Punch
6.20AM
With the alarm wailing, episode 3 of The Great Heist sees Chayo scrambling to radio through to Lawyer and reveal the bad news. With 90 seconds until the alarm reaches the police station, they have little time to rectify this issue. As Macguiver scrambles up to the electronic panel, he manages to stop it just in time. Sardino locks up the guards as Lawyer pores over the schematics, ready for the next stage of the operation. As they bust open the various gates, they look upon the vault and their prize within. Despite getting off to a good start, the electrics short circuit and they’re forced to come up with drastic measures. That extremity comes in the form of using the ventilation to re-route power. However, that also means they have limited time to work with. Although Dragon manages to get the thermal lance needed, he realizes the metal is different to what he was expecting. He doesn’t have a definitive time frame on how long this is going to take. That’s not good news given the tight window they’re playing with. Lawyer however, is not in a good way and starts coughing into his handkerchief. As he hears about the lance, he tells them to hustle.
11.15am
Five hours pass and still the vault is no closer to opening. Even worse, everyone starts coughing given the smoke the vault door is churning up. With the smoke becoming unbearable, Dragon tells them they need to take it in turns. Despite getting through three inches of steel, they’re no closer to busting inside. With the plan quickly going awry, Dragon warns Chayo that they may have to bail soon rather than later.
3:15pm
Nine hours have now passed and the plan is certainly not going to plan. The Lieutenant notices smoke churning out from the roof and he warns Lawyer and Chayo via radio. With tensions flaring up between the heist members inside, Chayo tells them to shut the machine down. The group scramble to bring all the extinguishers they can find and spray it to stop the smoke. Thankfully their plan works. However, with no fire extinguishers left they decide to keep going with the vault door, only this time doing so after-dark. Dragon confronts Chayo in the lobby and tells him he needs to seriously consider giving this plan up. Chayo looks the man square in the eye and tells him he’ll die if need be.
The Cavalry Arrive
The relief arrive at the bank and it’s something the group certainly didn’t account for. Given they intended to be in and out before this happened, Chayo wastes precious time wondering exactly what to do. Eventually Chayo and the others let the guards in. Sardino and Estivan confront the duo and hold them up at gunpoint. After a brief skirmish, they manage to lock both guards down and prevent this becoming a problem. Lawyer starts to lose faith in the project and talks about throwing in the towel. As he hangs up, he heads straight to the bathroom and starts vomiting; a side effect to him not getting the treatment needed at hospital. Sardino however, promises to stand by his Father’s side no matter what. As time ticks by, more and more of those inside start to have second thoughts about what they’re doing.
6.45pm
12 hours into the heist and the vault door continues to be a big obstacle for them. Just before they start working again, footsteps overhead cause them all to go on high alert However, it’s just Estivan and Yidi who raid the drawers upstairs and find 200 million in coins. This inevitably splits the group in half as they decide to head off and get the coins in order to cut their losses. Sardino however, has other plans. He fires his gun into the air and tells them all to get back to work.
12:45am
The Lieutenant arrives at Lawyer’s hotel room and tells him he’s incredibly close to calling in the heist and stopping the entire project. He tells Lawyer to hurry up and heads to the bar to drown his sorrows in alcohol. Inside the bank, the group continue to use the drills and lance in equal doses. Eventually, they manage to make it through and look at the cash stacked on the other side. With a hole just large enough to squeeze through, they bust open the vault and look at the cash. 15. Billion. Pesos. As Lawyer radios through to the Lieutenant, he’s too busy in the bar drinking to hear the call come in. Even worse, his associate has cold feet and flees from the scene.
The Episode Review
The heist itself is really good and there’s some wonderful pockets of drama dotted throughout. However, the group are coming unstuck with so many problems that really feel like they should have been thought through by Lawyer. It also doesn’t help thst a lot of these supporting characters lack that much depth. With the exception of Lawyer and Chayo, there’s not really much in the way of family details or stakes. It’s a shame too because there’s an interesting bunch of personas in this but none are really given the time to shine. Still, as a thriller this is definitely a decent choice and these first 3 episodes have done a great job capturing the intensity and thrills of this heist.
