The Brave Recap: “It’s All Personal”

Last night’s new episode of The Brave was yet another intense mission, focusing – this time – on a past undercover persona taken on by Amir, the newest member of team. We also learned more about the member Amir replaced and a little about Amir’s past.

The official synopsis is as follows:

“As the team heads to Paris on a mission connected to Amir’s undercover past, things get personal; the team members learn more about the newest member and what might have brought him to them.”

What’s Cooking?

The show opened and closed with Amir making breakfast for the team. This is a talent he obviously excels at if the fact that the team was either too stuffed for seconds or were demanding more. We also learned that Amir grew up in a wealthy family – where they had a staff, including a cook – but once a week Amir’s mother would cook and he was replicating a favored meal made by his mom.

Undercover He Goes

A young girl in Paris placed a call to a phone number linked to an undercover persona used by Amir in the past. The girl’s father was a suicide bomber who knew Amir’s alias, Hamid. Her younger brother was taken by the leader of a cell, a cell that was intent on bombing an unknown location in Paris. It was up to Amir to go back undercover to stop the imminent attack.

In order to keep his cover, though, he went in without coms, wires or any tracking devices, making it extremely hard for the rest of the team to keep track of him. Granted his cover would have been completely blown had he used any of those devices.

To Bluff Or Not

The plan was to get the young boy out of the cell, but things quickly changed once Amir got a look at the set-up inside the cell’s current, albeit temporary, warehouse location. He was convinced that the young boy was going to be used as a bluff for a much bigger bomb, given the barrels and pipes that he saw inside those walls.

His surmising of the situation proved to be true. The young boy was a bluff and a car bomb was planted at a local Farmer’s Market. The cell was planning on taking out a lot of people, but the well-trained team took them down very quickly without being caught in the end by the French police.

Back Story

We finally learned that the team member who died, the one Amir replaced, was named Elijah. He was taken down by walking in the wrong door – per Jaz – who was right behind him, catching him as he fell. We also learned that Amir lost his 14-year-old sister – who was a piano prodigy – when he was 19 years old. She was the victim of a bus bombing, and that incident obviously put Amir on the path that led him to the work he does.

Final Analysis

I must admit that each week The Brave keeps me on the edge of my seat. I am impressed with how well the stories flow in each episode and how believable each of the cast members are in their roles. They really feel like a military team. And, I also like how their interpersonal relationships play out when they aren’t in the field. I truly hope that NBC will consider keeping the show on the air, giving it a full-season order soon.

What are your thoughts about this episode? Please share them in our comments section below.

The next new episode of The Brave will air on NBC on Monday, November 13 at 10/9c.