Amazon’s Hanna
2×06: “You’re With Us Now”
Directed by Ugla Hauksdóttir
Written by Charlotte Hamblin

* For a recap & review of 2×05, “A Way to Grieve” – click here
* For a recap & review of 2×07, “Tacitus” – click here
Sandy keeps on keeping on with her fake family life online, though she feels like a “caged bird” and she’s getting excited for college. Hanna’s becoming more a part of the Meadows with the rest of the Utrax girls. She seems happy on the outside, yet there’s still sadness. She seems to have buried it, at least for now. Can anything break her out of it at this point? Meanwhile, Carmichael hears of a whistleblower code-named Tacitus who’s been attempting to reach out to a reporter in London named Nicola Gough (Valene Kane) to spill the beans on Utrax. He’s being tasked with sending some of the girls on their first mission. No doubt Hanna will have to take a break from reading Kafka’s The Metamorphosis soon.
Sure enough, she and Jules are being tasked with their “first engagement“— they have to find out the real identity of Tacitus, as well as prevent Ms. Gough from reporting on Utrax. Hanna’s being sent for obvious reasons. Jules is curious why she was chosen. It’s largely due to her sexuality being weaponised, given that they need to gain access to Nicola through the journalist’s partner, Bethany James (Ellie Piercy), who lectures in Culture and Gender Studies at London South Bank University.

Hanna keeps holding onto those passports.
Has she really let go the idea of escape? Maybe she’s playing the long game to get Clara out of there. She mentions what Marissa told them about Samira still being alive, somewhere out there. Clara’s not willing to totally believe it, but something tells me that Hanna’s keeping it in mind.

And someplace else, in Camp G, the CIA are holding Marissa.
They have questions. And her refusal to talk isn’t looking great for her at the moment. They want to know about who was helping, but Marissa won’t give up Stephen. The CIA wants to know whether Hanna knew about the other person. We know she saw Stephen. But Marissa’s not saying shit. She also claims her dog’s name is Tacitus with a defiant smile.
Off to London go Hanna and Jules, separately. It’s interesting to see Hanna out there in the real world again, but all alone, and at a college, no less. She’s playing further into the whole talking to Terri as if the analyst is actually her father on the other end-bit. Then she goes down for a drink and winds up ‘meeting’ Jules and another girl. After that, they wind up perfectly in a seminar with Bethany. Later on, Jules goes back to see Bethany, acting like she’s having personal struggles. It’s really just a way to reel the professor in a bit with Hanna watching in the wings. Jules get an invite to a “political gathering” from Bethany and her wife.
Back at the Meadows, Sandy’s angry that she wasn’t picked for a mission, whereas Hanna, who’s only been there a while, gets chosen to go. But it’s not long and she gets called to Carmichael’s office. She and Clara will be sent on a mission of their own. Are they the ones headed for Barcelona, as per the latest Tacitus correspondence? Yes, indeed. Hanna hears about it from Jules, and it has her curious.

In Barcelona, Sandy settles in. Clara’s doing the same and she runs into a young handsome dude named Juan (Oscar Casas) who lives in the same building where she has an apartment. In London, Hanna’s found on the street by Stephen. He explains to her what he’s been doing and that he needs to know what Carmichael wants them to do. But the girl refuses to listen. That doesn’t mean Stephen’s going to give up, either. That evening, Hanna and Jules go to Nicola and Bethany’s little soiree. Hanna goes to find a drink and runs into Nicola in the kitchen. The secret assassin questions her all about journalism, as if that’s what she’s studying to do herself.
They’re interrupted when Nicola receives a phone call from Tacitus. She goes outside for privacy and Hanna listens nearby, hearing the name of a reporter from Barcelona, Alba Paredes, who’ll help break the story. Hanna goes snooping around and snaps a few photos of the journalist’s notes before slipping out the window to send ‘dad’ the pics. She gets back to the kitchen in time to be waiting for Nicola. Very good moment here where Nicola mentions working on a story about the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland because it resonates deeply with Hanna and the Utrax girls’ story, paralleling what the CIA has done with what the Roman Catholic Church did there. Nicola’s utterance of “unmarked graves” especially hits home for Hanna.

Terri looks through the notebooks with Leo.
Tacitus is likely Robert Gelder (Mark Bazeley), a military lawyer with classified access, whose daughter Kat (Angela Sari) is a student in Barcelona— a student Sandy’s tasked with getting to know. This comes to the attention of Carmichael and he is PISSED, you can see it. He won’t tell Leo anything more about Tacitus, but it’s clear to see he’s stressed about this latest development. And what about Marissa in her dark cell? One of the guards says they’re going to spring her eventually. Right now, he has to play the bad cop role and smacks her down.
Next step for Hanna and Jules? “Intercept” Nicola before her flight to Barcelona. This troubles Hanna, so she goes to meet Stephen and tells him everything about the Tacitus situation. They walk, separated a good distance so they look like strangers, until reaching a building where Stephen’s been working with Rachel (Jill Winternitz)— they’re on the side of “the angels.” The two of them tell Hanna about the pioneer group of Utrax, a bunch of “nationalist radicals” within the CIA. They’re going to carry out assassinations the world over. Stephen and Rachel believe Tacitus knows the location of the targets, and they need to get to him before Carmichael and the rest do. Unfortunately for Hanna she never thought that Jules might be watching her and reporting back to Leo. This marks the girl for erasure from the program, which Carmichael tells Leo to handle personally.

Hanna and Jules are going to find and kill their target. They’re followed by Stephen closely. Right as the train arrives, Hanna pushes Jules off and pulls her gun. However, it’s a ruse to get Hanna on the train by herself where two other operatives are waiting to kill her. She’s been given a gun with no ammo. This puts her in a hand-to-hand fight with the two. When Jules discovers she’s being followed by Stephen she lures him in and puts a couple bullets in his stomach.
This sends Hanna rushing. But she can’t stop Jules, who gets a quick hand from Leo.
This leaves Stephen and Nicola both murdered in the station. Not just that, Hanna’s alone once more. Maybe she’ll return to Rachel. Otherwise, she doesn’t even have Marissa to call. Over in Barcelona, Gelder’s watched by Clara. Is she going to pull her trigger?

Soundtrack: “$Hot” by ABRA plays over the credits
A great, sinister chapter of Hanna! I do want some more major action again, though. I’d really like Hanna to go bust Marissa out of Camp G so they can get back to being ass-kickers in solidarity. Should be fun to watch the last couple episodes play out.