If we thought Red Eye had already found the limit of measurement on the bonkers-o-meter, the sixth episode's twist as to who was behind the high casualty count aboard the night-time flight from London to Beijing showed such a limit does not exist.
Red Eye spoilers follow.
The finale episode takes us back to that fateful night in Beijing, as Shen Zhao and Doctor Nolan dance the night away in the sweaty, dark confines of the club. It's immediately easy to spot them among the writhing ranks because 6'2 Richard Armitage sticks out like a sore thumb. It's a wonder he qualified to play a spy in Spooks.
The mic-drop, plot twist "I see dead people" moment – one of many in this labyrinthine show – comes on the curb outside the club, where we see Madeleine's colleague-with-benefits Mike is also on the scene that night.
CIA agent Mike, alongside a small troupe of other US operatives, watch and listen in on the club goings-ons between Shen Zhao and Nolan. Mike, clearly a big baddie, orders Shen Zhao's death and has his lackeys arrange her body in Nolan's trashed car to make it look like he was responsible.
Back in the present day, the cursed flight has very rapidly returned to London, specifically to an airbase in Surrey, where a fleet of MI5 cars await.
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The docile passengers have still not let out a single peep about a journey even the pilot takes to the tannoy system to admit was an "ordeal" they all had to "endure". If this had all unfolded on a short-haul Ryanair flight, there could very well have been a passenger mutiny to add to the list of in-flight catastrophes. The most miffed this lot got was when the Wi-Fi went down.
A last-minute runway switcheroo means that po-faced Madeleine gets to the flight hatch door before her scenery-chewing work frenemy Tennant can. There's some serious rage overacting from the latter once he figures out he's been had.
Jess, Madeleine, Nolan and Hana zoom away back to London. It's the last we see of the eponymous plane, so a moment for the plane. Also, no mention of Hana's hijacking the flight last episode – water under the bridge, it seems.
Our Scooby Gang arrives at the US Embassy to meet Mike, looking suitably dishevelled and world-weary. At this point Madeleine finally becomes suspicious of Mike – henceforth to be known as Evil Mike. It was the Yanks behind it all along! So much for the special relationship.
Evil Mike instructs his lackeys to drug Hana and co, in order to nab the SIM card out from under them. Yes, that SIM card we had to watch Hana yuckily dig her fingers into Nolan's insides to retrieve. Would the SIM card even still work after being enmeshed in his bodily organs?
We would happily hand over that blood-soaked thing – but not this trio. They put two and two together and only pretend to drink the sedative-laced coffee they're served. After another switcheroo in which Jess pretends she's destroyed the real blood-and-guts SIM but actually just removed her Vodafone SIM – genius! – the gang escapes Evil Mike and the US Embassy to hole up in a nondescript car park.
There, they contact Tennant back at MI5 HQ, where it seems to be perpetually night. The contents of the SIM card is finally laid bare.
It is… drum roll… a bunch of hacker code. Even Tennant looks unimpressed when the data files are thrown up on the big screen. It's all got something to do with that Anglo-China nuclear deal we've heard oh so much about over the six episodes.
The code, if used by people who know what to do with such sinister reams of numbers and letters, would provide the ability to seize surreptitious control of the to-be-built nuclear power plants, sending their reactors into code-red meltdown.
The Americans apparently wanted the Brits to find this capability in amongst the virtual hardware, so they would be prompted to sever the Anglo-China partnership.
Given that bonkers begets bonkers here, this doesn't result in a stern transatlantic phone call but a stand-off. A gun-toting Evil Mike quite brazenly holds up Hana and Nolan in some London square.
There's a kerfuffle. Evil Mike shoots. Nolan takes the bullet and falls. Poor Armitage really has been through the wringer in this show and this is the apex of that. Yet it wasn't just some random London square, but – another twist – the gardens of the Chinese embassy! Evil Mike becomes Handcuffed Mike as the Chinese authorities march him away to some shadowy corner.
Fear not though, since this is TV and also the inimitable Richard Armitage we're talking about, Nolan pulls through. So, mercifully, he's still around for any and all bonkers thrills to come.
Red Eye airs on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
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Previously Deputy TV Editor at Digital Spy and, before that, a TV Reporter at The Mirror, Rebecca can now be found crafting expert analysis of the TV landscape, when she's not talking on the BBC or Times Radio about everything from the latest season of Bridgerton or The White Lotus to whatever chaos is unfolding in the various Love Island villas. When she's not bingeing a boxset, in-the-wild sightings of Rebecca have included stints on the National TV Awards and BAFTAs red carpets, and post-match video explainers of the reality TV we're all watching.
