No Man’s Land season 1, episode 7 recap – keeping friends safe

By Daniel Hart
Published: November 18, 2020 (Last updated: last month)
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Hulu series No Man's Land season 1, episode 7
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Summary

Episode 7 starts to piece the story together, awarding the audience for their patience as all the character’s stories begin to line up.

This recap of Hulu’s No Man’s Land season 1, episode 7 contains significant spoilers.

We recapped every episode — check out the archive.


The opening

Antoine rings his partner Lorraine and tells her that he’s staying in Syria. He tries to tell her that he loves her, but she doesn’t want to hear it. Antoine expresses that he cannot come home after what he’s seen and done. It’s difficult hearing the confusion, hurt and strain in Lorraine’s voice; the whole scenario is nonsensical in her mind.

Siblings reunited at last

In a strange moment, Antoine looks over at Sarya; it could be that he’s staying for love now as he seems content. But then, his sister Anna approaches him angrily and tells him to leave out of nowhere. Anna knew he was looking for her. When Antoine asks if she hates her family, she tells him to “shut up” and cries. The siblings hug it out. They catch up briefly; Antoine expresses that he wants to stay and Anna tells him he will have to follow orders. The brother is so happy that he’s found his sister. It seems that both siblings have now found their purpose.

Nasser and Paul’s reunion

Episode 7 shows a flashback of Nasser working for a fruit and veg stall. He sees Iyad across the road who asks him to join him at the mosque. Iyad hugs him; they’ve obviously not seen each other for a long time. Later on, Nasser meets both Paul and Iyad. Paul isn’t happy that Nasser is back after he joined and left the British military; he doesn’t like how he killed Muslims in Afghanistan. Paul doesn’t like his excuses, but Iyad has Nasser’s back. The confrontation gets heated and Nasser apologizes. Paul tells Nasser that he missed him and they hug it out. There’s a lot of tension in this conversation; Nasser is seen as a traitor for fighting in the war.

I’m no longer Anna

Anna asks about Antoine killing a Jihadi; she warns him to stay alert to stay alive. According to Anna, Sarya knew she was alive all along, and they rerouted Antoine to stay away from her. Anna confirms that he missed him. The siblings talk about the family, and Antoine also asks for forgiveness. Anna tells Antoine that she came to Syria for different reasons and that she’s not his sister anymore as “Anna” doesn’t exist. Of course, later on in the episode, Antoine learns who is sister really is now.

Stanley’s plan

Anna then confronts Stanley, but she isn’t interested in hearing from him. He shows her a photo of the Head of the Military for ISIS and gives her a location. Stanley wants him dead because he wants his asset (Nasser) promoted. Stanley is playing chess with ISIS. He tells Anna to talk about it with the YPJ to see if they are on board.

Stanley’s approach with Nasser

In a flashback, Stanley confronts Nasser in the street and spells out his misconduct record in the military. He wants to talk to Nasser about his best friends. Stanley shows Nasser emails from Iyad to ISIS from an internet café. He also plays a phone recording; Paul and Iyad are talking to ISIS about going to Syria to fight. When Nasser raises that he hasn’t heard anything about this, Stanley tells him that his friends don’t trust him.

A second chance

Nasser tells Stanley that in Afghanistan he was meant to follow protocol and shoot a kid who was walking towards him. Nasser denies it was anything to do with his religion. Stanley tells Nasser to go to Syria with his friends and help infiltrate ISIS. He then reminds Nasser that he’s got more power than him and asks if he wants to serve his country. Stanley calls it a second chance.

As we have gathered by now, Stanley’s emotional manipulation is intense; he seems to up everyone under false pretences.

Prep time

Stanley preps Nasser for Syria and tells him he needs to convince ISIS that he’s an important asset because of his British military experience. He advises that he acts how he feels in front of them — “If you are nervous, good. Show it”. Nasser is given a Quran with a device inside that helps him communicate with them. Before Nasser leaves with his friends, he asks Paul if he’s 100% on leaving his child behind.

Paul is getting irritated

In the present day, Paul is getting impatient about seeing his child Alex and not being able to fight. He’s sick of doing paperwork, and he feels like when he was in the field fighting, it took his mind off everything. Nasser calms him down. Later on, Nasser asks for Paul to meet him in the studio. There’s a video call with his child Alex waiting for him. It’s hitting Paul hard; his child asks him when he’s coming back. Suddenly, the foster carer puts the phone down. Paul is relieved that his child is safe and then tells Nasser that Iyad has joined a skirmish; Nasser knows it will be dangerous and ends up joining him. The skirmish has YPJ’s target onboard — the Head of the Military.

The ending

Meanwhile, Antoine and the YPJ prepare for an offence on ISIS. Nasser knows an attack is coming and looks around with bated breath. YPJ spot the convoy. Nasser gets edgy and tries to steer Iyad away from the vehicles. YPJ launch a rocket at the convoy when they see their target. Anna checks for survivors and kills the ones who are injured as Antoine looks on and sees what his sister has become.

Nasser and Iyad lay on the ground injured; Nasser pretends to be dead as Anna finishes off the injured. She kills Iyad right in front of Nasser who has to cry quietly.

No Man’s Land season 1, episode 7 starts to piece the story together, awarding the audience for their patience as all the character’s stories begin to line up.

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