Undercovers Episode 1.08 Crashed

At a U.S. Air Force Base in Ingerlich, Turkey, Colonel Joseph Korman is awoken abruptly in the middle of the night by Dr. Freeman and two doctors in white coats. They tell him they need to run some routine pilot tests. Korman is placed on a gurney where they sedate him with a blue liquid, make an incision in the back of his neck and inject what appears to be a microchip. The following morning, as Colonel Korman prepares for his flight, he feels the welt on the back of his neck where the doctor injected the microchip and is momentarily puzzled. He looks in the mirror and his eyes seem to mechanically twitch for a millisecond. Something is clearly different.

At Bloom Catering Samantha is bustling around the kitchen working like crazy for an upcoming dinner party, and Shaw arrives to brief them on their next mission. Stealth pilot Colonel Korman was on mission to deliver important cargo to a classified airbase and has mysteriously vanished near Russia. The plane's last known whereabouts were over the Chechen forest, an area filled with members of the Chechen Separatist movement who are eager to start another conflict with Russia. There have been no reports of a crash and no contact from Korman. It is Steven and Samantha's job to find Korman, destroy the stealth plane and ensure the top-secret explosive, the Fuel Air Explosive or FAE, does not get into the wrong hands. Lizzy reassures Steven and Samantha that she can manage the Cresswell dinner party while they are away on hotel business.

Now in Sochi, Russia, Hoyt briefs Steven and Samantha on their plan to sneak into Chechnya while aboard the train. They arrive at the station and meet a man named Alek who agrees to give them a ride in return for payment. While in transit they run into a security checkpoint and Steven manages to persuade Alek to avoid security and take them on the alternate route around through the minefields for more money. Alek leads the team down the mine-infested road with aid of a mine-sniffing rat that he ensures will guide them safely through. Alek and the rat lead the team onward until he takes one wrong step and a land mine explodes. Alek and the rat are dead.

Now without a guide, the team must figure out how to navigate through the minefield on its own. They devise a plan to move from shrub to shrub, because certain shrubbery would have to have been planted before Russian invasion and therefore be landmine free. Meanwhile, back at Bloom Catering, Lizzy and Charlie are busy preparing for the Cresswell dinner party when Mrs. Cresswell abruptly enters the kitchen with news. Much to Lizzy's chagrin, she wants to change the entire menu and format of the party a mere 24 hours before the event. Back in Russia, the team successfully navigates through the minefield and finds the wreckage of Korman's plane. Steven finds an ejected parachute, meaning Korman is probably still alive and on the run trying to find a safe place to hide. The FAE has been taken from the plane and a giant hole in a piece of the plane wreckage reveals that it was most likely shot down. Samantha tosses a grenade into the wreckage to further destroy the plane. The team leaves the crash site to find Korman.

The team comes to the end of the path and arrives at a Chechen village. The next village is miles away, so the team assumes Korman has to be somewhere nearby. They enter the village dressed as international aid workers and look for anyone who might be friendly to Americans. Samantha spots a teenager with a fancy watch, clearly out of place in the run-down village. The watch is an IWC pilot watch; a true giveaway that the kid has to know something about Korman's whereabouts. Perhaps Korman traded his watch for shelter. They follow the teenager home and stake out his location for the night.

The teenager later returns with a bag, presumably carrying food for Korman. He drops the bag at the door of the shack and leaves. They enter the shack and search for Korman. Suddenly blood drips from the ceiling onto Steven's arm and he looks up to find Korman, hiding in the rafters. Samantha doctors his wounds and Korman explains to the team what happened. He tells them he took off like he normally does, suddenly started feeling weird and the next thing he knew he was off course with a missile locked to the plane. After he crashed he ran knowing he was being tracked and traded the kid his watch and some money to let him hide out here.

Thankfully, Korman is in possession of the FAE and Hoyt leaves to call and inform Shaw. Korman passes out in pain and Steven and Samantha attempt to wake him up. Samantha notices the raised, bite-like wound on his neck. Outside Hoyt makes the call and as he hangs up is met with a gun barrel to the back of his head. Hoyt manages to wrestle the gun from the man but in the process a gunshot goes off, hitting him in the arm. Hoyt hides but Samantha and Steven find themselves surrounded by Chechen rebels. The rebel leader welcomes Korman to Chechnya and as he concludes saying Korman's full name, Korman's expression changes and his eyes begin to mechanically twitch as they did earlier in the morning. He gets up, shakes the man's hand, and gives him the FAE. It looks as if Korman was working for the Chechens all along.

Hoyt calls Shaw and informs him that the Chechen rebels captured Steven and Samantha. Shaw instructs him to not go after them. Shaw can get troops there in less than four hours, but Hoyt ignores the order. He goes off to find the Blooms, having no idea that a mystery man who overheard his entire conversation is trailing him. Meanwhile, at Bloom Catering everything is going wrong but Lizzy refuses to let anyone call Samantha for fear she will never trust her to be in charge again.

