[For The Night Manager “Part Five” or any other recaps on Fetchland, assume the presence of possible spoilers.]
AMC Summary:
Part Five. Roper attempts to find the traitor by gathering his entourage; Burr and Steadman face opposition.
Part Five turns out to be an extended version of the trixter game cups. As the game begins Pine and Roper are headed to the Haven, a refugee camp in Kasimli (Southeast Turkey) and “a safe haven for the wretched of the Earth” as Roper calls those he helps philanthropically. Roper greets the refugees for photo op purposes then exits quickly to conclude his Tradepass arms deal. Turns out the Haven really serves as more of a military haven; packed with Roper’s troops, ie. ex military mercenaries. Roper tells Pine he’s aware that Angela Burr somehow has his classified documents about Tradepass. So, when Pine says uh oh, maybe you should delay this final transaction then, Roper replies that he’ll “plug the leak” whomever it is. But when Roper says plug the leak he really means, “kill the bastard”. He only said it the more polite way because he’s British.
Roper has Pine familiarize himself with the weapons manuals right away so that night he can lead the arms demonstration for the buyer, Mr. Barghati. It’s an impressive display that creates a spectacle of orange on the pitch of the desert sky and Pine’s quite knowledgable and confident considering he only spent one day learning the stuff. His sad sunburnt face in the glowing light of napalm is our only hint that Pine’s still on Burr’s side at this point. The next morning the buyer leaves after completing the transaction and Pine writes down the license plate numbers on his trucks – another clue that he’s still true blue.
In the next scene Burr gets home after a long day at the office only to get a call from Dromgoole who’s in a car just outside her apartment. So, then he comes to the front door and they chat in the doorway. Dromgoole asks where she got the Tradepass papers and accuses her of having someone on the inside. She simply must tell him who it is. Then he recites his philosophy treatise on Ayn Rand, the greater good, the whole wide world, “your own safety” etc. to try to convince her. But Angela Burr cannot be enticed and shuts the door in his smug face. Whether you like The Night Manager or not, the villainous character name Dromgoole simply demands acknowledgment for its glorious and apt repugnance.
Jed then arrives at Haven with Corky and we soon see the Roper relationships of yore unravel to unrecognizable. Roper confronts Jed about being the leak and in the process smacks her hard across the face. Then he gets called away before doing further damage and Pine slips in to help Jed. He even tells her why he’s really doing all this – British intelligence etc. Pine then promises to get her out of there and they smooch longingly just before he exits. Roper comes back into the tent then and Jed tells him she took a photo of his list with her phone. She implies that Corky was the leak saying that he told her not to leave her phone lying around. Roper appears to believe Jed and they exchange creepy ice cold “I love yous” to seal their alleged newfound trust.
Next Pine wire-cuts and slips outside a fence surrounding the Haven; just barely passing the armed guards on duty. Once free, he slips into a waiting cab and gives the guy 200euros to hand a note to the woman from Istanbul Hotel room 314. When Pine gets back to the fence Corky awaits him there with fists of fury clenched and ready. But Pine ends up taking the power position in their fight so that when Roper comes out to investigate the ruckus Pine has the upper hand and says he caught Corky trying to sneak back inside the fence. The cab driver then arrives at the Istanbul Hotel and asks for the woman from room 314. He gives her the license plate notes from Pine and she immediately sends them to Burr. Angela sends the numbers to Steadman and tells him to bring the info straight to the military with no Langley involvement. Steadman does exactly as she says, so the US military stops the buyer’s trucks at the border to investigate.
Meanwhile we see Roper and Pine watching those same trucks via satellite video tracking their progress to the border. Roper even brings Jed in to watch too. They then see the trucks are actually filled with agricultural equipment and supplies – the very stuff Roper claims to be dealing on the face of this whole deal. He quips to Pine “They didn’t watch the cups did they?” referring to the three cups magic trick. Then Steadman asks a baffled Angela if she’s ever thought that Pine may be a double agent, or is at least working both sides. When Angela gets home that night her place has been ransacked and her husband bludgeoned. It’s not her finest hour… and she’s still got childbirth on her imminent horizon.
The next morning Roper tells Pine he knows now that Corky was his Judas and now that he’s gotten rid of him he can finally finish and fulfill the Tradepass deal for real. The Brits and Yanks investigators are officially off his tail now – it’s all clear for takeoff. So, Roper gets on the phone with Mr. Hamid from Cairo and the whole story’s coming full circle now. In fact, they’re staying at the same hotel where Pine was The Night Manager not so long ago in “Part One”. Of course the memories flood back as soon as he walks through the archway entrance. His lady love/one night stand lies dead like a ghost before him in the very same suite where Jed and Roper now stay. Bereft and romantically inclined Pine is back with a vengeance.
This was the best part of The Night Manager thus far and just in time too. It’s all coming to a crashing climax in the next episode as every single character (other than that schmuck, Langbourne) seeks personal revenge; Angela Burr most of all. She ends the episode bursting with baby, foiled in the Roper mission yet again, and with a bludgeoned husband to boot. This woman seethes with righteous anger and the only thing that can quell her rage is taking down Richard Roper. She’s got Steadman, Pine, and Jed on her side. Unfortunately, Burr’s not really aware of the Pine/Jed support. She currently has no military backup and her baby’s coming any minute. If anybody’s sipping a cool drink on the white sands of an island paradise at the conclusion of this thing, we hope it’s her.
–Katherine Recap
