I started watching this episode with a lot of curiosity about how Srikant will capture Faizan and I can safely say that the plot didn’t disappoint.

The eighth episode of The Family Man starts with Srikant calling the U.S. Consulate in Islamabad. He speaks to the head, Bruce Lennington. This is the man Srikant was talking about in the previous episode. Srikant tells him that he has information about Faizan’s location. This gets  Bruce excited because Faizan has been on the US’s Most Wanted list for a long time. However, this information isn’t  for nothing. Srikant makes a pact that if he gives Bruce this information then Srikant should be allowed to interrogate Faizan in person. Bruce agrees. 

Srikant gives him the coordinates of Faizan’s location. Bruce and his team work on finding the exact location. Srikant has the coordinates from when TASC managed to intercept Faizan and Sajid’s call outside the wedding. From the same call, Srikant uses Sajid’s voice to call Faizan. As Faizan picks up the call and recognises Sajid’s voice, the team at the U.S. Consulate starts tracking his location. Sajid’s voice is played on loop and for better network connectivity, Faizan comes to the terrace of his hiding place. Bruce’s team spots him. Next, we see a helicopter hovering over the head of a helpless Faizan.

In the next scene, we see a meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Islamabad. The meeting has ministers and Generals from the army in attendance. The fact that Faizan had been hiding in Pakistan is very concerning for them. The Prime Minister is worried that if Pakistan doesn’t take steps against this then the U.S. will stop providing them with aid. General Khurshid thinks that General Ansari is the black sheep who has been helping harbour terrorists in Pakistan. General Ansari is the same General whom Sameer was referring to in the previous episodes. The PM asks Khurshid to find out who is involved with Ansari because Ansari is a well-respected officer in Pakistan. Taking action against him will be controversial.

Suchi prepares to leave for a meeting with investors in Lonavala. She gives instructions to the kids about the day. Arvind comes to her home to pick her up. Dhriti doesn’t like this and tells her mother that it seems as though Suchi is going on a picnic. This scene shows how children often get cranky and irritated when their mother tries to have a life beyond them. The kids leave for school and Suchi and Arvind leave for the meeting.

Faizan has been captured. Srikant speaks to his boss on the phone to grant him permission to interrogate Faizan in Balochistan. Srikant’s boss does not give him  permission to go to Pakistan. However, Srikant is determined to go as he realises that Faizan’s interrogation is the key to finding out about Mission Zulfiqar. Srikant suggests going to Balochistan unofficially. His boss apprises him of the risks of doing so but finally, gives in.

In Pakistan, General Ansari and Major Sameer discuss Faizan’s capture. They abuse the PM as they are not in favour of his policies and ideologies. Sameer suggests that they should carry on with the second phase of Zulfiqar as Faizan didn’t have much information about it. They decide to implement it in the next 48 hours.

Srikant reaches Kandahar in Afghanistan. A RAW agent, Mustafa picks him from the airport and drives him to Balochistan. In the journey, they discuss the story that they will be telling the officials at Pakistan’s entry - Srikant’s name is Fahd Ahmed and he and Mustafa are going to Quetta in relation to their business.

In Lonavala, Suchi and Arvind share the same hotel room. They get ready for the meeting. Cut to the meeting where Nikhil, the CEO gives the closing remarks of his pitch. Suchi asks if she can add some points to Nikhil’s speech. On getting the green signal, Suchi gets up and gives a powerful speech about why the investors should invest money in the start-up. It is full of wit and impresses the investors. Suchi truly shines like a star in this moment as the whole room claps for her. 

Arvind, Suchi and Nikhil catch up after the meeting over drinks. Arvind compliments her for her speech. She calls home to check up on her kids and tells them that she will be late. Dhriti assures her that she will take care of everything and cuts the call. Grabbing this rare opportunity of freedom, Dhriti says yes to a midnight party for her friend’s birthday.

Srikant and Mustafa arrive at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border check post. The officials ask them for some documents that Mustafa provides. The officials doubt their identity and ask them to wait for further security checks. Srikant smartly bribes an officer and they successfully enter Pakistan.

