Summary
Alex takes matters into his own hands in “Heist” as he and his friends stick their heads in the lion’s jaws.
This recap of Alex Rider season 2, episode 6, “Heist”, contains spoilers.
As of “Heist”, we’re two days away from the global launch of Feathered Serpent 2 and whatever event Damian Cray is planning to coincide with it. We know that it has something to do with the President of the United States, an international organization called Scorpia and its enigmatic trigger man Yassen Gregorovich, and possibly the War on Drugs. Blunt is concerned that Alex — who is still “missing”, as far as he’s concerned, since while Mrs. Jones and Smithers both know he’s in Amsterdam, neither are willing to tell him — is going to get people killed with his meddling. He might be right.
Alex Rider season 2, episode 6 recap
“Heist” is so-called because a significant portion of it finds Alex, Tom, and Kyra in Amsterdam, casing the offices of Craystar International so that they can break in, steal the game’s code, and get back out again. This kind of thing is the show at its best, I think. It gets the most out of the younger characters’ relationships — Tom is weirdly salty about Kyra being around, presumably because, on the back of Alex meeting Sabina, he feels as though imposters are hogging his best friend — while Alex is determined to save the day despite the risk to himself, his mates, and people like Roper, who Cray confronts while they’re travelling together.
There’s plenty of fun banter in all this, and some decent scenes of suspense as the plan comes together. Tom and Kyra use an access card for the Craystar compound stolen from a delivery truck and do something to give it boss-level access by using a card reader (Kyra is a “hacker” in a largely plot-convenient way, so don’t worry too much about the details.)
While this is going on, Yassen begins to enact a plan. He calls Scorpia to activate a cover identity, Thomas Ashton, and requisition 6.5 million Pounds Sterling for the assassination of the U.S. President. This, though, is a sting. The Ashton identity is known to the security services, so the transaction flags up on their system, and Smithers mobilizes a team to the registered address. Everything is in place to frame the head of Cray’s security for planning to kill the President. Of course, it’s obvious to us that Yassen is simply getting this guy out of the way of the real plan, but the Brits think they’ve found the culprit.
“Heist” also leans against a classic device as Kyra needs time to copy the game’s secret coding from Evelyn’s terminal, so she and Alex both need to hide as Cray predictably returns to the office with Roper. Throughout the episode, Cray has delayed in killing Roper, wanting to give him the opportunity to believe Cray is really trying to help people. But when Roper realizes his boss is nuts, he wants out, at which point Cray pulls a gun on him. Alex, though, isn’t having that. He reveals himself to try and save Roper, but Cray shoots him anyway, leaving Alex and Kyra captives of the very villain they were attempting to take down.
You can stream Alex Rider season 2, episode 6, “Heist”, exclusively on IMDb TV.
