After a year of waiting the most masculine show on TV returns, to once again satisfy the appetites of adrenaline junkies with its orgasm inducing action sequences. Season 3 entitled Strike Back: Vengeance, reintroduces us to season 2 protagonists Michael Stonebridge and Damian Scott, as Stonebridge is prompted to rejoin Section 20 in order to rescue the kidnapped Damian. The season starts with the kidnapping of a British diplomat, a junior attache and a Libyan civil servant; the latter is belatedly identified to be a Gaddafi loyalist (highlighting section 20's inability to properly screen assets). This leads to Scott being sent on a suicidal rescue mission in Somalia after being labelled responsible for the kidnapping, in an attempt by the British army to obtain the nuclear triggers that the Libyan has handed to his Somalian kidnapper. Inevitably Scott's efforts prove fruitless and he is also kidnapped by the Somalian, who falsely believes Scott to be the assassin who killed the Libyan during the handing over of the triggers. All of these events set in motion the most predictable return of a character since the return of Gandalf in Fellowship. Yes that's right Stonebridge is back bitches! Whilst Stonebridge's return is some what triumphant he really does endure a torrid time this episode. At the start of the episode we find him reluctantly training SAS recruits, including a recruit named Jake Hanson, whose brother Craig is revealed to have saved Stonebridge on a number of occasions. During the training post-war trauma inspires Jake to go awol, killing all his fellow recruits, whilst in turn being shot by Stonebridge. Eventually Stonebridge comes to terms with his actions and goes to Somalia to rescue Scott, leaving his now child less wife behind. Season 3 episode 1 doesn't match the quality of the opening episode of season 2 but is still fairly solid. The action is as always at it's heart stopping best, whilst the shooting of Hanson provides a rare poignant moment for the emotionally hardened fans of the series. Also the fact that we get to see our favorite badass soldiers in action again is a big relief. The episode is unfortunately let down by the predictability of many of its key events, such as Scott's kidnapping and Stonebridge's subsequent return. The miscarriage that Stonebridge's wife was another forseeable event and justifies my contradictory labeling of this episode as a "no surprises thrill ride". I mean come on "daddy Stonebridge", the man is a combination between the terminator and chairman Mao. Despite these gripes the episode sets up the next part nicely, with us wondering just how the hell Scott and Stonebridge are going to get out of their fairly mortal predicament and just how the mourning Craig is going to react to his brother's shooting.
Score 7/10 Good.
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