Directed by: Andrew Bernstein  |  Written by: Carlton Cuse, Graham Roland

Official synopsis: Jack heads to the Presidential Palace to retrieve Greer. When the polls are shutdown, violent protests erupt outside the palace, and Jack must make a decision that could determine his future.

Episode 8 is fast-paced and filled with action – what more can we expect from a finale based on a Tom Clancy novel? Jack (John Krasinski) and the others scour the camp in Episode 8, “Strongman”. Jack makes sure to take recordings of what happened in the prisoner camp, showing Reyes’ crimes. Meanwhile, on the news, it is announced that Reyes is going to win the election by a landslide. A situation that is blatantly not true. Jack shares a video of the prisoner camp on YouTube and sends it to news syndicates. Mike is ready to depart, believing he has all the evidence that links the mining and death of Gerry to Reyes, but Jack does not want to leave without Jim. Jim is in the weeds and Reyes now declares him as an American spy. Once again, Mike changes his mind, and asks the helicopter to make a detour – they are going to the presidential palace to save Jim. Episode 8, “Strongman” turns into a full recon mission where all hell breaks loose. President Reyes orders for the polls to be shut down, causing chaos at the stations. The people of Venezuela turn against the government on the streets, storming the palace – Reyes has lost complete control.

In his prison cell, Jim pretends to be dead and then stabs the guard, while Jack, Mike and the team storm the palace. It’s kill after kill as they route around the palace with ease. Reyes’ men have no chance. Eventually, they find an exhausted Jim, and they ask him to head to the roof for evacuation. But as Season 2 has suggested, Jack is not in complete control of his emotions. Episode 8, “Strongman” sees Jack disappear – he’s going straight for the neck: President Reyes. Mike, concerned that Jack is going to cause an international fallout, goes to find him. Jack fights Reyes, throwing him to the floor and pressing a gun to his head. At this moment, I was convinced Jack was going to go for it, but Mike manages to calm him down, reminding him what is at stake. As Jim, Jack and Mike escape, the palace is breached. It is the end of Reyes. News reaches Gloria – the electoral results were fixed and she had won by 70% of the vote. Venezuela has a new President. On the military boat, Jim and Jack bond briefly. Jim explains it is time for him to move on after the range of health complications he has endured. Jim brings up the Moscow job again and states he understands why Jack did not take it. “When you work behind a desk, your friends don’t get killed”. Shortly after their conversation, Gloria is reunited with her husband.

The question pursed on everyone’s lips now in Episode 8, “Strongman” is this – it’s all good that Jack and company escaped, but who is responsible for the shell companies covering the mining projects and the death of the US Senator? Is it just Reyes? In a last-minute twist, Jack meets Senator Mitchell Chapin for what looks like an impromptu chat. Jack describes the shell companies but points out that Reyes only owned half of it. The other half was a company in Philadelphia that had extremely savvy lawyers protecting it. However, there was a phone number linked to the company North Lake Allied, which was conveniently in Rupert’s phone as well – it was the senator. Jack has always been about following the money, but in this case, he followed the telephone calls as well. Mitchel tries to justify the veiled approach in mining the “blue gold”, stating that the USA cannot allow China to monopolize that chemical element. But Jack sees it for what it is; Senator Mitchell’s actions have led to the deaths of Americans. The senator tries bargaining with Jack, but he walks off as the FBI turn up to arrest him.