The Terminal List season 1, episode 7 recap – “Extinction”

By Marc Miller
Published: July 1, 2022
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3.5

Summary

The seventh episode of The Terminal List has the biggest reveal to date and adds another satisfying revenge tale to its list.

This recap of the Amazon original series The Terminal List season 1, episode 7, “Extinction,” – contains spoilers.

Access the recaps, reviews, and news for The Terminal List.

The Terminal List season 1, episode 7 recap

Reece begins to have more of his fragmented hallucinations at his old home. He remembers the time he and his wife first stepped into their home. They kiss and playfully argue about the extra room will be her office, and his cave will be in the garage. It’s a happy and painful memory. The officers on Reece’s list meet in Admiral Pillar’s office. They go over their options and discuss their involvement. These bastards knew about the experiment with their men. Howard is becoming unraveled. He thinks they should make a run for it, and Cox tells him there is no way he will run off to Cameroon because of Reece. That’s when we know Reece and Ben have returned to Coronado. They are watching them from Ben’s boat.

That’s when the Secretary of Defense lands and visits Pillar’s office. She questions how he could start a mission with such a flimsy walk-in tip about an arms dealer pointing them to Kahani. Does she then ask him who the officer who elevated the report was? Pillar smiles and tells her that is more of a question for Langley.

Kate makes a deal with the FBI so she can finish her story. She has 5,000 words and needs the FBI’s help finishing her story. If they do that, she can help them find Reece. Kate then points him to Horn’s computers and the accounts where investors benefited from Nubellum. However, their accounts paid for the illegal testing of RD-4895 on Navy SEALS. They uncover the illicit payments to Pillar, Cox, and Howard. The team splits up, and Tony takes Pillar, who meets him outside the base and has developed a serious Colonel Jessup complex. He tells him his warrant is useless but allows him onto the base. He also hands him papers that allude to clearing his name. Yet, later when Tony looks at them, it’s hard evidence he knew about the operation.

Team Ben and Reece intercept the other two. Ben pretends to be an FBI agent and takes Howard in at his home before he can take his family to Key West. Reece attacks Cox in the parking lot. He breaks his arm and then shoots him up with a syringe of something to make him pass out. Cox wakes up with one of those 800-pound wood logs used in Navy SEAL training tied to his torso while in two feet of water. He confirms for Reece that only three officers knew about the experiment. The ones who are doing the injecting thought it was B-12 shots. Reece then lets the log take Cox underwater until he drowns.

Ben has Howard and his family tied up in front of his car on the beach. Reece approaches, and Howard begins to snivel his way out, saying he is just a paper pusher. He wants him to do something not made clear to the audience, and he refuses. He says that is fine, but he will send his child to the afterlife as he did to Reece’s daughter. Howard finally agrees as he drags him to the water with his mother hanging into him. He tells Ben to let the family go until Howard lives up to his end, and he goes home. Ben asks why is he going home? Reece replies, “I need to see them.”

DCIS Agent Azad, who seems to be the Secretary of State’s muscle, visits the San Diego FBI field office. DCIS is taking over the case even though these men did illegal activities. Except, Azad informs Tony that the experiment was authorized, but the coverup was another matter. How on earth? Because Pillar was given an emergency use authorization for the investigation. He leaves, and if you are like me, you ask yourself who has the authority to issue such an emergency use? The CIA? It can’t be Hartley helping cover this up, can it? Nope, the Pentagon made the call, and Tony gave the information to Katie.

And it turns out we cannot have nice things. Katie finishes her story and concludes that Hartley was the one shareholder that the FBI could not unmask. She authorized the experiment (in the information Tony gave her), and Steve Horn paid for the coverup. The share Hartley supposedly has is worth 20 million dollars. My first thought is that maybe this is a misunderstanding because wouldn’t Henry be the main person since Horn was paying him off? Well, perhaps that was for just the coverup operation. To me, though, I am holding out hope Hartley is innocent. Either way, Katie sends the story to her former editor, who will post it within the hour.

The ending

Let’s get back to Reece. He is at his home and ruminates on memories he had and missed. At the time, he was told he would be a father when his daughter won the spelling bee. And when his wife put his brand-new infant daughter to sleep. Also, when his wife is upset, he won’t retire and keeps making trips fighting overseas. This all seems like an effort for Reece to say goodbye and meet his maker, but then he receives a text from Katie telling him Hartley approved the experiment.

I guess James Reece can add one more name to that list.

Reece sends Howard into Pillar’s office strapped with a bomb to his chest. Howard hands Pillar a phone, and Reece says goodbye to Pillar. He then blows them up. Tony is notified of the hit, enters Reece’s home, and finds him there. Of course, Reece overpowers him and asks him to stand down. Tony, the noble public servant, says he can’t keep letting him do what he is doing. So, he hits him in the head with his gun, ties him up, and tells him to stay off his list.

Katie calls her editor, who tells her he never got the piece. She checks her computer and sees it was never sent. That is when Secretary Hartley walks in. She commends her for a beautiful story but can’t let her publish half the truth. She will grant her an interview.

What did you think of the Amazon original series The Terminal List season 1, episode 7? Comment below.

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