Summary
Alex Rider episode 4 is very much a getting-to-know-you exercise, as Alex is introduced to the various unruly students and the routines of Point Blanc.
This recap of Alex Rider season 1, episode 4 contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the previous episode by clicking these words.
Check out our spoiler-free season review.
Finally, after hearing so much about it, we arrive at Point Blanc in Alex Rider episode 4. The first thing Alex is asked to do is hand over his phone and his belongings, which doesn’t bode well, and neither do the various perils of the remote French Alps, where the exclusive academy – stocked with a quality over quantity mandate – is nestled under the beady eyes of Dr. Greif.
With Alex on-site, hapless Martin gives Yassen a bell and tells him they need to get moving. The villains aren’t keeping a handle on the situation, which is always nice to see.
Alex Rider episode 4 is very much a getting-to-know-you exercise, as Alex is introduced to the various unruly students and the routines of Point Blanc. He attempts to make his presence felt and succeeds, earning himself a stern word from Dr. Greif, and the underlying tone of watchful paranoia begins to settle over proceedings. Eva seems to be everywhere at once, a take-no-prisoners matron-type, and Alex isn’t sure that they – or perhaps more specifically he – isn’t being watched from elsewhere, too.
As ever, Jack isn’t about to take Alex’s newfound extracurricular activities with no questions asked, so she meets with Mrs. Jones and requests information – she isn’t given any, but perhaps she has information of her own? Not for the first time, details imparted by Jack lead Mrs. Jones and Blunt to a new revelation, which is that Martin isn’t being entirely truthful. I’m not sure what it says about these particular spies that they’ve only just deduced this, but whatever.
Martin is very much on one in Alex Rider episode 4, though, and after hacking restricted intelligence he goes over to see Jack personally, where, in a neat reversal of fortune, her chattiness gives away to Martin what Alex is up to. Not that this does Martin any favors, mind, as Yassen gives him a shanking, leaving him in a deserved pile on the floor.
Things remain ominous at Point Blanc. Dr. Greif has a Thanos-style attitude towards overpopulation, cryptic warnings from Sasha (Talitha Wing) confuse Alex, and Laura (Katrin Vankova) disappears after visiting the infirmary for her constant coughing. By the time Alex realizes that he himself has been drugged, it doesn’t really come as much of a surprise. Dr. Greif declares that he’s “ready”. But ready for what?
With the shift in location to Point Blanc, Alex Rider season 1, episode 4 boasts an additional layer of paranoia and mystery, as things are obviously amiss but the exact shape of the conspiracy remains enticingly elusive. Is any of this particularly new or fresh? Not exactly. But it’s a just-right tone for young-adult entertainment that wants to flirt with darker ideas without really overcommitting to them. The back half of Alex Rider seems promising.