The following morning Samantha and Steven are tied up, hostage at the Chechen rebel camp. Samantha tells Steven she thinks the bump that was on Korman's neck could be a sign of a Black Ops program that controls people's minds, but Steven dismisses the notion as incredulous. Samantha shares a past classified mission with Steven. It is obvious the trauma of that experience shook her. He reminds her that she has him with her now and that no one is leaving without the other. The two brainstorm how they will escape. Hoyt manages to locate the rebel camp and observes Korman giving Borz, the rebel leader, the remote detonator. He now knows Korman is a traitor. The rebel leader tells Korman he will be escorted to an escape route when he is ready and instructs the guards to kill Steven and Samantha. But Steven and Samantha have a plan. When the guards enter, the duo work together to take them down, leaving them unconscious.

From his hiding spot Hoyt sees Steven and Samantha coming out from where they were held hostage. Hoyt takes down a guard and successfully meets up with them. He informs Steven and Samantha that the FAE is aboard the Hummer along with Borz and the guards. Samantha spots Korman and goes after him, leaving Steven and Hoyt to track the FAE. Steven throws the beacon tracker that Hoyt saved from the stealth plane and sticks it to the back of the Hummer.

Korman enters the escape car only to find the driver dead. Suddenly the car door swings open and a mystery man knocks Korman out. The man studies Korman's neck, inspecting the same place as the mysterious wound. He seems to find what he's looking for and then shoots Korman in the side. Samantha witnesses the whole encounter. The man sees Samantha watching him. He raises his gun and then freezes. He has a direct shot on Samantha but doesn't take it. He bolts and Samantha walks to the car, stunned. Steven and Hoyt catch up with Samantha and she informs them what happened and that the man could've killed her too, but didn't. They still need to capture the FAE and return it to safety. The team gets into the truck and follows the beacon signal on the Hummer.

The beacon signal brings them to an estate in Derbent, Dagestan where the second wedding of Olev Kozak, Russian Deputy Prime Minister is occurring. The guest list consists of every major important Russian military and government official; a perfect event for a rebel attack. They spot a catering truck and decide their way inside is as the catering staff, a perfect cover for Samantha and Steven. Back at Bloom Catering, Lizzy has managed to successfully accommodate Mrs. Cresswell's desired party changes, only to have her return wanting to change it once more. This is the last straw for Lizzy and she puts her foot down, successfully putting Mrs. Cresswell in her place.

Steven and Samantha enter the wedding in their catering uniforms and are immediately stopped by a guard. Much to their relief, the guard is only dismayed at the drink situation of the party and Steven goes to ensure the guests' champagne glasses are full. The guard instructs Samantha to come with him for some heavy lifting. As Samantha waits for the guard to return with her task, she notices the wedding cake. It is five tiers and Russian wedding cakes are only supposed to be three as it is a superstition. The location of the FAE is suddenly clear. She shoves her hands into the middle of the cake and pulls out the FAE.

As Samantha pulls the FAE out of the plastic bag, Steven spots Borz from across the room, holding a present. He opens the box to reveal the remote, presses the button and the FAE begins to count down. They need to get the bomb out of there as quickly as possible. Steven goes to help Samantha while Hoyt takes care of staying on top of Borz. Samantha and Steven head to the helicopter parked outside of the estate and Borz walks out to his car. He opens the door and climbs in only to find Hoyt, who points a gun at his head and demands to know how to disarm the FAE. Borz explains he doesn't know and Hoyt hits him in the head with the gun, knocking him out.

Now inside the helicopter, Steven and Samantha head towards the sea with only four minutes left until the FAE detonates. Samantha attempts to diffuse the bomb as Steven pilots the plane. She notices the bomb is equipped with a safety mechanism that stops the FAE from accidentally going off while being transported on a plane. This means if they get above 3,000 feet the bomb will not detonate. They are only at 1,100 feet and have two minutes to ascend the remaining distance. It is a close call but Steven manages to get the plane to 3,000 feet before the timer goes out. They reach the water and Samantha throws the FAE out the window. It falls to the sea and explodes where it can't harm anyone.

Safely back home at Bloom Catering, Shaw debriefs Samantha and Steven. Steven mentions that there are still a lot of unanswered questions that Shaw seems reluctant to address. Lizzy enters as Shaw is leaving. She informs Steven and Samantha that the Cresswell dinner went well but they lost the job next year because she stood up to Mrs. Cresswell. Much to Lizzy's surprise Samantha is not upset and in fact hugs her sister, happy they will never have to work for Mrs. Cresswell again. At home, Samantha shares with Steven that she also feels there are many unanswered questions with the mission. For some reason she is not sure whether she can trust Shaw. Her reluctance to trust Shaw may in fact be valid. Later in his hotel room, Shaw phones a mystery figure and informs him that Steven and Samantha are asking more questions. The mystery man orders Shaw to continue as planned. No answers, be vague. The two hang up.