Previously in Episode 6 of “The Recruit,” we saw Owen and Max return to OGC, where psychology and polygraph tests were done under Dawn Gilbane’s supervision to assess the asset’s dependability. As Dawn worried that Owen had been compromised due to his secret relationship with Max, she compelled Owen to go through the polygraph test, though both Max and Owen passed the test, demonstrating themselves to be competent for the mission.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happened In Geneva? Was Xander Goi Dead Or Alive?
“The Recruit” Episode 7 opens with a flashback to Owen’s college days at Georgetown Law, where we witness how Owen and Hannah met in a library and began their friendship. Back in the present, Owen and Max had arrived in Geneva and were on their way to a hotel for the day before going to the bank to withdraw the money. Owen and Max rent the room as a couple, and when they walk in, they find Xander Goi there. Xander arrived to clarify if Max had given any valuable information about him to Owen, but Max assured him that she had not. Max suspected that operations had their eyes on them after Xander’s departure, so she pulled out all the cameras that Xander had installed in their room.
Owen called Janus to inquire about the status of the missile case. Janus informed Owen that those missiles had already arrived in South Sudan, which is essentially the native land of all mafias and terrorists, and that if this information somehow reached the press, the headline would be sufficient to show that the CIA was the culprit. When Owen tried to find a quick fix but was unable, he suggested Janus add several more absurd topics to the case in order to confuse the media about the true nature of the case. Though it just provides a short-term reprieve, Janus consented to do it.
As Max had destroyed all the cameras, Dawn Gilbane was unable to keep an eye on Max and Owen, but Lester and Violet had already arrived. While Violet was ready to put Owen in danger, Lester was content to just carry out Nyland’s orders. Owen went to a pub to drink, and Max was getting ready in the room. Owen found a white-haired woman who seemed to be a Russian spy, shown in “The Recruit” Episode 6. Owen accidentally struck up a conversation with her, but as she started showing her interest in Owen’s partner, he began to realize that she wasn’t just a regular girl; rather, she was a foreign agent. Owen met Max at a restaurant for dinner, where Max found out that a guy was keeping an eye on her. The Russian mafia leader Kiril dispatched one of his men to spy on her because he believed Max might know something important about his personal life. Actually, Max was aware of Xander Goi’s involvement with Kiril’s wife when he was her case officer, which is why Xander was always scared and maintained the confidentiality of his connection with Max. Max went to use the restroom as a pretext to bring Kiril’s spy inside, where she beat him to know who sent him. Max snatched his phone and instructed him to tell his boss that he could call Max on this phone. Owen and Max left the restaurant and went back to their room, where the two of them got close and started making out.
The next day, Owen and Max went to the Swiss bank to open her account and receive the money, but the manager couldn’t find Max’s sanctioned account, so he couldn’t help. Owen realized that the temporary time limit Linus had sanctioned for this account was based on the timeline of Washington, DC, which Owen had entirely forgotten. He exited the bank and dialed Terence and Hannah’s numbers, but neither of them answered because it was midnight in Washington. So he had to call Lester, who was already in Geneva, but Lester replied that he couldn’t help him since his stomach wasn’t in good condition. Owen then contacted Amelia, who couldn’t refuse him, and went to Hannah’s house to speak with Linus. Linus informed Owen that he couldn’t do anything since the bank had already locked the account. Meanwhile, Owen discovered the truck parked on the opposite side of him, where he discovered Lester and Violet. Soon after they entered the vehicle, Xander Goi arrived. They all realized Owen had screwed up the timing and that they couldn’t get the money. He obtained some leverage from Lester that he might use against the bank and devised a strategy to contact the bank manager with Max. They told the manager if he did not grant them access to the account, they would reveal their affiliation with the terrorist organization for which they were surreptitiously laundering money. So the manager assumed Max and Owen were from the CIA, and he still couldn’t give them access since he knew the CIA would never reveal these secrets because they wouldn’t know where the money was going, so it was a hollow threat.
Max couldn’t take it any longer and exploded on him, claiming that the CIA would simply disclose his account while the Russian mafia would burn him down. If they discovered him, he was covertly affiliated with the CIA. So, in exchange for keeping their secrets hidden, he would have to allow her access to her safety deposit because her Swiss account had been stopped. Max collected an envelope from her safe deposit box and drove Owen to the location where Kiril was. Kiril had long been seeking Xander Goi since he had slept with his wife, but he didn’t know his identity, which was hidden in Max’s envelope, where some of Xander’s pictures were with Kiril’s wife. Max revealed the knowledge to Kiril and received a substantial quantity of money, which she instructed them to wire to Lev Orlova. The whole event was monitored by the white-haired lady Owen saw at the bar, and this woman was likely Karolina, Max’s deceased daughter, who isn’t dead but may be taken away, as was evident because Max had never seen her dead body. Hannah’s lover, Jeff, on the other hand, was sacked from the White House because Hannah’s mother had used him to obtain information from inside. As a result, the White House suspected him of being a spy and dismissed him. Hannah and Terence learned via Linus that Owen was in Geneva, so they dashed there to check on him. But Owen’s dilemma had only just begun, for shortly after their meeting with Kiril at their apartment, Xander Goi was slain by an entity whose face was obscured, but we may infer it was Karolina. Owen and Max discovered Xander’s body, which had fallen on a car and caused a commotion in the city. Hannah noticed Owen escaping from the scene like a criminal, so she stepped out of the cab to locate Owen but he had already fled with Max.
“The Recruit” Episode 7 left us wondering if Karolina was still alive and if she was the one who murdered Xander. But why is it so? Was she working for Kiril? Or did she come to finish off Owen? In “The Recruit” Episode 8, we hope to unriddle all the answers and expose the secret which was embedded.
