The Day of the Jackal

[Smidge001]

Anyone watching? So far I'm really liking the lead actress.

But they keep talking about a Northern Irish weapon-maker bloke being British. I thought Northern Ireland was part of the UK, but not part of Great Britain? Isn't that why our passports say great Britain AND Northern Ireland? Annoying.

On the upside, I loved it so much when the lead lady said "pre planning? Isn't all planning pre ?!"

OMG I hate all this "pre" business, "pre" ordering etc. It's already in advance! (Probably a thread for the pedants section)

I love the lead actress though.

I think go between woman now has a price on her head, and she knows that. She knows too much!
My DH was right dammit he always is it was glasses boss behind it all. The idea of a mole kept attention away from her. I wonder what the black guy who was Bianca's ally, will do with that info. He knows. But she doesn't know he knows! lIt opens up something for series 2

I wonder why he decided to delete the message, as it was evidence.

i guess in series 2 he might work on getting clear proof she’s dodgy.

Also don’t know why the politician was so arrogant with her, I mean, she could take him down with her.

I think he deleted it because it was pretty obvious that glasses woman had sent Bianca to her death and was now saying she went rogue. I just think it was dangerous to keep that message but next series he knows and can work with that knowledge

I think Osi knows its all too big, the people involved are too powerful for him to take on. I'm not sure what he can do.
Poor Bianca, she was toast once she agreed to do the "last job". Even if she had shot jackal, the above powers would have killed her off next.

I was a bit disappointed with the last episode. I wanted to see more about the fallout after the murder of the River bloke. And during the car chase in broad daylight I just kept thinking the Jackal's face would be seen by so many people, caught on CCTV etc. Pleased there is a second series though.

I did feel sorry for the RV couple, he really is brutal.

I wonder what's going through Nuria's head now. Has she really done a runner

She took quite a few wads of cash, but it’ll eventually run out and will have to head back home, where he’ll find her.

i don’t think he’d hurt her but I wonder what the writers are planning to do with their story, which I think has to go on, we need this different side of him.

Yes, I guess rather than use it as evidence, it’s just the spark he needed to focus on bringing her down.

SPOILER ALERT

Just in case.

Anyone else glad Bianca isn't going to be in the 2nd series? I found her intensely unlikeable, I'm not sure whether the film makers intended that or not.

My DH was very pleased. I was ambivalent. I did find a disconnect between the whole story and her home life.

I'm glad Bianca is dead too. She put her job and her need to get the Jackal before her family and paid the ultimate price.

Also head spy (whatever her name was) knew she'd take the bait so it showed Bianca as also not very clever after all.

I had the sense the Bianca's ruthlessness was meant the mirror the Jackal's. Like they were two sides of the same coin, single-mindedly pursuing their goal and willing to do it to the detriment of others, if the cause required it. Neither's motivation seemed fully clear, and while we won't get anything else about Bianca's, I expect season 2 will unpack The Jackal's in more detail.

I also think we may hear more about who was behind the car accident, and what happened between that and him pitching up in Budapest.

Pissed me off that Bianca and her buddy, knowing full well the Jackal was an expert at the head shot, went into his house without head protection. Basic mistake. Body armour doesn't really matter if your head's vulnerable.

SPOILER ***
Maybe im just a optimist but I don't think he would of killed the RV couple if that hadn't of happened

I also think Bianca and her buddy were severely under prepared for a stakeout and then kill , one pair of binoculars between them etc

Husband and I disagree on this - he thought the season final was good, I thought it bordered on A-Team style levels of ridiculousness.

I can't believe it's the same writing team as the amazing episode 9.

It felt like they wanted to squash all loose ends into the last 60 minutes, and didn't care about tension or story development.

No answers to UDC's boyfriend's involvement.

The Jackal being in two completely totalled car wreckages, and literally stabbed in the back, yet walking away with not much more than a cricked neck.

The Jackal going back to his house, knowing the Spanish police will be on to him for the gangster shooting,

Bianca and Vince - they know the Jackal is the best marksman they've ever seen yet going in without the right protection and convinced they could take him out.

I was very disappointed.

Yes, completely ridiculous to assume that she could take on an elite shooter just her and one other guy.

Maybe a surprise shot from a distance, but to going into his house was an obvious mistake.

Also supposed The Jackal didn't have more cameras and sensors to alert him to intruders. All that tech went into hiding his special room, but none into protecting him and his family. Not even a dog or basic security cameras.

We enjoyed the series, but the fact that the jackal survives every time is a bit daft.

Did anyone else think that the ending was changed when they knew they were getting a second series? Surely the car crash at the end was meant to finish him off for a tidy ending...then all of a sudden he's patched up and meeting the woman in a city somewhere planning his next moves.

I'm glad the Bianca character was killed off, I didn't think she worked well. Something wasn't quite right, I don't know if it was the actress herself or the direction/lines she was given. Surely you're meant to care about a 'good guy' but I really didn't. I didn't buy into her love for her husband either.

Wonder how long we will have to wait for season two. At least we've got the next series of Night Agent in January.

Yes, there wasn't much warmth from her for her husband or her daughter. I thought she held herself as quite superior to him due to her job vs his.

At various stages Bianca was willing to sacrifice her career, her family and ultimately her life to catch the Jackal.
The only reason we are given is "I like winning" which is a bit feeble.
There should have been more of a backstory here. A personal grudge, revenge, something. It just doesn't fit. There needed to be more.

Yes, the series seemed to get a bit implausible towards the end, with quite a few plot holes and jumps. Still enjoyed it though. And I loved the scene in the last episode when Bianca and The Jackal were either side of the door; mirrored images of each other in more ways than one.

I didn’t want Bianca to die. I wanted her to survive and realise she had been set up so that the next series could be focusing on both her and the jackal working independently of each other to take down those who had set them up.

I also liked that she didn’t fit the standard “mum/wife” trope showing us that the good guys can also be the bad guys.

Definitely the right actor killed in the end, that character failed for me, no warmth and we didn't dislike her or like her, just didn't care about her. We felt there was something off about an analyst being a field agent and calling the shots! We sussed the leak and thought the couple in the caravan would survive, but obviously not!

Thinking about it... why on earth did he kill local gangster, friend of Nuria's brother... given he did it from a mile or two away, surely surely it would have led to it being him... in Spain and thereby putting his wife and son in danger?

There seemed to be no reason to kill him, unless I missed something...

Surely you're meant to care about a 'good guy' but I really didn't. I didn't buy into her love for her husband either.

I didn't either but I think I might have if it was a man had played her part - the focus on work and goals and blowing off family.

So maybe it was just not fitting the usual trope of wife or mother - or maybe the goal career women I know tend in RL and on screen are better balancing competing demands. Though often in books and TV have their own mother for support so suppose a DH pulling his weight was nice to see.

By the way, if you watched the finale using the 2am showing on sky showcase, there were some chunks missing. Must have been a cock up with the breaks. Our version completely missed the jackal meeting the couple in the campervan. We were very confused so we watched the 9pm showing instead and it was all there. It had cut out about a minutes worth. It also jumped at the end with Osi walking back to his desk.