As introduced in previous posts, because of the airing time occupied by the 2020 US Presidential election show, Episodes 1 and 2 of Season 4 were rescheduled by CBS and merged into one with a duration of 1:20'.
In this episode, intelligence determines that Al-Hazred's base could be located in one of three locations in the mountainous Spin Ghar. As per the Aries operation, each team will approach one of the locations and whichever team determine that their location is the base of the terrorist leader, they will notify the other 2 teams to mobilize there and coordinate the attack.
The difficulty for this mission is not only the complicated terrain, but also the limited surveillance: only one AC-130 bird to serve all 3 teams in different locations.
Ahead of the mission, Jason proves to be mentally unstable, he keeps reminiscing about a mission many years ago when he was in the position of Bravo 2 - the same position as Ray now. Under great pressure, Jason strictens the disciplines and requires the team members to focus on the mission, and that creates some dissatisfactions, reactions and complaints among the members.
In mission, the location that Bravo Team covers is determined to be the area of Al-Hazred's base. Teams Romeo and Echo are caught up in skirmishes with Tahara gunmen at their respective locations, so it take almost 2 hours before they can move to Bravo Team's location for reinforcement.
While waiting for the other two teams, Bravo Team is tracked down by the enemy and fiercely attacked. The dog Cerberus suffers panics by the sound of artillery, so she gets panicked and runs away quite far, Jason runs after her and he is unluckily hit by the explosions, rolling down the mountainside.
At this time, the AC-130 plane is away for refueling, so there is no information for Havoc base to support him. Jason is heavily wounded and most of his gears were lost. He is also isolated from his teammates and constantly attacked by the enemies. Jason has to deal with the enemies all alone with only a shotgun before being rescued by his teammates.
Finally, the two teams Romeo and Echo also arrive in time to join force in attacking Al-Hazred's base and chase the main target into a cave. In this moment, Jason flashes back his previous operation: because of his negligence, his teammate Cujo (then Bravo 2) was killed in mission. It's also revealed that Jason used to met Al-Hazred years ago when the terrorist was still a boy who is the son of the target package.
In a talk with Jason after the mission, Agent Mandy expresses her fatigue after years of participating in the war on terror - she says the battle is vague and endless. Maybe in the next episodes there would be a change in her career path.
The person who wrote the offensive letter to Ministry of Defense has been identified as Ray; however, Clay Spenser pleads guilty and the guy is now in risk of being disqualified from the STA-21 Program nomination.
