Sacred Games season 2, episode 6 recap: Azrael

In episode 206 of Netflix series Sacred Games, Gaitonde has a change of heart when seeing the gravity of Guruji’s plans. Also, Sartaj’s spirit gets broken.

Previously on Sacred Games, Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) moved up the ranks in the doomsday cult. In these flashbacks, we saw Gaitonde’s connection with leader Khanna Guruji (Pankaj Tripathi), who Gaitonde considers one of his “fathers.” Also, Inspector Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan) got in trouble again, though that never slows him down much. This episode zeros in on the cult’s ideology and how the characters — including those within the cult itself — have a hard time reversing its tide of imminent destruction. “Azrael” begins with Sartaj angry in the ashram, looking for Guruji. Guruji’s chief loyalist, Batya (Kalki Koechlin) gives him the runaround.

Separately, Inspector Majid Ali Khan (Aamir Bashir) mentions the suicide death of Malcolm Mourad (Luke Kenny), an assassin and member of various terror organizations. He seeks to establish the connection between Hizbuddin and Guruji’s ashram. Batya spills the beans to Sartaj, laying out their apocalyptic plan in no uncertain terms. Saying “We must bring darkness into the world,” her group wants to utilize tensions between Pakistan and India, the USA and China, and others to ensure mass extermination in one stroke.

Guruji and select followers are to live in bunkers in the resulting nuclear winter, awaiting Satya Yuga — a spiritual cleansing when goodness can reign supreme. She asks Sartaj why this world should even be saved and, actually, he seems to draw a blank for an answer. She drops another bombshell by urging Sartaj to finish what his father (Jaipreet Singh) started (suggesting the man was deeply enmeshed in her cult).

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Higher than God

Sacred Games hasn’t shown Shahid Khan (Ranvir Shorey) much before, but we catch better glimpses of him here. He notes that the ISI hides in the shadows always fanning the flames. In fact, fanning flames is what the show is largely about, with Gaitonde almost brainwashed into adding fuel to the fire for Guruji. For his loyalty, Guruji promises Gaitonde a position “higher than God” in their new order. We also learn Guruji has faked his own death to assure a “monastic silence” as Batya selects 100 people pure enough for Satya Yuga. Meanwhile, the impression’s offered that politician Bipin Bhosale (Girish Kulkarni) was likely hoodwinked into smuggling them components for at least one nuclear bomb, said to be far more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima.

In flashbacks, we see Gaitonde anonymously harassing Bunty (Jatin Sarna) over the phone, making him irate enough to threaten murder. However, when Gaitonde returns to visit Bunty and Kanta Bai (Shalini Vatsa) after 13 years of absence, it’s largely on good terms. In fact, they seem to get along almost like perfectly normal people. We’re even reminded that, before he was a ruthless gangster, Gaitonde started off modestly as a waiter. Gaitonde also meets Jojo (Surveen Chawla) and they discuss her sister, Mary (Harshita Gaur), who committed suicide because Jojo slept with Mary’s producer and boyfriend.

“Your elephant has gone wild”

Though he’s usually a monstrous presence in Sacred Games, he ultimately (and oddly) ends up being less destructive than other characters. After his heart is warmed by the reunion, Gaitonde relents on the apocalyptic plan. This is even more so after seeing the bomb. This is the moment when reality hits him, and he sees the world may not revolve solely around himself. Gaitonde calls Batya to speak to Guruji but she hangs up, perhaps sensing his lack of resolve to carry out the plan.

Soon, Alaam (Nilesh Kumar) shows up demanding money from Gaitonde. Though Gaitonde’s not likely afraid of Alaam, he does build a bunker beneath Bunty’s mall, knowing that Guruji and the others will not relent very easily (of course, this same bunker is where Gaitonde commits suicide in the very first episode of season 1).
After Gaitonde tells Batya that he’s going to the police, Batya calls Guruji to say, “Your elephant has gone wild.”

Brutality gets to Sartaj

As the episode nears its end, Constable Kamble (Suhas Sirsat) tells Sartaj that he found Saad (Chetan Sharma), the missing cricket player from episode 4. Unfortunately, when Sartaj gets there, a crowd is beating him up for his religious affiliation, and Sartaj gets attacked when he tries to intervene. Some gunshots disperse the crowd, but Sartaj’s spirit seems to be beaten, and Saad has been beaten to death.

Sartaj returns to Guruji’s ashram, where Batya gives him a “mind-expanding drug” (presumably the same one that initially turned Gaitonde into a loyalist). The cult does have some similarities to Charles Manson’s “Family.” It’s believed that Manson had apocalyptic visions linked to predictions about mega-conflicts, which were to be initiated by their own mass murder campaigns.  He also used mind-altering substances, power-dynamic sexuality and abusive methods to instill control in his followers.

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