot is just as fun but less focused and gives us a neat insight into how Lazarus conduct their tradecraft as they ransack the house. Both plots give us more of the world too, with the robotic cameras outside Skinner’s house a stark contrast to the homeless city Jill helps run. The fact that lead takes them to Istanbul, via a hypersonic underground train in six hours, only confirms this futuristic, weirdly beautiful world and brings it into sharper focus.

The Istanbul plot is where things get really interesting too as Skinner’s grandmother and her legendary baklava make an appearance. It’s an offset moment, quiet and friendly after a chase which finishes with Leland seconds away from losing a hand, but it works as both story and worldbuilding. Especially when Axel finds a camera he suspects Skinner is monitoring and speaks directly to the world’s most wanted man.

But again, this lead evaporates and another appears. The episode closes with Eleina, again, saving the day as the hacker responsible for the face hack takes the bait…

Verdict: An involved, precise, action packed cyberpunk detective story, this is the strongest episode of the show to date. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart