Diksha Sundriyal
Things start to heat up in the penultimate episode of Prime Video’s ‘The Night Manager’ Season 2, as some shocking deaths happen on both sides. The episode begins with Roper realising that the man who destroyed him the last time has returned ten years later to do the same thing all over again. This time, Roper is not ready to give up so easily, even if it means shedding some blood on his end. At the same time, Jonathan Pine, too, finds himself cornered as Roper outs his identity and leaves him stranded in Colombia, with no support from the British intelligence, including the invaluable guidance and support of Basil. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Basil Remains Loyal to the Cause to the End
At the end of the fourth episode, Richard Roper discovers that Jonathan Pine is Matthew Ellis, aka Andrew Birch, the Hong Kong investor whom Teddy had hoped to use for his money. Of course, Teddy had no idea who he was dealing with, but Roper had been burned by Pine before, and he was in no mood to repeat the same mistake all over again. So, he decides to take charge of things and close ranks, while also immediately communicating Pine’s real identity to Mayra Cavendish, who has been in cahoots with him since the beginning. The main purpose of this act is to strip Pine of his support system. Roper knows that no matter how manipulative and resourceful Pine might be, there is no way he has been operating alone. To pull off what he did with Teddy, he still needed $20 million, and he couldn’t have had it if someone within the agency wasn’t backing him. By finding that person, there is a chance to find out where Pine is and how much he actually knows about the operation.
It doesn’t take a lot for Mayra to put two and two together. She had her doubts about Basil before, but she hadn’t been too keen to follow them because she had no idea Basil could be capable of pulling off such a mission right under her nose. But with Pine’s identity out in the open, there is no one but Basil who could be Pine’s point person in London. It does little digging to discover that Basil has been investigating on his own. He fooled Adam Holywell into giving up his phone and revealing crucial information about the whole plan. He also rented a flat right across the street to keep an eye on Mayra and her operation. Clearly, he knows enough to damage everything, so she uses the carrot as well as the stick to get the truth about Pine out of him. Basil is tortured, his loyalty is questioned, and Mayra tries to talk sweetly to him to get the truth out of him, but nothing works. Despite all the pain and the knowledge of what will happen to him if he doesn’t give up, he stands by Pine and reveals nothing.
With the delivery of the shipment so close and Roper getting serious about finding and punishing traitors, there is too much at stake. This also leaves Mayra with no time to deal with Basil. Perhaps if she had it, she could have worn him down, but things are happening too quickly, and she needs to be on top of everything. When it becomes clear that Basil is not going to break, she decides to cut him loose once and for all. At least it will leave Pine with absolutely no one to turn to, and he will get more desperate and hopefully make mistakes. So, in the end, as Mayra leaves the room, another man walks in with a gun. The look on Basil’s face suggests he already knows what’s about to happen. Then we hear a gunshot, and later, Mayra appears distressed, as if she had been forced to do something that she didn’t feel like she had signed up for. All of this suggests that Basil has been shot dead, making him yet another casualty in Pine’s mission to bring down Richard Roper.
Read More: The Night Manager: Are the Dogs Dead? Why does Roper Kill Them?
