The Weekly season 1, episode 4 recap: Collision

Jerald Raymond Pierce

THE WEEKLY “Collision” Episode 4 (Airs Sunday; June 23, 10:00 pm/ep) — Pictured: New York Times Reporter Rukmini Callimachi sits down with Bakhtiniso Malimova, second wife of the alleged terrorist linked to the attack.. CR: FX

This episode of The Weekly looks at the deaths of two American tourists in Tajikistan in 2018 and features a New York Times reporter sitting down with the mastermind behind the deadly terrorist attack.

This week’s episode of The Weekly may be tough to stomach. It follows international investigative reporter Rukmini Callimachi as she leads us through the unsettling murder of four people (including two American tourists) in Tajikistan in July 2018. Her original article came out in early August of that year.

Callimachi spent five years reporting on ISIS and this episode of The Weekly opens with her staring down one of the men responsible for the Tajikistan murders, showing him a photo of his victims and asking, point blank, why he killed them.

The Victims

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Then the episode rewinds to set the stage a bit. Americans Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan were two people who were in love with each other and the idea of not wasting their lives in soul-draining day jobs. Together, they decided to quit their jobs and bike around the world.

Not to break any records or visit any country, but to simply enjoy their lives to the fullest.

The episode details numerous countries they went through in African and Europe before finally landing on Tajikistan (around a year into their journey).

There’s footage from a local cameraman (who was getting footage as part of an effort to encourage tourism to the area) of Austin and Geoghegan meeting up with other cyclists. Callimachi sits down with one of those cyclists for an interview—Kim Postma.

Postma describes what she remembers from July 29, the day their group set out cycling down the road together. Postma was there as a car came up behind their group and plowed through them. As she recovered from being hit, she watched as the car that went through them stopped and as five men got out of the car with knives.

The men stabbed some of the cyclists before getting back in the car and running over others again. Postma was barely able to get out of the way of that second run.

(This is where there’s a content warning. It’s pretty grainy footage, but there is footage of the car turning and making that second run through a group of cyclists sprawled over the street.)

The attack, the first ISIS attack on Tajikistan, left four people dead: Rene Woke, Markus Hummel, Austin and Geoghegan.

THE WEEKLY “Collision” Episode 4 (Airs Sunday; June 23, 10:00 pm/ep) — Pictured: New York Times Reporter, Rukmini Callimachi meets with Police Officer Jumakhon Nazarzoda, in the city where the attackers were apprehended. CR: FX

The Attackers

At first, the Tajik government tried to blame the attack on an outlawed opposition party in the country. But then ISIS released a video of the five men pledging their allegiance to the Islamic State.

The Weekly shifts here to focus on those five men. (It’s arguable whether or not a program like this should be using the names of the killers and giving their names and their cause this kind of free press. But they give their names. I’ll only use one, because it’s necessary to recap this episode.)

Callimachi is led by Radio Free Europe reporter, Abdumumin Sherkhonov to the site where the men recorded their allegiance video. He points out that everyone in the country knew that spot and would recognize that view. The video (which is shown) was meant to send a message that ISIS was there in the country.

The five men were led by Hussein Abdusamadov, the perceived mastermind behind the attack, who spent time in Syria with the Islamic State.

Callimachi then sits down with the lead investigator on Hussein’s case (hiding his identity for his safety). The investigator shows Callimachi evidence that has been gathered, including Hussein’s cell phone, which has messages between Hussein and his ISIS handler.

More disturbing, though, is the fact that his phone has footage of the attack, which he tried to sent to his contact, but couldn’t because of a weak cell signal.

Thankfully, The Weekly doesn’t show the full video (at the request of the investigator—the video was made as propaganda, that doesn’t deserve the air time). But they do show the men in the car before the attack and the men running back to the car after they had gotten out and them talking about hitting a woman as they turned the car to drive away. It’s still pretty upsetting video with the most gruesome parts omitted.

The episode then heads to the town of Tutbuloq, where the men fled after the attack. It’s assumed they were headed to the boarder with Afghanistan.

