This Red Eye episode 3 recap contains spoilers... We get a closer look at what happened on the night Dr Matthew Nolan crashed his car and find the dead Chinese woman, Shen Zhao might not have been the innocent victim some claim she was.
Elsewhere, Minister Tan suggests it was the British who killed her and Jess's investigation places her in serious danger..
In Beijing three days earlier (Matthew's final night in Beijing) the surgeon is introduced to Shen Zhao “a friend of Sir George Chapman” — owner of World Pacific Medicine - by his colleague Dr Chris Peel (who’ll be bundled into a white van in the Heathrow car park in a few days time).
Chris says his colleagues Amber and Steven Hurst are joining them for dinner and if he would like to come along. He says he can’t but he does notice Shen recognise a woman loitering in the background, after which Shen says she can’t come to dinner after all, whispering “it’s not safe tonight,” to Chris. But who was that mysterious woman?
Leaving his colleagues behind, Matthew gets into his car and is joined by Shen who asks if he’s going back to the city. So she was in his car that night!! “Let me buy you a drink for being so kind,” she says, before taking him to a club.
Shen asks Matthew if Sir George has ever given him a gift to deliver, as she says that would let her know she could trust him. Yet when they get back from dancing there’s some champagne waiting for them and she kisses him squarely on the lips. It’s soon clear he’s been drugged. “Please know that I had no choice,” says Shen as he runs from the club to his car.
After crashing the vehicle he somehow stumbles black to his hotel and after seeing the blood pouring from his side, he staples - yeah that’s right - the wound together. Talk about painting the town red!
Back on Flight 357, Agent Zhao and Hana consider his story before wondering how Shen’s body got in his car. If she was trying to rob a wealthy tourist, why did she target Matthew when she already had dinner plans with Chris Peel?
While Matthew continues to try and access Steven’s phone, Hana goes to speak to Kate Ward about the night Matthew met Shen and hears about a commotion among the waiters. Yet before she can probe that further, Agent Zhao arrests Dr Ward for the murder of Steven and Amber Hurst. “Amber’s dead?!” exclaims Hana and we share her shock.
“She’s been murdered just like the others!” says Matthew. “And the first one was supposed to be me!” before demanding to see the captain. Yet in a defining turning point, Hana confesses that she now believes his story completely. At last they’re a team and they’re going to need each other if they want to survive.
When Matthew examines Amber and Steven’s body he finds they both have similar injuries, yet he and Hana don’t share Agent Zhao’s belief that Dr Kate Ward killed them. “This isn’t a crime of passion,” says Hana. Yet it seems that Zhao might not be the ally they thought he was.
What are World Pacific Medicine hiding?
Outside World Pacific Medicine HQ, Hana’s sister Jess is doing a bit of reading on Sir George Chapman and manages to find out his address, while noticing some men picking up some mysterious cardboard boxes from the pharma group's HQ. When Jess is spotted taking photos she’s pursued by the men, but what was in those boxes?
Over at Thames House, Director General Delaney learns about Amber Hurst’s death from Hana. She died with her fingers broken like her husband. “She wasn’t just restrained, she was interrogated,” says Delaney. Yet more bad news arrives when Chris Peel’s wife calls to say he never made it home from the airport.
When they view CCTV from the conference, the MI5 team realise Shen physically touched all of the doctors who were asked to return to China. “This isn’t about what one of them knows, it’s about what one of them was given,” says Delaney, before suggesting she could have been an operative. “But for who and what did she have?”
When Hana goes to question Dr Ward again - as Delaney suggested — she has disappeared. We doubt very much she’ll be seen alive again. Yet as they search, Hana gets a call from her sister who tells her she filmed government officials removing computers and documents. “It’s Watergate level shit,” says Jess when her sister begs her to leave the story alone.
Was Shen killed by British agents?
At Thames House, Delaney and Tennant ask Minister Tan if he knows anything about the three people who died on Flight 357. He says they’ll investigate once the plane lands, but MI5 want the plane to return to London. When Delaney cuts to the chase and demands this Tan responds with some home truths of his own.
“She Zhao did not die in that car crash,” he explains. “She was tortured, murdered and planted in that vehicle.” He seems convinced one of the doctor’s stole something from her and was then murdered, Delaney refuses to believe that, yet Tan then suggests that maybe the British government were responsible for the deaths on Flight 357. “Try not to get blindsided,” he says.
Tennant says he’s lying, yet Delaney doesn’t understand why the Chinese would kill the doctors if they’re on their way to China. We think there’s something dodgy about Tennant tbqh.
Later on Delaney catches Tennant arguing with her CIA boyfriend Mike, before someone comes in and tells her about the ‘break-in’ at World Pacific Medicine. It seems the files on Nolan and the other doctors were taken and they have images of Jess, although they don’t know who she is yet.
Back on Flight 357, Hana shows Matthew the footage from the WPM office. “If you’re keeping anything from me Nolan, now’s the time,” she says. Is she starting to lose her trust in him again?
Nevertheless, after failing to find Dr Ward, the pair finally persuade the captain to let them search the hold. Agent Zhao heads down there and when he doesn’t come back, Hana follows him.
Meanwhile Matthew goes to find Steven’s body and uses his face to log-in to his phone, before returning to his seat. But what did he use the phone for? Could Matthew be a villain after all?
And speaking of villains, when Jess shows up at Sir George Chapman’s house he invites her in while holding a gun behind his back. Oh dear Jess.
