The Capture season 2 episode 5 unveils twisted truth behind conspiracy

Carey does remain under the watchful eye of her former lover Commander Danny Hart (Ben Miles), the shrewd DSU Gemma Garland (Lia Williams), and CIA Section Chief Frank Napier (Ron Perlman) - the last of whom confessed to Garland in the previous episode that he was dying from cancer.

Meanwhile, Carey's plot to expose the practice of Correction with beleaguered MP Isaac Turner (Paapa Essiedu) and Newsnight journalist Khadija Khan (Indira Varma) may face some major road bumps when both begin acting out of step with the plan and going rogue.

The fourth instalment ended with Isaac getting a chilling visit at his hotel, on-screen for the hotel room door camera being shown as the deepfake of Isaac himself.

So, just who was behind the hotel and door and who has been responsible for framing Isaac for conflicting and extremist beliefs and also exposing him to potential personal and political scandals?

**Spoiler warning for The Capture season 2 episode 5**

The Capture season 2 episode 5 recap

As the episode begins, Isaac Turner answers the hotel door to find his cocky former aide Rhys Edwards (Harry Mitchell) who claims that "they" have sent him to get Isaac and that he himself only found out the entire truth the day before. Isaac asks who “they” are.

After the opening titles, Isaac returns home and is dismissing the calls from Carey. Isaac's wife Simone (Charlie Murphy) questions his actions but he explains them away.

Meanwhile, Garland leads a team to visit Frank Napier’s CIA station and set up shop there. He notifies her of Carey’s conversation with her sister Abi (Daisy Waterstone) and her look at the camera after the mention of Shaun Emery - she knows she is being watched.

Isaac ditches his burner phone from Carey and returns to the Home Office, while Carey notes his location in the media.

Inside the Home Office, Isaac speaks with his aides about his improving polling numbers and he hopes to bury the story about obstructing Victoria Bello's application to get into the UK. Isaac asks his aide Aliza Clarke (Natalie Dew) if she knows anything about the application.

Outside, Carey approaches Isaac in her car and he tries to brush her off before getting in the car. Carey reveals that the assassin is Nikolai Mirsky, a Russian ex-mercenary. Isaac questions if Carey is faking intelligence but she is certain it is an attack by the Russian State. When Carey discusses the deal they made he denies knowledge of a deal and she realises that someone has gotten to him. Carey notes she knew he was the real him on BBC Breakfast due to his touching his cross and she appeals to him to not give up on her. Isaac rejects her plan to expose Correction regardless after she continues to question who got to him.

Afterwards, DC Chloe Tan (Tessa Wong) calls Carey to say that comms are back online and Carey responds that she wants to meet at Broadcasting House - the BBC.

In the US territory of the CIA station, Commander Hart briefs the team and is clearly a bit shook up, which Frank notes. Garland thanks Hart for his speech but he tells her that he’s resigning but didn’t give the real reason.

At the BBC, Carey approaches Khadija Khan about her interview with Bello and for ruining their plan, which Tan overhears but denies hearing. They head to the new base.

At the Home Office, Home Secretary Rowan Gill (Andy Nyman) gives a speech on the successful deal with Clearhorizons AI before avoiding questions from the press.

Carey and Tan arrive at the new HQ and find that a manhunt is underway for the same Russian National that she had identified. Garland approaches Carey with false niceties before taking her away to talk. Napier briefs Carey and shows that the CIA has access to genuine footage of the hospital -"de-correction" - and found the identity of the assassin. Garland tasks Carey with producing a dossier of evidence to put against the suspect.

Meanwhile, Isaac confronts the Home Secretary and the pair hash out their recent issues. The Home Secretary reveals that he had interfered with Victoria Bello's application after a request for help from Aliza. The Home Secretary then realises that Isaac is recording him and threatens him but Isaac wants the recording of Gill's complicity as insurance.

At the CIA HQ, Carey asks Kendricks’ advice on whether the notion of "de-correction" is possible and he is baffled. Carey notes that Clearhorizons AI won the contract with the UK government and then calls her sister to retrieve her laptop.

Elsewhere, Aliza is put in a car by Rhys to "help her" and promises her that she will remain anonymous.

