Man on Fire is Netflix’s latest action-thriller series, which is based on the 1980 thriller novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell. The show follows John Creasy, a hardened ex-mercenary struggling with deep trauma and the weight of a violent past he can’t fully escape.
After attempting to disappear into a quieter, low-profile life, Creasy’s fragile stability is shattered when he becomes entangled in the protection of a teenage girl targeted by a powerful criminal network. What then begins as a reluctant responsibility quickly escalates into something far more dangerous as Creasy finds himself forced back into the kind of brutal conflict he swore off.
Now that all seven episodes of Man on Fire season 1 are available to stream on Netflix, we've decided to provide detailed recaps of each one. Of course, we've started with the first episode. So if you're looking for a breakdown of what all went down, all you need to do is continue reading!
Spoilers are ahead from Man on Fire season 1 episode 1!
Creasy moves to Brazil
The first episode of Man on Fire season 1 opens at the Vallejo Industrial Zone in Mexico City. We meet our protagonist, John Creasy, aka Creasy for short. He's leading a private security mission for the CIA, but things go wrong after men dressed in black arrive at the building and murder his team one by one. Creasy is the only person to make it out alive.
The episode then cuts to four years later, showing Creasy waking up from a nightmare in his apartment. He quickly takes off the black garment over his head. It's similar to the garment that the men in black forced over his teammates before executing them. Creasy struggles with PTSD, haunted by flashbacks of the mission. He lives a mundane life working at a distribution center, drinking, and taking medication to manage his anxiety, insomnia, and lingering trauma.
One day, he decides that he's had enough. He tries to unalive himself by driving his car into a brick wall, but he manages to survive. After waking up in the hospital, Creasy is greeted by an old friend from his time in the Special Forces. We later learn that his name is Paul Rayburn, or Rayburn for short. Rayburn then offers to take Creasy back home with him to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he's just started a new job. He's willing to help him get hired on as well.
While Creasy is initially opposed to it, he ultimately changes his mind. Once they land in Brazil, Rayburn takes Creasy to his luxurious condo. Creasy meets all of Rayburn's family there, including his teenage daughter, Poe. Rayburn then takes him to a construction site. While there, he tells Creasy that the Brazilian government is worried about a terrorist attack of some sort ahead of the upcoming election.
Because of this, Rayburn tells Creasy that President Carmo has brought in his firm to prevent a potential terrorist attack from taking place. He wants Creasy to join him on the assignment. Rayburn also explains the reason why they're at the construction site. Carmo has new luxury condos being built, and Rayburn and his team believe that terrorists may target them. They then head into one of the buildings to talk with the president's head of security, Prado Soares, to get the latest risk assessment.
During this scene, Rayburn tries to prove to Soares that Creasy has what it takes for the job. However, Creasy ends up failing a brief exercise that Soares sets up. He struggles to successfully field strip a gun after Soares has one of his guys start attacking him. The good thing is that Creasy has Rayburn in his corner. Rayburn ends up giving Soares an ultimatum. Either he hires Creasy or loses his help altogether. Rayburn then explains all of this to Creasy after they leave the building. He tells Creasy that Soares has decided to hire him on regardless of his mess-up.
Rayburn is killed
Later on that evening, Creasy tells Rayburn at dinner that he doesn't want to go through with the job. Rayburn, however, basically tells him that he's not going to give up on him. He gives Creasy a business card for a car service so he can get back to his house before Creasy walks away. Elsewhere in Brazil, we're shown a few men packing what looks to be explosive devices in boxes before transporting them in white vans.
A man on a motorcycle then pulls up. According to one of the men, the motorcyclist is supposedly an escort sent by someone named Ferraz to lead them to a different location. The episode then cuts to Rayburn's house, where he and Poe have a heartfelt conversation. Rayburn and Poe don't have the best father-daughter relationship because she doesn't like that they constantly have to move due to his job. As Rayburn gets ready to leave Poe's room, he gives her a penny he found on the ground earlier that day. Poe used to collect pennies when she was younger because she thought that they brought luck.
The episode then cuts to a local gathering, where Creasy is shown downing one alcoholic drink after another. He calls the car service number on the business card Rayburn gave him, and a woman named Valeria Melo pulls up. As she drives him home, Creasy asks her to pull over after spotting an abandoned church. During this scene, Creasy gets into a physical altercation with two guys who want his wallet. Just as Creasy is about to smash one of the guy's heads in with a brick, Melo yells for him to stop.
They get back into her car, and Creasy asks Melo to take him somewhere else to sober up. Meanwhile, Poe sneaks out of the house to go to a party while everyone is sleeping. After accidentally falling asleep on one of the couches at the party, Poe suddenly gets up and takes her friend's keys to go back home. She has to get there before her dad gets up at 4:30 a.m.
As Poe is driving down the street on a motorcycle, she slams on her brakes at an intersection when she notices a couple of white vans and a motorcycle pass by. While sitting on the ground, she looks up at the motorcyclist who briefly shows their face. However, we're not able to see the person's face.
Poe hops back on the motorcycle and finally heads home. As she approaches the condo, her phone rings. It's her dad. Rayburn lets her know he’s aware she snuck out. Poe can see him standing at the condo's entrance as he prepares to leave, but before their conversation can go any further, it’s suddenly cut short when the entire condo explodes. The impact sends Poe flying back.
Elsewhere, Creasy notices smoke coming from the condo. He immediately has Melo take him there. The next morning, the entire city of Rio de Janeiro is in mourning. Everyone at the condo lost their lives, including Rayburn, his wife, and two sons. Poe survived because she was outside the building. Creasy learns of this while speaking to Soares at one of their bases.
Soares also tells Creasy about the attackers. He explains that an extremist organization called the FRP has already claimed responsibility for the bombing and that they might be planning something to try to hurt Carmo ahead of the election.
Soares then shows Creasy CCTV footage of outside the condo on the night of the bombing. Since Poe is the only witness to the explosion, the Brazilian government is trying to get information out of her. However, she's too frightened to talk. Creasy then goes to speak with Poe. He tells her not to tell anyone anything unless he says so and that he'll try to get her back to America the next day.
Creasy then meets with Soares and Carmo to lay out his terms. He insists that Poe be given a secure place to stay for the night, followed by a flight back to the United States the next day. He makes it clear that once those arrangements are in place, Poe will meet them at the U.S. consulate, where she’ll provide a full account of what she did or did not see during the explosion.
Carmo accepts Creasy's demands and tells him that he'll also provide a flight for him back to the United States. However, Creasy tells him that he's not going back until those responsible for the condo bombing are all dead. He then asks for a gun to protect him and Poe for the night before he and Poe are taken to a temporary lodging.
The episode then cuts to an abandoned building where a man named Osmar speaks on the phone with another guy. He has a complete profile on Creasy and photos of him and Poe. During this scene, it looks like they're setting up some sort of hostage situation or carefully orchestrated ambush on Creasy and Poe for the next day.
We're then taken to where Creasy and Poe are temporarily staying. The first episode ultimately comes to a close with Creasy placing a pillowcase over his head before successfully reassembling a gun and aiming it at a wall. While this happens, Poe stares at him in shock from her bed.
Man on Fire season 1 is streaming now only on Netflix.
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