The Day of the Jackal Finale Recap: Who Didn’t Survive the Final Standoff? And Who’s the Target for Season 2?
The Day of the Jackal wrapped up an explosive freshman season with a nail-bitingly tense finale this week — and it set the stage for Season 2, too.
The finale picks up at full speed, with Charles, aka the Jackal, zooming off in a car after successfully assassinating UDC, with a helicopter in hot pursuit. (Oh, and Nuria texts him that the police have her brother Alvaro in custody.) He’s stopped at a police checkpoint in a tiny Croatian town and hits the gas, leading the cops on a breakneck chase through narrow streets and alleys. He nimbly steers the car to safety, forcing a motorcycle cop to spin out on a sharp turn and avoiding a spike strip before eventually making his escape.
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While we’re catching our breath from all that, UDC’s partner announces that River’s release will be postponed indefinitely in the wake of his death, and Winthorp toasts to his good fortune — but ominously adds there are “a few loose ends to be considered.” Meanwhile, Bianca rants to her boss Isabel about how Jimmy Tejero’s death must be the Jackal’s work, but Isabel shuts her down, reminding her that the case is closed and ordering her to take time off. Bianca saves her the trouble: “I quit.” But then Isabel meets with Jeremy the foreign secretary… and we find out she’s the mole! She tells him Bianca is still after the Jackal, but she’s resigning. Jeremy wants to keep Bianca on their team, though: “Let her deal with him, and then let us deal with her.”
While Nuria picks up Alvaro from the police station, angrily calling him “a parasite, just like Dad,” Charles is speeding along when he sees a boy chase a soccer ball into the street. He swerves to avoid the boy and crashes his car, tumbling down an embankment and landing upside down. A driver stops to help pull him out of the wreckage… and when he tries to call the police, Charles pulls a gun on him. He takes the guy’s van and phone, but it feels like time is running out on him. Back in London, Bianca drops in on a lecture by her husband Paul and asks him, “Can you come home, please?” She lets him know she quit and she wants to make up for lost time with him and her daughter Jasmine: “I choose my family.”
A wounded Charles happens upon Liz and Trevor, an old couple camping, and spins a story for them, asking if they can drive him to the hospital. Trevor seems wary of the stranger, but they agree to help him. Once they get in their RV, though, Charles pulls out his gun and orders them to drive him to the Montenegro border, promising not to use his gun “as long as you do exactly as I tell you.” Bianca is back home enjoying quality time with her family when Isabel comes knocking, asking her to reopen the Jackal case. She claims it’s to avenge the deaths of everyone they’ve lost so far — and urges Bianca to “eliminate him.” Bianca says no at first, but Paul is resigned: “Just go. You know you’re gonna.” Bianca eventually agrees to do it, telling Jasmine, “I have to do the right thing,” but Jasmine counters: “What if staying is the right thing?”
Charles and the old couple arrive at the Montenegro border, but Charles tells them to pull off the road to rest for the night. They go outside for a smoke, and Trevor asks him directly, “Are you gonna kill us?” Charles assures him he won’t, but Trevor fires back, “I’m not a f–king idiot.” Charles tells him they remind him of his parents, but then Trevor asks if his parents “were so nice, where’d you come from?” As they prepare to go to bed, Liz impulsively grabs a kitchen knife and stabs Charles (!) in the shoulder. Trevor rushes at him, and they struggle for the gun when it goes off… and Trevor is hit. Charles shoots him dead, lamenting, “Why couldn’t you have just let it go?” before turning and shooting Liz dead, too.
Charles calls Nuria and assures her he finished the job and he wants to take her and the baby away on a holiday. She just wants to stay home with him, but he keeps listing off luxury vacation spots… and she realizes that they’re not safe at home. He tells her he’s coming home to see her, and she tells him she loves him, but when they hang up, her face falls. Charles disposes of the RV in a ball of flame and manages to sneak across the border via bus on a bird-watching tour. In Spain, Bianca and her MI6 friend Vince question a local cop about Jimmy Tejero’s death. They ask about Alvaro, and the cop tells them “his sister is married to a rich man. English, apparently.” Yep, they’re closing in on him.
Charles makes it to the airport and inquires about payment for the UDC job on his secure messaging channel, and Zina talks to a board member, who tells her they’re doubling her fee for this job. She just needs to stay put and wait for a man named Simon. Uh-oh. Zina senses the same trouble we do, and when an armed Simon makes his way to her hotel room, she slinks out undetected. Bianca and Vince stake out Charles’ house in Spain, and they see a cab pull up… and watch as Nuria gets inside with luggage and her baby. Bianca knows that she’s ditching Charles, and when he arrives home, he finds Nuria and the baby are gone. He then gets a call from Zina, who warns him, “They’re coming for you.”
Bianca and Vince move inside the house, rifles drawn, as Charles stuffs money and guns into a bag. Just then, Alvaro walks in, too (!), drunk and holding a gun. He switches on the lights and turns to shoot at the cops, but they shoot him dead. Charles shuts off the lights and seals himself inside his vault as Bianca and Vince search the place. As Charles readies his arsenal, he watches Bianca through a two-way mirror, and she walks right up to it, with the two adversaries facing each other through a wall. (Incredible shot, huh?) Bianca sets off the security alarm to flush him out, and Vince spots a red sniper target on her forehead, knocking her to the ground — and the bullet kills him instead. She addresses the Jackal directly: “No one else needs to die. I just want to know who you are.” She tells him, “I saw her leave. I can help you. It doesn’t need to end this way.” But “it does,” he replies — before he emerges long enough to shoot her dead.
Charles rushes to the airport to catch Nuria, telling her on voicemail that “I will come and I will find you” — when a car comes out of nowhere and T-bones his (!!!), knocking him out cold. Back at MI6, Isabel is taking over as chief, while Osi is still mourning Bianca. Isabel says Bianca went rogue and she wouldn’t give up, and Osi shoots back, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” (We also see he has a text from Bianca confirming that Isabel sent her to take out the Jackal… but he deletes it.) Meanwhile, a hobbled Charles walks through a picturesque European city and sits on a park bench next to Zina. She hands him a newspaper with Winthorp on the front page, adding, “I know you don’t like an unpaid debt.” But Charles tells her “there’s someone I’ve got to find first,” and she wishes him luck as he slips back into the crowd.
Whew… how’d you like that finale, Jackal fans? And what do you think we’ll see in Season 2? (Peacock renewed the series last month.) Grade the finale — and the season — in our polls, and hit the comments to share your thoughts.
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