If the price is right, no one is safe from the deadly master of disguise, The Jackal (Eddie Redmayne). The global thriller The Day of the Jackal was an instant hit thanks to the performances of Redmayne as the titular assassin and Lashana Lynch as the determined MI6 agent who is always one step behind in her pursuit. Each episode treated viewers to exotic locations, deadly encounters, and clues about the past of the enigmatic killer.
Viewers who couldn’t get enough of the deadly adventures of the deadly Jackal are in luck because a second season has been announced for The Day of the Jackal. While fans can only speculate on what’s in store for the future, they still have the first season to revisit to scratch any Jackal-related itch. In celebration of the news, we’ve ranked the season one episode of the thrilling series.
10
“Episode 2”
Season 1, Episode 2
The Jackal’s time at home with wife Nuria (Ursula Corbero) and infant son Carlito is cut short when he finds information on the client who refused to pay for his Munich hit. Nuria’s family is frustrated with the Jackal’s aloofness, but she doesn’t agree until a chance encounter later in the day. Bianca is meanwhile covering up the death of her asset’s (Kate Dickie) daughter until she receives the intel she’s after. Bianca’s successful in learning the location of the gun designer, Norman Stoke (Richard Dormer), but a raid doesn’t go as planned. Now, back in Munich, the Jackal’s newest job is confirmed, and he learns the identity of the client who refuses to pay for his services.
After the action set pieces in episode one, the second entry of The Day of the Jackal slows the story down in order to lay the groundwork for what’s left to come. A glimpse into the homelife of the Jackal doesn’t quite humanize him due to his duplicitous nature, but it does give him more complications for juicier drama. Bianca is forced to make hard decisions in episode two that might make audiences question her role as a protagonist, but it’s those same decisions that make her a compelling character.
9
“Episode 4”
Season 1, Episode 4
The Jackal’s personal vendetta has been taken care of, but his indulgence leads to a sloppy encounter on his return home. Sensing that his marriage is in trouble, the Jackal orchestrates a rendezvous with Nuria in Paris, where he offers a new lie to cover his tracks. While the Jackal applies a relationship tourniquet, Bianca meets Alison’s husband in a violent faceoff. Although Bianca is getting closer to the truth about the Jackal, her reckless behavior leads to her work following her home.
For all of their efforts to maintain normal lives, the Jackal and Bianca’s actions lead to endless casualties in what feels like a daily occurrence. The Jackal and Bianca’s lives mirror one another throughout The Day of the Jackal, and in episode four, they both find the sanctuaries of their violent jobs threatened. There’s a sense by this point in the story that the Jackal is slowly becoming overwhelmed when suspicions from Nuria throw off the finely-tuned machine of his work-life balance, and it’s telling that he puts the effort in to ease her mind.
8
“Episode 7”
Season 1, Episode 7
The Jackal’s request for assistance from his current employers doesn’t solve the Bianca problem that has plagued him since his successful Munich hit. The seduction of a venue worker gives the Jackal a place to hide and detailed knowledge of the location of his hit, and he uses the intel to hide in the building before a lockdown takes place. Even though the Jackal patiently waits two days for his target, a rival would-be assassin ruins his plans and forces a hurried escape.
The episode serves to further complicate the audience’s feelings about the Jackal. On the one hand, he’s a man who seems to have strong feelings for his wife, becoming emotional as he thinks about her in the rafters of the building while he waits. On the other, he’s a cold and empty killer who can snap the neck of the man he seduced to complete his hit. So the question becomes: Is the Jackal capable of love, or does Nuria represent the person and the life he idealizes as the morally just one?
7
“Episode 6”
Season 1, Episode 6
The Jackal wakes up in unfamiliar territory after almost being caught by Bianca, but his current situation might be worse than a jail cell. After taking matters into his own hands, the Jackal enlists the help of a local to escape and, surprisingly, extends mercy to his hostage when their time is complete. With Bianca closing in, the Jackal calls Nuria to help him leave the country. Soon after, she arrives with his things and watches her husband disguise himself for the first time.
The Day of the Jackal is consistently excellent at building tension, and watching the assassin internally debate whether to kill his hostage will have viewers white-knuckling their couch cushions. Nuria being allowed access to the Jackal’s world is a monumental occasion, especially after she’s spent so much effort learning his real job. Not many married couples would think of the same circumstances as a bonding moment, but for the Jackal and Nuria, this is possibly the closest they’ve ever actually been.
6
“Episode 8”
Season 1, Episode 8
With the trail quickly growing cold for Bianca, she follows a lead that might confirm the Jackal’s real name. Helpful to the audience but useless to Bianca, a series of flashbacks reveal who the Jackal was before his life as a globe-trotting assassin. As the story of the Jackal’s origin confirms Bianca’s theory, Nuria learns the truth of her husband’s occupation when she sees a sketch of his face on television.
