Chris recovers from her injuries, Doug and Axel discuss how safe Lazarus is and at the Pentagon, a meeting is convened to decide their future.

After the last second bum note of the last episode, this is a massive improvement and gets everything right. For a start, consequences! Lazarus have crashed a helicopter, burned down an AI-worshipping cult and caused an international incident with nothing to show for it, so having them dragged onto the carpet makes so much sense and is so much fun to see. Especially as Hirsch, her boss Abel and Leland all get some really fun beats here. Abel especially, played like a glacially calm Stanley Tucci, is always three steps ahead and has no issue if that damages his colleagues. It leads to a great moment between Hirsch and Leland and the brilliantly executed double twist of Leland being set up as a double agent. All wheels within wheels and all really well done and fun to see unfold.

Then there’s Schneider, Leland’s rival, introduced here. He’s plausible, charming and completely incapable of seeing Lazarus as anything other than a massive problem. Best of all, he hates to lose and as the episode closes, he becomes the embodiment of the petty hate and greed that has dogged so many characters in the series. He fixates on Axel, convinced (possibly rightly) that there’s more to him than meets the eye and he hires Soryu, an assassin to kill him. Introduced in a terrifying slow motion walk through through a mass shooting, Soryu is dead inside and violent outside, dismantling a Special Forces team Schneider sends as a test with balletic grace. They’re as bad as each other, the dark twin of Axel and Leland, and I can’t wait to see how they collide.

Finally, there’s the escalation of the ticking clock, Skinner sends a new video message, suggesting he’s still alive and that he has ten days left. Because he was the first person to take Hapna so he’ll be the first to die… It’s a great twist of the knife and along with Soryu and Schneider, confirms just how much pressure the team are under and just how bad it’s going to get.

Verdict: Tightly plotted, incident heavy and introducing a major new villain this is one of the best episodes of the show to date. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart