He buys new clothes and sweet-talks one of the vendors to let him use her backroom to change. While there, he calls Max and asks if she had anything to do with the attempt on his life. She reminds him that she is the only one he can trust and that the person he last met is likely the culprit. Owen refuses to name Xander and tells her that she is likely to be transferred to a federal facility if the hearing planned for later that day goes well. Max insists that the deal is to get her out of prison or she will start naming people in two days. He gets a flight back to America and meets Nyland. He lies to Nyland that he got mugged and tells him that Max has the ability to expose a significant number of their assets locally and in Russia. They might also lose all intelligence-gathering capabilities in the region. Nyland asks him to go to Max’s hearing and make sure nothing goes wrong. On his way out, he meets Lester and confides in him that he is feeling paranoid. Lester warns that everyone is out to get him and he should always be on alert. Meanwhile, Max tries calling the American Embassy to get information on who Owen met with in Vienna. At the courthouse, he runs into a lady he met at the motel in Phoenix. She is in court for an emergency hearing for the case of her slain father. As it turns out, Max is responsible for her father’s death and she is not remorseful about it. The judge grants the request to hand over Max to the Feds. Owen calls Amelia to thank her for help in getting Max’s case into the federal system and they set up a dinner. In the new federal prison, Max meets Cora, a woman from her past. Cora blames her for ending up in prison but Max has no choice but to approach her to get a phone. Cora agrees to get her a phone but tells her they are not friends. We later learn that Max was running an illegal safe house and helped Cora. Cora disregarded the rules and brought a man to the house who beat her to the brink of death. Max tracked the man down, killed him and took the bag of money he had. At their dinner, Owen asks Amelia about getting the charges against Max dropped. She tells him that he will need to reach out to the Attorney General. The dinner gets a bit awkward when Hannah and her new boyfriend visit the same restaurant. He also didn’t offer to drive Amelia back home but asked to go for drinks with his friends. Amelia is offended he double-booked on their dinner night and leaves. Owen meets with Terence for drinks and runs into Sarah who he wanted to ask about the subpoena but never got a chance before. Sarah tells him that the only way to make the subpoena go away is to give dirt on his boss. He gets a call from Nyland asking him to go to Beirut. On his way back to the office, he calls Max and asks her about Beirut. She asks him to tell her who she met in Vienna and at first, he is hesitant. He describes Xander to her and she tells him that she called him Pastry king and has so much dirt on him. She also tells him the best way to make it out alive in Beirut is to stay clear of the Americans. He gets to the office and Nyland orders him to go to Beirut with Lester to make sure one of their agents, Dave clears child support. During their flight, Owen asks Lester about Xander but doesn’t learn much other than Xander is a talented but snobby agent. Once in Beirut, their plan to surprise Dave is ruined as he is waiting for them in their hotel room. Dave promises to sign the child support papers later and deliver them to the hotel. Both Lester and Owen think it was too easy and they are right. They decide to pay him a visit at the base and try to convince him to sign it. He finally accepts to sign it and they leave Beirut. After returning from Beirut, Owen apologises to Amelia. Nyland alerts him to the fact that the Attorney General is waiting for him in his office. The Attorney General is not pleased that Owen is asking him to free a foreigner who committed murder during an election year. Owen stands his ground and tells him that there is no other way. In the meantime, Max finds a way to send a message to Xander through his favourite pastry shop.
The Episode Review
For a newbie, Owen is ruffling some feathers and am not sure that is a good thing. He is making enemies left, right and centre. It is a good thing he bonded with Lester on their trip to Beirut. I am not sure whether Amelia meant to give him useful advice or bring him trouble with the Attorney General. This episode was a bit slow-paced but nonetheless was still interesting.
