NBC unleashed their latest thriller series for producer extraordinaire Julie Plec and “Star Trek Beyond” director Justin Lin and “The Endgame“- not to be confused with the Marvel epic- is certainly one twisty ride! Featuring “Firefly” star Morena Baccarin as a master criminal with a plan, the “Pilot” brings lots of intrigue, so let’s dive in!
Meet Elena | Beginning with a flashback to a young Russian girl and her father firing a rocket at a car, killing the driver, but allowing an injured passenger to escape, we then flash forward to present day in a bunker in Queens, New York, where Elena Federova (Baccarin) has been brought to a cell and is being interrogated by the attorney general Reed Doblin (Kelly AuCoin). Doblin demands that she list all of her criminal contacts, as in the city, a group of bandana-wearing men blow up a bank’s chandelier to cause it to lockdown. One man in the bank holds up a card to the security cameras that reads, “Bow to the queen,” just as Doblin finds a note in his pocket that reads “I am the queen.” Whoa!
In a prison visitation room, Val Turner (Ryan Michelle Bathe) meets her imprisoned husband Owen (Kamal Bolden), whom she turned over to the FBI for illegal activity. She still stands by him, but he blindsides her with divorce papers and says it’s for the best. Val vents to her partner, Anthony Flowers (Jordan Johnson-Hines), as they arrive at the bank and are immediately ushered away by Agent Doak (Noah Bean). As they drive off, another bank is being robbed and Val realizes that this bank holds the funds for an imprisoned drug lord named Solomon Santillana (Juan Carlos Hernandez), who she put away.
Let the Games Begin | Val contacts Solomon, who somehow has a swanky prison cell and phone access, and he denies having anything to do with the heist, but implies that Elena is behind it. Turns out Val and Elena have history, as Val was shot by her during a sting operation in a foreign country. Val tries to convince Doak of the connection, but he once again brushes her off. Val tells Flowers that if Elena was truly serious about a heist, she wouldn’t target one or two banks- she’d go after the network that connects ALL the banks in New York. As soon as Val and Flowers arrive at the building housing the network, it is sealed up by men who slap a note on the window that says, “You were right.”
Doak orders that Val join Doblin at Elena’s cell and Doblin allows her to talk to Elena. Elena seems happy to see Val and even somehow knows of her impending divorce, which Val is unhappy about. Elena tells her story to Val, revealing that she was not the Russian girl in the flashback; she was the passenger of the destroyed car and was stabbed in the stomach by the girl. Val also notices stretch marks from pregnancy on Elena’s body, which Elena dodges, but mentions that her husband, Sergey, was killed.
Snow White and the Seven Banks | As Doblin arrests an FBI agent who planted the note in his pocket, who was one of Elena’s men, Val gets a call from Owen’s divorce lawyer, which she ignores. Val and Flowers figure out that Elena is targeting the Federal Reserve and the priceless gold in its vault, but it soon falls to Elena’s men, who grab the bank’s manager and keep her inside so she can open the vault. Val once again gets a call from the lawyer, but she realizes that his firm also represents Elena, and when she takes his call, he orders her to go to the restaurant across the street.
There, the lawyer tells Val that Elena wants her help in exchange for proof of Owen’s innocence- which Elena can provide given that she framed Owen! The lawyer gets away after a sniper laser target shows up on Val’s chest, just as Elena’s men seize more and more banks across the city. One such bank just so happens to be next door to yet another bank and the thieves blow a hole through the basement and crawl into the safe deposit box vault in bank number seven. The thief then live-streams his camera to Doblin and opens a safe deposit box in Doblin’s name that has proof of his embezzlement and affairs. Elena simply cackles as Val arrives and demands to know why she’s doing all this. Elena simply says, “For love,” as Owen chats with someone in the prison yard and says that Elena’s plan is in motion. That someone? Elena’s husband Sergey! (Costa Ronin) Well, then!
The Endgame airs Mondays at 10pm on NBC.