Major character gunned down in McMafia episode 6

A series that started off fairly gently has steadily been building in momentum and menace, but this is the first time things have got really serious for James Norton’s protagonist Alex Godman and the people he loves.

• Meet the cast of McMafia
• Where is McMafia filmed?
• McMafia: Can James Norton really speak Russian?

Episode six revolved around Alex’s increasing (and not misplaced) paranoia and his decision to hire an army of bodyguards to protect him and his family from Vadim. He took a tough love approach with his fiancée Rebecca (Juliet Rylance), effectively forcing her to move out of his flat without telling her that he was doing so to keep her safe.

Throughout the episode we were left guessing which of Alex’s family would fall prey to Vadim’s entourage, and up until the last moment were led to believe it would be his mother.

As the episode drew to a close, however, it became apparent that Rebecca was the target.

A French woman posing as a new mother – but working for Vadim – had befriended Rebecca in the swimming pool of her new apartment building. When Rebecca invited her and her (borrowed) baby around to her flat, Rebecca revealed that she was pregnant.

Seconds later, the woman shot Rebecca in the stomach – almost certainly killing her unborn child and possibly her, too.

In the same breath, Joseph forced his way in and shot the attacker dead. Rebecca left the apartment on a stretcher and was carted off to the hospital in an ambulance. By the time Alex arrived, she was in surgery.

We’ll have to wait until next week to see if Rebecca makes it out alive and if – or rather how – Alex will exact his revenge on Vadim…