After a two year hiatus Strike Back finally arrived back on UK screens for its sixth series – Retribution. This new sixth season is a reboot of the show with an all new Section 20 team.
If you’re not up to date with Strike Back: Retribution and like to avoid spoilers we suggest you don’t read any further.
The episode opened up on the Syrian-Jordanian border with a British military extraction team led by Sergeant Thomas McAllister (Warren Brown). They arrived by helicopter to pick up prisoner Omair Idrisi (Don Hany), the man behind some of the worst terrorist attacks on the West.
Watch the Strike Back season 6 trailer below:
[brid video=”173276″ player=”531″ title=”Strike Back starts on Tuesday 31 October on Sky One”]
It was supposed to be a quick affair with an extracted Idrisi set to be handed over to the US. However, things turned bad quickly as they were ambushed by a team sent by Jane Lowry (Katherine Kelly), Idrisi’s British wife. A firefight ensued and Idrisi was quickly freed, while the British team were killed or executed before backup arrived. McAllister was wounded but survived when Idrisi ran out of bullets. Idrisi was taken to Libya where his wife was waiting for him.
McAllister returned to base and found himself in a cell for punching a fellow officer during an outburst over their failed intelligence and loss of his team. He was visited by Colonel Adeena Donovan (Nina Sosanya) ahead of his court martial date. He thought she wanted to interview him but instead she was there to recruit him into the Section Initiative. He agreed.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Samuel Wyatt (Daniel MacPherson) found himself in captivity in Libya after been caught working undercover. He tried to explain to his captor his real identity but he didn’t know if he was telling the truth. He said if they contacted the US Military they would deny all knowledge of him.
McAllister was deployed to rescue Wyatt and began a stealthy assault on the compound where he was held. Inside, the Libyan General was having Wyatt waterboarded in an attempt to extract any information he had. Wyatt stuck to the truth while he endured the torture. Outside, McAllister set off an explosion in order to draw the guards out while he snuck in.
McAllister found Wyatt who wasn’t too happy to see him. Immediately there were sparks of the kind of bromance we’re used to from Scott and Stonebridge as they bickered. They soon made their escape in a jeep but were pursued by the Libyans. McAllister drove while Wyatt fired shots at their pursuers. He ended up jumping into one of the vehicles and then back out again when a grenade was set off.
After they found themselves in the clear their car ran out of fuel so they had to continue on foot. During their long trek they spoke and McAllister tried to get Wyatt’s intel. At first he refused but eventually gave in and shared what he knew about Idrisi.
They were found by Lance Corporal Gracie Novin (Alin Sumarwata) who was sent by Donovan to extract them. She was driving a truck full of sheep and she put the boys in the back. Things were going too well and they came across a military checkpoint. She got out and dealt with it while the boys hid in the back, they then made their way to Tripoli for a meeting with Donovan.
Before the meeting, Wyatt made a mysterious phone call and arranged a meet with his handler. It didn’t go as he expected and he was annoyed to be ordered to join Section 20 as well. It looks like Wyatt is the new Damien Scott as a quick smile at a girl after his meet led to them sleeping together. He had to rush off during his encounter to the Section 20 meeting.
At the meeting, Donovan briefed them on Idrisi and his wife Lowry. They were sent out on an op to rendezvous with Captain Natalie Reynolds (Roxanne McKee). They met her at a nightclub while Donovan ran surveillance. Their target was Prince Khalid and Reynolds moved in with the rest of the team on backup.
Reynolds went upstairs with the Prince and flirted with him as a distraction while she whipped his phone. She nipped to the bathroom and began to clone his phone. Back downstairs Idrisi’s men arrived and went upstairs to see the Prince. The boys ran distraction while Novin crept upstairs. The cloning of the phone was interrupted and the men made off with the Prince. A gunfight broke out and the team sprung into action.
The team were dispatched in pursuit of Khalid and found the compound where he was held thanks to his phone. Inside, Lowry tortured him in order to get him to transfer $5 million. Outside, the team began their assault. Novin tried to snipe Idrisi but found herself in hand-to-hand combat with one of his men. A firefight broke out as Idrisi tried to make his escape.
Idrisi made it into a vehicle but was pursued by McAllister on a dirt bike. Meanwhile, Reynolds and Wyatt made it to Khalid. With the help of Novin they put up a fight but were pinned down. McAllister had to give up his pursuit of Idrisi to return and help them.
At the end of the episode, Idrisi and Lowry had escaped. They made a phone call to a man named Ives who appeared to be an arms dealer. He asked if they had the money while watching his men pack up some rocket ammunition.
So that’s Strike Back: Retribution off to a promising start. It definitely has the feel of the previous series and the new team appears to have good chemistry. We’re already looking forward to the second episode.
Let us know your thoughts on Strike Back: Retribution so far in the comments below.
Strike Back: Retribution continues Tuesday November 7th at 9pm on Sky 1 and will air in the US on Cinemax in 2018.
