Netflix's Shadow season 1, episode 6 recap: Dare to Die

Shadow investigates an online game that promises big cash prizes for increased levels of risk but ultimately ends in the death of participants.

Shadow arrives at his Batcave, out of breath, bloodied, but with a backpack full of money. He calls Dr. Madi’s office – the spinal injury specialist Shadow hopes to send Zola to for treatment – and tells the receptionist that he has the final payment and is ready to move forward.

A man being watched by video drones appears to follow instructions received on his cell phone. He’s at a park, and under a picnic bench, he finds a gun. Shadow is out driving around with Max when he gets the police call to go to the park. When they arrive at the scene, he recognizes the man. He’s a friend named Aaron and he has the gun pointed at his own leg.

He can’t tell them what’s going on, but there’s a count down on his phone. When the timer reaches zero he pulls the trigger, but the gun is loaded with blanks. They arrest him and try to figure out what’s going on, but he won’t talk and there’s nothing to hold him on. They let him go.

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He goes to talk to Aaron personally at his home where this episode introduces the best and most charismatic actor in the entire series. Tembalethu Ntuli plays Aaron’s young son Moses, who plays soccer with Shadow while they wait for Aaron’s return.

He is vibrant, compelling, and genuine as he interacts with Shadow, confiding to him about a disease he has that affects his legs, but not letting it affect his enthusiasm for life.

Aaron confides in Shadow about an online game show he is a contestant in that involves performing four levels of tasks, each increasing in risk, but the final payout being $100,000. He needs the money to treat Moses for his osteogenesis imperfecta. Without treatment, he’ll only be able to walk for another five years.

Max is called to deal with another strange scene. A man stands ready to jump from a footbridge over a busy highway. He refuses to answer any questions and he is being filmed by a drone nearby. He times his jump to the countdown on his phone, where he lands safely in the back of a passing truck.

He finds a suitcase filled with money, but which also contains a bomb that explodes and kills him. Max sees the getaway, but not the explosion. Shadow calls Max to explain what it’s all about.

Max has an idea about how they can catch whoever runs the game so they go and see a hacker contact of Max’s named Scully. Scully thinks he’s in trouble at first and tries to flee, but they catch him and ask him to hack the game site. He can’t get in unless he knows the WiFi network being used to transmit the feed, so they sign Shadow up for the game.

As Shadow waits for his first task the next day, he talks with Ash who asks him out for dinner to kind of catch up after everything that’s happened. He agrees, but the conversation is cut short when he gets his first message.

He has to go to a restaurant and strip naked. Max thinks it’s hilarious and keeps him waiting around naked for a few minutes longer after Scully finishes hacking the feed.

Meanwhile, Aaron gets his final instructions and has a sweet moment with Moses, letting him know he loves him. Scully finds out that nobody ever survives game four and Shadow rushes to save Aaron who is on his way to Ngala Big Cat Sanctuary for his final game. At the sanctuary, a guard releases the big cats and lets Aaron into the enclosure.

Aaron finds the suitcase of money in a clearing but is threatened by a lion, would probably have been attacked if Shadow hadn’t shown up and scared it off with gunshots.

Shadow tells Aaron there is a bomb in the suitcase, but Aaron is so desperate for the money that he doesn’t want to give it up. Shadow manages to get ahold of the suitcase and toss it away before it explodes. Meanwhile, Max tries to catch the hacker behind the game, but the address Scully gives him is just a dummy location.

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Sometime later, Shadow visits Aaron at his home but finds out that Moses had a fall and broke his ankle. He visits Moses in the hospital and brings him a new pair of cool soccer cleats. Moses is super excited about these but doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to use them.

Shadow tells him not to lose hope and gives him a backpack to give his dad when he comes back. When Aaron comes back, Moses gives him the backpack, which is the same backpack filled with money that Shadow had at the beginning of the episode. It’s enough money to pay for Moses’ much-needed treatment.

Shadow premiered on Netflix on March 8.

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