The Night Manager season 2 episode 5, the penultimate episode of the season, sets the stage for the showdown we've been waiting for.
At the end of The Night Manager season 2 episode 4, Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) is forced to reveal himself as Matthew Ellis. His secret identity is no longer a secret, and that means he is in the most danger he’s been in so far. That includes everyone he’s been working with. Sally (Hayley Squires) and Basil (Paul Chahidi) are also in a bad spot, but Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) will likely be compromised, as well, even though she hasn’t had much to do with this mission.
Mayra learns that Alex Goodwin is still alive, which puts Basil in danger
At the beginning of episode 5, Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) speaks to Mayra (Indira Varma), and he confirms that Matthew is actually Jonathan, the man who took him down once before. Roper knows that he has people working with him in the UK, and he tells Mayra to find them.
Immediately, Basil tries to leave the UK, and he rings Sally and tells her the mission is over and she needs to bail. Knowing he’s being tailed, Basil calls Angela and leaves files in a gift shop for her to pick up. Then, he gets picked up by Mayra’s men. He has a lot of explaining to do.
Back in Colombia, Roper questions Teddy Dos Santos (Diego Calva) about his loyalty, but Teddy doesn’t see the issue. He killed the prosecutor before the shipment was released, so they’ll be able to get the weapons to the Cabreras and their army in the jungle as planned, but Roper knows it’s not that simple, not with Jonathan Pine back on the case.
Speaking of Jonathan, Roxana (Camila Morrone), who was saved by Jonathan right at the end of the previous episode, takes him to her family’s home that they abandoned years earlier when her father was killed. They clean themselves up.
Then, the private investigator, Martin (Diego Santos), sends a recording of Roper talking back at the compound. He explains to Roxana that Gilberto Hanson isn’t who he says he is; he’s an English arms dealer. Roxana asks when his team will arrive to help, but he finally confesses to her that he doesn’t have a team, and she doesn’t have any immunity. Now, she’s in danger, but she’s furious at him.
Jonathan explains that her lies in England cost his friend his life when Teddy blew him up in Spain. Before he leaves, Roxana tells him that she won’t ask anything of him again, but he tells her to stay there and don’t do anything extreme.
Richard offers Jonathan a deal
In Colombia, Richard hires a team to track down Jonathan, but Teddy wants to do it himself. Richard won’t let him because they still have work to do. Shortly after, Jonathan calls Teddy and demands to speak with Richard. He tells him that he booked a table at the Hilltop Restaurant under the name “Andrew Birch” and demands that Richard come alone.
At the restaurant, the two old pals catch up. Richard tells him that he could have killed him, but he didn’t. He questions him about who he is working with. Jonathan gets down to business. He knows what’s happening, and he demands that Richard turn himself in and bring the collaborators down with him.
But, why would Gilberto do that? He has $300 million that he owes to the Syrians. But, Richard won’t agree to flip on his people. He doesn’t think Jonathan will actually be able to take him down or the operation. He doesn’t know Roxana, and Roxana doesn’t have enough information to stop Mayra and the other officials down.
Richard makes Jonathan an offer to pack up and leave for $50 million as long as he leaves the country, forgets all about this, and gets out of the way.
After a back and forth about Jonathan’s true motivations, Jonathan makes a counter-offer. Richard will answer the call on a burner and turn himself in. If not, Jonathan makes his move to take them all down.
Martin helps Jonathan escape Roper’s men
As he is leaving lunch, Martin, who photographed and recorded the whole conversation, calls Jonathan and reveals that Jonathan is being tailed by two men. Richard instructs them to follow Jonathan to find Roxana.
Jonathan meets Martin at a gas station, but Martin tells him that Sally, also known as Jane, never left Medellín. Instead, she’s trying to warn the Colombians, still, about the shipment that is coming. She calls the Chief Justice, who Alejandro was trying to talk to when he was taken from the building and killed, and informs her that they are planning a coup in Colombia, but General Sanchez already has men spying on her.
