The Day Of The Jackal: Season 1 Episode 9 – Recap and Review
They always say that when there is a will, there is a way, and in a pivotal episode, The Jackal pushes to see if that can be true for his personal and professional life.
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| Category | Details |
| Originally Aired | December 5, 2024 |
| Network | Peacock/ Sky |
| Director(s) | Anu Menon |
| Writer(s) | Ronan Bennett |
| Character | ACTOR’S NAME |
| Bianca | Lashana Lynch |
| Alexander | Eddie Redmayne |
| Nuria | Ursula Corbero |
| Alvaro | Jon Arias |
| Jeremy | Adam James |
| Tim | Charles Dance |
| Zina | Eleanor Matsuura |
| Jimmy | Vladimir Cruz |
| Ulle Dag Charles (UDC) | Khalid Abdalla |
Storyline Recap
Things Back Home – Bianca, Alexander, Nuria, Paul, Alvaro
Bianca and Alexander are trying to reconnect with their partners, but their jobs make that immensely challenging. For Bianca, Paul doesn’t have the distractions of a big house and colossal pool and having to question if they are willing to give up a lifestyle. All he has is her and their kids, and with her life coming home, threatening their daughter, and Bianca, rightfully so, being as committed to her career as Paul is to his own, they are at an impasse.
Granted, she isn’t with her ex-husband, living in his home, so it isn’t the same, but she is rightfully frustrated that he isn’t fighting for her and making a solid effort. But like Nuria, she is willing to give grace and work things out. However, Nuria’s situation is different. There aren’t lies when it comes to Bianca and Paul, but Alexander has been telling lies or half-truths since he met Nuria.
But, at this point, Alexander is willing to be vulnerable and say what he really does. He doesn’t tell Nuria his name isn’t Charles, but considering Alvaro isn’t above blackmailing Alexander and letting Nuria know he’ll do it, maybe Alexander is right to have some hesitation, right? Wrong. It seems Nuria is tired of her brother and lets Alexander know what he is capable of, and Alexander, despite Alvaro being a snake, decides to see if he can tame him.
Testing A Theory – Alexander, Alvaro, Jeremy, Bianca
Alexander has a problem. UDC is now held up on his island, and the only way to kill him would be from a distance, about two miles out, on a boat. While the waters around UDC’s island are relatively calm, there is still movement. So, using something Norman came up with, Alexander decided to test a theory.
Alvaro wanted Alexander to meet a local gangster for another scheme. Alexander is told by his wife how terrible this person is, so he makes the perfect target to use a device that looks like a steady cam, but instead of using a camera, there would be a gun. Alvaro and the man, Jeremy, are at a restaurant, where Alvaro is hyping Jeremy up about how much Alexander has, and next thing you know, Jeremy is dead.
This test may have put a level of fear in Alvaro that needed to get him to shut up, but unfortunately, it reached the trades, and Bianca, alone in her bed, happens to scroll past a headline and realize Alexander likely made the shot. Mind you, she still has no proof he is alive and is struggling at work to keep the investigation alive, but this feels like something.
The Real Deal – UDC, Alexander, Tim, Jimmy, Zina
It doesn’t matter what hunch Bianca has, though, for with MI:6 divesting in finding Alexander, and the pressure from Zina, her boss Tim, and the British Foreign Secretary Jimmy also involved, Alexander is a man with a plan and less than 48 hours before River was supposed to launch. So, after already testing the equipment back in Spain, off an island in Croatia, he watches and follows UDC’s movement, and when it is time, despite all the money UDC spends on security, he takes multiple shots and with his final one, it appears he has killed UDC and might escape.
New Character Descriptions
Tim
Tim is the head of the collective who hired Alexander to assassinate UDC.
Jimmy
Jimmy is the British Foreign Secretary who helped Bianca and her team get Alexander’s military file, which pushed the likelihood of him being dead.
Jeremy
Jeremy is a notorious gangster in Spain, known to both Nuria and Alvaro, who Alvaro hopes to use, in conjunction with Alexander, to make his dreams come true.
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- Does UDC have to be alive to launch a program? I get that his board of directors is against it, but what would stop his boyfriend or someone else who is trusted from launching it?
Review
Trajectory (84/100): Plateau
What makes “The Day Of The Jackal” great is that it knows how to create tension. It makes a gallant effort to have you invested in Bianca and Alexander despite the push for them to be on opposite sides. Then, with the killing of UDC, you are pushed to believe anything could be possible. Alexander got his target, and it wasn’t in the season finale. So, what is next is anyone’s guess, and you are left clamoring for next week’s finale.
Highlights
The Second Hand Anxiety/ Tension You Feel Watching Alexander Take That Shot
Most action-oriented productions, whether movies or shows, don’t really do well with building tension, making you feel anxious, and really bringing out the importance or intensity of the moment. In an effort to create a cool factor or be flashy, there is rarely the feeling of understanding that the situation is life or death, even when the lead and their foe fire the gun at the same time.
With Alexander’s shot to kill UDC, I got something different. In those moments, with drones overhead, UDC’s team knew something was wrong, and UDC tried to swim as fast as he could and stay underwater, but it was hard to fathom what could happen. Add in that this show got renewed for another season, and you could imagine them having Alexander fail and end up on the run because Tim and the rest feel bamboozled.
And being that you just spent an entire episode getting to know who Alexander is, seeing him try to salvage his marriage, and see his wife choose him over her brother? How could you not want this man to succeed? How could you not want him to ride off into the sunset with his wife and son? Yes, he is a villain, in the mind of Bianca, but at the end of the day, he can also be seen as so much more, and in that moment, you realized how much his hopes and dreams were riding on that shot, and it was like watching a sports moving and seeing that ball or punch be thrown, and seeing it be what wins the game for the lead.
Nuria Just Needing A Conversation
Over time, the worry we had about Nuria becoming a liability has never come to pass. Her being a target for MI:6, kidnapped by one of Alexander’s enemies, or blackmailing him hasn’t happened. Instead, that initial ride-or-die persona has persisted, no matter how often we doubted her. In my mind, this has made her appeal be beyond the wife.
Now, will we see Nuria join Alexander as a wild card that throws Bianca off his scent? Maybe? There is a baby to think of, and while Alvaro is shaking, this doesn’t mean he will get with the program, never mind Nuria’s mother. But, at the very least, with Nuria, it seems with her knowing most of the truth and being willing to have conversations with Alexander about how she feels and his life, there is true love there. The kind most romance movies barely scrape by since they are focused on the fantasy and not the challenge of two people sharing the worst parts of themselves as much as the best.
On The Fence
Bianca
I feel like Bianca isn’t keeping up. It’s easy to make comparisons and put Bianca and Alexander side by side, but she doesn’t measure up to his storyline. You don’t feel the need to root for Bianca to succeed or to make progress. I don’t even really want her to face off against Alexander. I would even say I only care about Bianca because of who is playing her and their past work, than I care about this specific character’s past and motivations, never mind what they could lose.
That, to me, is a problem. One that maybe could be fixed, but to be honest, the more that Alexander progresses, the more I question if Bianca could catch up and how. For beyond having Alexander make the kind of mistake that undercuts the brilliance we’ve seen thus far, how can they make Bianca a formidable and credible opponent at this point?
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