I say “assumed” because the men never made it there. The Tutbuloq villagers noticed the car and were very suspicious when they was the broken windshield and blood on the car. The five men ditched the car and tried to flee. But cell phone video shows villagers pursuing the men with sticks and clubs until the authorities get there.

Callimachi then talks to Jumakhon Nazarzoda, who was there when the men were apprehended and who works for the ministry of internal affairs. He talks about the encounter and details that four of the men were killed and Hussein was arrested. (Content warning: the dead bodies of the other four are shown.)

THE WEEKLY “Collision” Episode 4 (Airs Sunday; June 23, 10:00 pm/ep) — Pictured: Bike Memorial at the attack site off the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan. CR: FX

The Mastermind

The Weekly then transitions to talk about Hussein, showing how he scouted targets, collected money and bought a new cleaver before the attacks. But Callimachi isn’t concerned with how it happened, she wants to know why.

So, Callimachi briefly sits down with Gulchehra Shodmonova, Hussein’s mother. Hussein is described as someone who was a good student and child, but who dropped out of school and drifted away from his family after meeting a cleric in 2004.

Hussein was sentenced to life in prison for the attack. Callimachi was approved to speak with him, becoming the first journalist to do so. He’s considered so dangerous that he has to remain handcuffed and he has two guards close enough to have their hands on the back of his chair.

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(Side note: An interesting tidbit here when Callimachi touches on the complicated nature of getting consent for an interview from prisoner and making sure that prisoner is truly speaking freely.)

As the interview gets set up, Callimachi notes that interviews like this have helped her put together an idea of ISIS’ structure. Hussein begins the interview talking about recruiting people to join the Islamic State and getting occasional orders to commit terrorist attacks. (It’s not addressed, nor asked, but you have to wonder: Was this his first attack? Or just the first one where he got caught?)

Now we’ve caught up with the opening. Callimachi shows Hussein a photo of Austin and Geoghegan and asks why killing them was worth doing. Hussein says that he had pledged to commit jihad and was supposed to attack the European Union Parliament, but that fell through, so he was sent to Tajikistan. Because Muslims are being killed around the world, he continues, they believe they must kill any “non-believers.”

He says they’ll stop when people stop killing Muslims.

THE WEEKLY “Collision” Episode 4 (Airs Sunday; June 23, 10:00 pm/ep) — Pictured: Gulchehra Shodmonova, mother of one of the attackers, sits down for an interview with New York Times Reporter, Rukmini Callimachi. CR: FX

Callimachi points out that Austin and Geoghegan never killed anyone and, in fact, lived lives of kindness, openness and acceptance. Hussein simply says he was following orders and didn’t stop to ask them questions.

When Callimachi pushes again, trying to figure out why he chose this group specifically, Hussein admits he decided on them that day because he just happened across them. In fact, he spoke to some of the people in the group at a gas station when the group had stopped for some water.

Hussein found out they were Americans and says that Americans had to be killed.

He’s asked if he feels any regret and responds by saying that Americans don’t regret when they kill Muslims. Other than the basic fact that they’re also human, he sees absolutely nothing in common between him and his victims.

In voiceover, as the interview ends, Callimachi talks about how she’s come to understand more and more that ISIS’ worldview is “a supremacist one” that dehumanizes anyone who doesn’t subscribe to their narrow interpretation of Islam (which is about as close as this episode gets to making the clear statement that ISIS doesn’t speak for all Muslims).

This episode of The Weekly winds down with Callimachi meeting up with Nazarkhon Kharkashov, an orchard owner who hosted Austin, Geoghegan and their group and served them tea the night before the attack.

He shows Callimachi a note left by Austin, describing their journey and goals and thanking him for his hospitality. It’s a note that may be the last message Austin and Geoghegan were able to leave the world.

Finally, Callimachi shows a memorial, built by local Tajiks, to remind people to live their lives unafraid and open to the world.

What did you think of this episode of The Weekly? Let us know in the comments.

Jerald Raymond Pierce

Jerald Raymond Pierce is a writer and journalist whose work has appeared in American Theatre magazine, the Seattle Times, the Charleston Post and Courier and the Syracuse Post-Standard. He has his BFA in Acting from Ohio University and MA in Arts Journalism from Syracuse University.