Jonathan shows Teddy that Roper doesn’t care about him
At the docks, Teddy confirms the shipment is all there and ready to head to its final destination. Just then, he receives a call from Jonathan, who tells him to meet a few minutes away to learn the truth about Richard’s plan.
When Teddy arrives, he doesn’t find Jonathan. Instead, he finds a laptop with the recording of Richard and Sandy Langbourne (Alistair Petrie) discussing Teddy and how he isn’t civilized and will be easily disposed of.
After the video ends, Jonathan arrives. Teddy turns his gun on him, but Jonathan tries to explain what Richard is doing. He’s just using Teddy to pay his debts to the Syrians. Then, when Colombian is in the middle of a civil war, Richard will return to England without Teddy. Initially, Teddy doesn’t believe him, but then Jonathan makes him play the last recording. In it, Richard tells Sandy to make sure that Danny, his “one and only son,” is ready for his arrival, basically.
Teddy freaks out and tries to fight Jonathan, but eventually, the two men embrace, and Jonathan tries to comfort the man who was betrayed by his father. When Teddy is finally receptive, Jonathan takes him to see his sister at the local church, where they reconnect after years apart.
Roper finds Martin’s recording device
Back at the compound, Richard settles in after meeting with Jonathan. He finds a recording device on one of his guard dogs, who aren’t actually very good at guarding. Richard shuts up just long enough to inform his security guards, who are good at guarding, that there is someone nearby listening to the conversation. The special ops team knows that the person isn’t more than 200 meters away. They quickly find Martin’s location and track him through the jungle back to his car. They pepper it with bullets as Martin flees the scene.
Later, Richard kills the three dogs, as Juan looks on. My guy is coming apart at the seams. Then, Roxana calls Juan.
At the port, Teddy informs him that they are going to drop the supplies via parachute into the jungle after he drives the trucks there. So, Teddy has fully flipped on Richard, but he still must play his part without causing too much suspicion.
Finally, Teddy arrives at the destination, and the supplies are loaded into the plane.
Mayra kills Basil
Back in England, Mayra is holding Basil in a safehouse. She questions him about Alex Goodwin and Jonathan Pine, and she knows all about what happened with Adam Holywell, as well. When Basil doesn’t give up Jonathan, one of her associates tortures him.
Later, Basil, who has been beaten and bloodied, confesses to Mayra that he knows about the plan in Colombia, but he still denies knowing about Jonathan Pine. Mayra sends her team back in to kill Basil.
Roxana flips on Jonathan
At the compound, Teddy returns, and Richard questions him about his phone being turned off, but Teddy lies about it. The house is being turned over as they search for listening devices. Richard informs Teddy that it’s his fault, basically, because Jonathan followed him there.
Teddy goes into his room and finds the key to Richard’s desk. He finds the UK passport and housing estate brochure that Jonathan mentioned. He also finds pictures of Danny, Richard’s other son who lives in the UK. Teddy knows that Jonathan isn’t lying, and he sends Jonathan all the information about the flight and the pictures of the plane.
The episode ends with Roxana turning herself over to Richard and Juan. He threatens that he’ll kill Roxana if he thinks that she’ll double-cross him. He tells her that he wants “Jonathan Pine,” and she says, “Well, now I know his name.”
I’m very intrigued by Roxana’s move. Is she gathering more evidence to help Jonathan seal the deal? Is she trying to pick the winning side and realizing Jonathan is in more trouble than she is? There’s a lot going on here, but I hope it works out for her.
Heading into the finale, I’m waiting for the big twist! Is Teddy going to flip on his father and choose Jonathan? Or, is Jonathan playing a different game? He has to take down Richard in Colombia, but he also needs some help to take down others, including Mayra, back in the UK, too.
We’ll find out how it all plays out in The Night Manager season 2 finale on Sunday, Feb. 1!