Dhriti puts Atharv to bed and leaves for her party. Atharv pretends to be asleep and wakes up as soon as his sister leaves. Having the house to himself, he has his own party with chips, ice-cream and television.

Nikhil tells Suchi and Arvind that the investors have agreed to fund their startup. They are elated.

Dhriti reaches the party but doesn’t seem to enjoy herself. She drinks alcohol but spits it out the next moment. The birthday boy offers her a pill but she throws it away. He then leans in to kiss her but she pushes him back and he falls down. Furious, he calls her a party-pooper and shames her in front of everybody. Crying, she leaves the party and takes an auto home.

Fully enjoying his freedom, Atharv manages to unlock his father’s secret room that has all of Srikant’s important files and documents related to TASC. He finds a gun in one of the drawers and is enchanted by it. He thinks it is a toy gun and starts playing with it. Suddenly, he hears the sound of keys and hides the gun under a pillow on the couch and pretends to be asleep. Dhriti comes in and runs into the bathroom, crying. Atharv feels bad for her and tries to comfort her.

Suchi and Arvind decide that they will leave early morning the next day. Suchi sleeps on the bed while Arvind sleeps on the couch outside. Both of them are unable to sleep. They talk on text messages for a while.

The next morning, Srikant reaches the safehouse where the CIA has kept Faizan.

Arvind and Suchi are on their way to home. In the car, there is sexual tension between them again. Suchi comes back to a messy home with open packets of chips lying down here and there. The kids are asleep. She calls Srikant and they both ask each other how they are doing. Suchi asks him when he is coming back. When Srikant doesn’t answer she tells him to come back soon. Since it is time to go inside the safehouse, Srikant cuts the call without answering her. This makes Suchi angry.

Srikant, Mustafa and their team enter the safe house, kill the men guarding it and take Faizan and leave. Faizan thanks Srikant for saving him. But wait, what is Srikant doing? What is happening? Oh, so Srikant pretends to be from ISI. Srikant tells him that the PM planned this escape. He rebukes Faizan for hiding in Pakistan without the authorities knowing about it. Srikant brings up the topic of Zulfiqar and gives Faizan two options. First, abort Mission Zulfiqar, give ISI the location of the two terrorists in India (i.e. Moosa and Sajid) and safely flee to Saudi. Second, they’ll have to kill Faizan as Pakistan’s reputation is ruined because of him. Obviously, Faizan agrees to the former. In the next scene, we see a hopeful Faizan coming out with Srikant. But to Faizan’s surprise, American authorities are waiting outside for him. Srikant hands Faizan over to them and thanks Bruce telling him that he got the information he needed from Faizan.

The visit to Balochistan is successful. Finally, we get to know what  Mission Zulfiqar is about. There is a stock of nerve gas in Kashmir. The original plan was that Asif and Moosa would bring that nerve gas stock to Delhi and Moosa would make a bomb from it. But since Asif got caught, Sajid, a more dangerous terrorist, was brought in as Asif’s replacement. Srikant guesses that Sajid is probably bringing that stock from Kashmir to Delhi right now and Moosa is hiding somewhere. Both of them will finally meet in Delhi. A nerve gas attack means an act of war. This isn’t possible without government support. Once attacked, India will have to declare a war on Pakistan and during this time, General Ansari will carry out a coup. Srikant suggests that the government of Pakistan should be involved and they should work collectively to stop this mission. Srikant’s boss appreciates him for a job well done. Then, his boss calls the PM’s office in India and tells him about the whole situation. The PM says they can’t afford war right now. Kulkarni, the boss, suggests that the PM of India call the PM of Pakistan to stop Zulfiqar and find out more information about it.

All in all, this episode was really thrilling. The way Srikant gets information from Faizan was satisfying to watch. In this episode the scenes alternate between Srikant’s life, Suchi’s life and the kids’ life. The makers of the show have done a great job on the storytelling.

Episode Rating: 4/5