With time running out for the Jackal to complete his assasination, the feeling of tension is felt deeply with both lead characters. Learning the Jackal’s past gives the audience much-needed context for some of his skills, but it’s clear that the nobility of his past has been eradicated since the events of The Day of the Jackal. After everything Bianca has sacrificed with her family, it’s vindicating to see Bianca on the right track, but the possibility of a mole within her operation indicates no one ever intended for her to get as far along as she did.
5
“Episode 5”
Season 1, Episode 5
The Jackal is saddled with an unwelcome partner when his retribution in Munich causes a lack of faith in his new employers. Bianca’s husband and daughter move out in light of recent attacks, but the MI6 agent is undeterred in tracking down her man. While the Jackal travels to Budapest to help build the weapon needed for his next job, Bianca’s investigation leads her to the same destination. Although Bianca manages to apprehend the gunsmith, the Jackal ruins any chance of an interrogation before making a hurried escape.
The formula for The Day of the Jackal is the better Bianca or the Jackal are at their jobs, the worse it is for the other person. Bianca is throwing a huge wrench into the Jackal’s otherwise well-calibrated plans, and it’s fascinating to watch the push and pull between the two. The Jackal is so far outside his comfort zone, and it’s up for debate whether it’s the money or the ego that keeps him from walking away.
4
“Episode 3”
Season 1, Episode 3
Nuria is finally able to talk to the Jackal on the phone, where he insists he’s not having an affair. Not satisfied, Nuria does some digging of her own until she finds her husband’s secret vault. At Bianca’s HQ, she’s able to prove her theory about the collapsible rifle, but her follow-up talk with a grieving Alison comes to a dead end. After great pains, the Jackal is able to meet the person who hired him for the Munich hit, and they settle their debt in a way the assassin finds acceptable.
What’s nice about a television series over a film is the amount of time the audience can spend with the asset Alison, allowing viewers to see how much she and her family’s lives are destroyed in the hunt for the Jackal. The tension between the Jackal and his wife builds nicely, but nothing compares to seeing the master marksman in action. Some of the best moments of The Day of the Jackal are seeing the Jackal overcome incredible odds to close in on his target, and the attack in episode three doesn’t disappoint.
3
“Episode 1”
Season 1, Episode 1
The Jackal infiltrates an office building and kills numerous people. The senseless murders were designed to smoke out his actual target, a politician he shoots from a record distance when they visit the hospital. Recovered footage from the hit catches the attention of MI6 firearms expert Bianca Pullman, causing her to chase down a lead via an old asset, Alison. When Alison doesn’t give her the information she needs, Bianca arrests Alison’s daughter, who ends up dying in custody. Meanwhile, the Jackal learns his client is refusing to pay him for the job soon after negotiating his next 100 million dollar hit.
The season opener perfectly shows how far the Jackal will go to locate and dispatch his target, claiming a large number of innocent lives as collateral damage. The episode walks viewers through the methodical steps the Jackal takes to return to his wife in Spain, demonstrating how extensively he plans his escape and how cool he remains under pressure. On the other side of the law, Bianca is an intelligent protagonist, but her methods of getting information leave her looking as cold as the people she intends to catch.
2
“Episode 10”
Season 1, Episode 10
Wounded and running out of options, The Jackal is forced to improvise when escaping from Croatia seems all but impossible. Meanwhile, Bianca resigns and is hired back to MI6 in record time when Kirby convinces her to pursue the lead on the Jackal. As Bianca heads to the Jackal’s home in Spain, Nuria is preparing her exit before her husband’s dangerous life gets her and Carlito killed. With the Jackal and Bianca destined to meet in Spain, only one of them can expect to survive the night.
The Jackal had faced challenges before in the season, but his difficulties leaving Croatia, especially regarding the elderly couple he kidnaps, seemed to overwhelm the assassin physically and emotionally. There’s an audience expectation that the hero of the story wins the big climactic battle, but when the two lead characters continue to display heartless behavior, who is the audience intended to root for? The Day of the Jackal doesn’t offer any easy answers, but it does promise more bloodshed in season two.
1
“Episode 9”
Season 1, Episode 9
Running out of time to do his job, the Jackal hatches one last plan to complete the hit and avoid the wrath of his employers. A talk with Nuria requires him to lay all of his cards on the table, and the Jackal even manages to offer his expertise to her scheming brother. However, helping his extended family comes with a price, as Bianca notices The Jackal’s handiwork when his actions attract her attention on the news.
Episode nine is an excellent episode that sees the Jackal use all of his skills to put the odds back in his favor. The Day of the Jackal performs its most devious subversion of expectations by the tension created leading to the Jackal’s assassination attempt. Even though he’s indisputably the villain, viewers will find themselves expectantly waiting to see how he manages the kill. After all the difficulty and false starts to get to this moment, can The Jackal accomplish his daunting mission?
