This episode, which brings us to the series' half way point, is almost entirely set in the past. Eight years ago we see the Stein family celebrating the birth of Ephra's daughter and as he delivers a speech it is clear that he, not Nessa, is the head of the family business. Nessa, very much the junior, is sent to the West Bank to give a speech at a Palestinian university which has benefited from Stein funding. While there she comments on a new development which her hosts seem to know nothing about. It looks as if somebody has stolen over a million dollars' worth of funding, she calls her brother and he tells her to drop the matter; she refuses though and learns that the money went to Gaza; home of Hamas and somewhere no Israeli would do business. She and translator Atika head to Gaza and are soon kidnapped. Ephra wants the Israeli and British governments to do a deal but they refuse; his attempts to force MI6's hand backfire and we learn one of the secrets that have been hinted at
this won't be the biggest revelation of the episode though.
This series seems perfectly timed for world events; the short prologue could have been added just to fit in with current events in the Middle East. I had expected this episode to follow on from the shocking killing of Nathaniel at the end of the previous episode but that wasn't mentioned instead we got some welcome answers to the questions asked earlier in the series. These revelations were done well; neither feeling too obvious or too far-fetched. Maggie Gyllenhaal has done a fine job all series but here she is even better; she really shines as her character is given substantially more screen time. Away from her harrowing story we see the machinations of the various security services as they first tell Ephra why they can't help his sister and then use information they've gleaned for their personal advancement and for the advancement of those working for them. There are some uncomfortable scenes but I doubt anybody who would be seriously disturbed by them would still be watching this series after some of the things we've seen before. Overall this was a particularly good episode in a series that goes from strength to strength.
This series seems perfectly timed for world events; the short prologue could have been added just to fit in with current events in the Middle East. I had expected this episode to follow on from the shocking killing of Nathaniel at the end of the previous episode but that wasn't mentioned instead we got some welcome answers to the questions asked earlier in the series. These revelations were done well; neither feeling too obvious or too far-fetched. Maggie Gyllenhaal has done a fine job all series but here she is even better; she really shines as her character is given substantially more screen time. Away from her harrowing story we see the machinations of the various security services as they first tell Ephra why they can't help his sister and then use information they've gleaned for their personal advancement and for the advancement of those working for them. There are some uncomfortable scenes but I doubt anybody who would be seriously disturbed by them would still be watching this series after some of the things we've seen before. Overall this was a particularly good episode in a series that goes from strength to strength.
