In the latest episode of Strike Back, the team raced to save Mac (Warren Brown) and Zarin from the clutches of Magyar Ultra.
If you’re not up to date with Strike Back: Retribution and like to avoid spoilers we suggest you don’t read any further.
Episode four opened up with a flashback to the past showing Rosa (Kelly Gough) being beaten as a child by her father. Her younger brother Josef (Mark Strepan) snapped and bludgeoned their father to death with a hammer to save his sister. The scene switched back to present day and showed Rosa sat in a van thinking about her past. Outside her brother rallied the Magyar Ultra members.
In the back of the van she was holding Zarin (Daniel Cerqueira) and Mac. Josef came to join Rosa and she said they needed to get rid of Mac but Josef wanted to find out who he was first. Josef drove the van deep into a large forest where his group had a heavily fortified training camp. There Josef met up with a guy called Roland (Ciaran Owens) who wanted an update on their situation.
Nearby, a car drove at speed through the same forest. It was Wyatt (Daniel MacPherson), Reynolds (Roxanne McKee) and Novin (Alin Sumarwata) on a rescue mission. They parked a safe distance away and began to prep for the operation while realising they were going to be severely outnumbered and outgunned. Wyatt was convinced that Magyar Ultra would be expecting an assault. Reynolds checked in with Donovan (Nina Sosanya) who ordered them to get a move on to save Mac and Zarin.
Back at the camp, Mac was sat with Zarin and quizzed him on who he was. Roland came to take Zarin away and Mac poked fun at him. The distraction was enough for Mac to jump him and he knocked him to the ground. He also took out a guard but Roland soon had a gun on him and knocked Mac to the ground. Meanwhile, Section 20 were making their way through the forest on foot.
Rosa spoke to Josef and said Zarin needed to be delivered by noon. Josef wanted to push for more money for Zarin but Rosa was against the idea. Josef gave Zarin a note and filmed him while he read it aloud. It was to say that the price for him had doubled to $500,000. Rosa contacted Jane Lowry (Katherine Kelly) to say she could handle her brother. Lowry explained that Mac was British Military and more would be on the way.
Josef pushed Mac to find out who he really was. Mac avoided the question and told him that the client his sister was working with was Jane Lowry. Rosa said Mac was lying and told Josef who he really was. Rosa said Mac needed to be dealt with as a traitor and Josef had him hauled out of the cage. Josef pulled Rosa to one side to demand he goes to the exchange to meet the client.
Mac was dragged through the forest and surrounded by Magyar Ultra members who were chanting ‘Ultra’. They took him to a gallows and put a noose around his next. While this was going on Rosa went to Roland who was guarding Zarin. She said Josef needed him but when he left she took Zarin at gunpoint.
100 meters from the camp, Section 20 arrived and took out some of the guards before beginning their assault. They arrived in camp just as Mac was pulling into the air to hang. Reynolds couldn’t wait any longer and severed the rope with bullets while Wyatt began firing too. Novin took out a guard and commandeered a vehicle to use as a distraction. She set it alight and set it off into the camp. Wyatt and Reynolds lobbed smoke grenades and continued shooting causing chaos in the camp.
Mac found himself attacked by a guy with a hatchet but was able to overpower him. The guy managed to get free and pulled a pistol but Novin arrived and took him out to save Mac. She cut the ties on his hands and gave him a gun. With her dark sense of humour she asked if he preferred to ‘hang’ for a sec before continuing. The team then moved in for Zarin as Rosa tried to extract him by vehicle. Mac and Novin got to her first and escaped under gunfire as Rosa ran off.
As Josef looked for Rosa, Mac and Novin came under heavy fire as they were pursued by dirt bikes. After taking the bikes out their vehicle gave up so they needed to continue on foot. Back at camp, Josef got the news that Rosa had been trying to flee with Zarin. He ordered their jammers to be enabled and wanted to trap Section 20 in the forest.
