The Screen Scribe

I finished the previous review stating that I was still waiting for the series to hit its stride in the coming episodes. Well, say hello to the stride in episode 5. Everything about his episode is what drew me to this show in the first place. It focuses almost entirely on the main plot, with very little focus given to the personal issues of our main leads, Bianca and the Jackal. MI6 and Bianca begin to tighten the noose around the Jackal and his operation, having received (somewhat conveniently) information from the Americans regarding the hit taken out on Ulle Dag Charles. The Jackal himself makes preparations for his big hit and designs another cleverly hidden bespoke sniper but must travel to Budapest and aid Norman Stokes in the building of it.

Arguably the strongest episode since the premiere, episode 5 delves deep into the gritty underworld the Jackal inhabits. Having teased Norman for the last few episodes, we finally meet the man behind the guns and get a detailed look at his gunsmithing operation. It is without a doubt an impressive set up, and one of the most interesting elements we’ve seen in the show thus far. There is great chemistry between Eddie Redmayne and Richard Dormer (of Game of Thrones fame) and they bounce off of one another very well. We see little flashes of the Jackals history as he examines a rifle seated on a work bench that ties nicely with Bianca’s investigation.

Bianca is following a lead from the sniper school, as well as the vet she interviewed, and while it seems like another dead end for her, the audience is shown that there is perhaps more to this story that we have yet to see. Bianca finally gets something to do besides argue with her family and superiors and brings the earlier themes of ‘abuse of power’ and ‘the ends justifying the means’ to the fore, that, while questionable in practice, is certainly effective in yielding results. The final action set piece is well choreographed and suitably suspenseful, as we genuinely do not know how any of this is going to play out and closes with a surprising turn of events that not even the Jackal could have foreseen. Suffice to say, his billionaire New York employers will not be happy with the progress of his mission.

The episode is a vast improvement on the previous few instalments and yields a tense, fun, brooding and genuinely engaging look into the inner workings of the Jackals assassin operation while the game of cat and mouse with MI6 intensifies to almost boiling point for both parties. I genuinely hope that this series now carries this momentum forward towards the finish line and delivers a thrilling high stakes international assassin drama.

4 / 5 ✨ from the Screen Scribe.

The Day of the Jackal is available to watch on Sky Atlantic every Thursday.

The first 5 episodes are available to watch now.