Summary
Episode 1 is a good opener to the second season — it will start to improve once the new characters bed in.
This recap of Amazon original series Hanna season 2, episode 1, “Safe” contains significant spoilers.
Access our episode guide for all recaps.
How does Hanna season 2, episode 1, “Safe” open?
Episode 1 opens up in the Bukovina Forest, Romania — Hanna and Clara are taking in nature and hunting for food. It seems peaceful but obviously, this doesn’t stay the same for long as a drone arrives at the forest and follows them, encouraging Hanna and Clara to run away on foot. After hiding for a tense few minutes, the drone disappears.
A new season and a new facility
In the next scene, Utrax’s assassin program is moved to an unidentified location in Northern England — the facility is called The Meadows.
Meet John Carmichael
Episode 1 then moves to Stefanesti Air Base, Romania. Marissa Wiegler meets John Carmichael, the man that now leads Utrax. He wants to know what happened at the Utrax facility in the previous season; he plays a recording that proves she was at the incident. John questions why she was there — as we know, Marissa let Hanna and Heller escape. Hannah season 2, episode 1 provides new characters and confirms that Marissa is unable to detach herself from the past.
CIA appoints a new field agent
Episode 1, “Safe” then moves to the CIA, Virginia, USA. Terri Miller is offered a field task rather than being in the office. She has to sign an NDA with Utrax. Meanwhile, back to the forest in Romania, Hanna and Clara steal some weapons from the back of a truck.
A new season and a new program
At The Meadows facility, Leo Garner introduces himself to the assassins. Leo Garner is John Carmichael’s number two. The assassins are given new identities — it also seems they have changed the program slightly so that they have personalities and the environment seems more relaxing. John tells Marissa the experiments are now synthetic and once they have finished the program, the assassins will go in the real world, live normal lives, and as soon as they need an assassin to do anything, they will be able to do so with 100% deniability of state-sponsored murder. However, John is wondering how Clara disobeyed orders — he wants Marissa’s help. Hanna season 2, episode 1 makes the entire program more sinister somehow by giving the women depth to their manufactured pasts.
Enjoying the new identity
Back at The Meadows, one of the assassins, Sandy, seems to relish her new identity and clothes. It’s evident she feels a connection to the materials she has been given.
Get me Clara
Marissa tells John that they won’t be able to find Hanna in the forest. John suggests that Marissa is attached to Hanna; with her poker face, Marissa claims she has zero attachment. Before Marissa leaves, John states he knows she set out to kill Sawyer and save Hanna so offers a deal — he stays quiet about what she did and he will leave Hanna alone, but as part of the deal, she will need to get Clara. At the facility, Sandy and Jules introduce themselves to each other and talk about their supposed identities. They bond quickly and talk about their family history.
The video call
John and Marissa video call Sandy and ask her about Clara, they are looking for information about what happened on the day of the incident. Sandy is clearly nervous, not wanting to be removed from the program, and reveals how Hanna showed Clara who her mother is. Meanwhile, Clara asks Hanna if they are going to stay in the forest forever. Hanna states she is protecting her and reminds Clara of the treatment at the facilities. Clara apologizes later, stating she doesn’t want to be alone anymore. Hanna season 2, episode 1, “Safe” gives the notion and that desire to want and need a past in order to experience fulfillment, which is probably why the facility is flawed.
At the facility, Leo briefs Terri on the social media data she needs to create for all the assassins. This involves pretending to be their contacts. One scene shows Terri pretending to be Sandy’s mother and messaging her one of the social media platforms. This is an odd scene, showing the extent the facility is willing to go to bring authenticity.
That’s how you will find her
Marissa tells John that Clara knows who her mother is, and she won’t be able to help it — she will go looking for mother — “That’s how you will find her”. Meanwhile, Clara has gone missing — she is looking for information on her daughter and she asks a mother and daughter at a cabin if they can show her mother’s social media profile. The mother and daughter offer to take her to Bucharest as apparently that’s where her mother is. Meanwhile, Hanna is desperately trying to find Clara. Hannah season 2, episode 1, “Safe” shows the roles reversed — Hanna is now the carer, the protector.
They’re are not real
Jules tells Sandy that none of the messages she receives is real — “They are just a story to tell people”. Sandy is clearly upset by Jules’s attitude. Clara heads to Bucharest with the family — John and Marissa have tracked it. John promises to leave Hanna alone. While Hanna is out searching for Clara, she comes across a military squad so she has to hide. Hanna leaves her hiding place in a cabin and shoots a couple of the soldiers but then they all shoot towards her and there is a massive explosion.
How does Hanna season 2, episode 1, “Safe” end?
Episode 2 then moves to Hotel Avere in Bucharest. Clara heads into the hotel looking for her mother but Marissa is there. Marissa explains that her mother gave her up and she died afterward and she promises they will give her all the love she needs in the facility. Clara tries to run but then she is ambushed and captured. John offers Marissa a role but she tells John she knows they didn’t leave Hanna alone. John reveals there was a gas explosion in the forest near a cabin that Hanna was in — he presumes she’s dead and Marissa is fuming. Of course, Hanna survived the explosion — Hanna asks the mother and daughter where they took Clara.
Hanna meets Marissa in Hotel Avere and waves at her. Episode 1 is a good opener to the second season — it will start to improve once the new characters bed in.
Additional points
- Hanna notices a lump that Utrax gave to Clare that apparently keeps the assassins calm. Hanna gets out a knife and cuts it out.
