Episode 5 marks the start of the second half of this season of Splinter Cell, and the stakes have been raised. The Shetlands and the Splinter Cell agents are about to clash. The objective of this episode is simple: get Diana’s cell phone. Though contrary to what the title implies, this episode is anything but simple.

Be warned: spoilers ahead.

This episode starts with the blonde European woman who boarded the ship in the middle of episode 4. She’s undercover, and her intentions are unknown. She walks through the ship, into the bowels of the ship. She takes out some electronics and begins rewiring the ship. When a worker catches her, she stabs him to death. Then, the credits roll.

Back in Denmark with the Splinter Cell team, Thunder makes a replica of Diana Shetland’s phone, and Sam and Zinnia depart to infiltrate the Shetlands’ event. Through a flashback, we see that Sam and Douglas were both dishonorably discharged from the military for the disaster in Afghanistan, which was partially caused by Douglas’ mistakes.

At the event, Diana and her assistant set up. She makes it clear that it’s crucial that her brother appears at the event with her, and the assistant agrees. Though late, Diana’s brother arrives. Zinnia arrives shortly after, and Sam sneaks in through the garage and hides out with the other security guards. Before Zinnia can get to Diana, she overhears that Diana’s cell phone is charging in her hotel room. Sam is tasked with sneaking into her hotel room before the assistant arrives and retrieving the phone. On his way up the elevator, he runs into the assistant, however Sam is saved by Thunder. Thunder remotely stalls the elevator as Sam rushes up before the assistant arrives. With an operating window of 2 minutes, Sam can get inside the hotel room and capture the phone just in the nick of time.

Zinnia now must get Diana the decoy phone so Thunder can access the proper PINs and fingerprints remotely. Zinnia is intercepted by Diana’s brother, Charlie, who questions her about her appearance at the event. Charlie says he knows everyone who is supposed to be on the guest list, and doesn’t remember a Zinnia, though he plays it off as a joke. Zinnia asks Charlie to do a duel interview with him and Diana, posing as a journalist for FAME Magazine. Charlie agrees and introduces Zinnia to Diana. After a brief interaction, Zinnia tenses up. In front of her stands the bearded European assassin who was thought to have been killed by Sam Fisher. The assassin knows that Sam Fisher is in the building, and Diana tells the assassin to find Sam and take care of him.

Shaken out of her daze, Zinnia slips the decoy iPhone into Diana’s pocket and begins to make her escape. Just as Zinnia exits the building, waiting for Sam to arrive in his escape car, the bearded European man kicks Zinnia to the ground, knocks her out, and loads her into a van. Sam is too late and can’t save her. The credits roll as Sam puts his car into drive and chases the van that kidnapped Zinnia.

This episode has been somewhat of a culmination of the previous 4. All the parts are starting to come together. The women in Denmark, Thunder, Sam, and Zinnia, the two European mobsters, and the Shetlands all played crucial roles in advancing the story. What this episode did best was set up a thrilling finale, as the two final episodes serve as parts 1 and 2. In the final few episodes, a few things need to happen: We need to understand who Douglas Shetland is and why Sam Fisher hates him so much, we need to know what the deal is with the Eastern European mobsters, and finally, it would be nice (though this isn’t always the case) if Sam and Zinnia had neat and happy endings. With season 2 announced a few days ago, it will be exciting to see what the creators set up and leave open-ended at the end of the season.

Rating: 9/10