Wishful Thinking
As the soldiers rush into Tamayo’s apartment, they see a woman crying. The woman is Victoria, and she is sure that she will be caught soon. The soldiers are not interested in taking the woman and her professor out, however. They want to take them both out and leave.
Tamayo orders the soldiers to stay vigilant around his apartment and demands they use their military training to keep the area safe. He’s even called in the army to get involved too.
The Professor and Sierra work together quickly to come up with a plan to save Victoria. They rappel down the side of the building and through the kitchen, but Victoria doesn’t make a noise as they do so. This is lucky, because otherwise she would have likely been killed by the fall.
As the soldiers take to the streets and begin looking for the pair, they completely ignore Alicia while she’s wearing sunglasses and the Professor, who slip inside an apartment complex. Checking the post for the different properties, they settle on picking the lock to Apartment 2B, given the sheer amount of post they’ve left.
The search for the missing soldiers is ongoing, and it’s looking like they may not find any of them soon.
During the obligatory Berlin and Professor flashbacks, Berlin goes over his plan to turn 90 tons of gold to grains of rice, taking them through the pressure pumps he gained from the oil-station extraction heist last episode. The Professor is concerned, unsure whether these tanks can withstand that much pressurized gold. Berlin clings to “hopeful science” and promises that no one will take away his enthusiasm for this project.
The gang is in disarray as Lisbon takes charge and remains hopeful that they can get the gold out. Palermo comes back into the picture and is instrumental in getting the gold out through the extraction pumps.
The Professor and Sierra hide inside a sofa, stapling up the insides. Victoria serves as the perfect plot device, not crying during the most tense moments but making noises or crying hysterically every other time. A clever baby! Anyway, soldiers all enter the room and find the place is clear… despite a close call with Victoria letting out a little cry.
The Professor and Victoria end up eating dinner together; an uncomfortable, uncomfortable meeting of two people who are both sworn to their own morals and ideals. The Professor promises, deciding to do right by Victoria. A thin truce is enabled between them.
The bank’s troops are mobilization and Bogota and his men are scooping up buckets of the gold and moving it into the drain pipes. Using a pressure regulator and the “Stormwater tank”, their plan to move the gold out of the bank looks set to kick into high-gear.
The Professor’s men stand on the other side of the tank, waiting for Benjamin to turn the ingots back into gold. Benjamin is watching as the grains of gold finally release and come out the other side. Palermo’s calculations were correct and now Jermaine can turn this back into money.
The guys are not out of the woods just yet. Denver’s conflicted love triangle involving Stockholm, to Helsinki refusing to take on anesthetic, the surviving soldiers remain lurking in the shadows, ready to strike.
The Professor finally communicates with Benjamin through Shakir, his support in Asia. With the operation in full swing, Benjamin continues to work hard to make the gold ingots, working tirelessly through the night to make sure this operation is a success. ..
As the Professor and Sierra were being held hostage by the military blockages, they had a chance to escape. Alicia was also able to escape, but she is not sure what will happen next.
The Episode Review
That’s better! La Casa de Papel returns with a much better follow-up episode, one that gets back to the heist at hand with some flashbacks that actually feel integral and important to the story. Seeing more of Palermo and how he ties into all of this specifically, is definitely one of the highlights.
After a rough start to the Tokyo season, La Casa De Papel seems to have recovered and is now on track for a dramatic conclusion. While these later seasons haven’t reached the brilliance of the first two or three, there’s still enough here to enjoy. Let’s hope for the next chapter! ..