Carey visits Gregory Knox (Joseph Arkley) at Truro Analytics and notes his conflict of interest in volunteering to be part of the consultation overseeing the security contract with the UK government due to in his office's close proximity to Clearhorizons AI, the American competitor to the Chinese company for the contract. Carey asks Knox how he unmasked the suspect and he avoids answering this. Carey then asks Knox if he supplied the image to anyone else but it’s clear she is suspicious of him. Carey notes that the US is likely responsible and Knox is involved. When he doesn’t cooperate, Carey goes to arrest him but finds her comms have been tampered with and her voice is being manipulated and Knox strikes her over the head with an award. A bloodied Carey fights back and beats up Knox. Carey arrests Knox and handcuffs him.

Meanwhile, Garland monitors as her team and the CIA chase down the suspect but find the van is now out of range. Kendricks, who is monitoring for Operation Vanguard, realises something is going on.

The van approaches Carey’s location and the suspects - including Mirsky - have Carey’s details. The assailants show up outside and they switch the cameras off both outside and inside the building. Carey notes the moving doors on the camera feeds and realises they’re in the building and she goes to flee as the assailants arrive on her floor but they’re tracking her through the cameras. No lifts are working but she manages to find one and it fails to descend. Breaking a mirror, she holds a glass shard as a weapon. However, just as Mirsky nears her, he is shot dead by his own partner. The American partner responds over comms that he has neutralised the target. He points his gun at Carey who puts down her shard of glass.

Meanwhile, Isaac returns home and cares for his kids before watching Khadija rip into the Home Secretary on Newsnight.

In flashbacks, Gregory Knox’s organisation Truro Analytics are revealed by Isaac’s aide Rhys Edwards to have been responsible for everything and invites him to get dressed and visit a conference by the company where Knox brags about the company’s intersection between 'Big Data' and politics. Knox reveals how Truro Analytics has been involved in political electioneering, showing a case study where they manipulated events to offer a political candidate Alfonsi Guruli a platform and showed how in Tbilisi a politician was turned into a rising star of the populist right. However, parts of the media soon exposed the previous image that clashed with the far-right version of himself he had now adopted. It is revealed that Truro had aimed to offer a different version of this politician to all individuals on the political spectrum - someone who could appeal to everyone by being any politician a person could want. Eventually, Alfonsi won his election as the Mayor of Tbilisi. Knox then makes clear his hopes to decide the fate of a British MP or even a PM.

After his speech, Knox sits down with Isaac who realises that he has become the latest experiment of the Truro Analytics algorithm as they tried to push him closer to being PM. Isaac is disgusted, shocked and furious at Knox. The next step that Knox hopes for is to make Isaac the Home Secretary, noting that Isaac is still there and is ready to carry on. Knox notes that the algorithm understands Isaac and society better than they do and predicts that Isaac will comply with the campaign once it brings with it both success and power. Isaac responds by saying that he hadn’t agreed yet but Knox notes that he hasn’t said rejected the plan, either.

In the present day, Isaac answers a call from Knox who notes that things are proceeding as planned. Isaac then agrees to carry along with the plan.

Meanwhile, at the offices of Truro Analytics, Knox watches from his office window as Carey is loaded into a van by the American assailant.

The Capture season 2 episode 5 ending explained

So, the revelation here is that the invasive use of personal data by big tech companies is the key to the plans of the manipulative data analytics company Truro Analytics.

Gregory Knox, the boss of Truro Analytics, is the person involved in the conspiracy around Isaac Turner but all for the purpose of eventually flipping him to his side and then placing him in a high position of power and helping to serve the company's interests.

Additionally, Knox appears to be in contact with the CIA and at least part of the British Secret Service if he has supplied them with the evidence surrounding Nikolai Mersky.

At least on the surface, Napier and Garland appear to be allied with Knox in relation to Carey and have worked to apprehend her, kill Mersky and stop the Chinese company from getting the British security contract deal.

However, this is the world of espionage, meaning we cannot be certain or anyone's true loyalties.

The chief questions remaining are whether Carey can find her way out of this, whether Isaac Turner has truly become blinded by the potential for true political power, and just how aware the British and American security services are regarding the manipulations by Truro Analytics.

The finale is just around the corner...

• Read More: Meet the cast of The Capture, the BBC surveillance drama
• Read More: When is The Capture season 2 next on TV? Release schedule explained

The Capture airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.

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