Novin took a picture of Zarin to get his real identity but found that comms were down. Back at base, Donovan had her operation shutdown by General Lazlo as they were only authorised for intelligence gathering. She refused to give up details on their operation so he gave her two hours to extract her team or face consequences.
Elsewhere in the forest, Wyatt and Reynolds also found themselves without comms. They came across Rosa who was trying to flee, she said she wanted to make a deal and would give up her intel on Lowry. Suddenly some of Magyar Ultra arrived and thought they were saving Rosa. They gave her a gun but she used it to kill one of the guys while Wyatt and Reynolds took care of the rest.
While Donovan tried to sort the situation out, Jensen (Phil Dunster) got to work on a makeshift office in their van. Donovan was unable to get any support from Whitehall due to lack of intel on Zarin. As she made her way back to Jensen, Lowry appeared with a gun and the pair fought. Lowry got the upperhand but Donovan tried to fight back. Lowry got ready to kill her but Jensen arrived on the scene and Lowry fled.
Josef found the vehicle that Mac and Novin abandoned. Before he could go in pursuit one of his men arrived with Roland. He explained that Rosa was with two of Section 20 and had fired on Ultra members. Josef didn’t want to believe it so stabbed him to death in a rage. He vowed to Roland that he would deal with Rosa.
Meanwhile, Jensen had been spying on the Hungarian authorities and found footage of Zarin. He was trying to identify him but there was no need, Donovan knew him as Dr. Kareem Markov. She said it was the last person they needed Lowry to get her hands on and that they needed to move fast. She explained that he was part of a Russian chemical weapons program that had developed a new type of super strong undetectable nerve agent.
Wyatt and Novin continued to evade the enemy but found themselves faced with a large group. Fortunately Mac and Reynolds arrived on the scene with Rosa and took them all out. They explained that Rosa had given them the exact location of the jamming equipment. Josef and Roland were in hot pursuit with an army of men.
At the jamming station the team took out the guards and began to fortify their position. Novin got to work on the jamming kit while Wyatt wanted an apology from Mac for being stabbed. Rosa interrupted them by taunting them with intel on their backgrounds that Lowry had given her. Markov picked up a sharp object in secret and told Reynolds he was ready to talk but just to her so she took him to a different room.
Once alone, Markov took a swing at Reynolds but she was ready for him. She evaded his attack and knocked him to the floor. Outside the Ultra members closed in while Josef and Roland bickered. Novin disabled the jammer and made contact with Jensen and Donovan who were enroute. She was ordered to terminate Markov if they couldn’t keep him safe.
The first wave of Ultra soldiers stormed the building while Section 20 lay in wait. When they were far enough inside Section 20 opened fire. They took out tens of the attackers as more and more stormed in. Before getting completely overwhelmed they were forced to pull back but found attackers coming at them from all angles.
Roland decided to turn on Josef but he wasn’t prepared. Josef turned it around and cut him before shooting him through the face. Josef went after Section 20 and exchanged words with Mac. Josef asked Rosa the truth about Lowry and she confirmed again that’s who she was working with. Josef saw Lowry as the enemy and shot his sister dead. Josef was killed and the team took out more attackers and fled outside.
As they became overwhelmed, Novin made Markov kneel and prepared to execute him. Suddenly Donovan and Jensen arrived and extracted them in the nick of time. On their way to safety they came across a military roadblock and General Lazlo demanded Markov be turned over to him. Donovan initially refused and threatened to take his men out. Donovan contacted Whitehall and was ordered to turn Markov over which annoyed the team.
At the end of the episode the military convoy transporting Markov came under attack as they crossed a bridge. Markov survived and Lowry appeared to take him away.
Read our preview of Strike Back: Retribution episode 5.
Let us know your thoughts on Strike Back: Retribution so far in the comments below.
Strike Back: Retribution continues Tuesday at 9pm on Sky 1 and will air in the US on Cinemax in 2018.
