The Day of the Jackal episode 1 recap

The Day of the Jackal is off to a strong start on Peacock. The new series starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch premiered on Thursday, Nov. 14. 

If you like shows about assassins, this is definitely the show for you to watch right now. For those who don’t know, the series is based on the book of the same name by Frederick Forsyth. 

We shared all the big moments moments in The Day of the Jackal episode 1 to make sure you didn’t miss anything! 

The Jackal assassinates Manfred Fest

In Munich, Germany, an assassin kills Ralf, a custodian at a media building, and steals Ralf’s identity. Everything seems to be going okay on the assassin’s mission until an unsuspecting worker walks in on him attaching his silencer. He kills her, but the security guard hears. The assassin shoots everyone on the floor and chases the mark down the stairwell. He doesn’t actually kill the target, Elias Fest, the son of the next German chancellor, Manfred Fest, before he is forced to flee from the building. 

After taking off the disguise in his apartment, the audience learns that the Jackal (Eddie Redmayne) is the assassin. In his hotel room, the Jackal takes apart his suitcase to reveal the makings of a long-range gun, which he assembles in the room. 

Everything that has happened so far is to get Fest to the hospital, an unsecured location, to visit his son. As Fest walks into the hospital, the Jackal pulls the trigger and kills Fest from more than 3,000 meters away. 

The Jackal breaks down the gun and exits the hospital before police arrive. He parks the car in a parking garage and flees in another car. The getaway car in the parking garage explodes! 

As the police and special forces break into the apartment building, the room explodes, too. It seems the Jackal has gotten away. 

The Jackal pays a visit to Nuremburg, Germany, to buy a Jacques chess set made from “pre-ban” ivory, or so he tells the police officer at the border as he tries to leave the country. He hops on a plane in France. 

Back home, the Jackal uses an internet cafe to connect to a very secret chatroom, where he collects payment for the Fest killing. While online, he’s approached with an offer, a $10 million offer, but there’s a catch. The person wants to meet with him. The Jackal asks for $1 million upfront to take the meeting. When it’s paid, he meets with a woman, Zina (Eleanor Matsuura) in a very remote location. The woman asks him to kill Ulle Dag Charles (Khalid Abdalla), a billionaire disruptor who has a new technology. 

We don’t know if he accepted the new job or not. 

Later, the Jackal returns to his wife, Nuria (Úrsula Corberó) and epic home in Spain, just in time for “Carlito’s birthday.” 

At home, the Jackal accesses the chat room again after checking his accounts. There’s still $3.75 million outstanding for the Fest killing. The person replies “F***. YOU.” Well, well, well, I guess we know who is going to be killed next by the Jackal. 

Bianca begins her investigation to find the Jackal

In England, Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch), a firearms expert at MI6, becomes enamored with the Fest killing in Germany. We also get to meet her family, but it’s clear that she’s very into her work. Enough to catch the Jackal? Well, that’s what we’re about to find out! 

Bianca is called into a meeting with the Germans and British Intelligence. She speculates about the length of the weapon required to make the shot from nearly three miles away. She knows guns, and she knows that the assassin would do everything possible to keep that weapon. She also knows that Norman Stoke, a Northern Irish citizen, has been trying to make a two-part barrel for years. She offers to find Norman Stoke, who has been missing for years. She’s going to find the gunmaker, and then, she’s going to find the assassin. 

In Northern Ireland, she shakes down Alison (Kate Dickie), the sister-in-law of Norman, but she doesn’t want to do it. Bianca gives her one day to find Norman. 

Bianca also misses parents night at her daughter’s school. Things are not good on the home front. 

Bianca makes a bold move after she doesn’t here back from Alison about Norman’s location. She has Alison’s daughter, Emma (Katherine Devlin), arrested at a protest to help shake things up.

Unfortunately, things go bad very quickly. Emma suffers cardiac arrest while in police custody. Bianca joins Emma in the ambulance on the way to the hospital where she suffers another heart attack. Bianca helps the EMT try to save Emma’s life. 

This is not good for Bianca and her investigation. It’s definitely off to a rough start, but it’s not over yet. We have nine more episodes in The Day of the Jackal!