Quick Take review – Strike Back 4×07

It’s Operation “Find Li-Na” as Strike Back returns to Europe for some bombings and bank heists.

Let’s bitch it out…

Initially it seems as though 4×07 will focus on a new villain: bomber Oppenheimer (Michael McElhatton). The early stages of the episode are concerned with tracking Kwon (Will Yun Lee) and Li-Na (Michelle Yeoh) back to Europe (specifically Austria) where they discover a connection to a potential terrorist threat. Thanks to Dansky (Tieva Lovelle), an old contact of Nina’s (Tereza Srbová), Section 20 connects Kwon, Li-Na, the Russian mafia and the bombmaker. From there it’s a mission to find and stop Oppenheimer before he does something terrible.

Only that’s just half of the episode. Once they realize that Kwon and Oppenheimer have met, the team divides in an effort to secure both men. Scott (Sullivan Staplement) nabs Kwon, while Stonebridge (Philip Winchester) and Locke (Robson Green) encounter greater resistance when Oppenheimer uses a duffel-bag bomb to distract them while he escapes. Following the explosion, however, Oppenheimer is almost entirely dropped; his name is briefly mentioned, but the focus immediately shifts back to the North Koreans and their third act bank heist. It’s a strange narrative technique to introduce a new villain – one clearly tied to one of the few remaining series regulars at that – and then effectively sideline him. Clearly we’ll see more of the bomb maker in the remaining episodes (he is, after all, effectively still at large), but it strikes me as a curious decision.

Following the public park bombing, the boys mount an amateur theater production of “Co-worker/Non-romantic life partner break-up” to smoke out Li-Na’s location. When it is clear that torturing Kwon will get them nowhere, they play fight (using really convincing arguments that cut to the bone), leaving the window open for Kwon to escape. Unfortunately he’s not a run-of-the-mill henchman; he very quickly realizes their deception and torches the car. Luckily Nina’s tail on low level Russian mob thug, Myshkin (Alex Humes), tips the team off about the bank heist. From there it’s a sprint to the finish line as the boys try to reclaim the bank and prevent the theft of a small book from the vault. Unfortunately the bad luck that began with the bombing and continues with Kwon’s torture extends to the bank heist because they end up on the wrong side of the glass, staring down Li-Na as she casually strolls out of the bank like a right proper super villain. Damn, Michelle Yeoh nails the opinionated ice-bitch cold act…

Other Observations:

• The dead drop meeting with Dansky at the Austrian Opera house has potential to be a great visual set-piece, but it’s over almost as soon as it begins. As usual the show’s reliance on firearms becomes a mild liability: the moment that Nina draws her gun, the crowd disperses and mere seconds later we’re off to meet Oppenheimer.
• Speaking of the new antagonist, Game of Thrones‘ McElhatton plays the bomb maker as a quiet, menacing intellectual and it really works. His take on the character kind of reminds me of Charles Dance’s Conrad Knox from series three.
• With only four episodes remaining ever, is now really the best time to introduce a back story involving Locke’s dead family and Oppenheimer? Correct A: No.
• Nina grieves for her dead friend by sleeping with Scott. I guess it is a relatively common event (especially in rom-coms), but really, wouldn’t you rather drink yourself silly and just wake up hungover? Why run the risk of mounting Scott’s undoubtedly disease-ridden body and catching one of his twenty active cultures?
  • Admittedly it’s been a long while since we last saw some nudity on the show. But really, would it have killed the writers to craft a similar story line for Winchester (aka he of the beautiful square man-jaw)? That man gets no nudity physical appreciation.
• Finally, I love how Li-Na gets a super dramatic introduction: a slo-mo exit from the car on her way into the bank. It’s also amusing how she blames Kwon the moment that the boys show up to cause mayhem at the bank. She assumes they followed him, when in truth it’s her appearance that prompts their hasty arrival. Seriously, she is one mean customer.

Best Lines:

• Stonebridge (to Scott, after Kwon kicks him in the escape): “Yeah you were right. He kicks hard.”

Your turn: are you excited to meet another new villain? Are you annoyed that Locke has a personal history with Oppenheimer? Were you hoping that the Opera sequence would last a little longer? Are you concerned about Nina’s future? Intrigued by the book Li-Na and Kwon steal from the vault? Sound off below, but please refrain from posting spoilers if you’re watched the UK broadcasts.

Strike Back airs Fridays at 10pm EST on Cinemax in the US.