The second episode of Prime Target expands the scope dramatically, introducing us to a complex web of surveillance, mathematics, and mysterious deaths. Opening in France, we meet Denis attempting to flirt with an uninterested American woman, establishing the show’s international scope before diving into its main narrative.

The episode primarily focuses on two parallel storylines. The first involves an NSA surveillance operation called “Syracuse,” named after the ancient siege where mathematician Archimedes’s weapons held off the Roman Empire. We meet Taylah and her team, including new recruit Alex, who monitor mathematicians across Europe. Their job is to identify potential creators of dangerous digital weapons through mathematical research.

The second storyline follows Edward Brooks, a brilliant Cambridge University mathematics student whose work has been allegedly destroyed by his professor, Mallinder. When Edward refuses to apologize for accusing Mallinder of theft and destruction of his research, he faces dismissal from the college. Despite this setback, Edward remains in Cambridge, determined to uncover the truth.

The plot thickens with the revelation of Safiya, a mathematician who worked on similar research thirty years ago and had a complex relationship with Mallinder. The mystery deepens when Edward discovers that Safiya died by suicide three decades ago. This revelation gains new significance when Mallinder is found dead in his car, apparently from suicide.

However, Taylah makes a crucial discovery – Mallinder’s suicide message was artificially generated, suggesting murder disguised as suicide. When she brings this to her superior Olson’s attention, he dismisses her concerns and refuses to investigate further. The tension escalates when a mysterious representative from “Kaplar,” a research institute near Cambridge, approaches Edward about developing his work.

The episode concludes with a confrontation between Taylah and Olson about their true role in monitoring academics. When Taylah suggests taking their concerns to NSA headquarters at Fort Meade, Olson firmly ends the conversation, hinting at a larger conspiracy. The parallel between Safiya’s death thirty years ago and Mallinder’s recent “suicide” suggests a pattern of silencing mathematicians who get too close to certain discoveries.

Video Recap: