Simon and Eugene discuss the difference between a sequel and the second of two parts, when heroes are allowed to commit manslaughter and how this differs on each side of The Pond, and the state of password security in the 1990s.
Episode Synopsis
The new, as-yet-apparently-unnamed Bureau of Weapons Technology is being assembled under Beckett’s supervision. Ed is still in the hospital, and Ros is reluctant to relinquish her independence to join the bureau. Director Jan wants the opportunity to talk with her to try to convince her. Beckett promises he’ll try.
In the hospital, Beckett and Ros visit Ed. He’s depressed. He’s badly hurt, full of metal pins holding him together, and he’ll be in physiotherapy for a long time. He’s got a shoulder/partial body cast filled with women’s names and phone numbers, though, so he’ll have something to do when he gets out of the hospital. Ros and Beckett leave, but Beckett hangs back for a moment. Ed is on board with joining the new bureau. he’s tired of working without a safety net but hasn’t spoken to Ros about it either. Beckett plans to do so right now.
That is postponed when he finds Ros outside crying, racked with guilt about what has happened to Ed.
Kitty McHaig is still on the loose with her two henchmen, Ben and Zach. She’s planning to disappear completely, and she’s cleaning up loose ends, which include collecting untraceable bearer bonds for her last exhibit, killing her agent and having Zach (reluctantly) dispose of the body, and preparing to murder and assume the identity of the Duchess of Fortezza.
Step one: a bit of online banking.
She has Zach create a new account at her existing bank under the Duchess’ name (which is apparently “Duchess”), then transfers all her money to the account. Kitty is not entirely convinced that Zach has the stomach for all this and has had Ben bug him. Smart move on her part, for when Kitty is out of sight, Zach changes her bank account’s passcode.
Beckett goes to Ros’ home to meet about tracking down Kitty, but when he arrives, he sees Channing giving Ros a Ferrari. He gets all maudlin because he can’t give Ros a Ferrari, so he blows off the meeting, which is a shame because Channing actually had some information that might help them track Kitty.
Kitty is rich. Filthy rich. All that nonsense techno-destruction art that she created then got turned into lucrative secondary defense contracts. If they could go after her money, they could find her. One problem: Nobody knows where she banks.
In the hospital, Zach, now clean-shaven, visits Ed and forcibly writes the passcode, which is a woman’s name and a number, on his cast. Zach knows he’s been bugged, and he’s feeding information to Kitty to put them on Ed’s trail rather than his. To access the bank, you must have both the account holder’s name and the passcode. Kitty knows only the name, and Ed’s back contains only the passcode.
Zach escapes, and Ed, knowing he’s in trouble, contrives to get his cast off immediately, sending the back piece off to Ros and Beckett with his doctor. He tries to figure out the passcode first, but there’s one problem: The passcode is a woman’s name and 4-digit number, and his back is covered with women’s names and their, apparently, 4-digit phone numbers. He tries memorizing them all and makes his escape. He fails and is taken and imprisoned at the estate of the Duchess of Fortezza. Kitty gives him a little time to tell her the passcode before she starts to have Ben work him over.
Beckett and Ros want to cut Kitty off from her money, but the plethora of names and numbers also stymies them, and they do not know what bank she uses.
Jan comes through for them after Ros agrees to join the bureau. The official Red File contains her bank info, and the file clerk, Alex, quickly identifies which name and number is the passcode as being the only one that fits the input prompt. Using that, they try to log in but fail because she’s changed account names. There’s nothing for it but to break into the bank. Their plan is to send Alex in with a scanner doohickey and then use the data for their assault, but when the scanner returns data that shows the bank is much more protected than expected, they have to fall back to a new plan. Alex, who is still inside, decides to use her own initiative.
At the Duchess’ estate, Ed finds a secret passage and tries to escape. Unbeknownst to him, this is a trap laid by Kitty. He still cannot escape the house, and she’s rigged the only phone to record the info Ed will surely try to tell his friends. Then, she plans to hunt and kill him with a gun gizmo with explosive shells of her own design. She sends Ben to intercept the Duchess, who is just arriving in the country, and kill her.
Inside the bank, Alex impersonates Ros, a famously rich woman, and gets the bank manager to put her in front of his master terminal. She tries to create an account using Kitty’s passcode, and the computer has a conniption fit. The manager must type the name of the account holder to unlock things. Alex observes the keys he types and escapes with the info.
Ed finds the phone but figures it is a trap and returns to hiding. Kitty is actively hunting him now.
Beckett rescues the Duchess at the airport, and they rush to her estate in Ros’ Ferrari. When they arrive, Ed is in dire straits, trapped on the roof, still severely injured, with Kitty getting the upper hand in combat. Using the Ferrari, they pull the door off the house without damaging the Ferrari and allowing Beckett to get inside and head to the roof.
Ed is about to fall to his death, and Kitty escapes because Beckett and Ros must save Ed. Kitty steals Ros’ Ferrari, and Ros decides to “shoot the tire out” with Kitty’s gun gizmo. Only after she blows up the Ferrari and Kitty does she learn that the gun gizmo shoots exploding shells.
The new bureau office is taking shape, and Ros’ new office has been outfitted to her satisfaction. Now she has to explain to Channing what happened to the Ferrari he loaned her.
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