Hanna – Tacitus

By: Kelly Kearney

In this episode Hanna changes more than her looks when she finally gives up her Mia identity to stop Utrax, The Pioneers and their killer cult of teenage assassins. With Marissa still in lockup and Stephen now dead, Hanna works to convince Clara to leave Clemency behind and join her in taking down the people who made a fortune destroying people’s lives.

Take Her Out

The episode begins with a strange barrage of images. Hanna (Esmé Creed-Miles) is seen removing her chip and then cutting and dying her hair. This new mission is going to require a new look – one that is not recognizable as Mia or Hanna. Next, we see Clara (Yasmin Monet Prince) watching Gelder A/K/A Tacitus (Mark Bazeley) makes his way through the airport in Barcelona. He is there to drop some bad news in his daughter Kat’s lap. He cannot stay long; something came up with work. Kat (Angela Sari) is disappointed, but with his job she is used to it.

Back at the Meadows Leo (Anthony Welsh) updates John Carmichael (Dermot Mulroney) on what is happening in Spain and the boss man is not happy. Somehow the trainees lost Tacitus. John reminds him they need that briefcase and if anyone spots Hanna they have orders to “take her out.” Not just kill her but wipe any existence of her off the planet.

While Hanna is to keep Bob safe and stay out of sight, Sandy (Áine Rose Daly) is going above and beyond to do the opposite. She meets Kat in the school quad and the two decide to blow off classes for some hang out time. It’s another fact finding mission from Sandy that, again, leaves her empty handed.

The Rescue

After days or possibly weeks of brutal interrogations, by who we can only assume are The Pioneers, Marissa (Mireille Enos) is loaded into a van to parts unknown. Sitting in the back with a few armed guards it looks like her life is about to come to an abrupt end when all of a sudden the van is fired upon! All the guards are shot and the vehicle goes careening off the road. Marissa grabs a dead guard’s gun and kicks open the back door ready to shoot first and ask questions later. Luckily for her, it never gets that far because she is greeted by two people she never met but who claim were sent to break her out. The female shooter named Grant (Caitlin Innes Edwards) orders Marissa to get into her truck. It is not long before she starts updating Marissa on the story of Bob Gelder’s target list. “We need that list,” she says, if they have any hope of using the contents against Utrax and its founders they need to get to Bob before John does. Marissa stays mildly interested until Grant says Stephen (David Avery) is dead and Hanna went rogue. Now the teen assassin is trying to protect Gelder, too. That is enough for Marissa. She is all in on whatever it takes to get that list and take down Utrax. As long as she can keep Hanna safe in the process.

Back in Barcelona we see Tacitus leaves a voicemail for a journalist saying this information he has is not safe to exchange, especially since it got Nicola killed. They will have to be quick about it if they want to live to see these evil men go down. Cue the lethal reason he is so nervous – Sandy has been cozying up to Kat and manages to weasel her way into an invite for the father/daughter lunch. Only when they get to the restaurant Bob asks her if they can have some privacy. Sandy takes that as a hint and heads outside to wait for Kat. Then, something unexpected happens. Bob tells his daughter that this is not a quick stop in to say hello. He is leaving tonight and Kat is coming with him and to fly to Missouri to stay with her mother. He will not go into the details, but he tries to get her to understand they are both in danger and need to run. Kat does not understand the gravity of the situation and if she does it seems she does not seem to care. Instead, she blames her father for using her and ruining her good college times. As she storms out of the restaurant she tells him she is not going anywhere. Gelder tries to stop her, but it is too late. She marches outside and right into the concerned arms of Sandy, who is not thrilled with this new change of plans. Kat vaguely tells her what has happened, but she is pretty light on the details. While this is going down Clara is working on Kat’s friends, hoping to get the details of this surprise visit from her father. Out of the corner of her eye Clara spots something and immediately jumps up and follows it. As her grip tightens around a hidden dagger she weaves her way through the city, always once step behind the mysterious figure. Eventually, she follows it up a steep incline until she emerges from the corridors of an arena. There she finds Hanna waiting for her on the stone steps. Immediately Hanna tells Clara it is time to face facts about Utrax. Not only are they forcing her to do their dirty work, but they lied about her mother and Hanna has the receipts. Through a deep dive into an internet web hole, Hanna was able to find Samira! She remarried and now lives in Egypt. Clara tries to deny it, but deep down she wants it to be true. The first cracks in the Clemency façade are starting to form. We see this when she tries to talk Hanna out of going after Utrax because she fears for her life more than she fears losing the fake future they have given her. Hanna reminds her that she is just doing what Erik trained her to do, this is her purpose. Hanna leaves Clara to process this new information, but gives her all the details to checkout Samira herself which she does and sends her an email introducing herself as the daughter she gave up.

The Race to Get the List

Back to Kat we watch as Sandy tries to console her by joining her for a night out at the club. When her back is turned Sandy, once again, swipes Kat’s phone searching for clues to her father’s plans. At the bar and sporting a new Kristen Stewart-esque look, Hanna watches Sandy in action.  That is when she makes her move. She grabs Kat and tells her Sandy is not her friend and trying to kill her and her father. At first the girl laughs it off, but when Hanna tells her she swiped her phone and the device is missing Kat is open to the possibilities. Hanna proves it when she convinces Kat to make up a story about her fake hometown in Ohio. Sandy fails the test and Kat leaves the club knowing Hanna is telling her the truth.

As the penultimate episode comes to a close, everyone converges on Gelder’s hotel. Kat enters the lobby just as John gives the orders to kill them both. Armed and dressed as a maid, Clara goes to Bob’s room asking for entrance to make the beds. He tries to decline but she is insistent. When he opens the door Kat walks off the elevator and Maid Clara takes off trying not to be seen. She runs into Sandy who reminds her they have to kill them both, but (most importantly) they need that briefcase. Clara, who is struggling with this decision ever since her mother responded to her email, does not seem to have the bloodthirst Sandy has. As Kat and her father argue about their escape, Sandy and Clara break into the hotel room and hold them both hostage. They demand he hand over the briefcase as Sandy orders Clara to kill them. Apparently, she does not like to get her hands dirty. Clara cannot seem to pull the trigger no matter how loudly Sandy screams at her to do it. When it is obvious she cannot do it, Sandy yanks the gun away and aims it at them both. That is when Hanna comes storming in and everything happens in a flurry. Bob is hiding in the bedroom and with Clara’s gun Sandy pulls the trigger and shoots him dead. She escapes out the window as Kat starts to freak out over her father’s dead body. It is a familiar scene for Hanna, who watched her own father die and understands that pain. Knowing Clara is with her now and soon Carmichael will send his goons to finish the job, she turns to Kat and says, “If you want to live, you have to come with us.” It looks like this party of one just became a party of three. Hell, hath no fury like three teenagers scorned and traumatized! Utrax and The Pioneers have just been put on notice. Hanna is coming….