Monday, November 29, 2021

Alex Rider - Surf

Alex Rider (Otto Farrant) may have left the spy world behind, but the spy world isn't done with him just yet. Still traumatized by the events of the show's first season, and seeing the scar-faced man (Thomas Levin) around every corner, Alex agrees to a surf vacation with Jack (Ronke Adekoluejo) and Tom (Brenock O'Connor) in Cornwall. Little do they know the trip will turn out to be the thing to pull Alex back into the shadows, chasing ghosts no one else initially believes are really there.

For a time, things are good. He meets an attractive girl (Charithra Chandran) and her journalist father, but after tragedy strikes Alex can't ignore his instincts that the mysterious assassin is back and responsible for an attempt on the journalist's life. Unfortunately, no one believes Alex looking instead at a more simple explanation. He also finds no help at the Department of Special Operations which has pulled up stakes and relocated. It appears, not all that different from the first season, that Alex Rider is on his own. 

The Second Season is an adaptation of the fourth Alex Rider novel Eagle Strike. in which Alex sets off on his own to prove what he believes is true, and solve the attack on his friend's father. While Alex searches for answers, the course of the season will bring back some familiar faces and introduce a video game with a nefarious secret purpose and pit Alex against another melomaniac with plans to remake the world in his image.

"Surf" does its job highlight Alex's PTSD and painting him as far from the most reliable narrator. However, the sighting of our assassin and the attack on the journalist's life aren't things that Alex can ignore (even if local authorities ignore his outrageous conspiracy theories). The removal of the spy world former handlers puts Alex back at square one with no help or resources other than those that have been cultivated over the show's previous season.

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