Secret Santa - Recap

The episode opens in the middle of a desert in Kabul, Afghanistan and there is a group making weapons of some sort. Posing as a thirsty “friend”, US. Forces sneak in. They find an American in the group that knows what they are looking for. Back in the Lightman Group, it is Christmas time and Emily brings in a big Christmas tree. She also brings Rick Massey, who is a “friend” of Emily’s. Lightman tries to hang around and make small talk but Emily tells him to leave. Deputy Assistant to the President Lennox needs their help with a top secret task that involves 2 marines that have gone missing in Afghanistan. She tells that the U.S. Forces found a man, Franco Vincent, who claims to know where the Marines are being held. The broadcast that Lightman takes a crack at is distorted and hard to read. He has a feeling that he is going to have to be sent to Afghanistan to get a proper read on Franco he is right.

Emily tells that Lightman that he needs to draw a name for the Secret Santa. He tells her that he is going to gone for a couple of days. Lightman questions Emily where her new boyfriend Dick is. Realizing his joke she laughs and tells him that he went home to study. Lightman seems to like that and gives Emily a wad of cash to purchase the best lights for the tree that money can buy. He draws a name for the Secret Santa and laughs. Foster tells that he can’t go to “that place again” and Lightman claims that he will be alright. In Afghanistan, a truck enters a compound and Lightman is on it. Lightman enters the bunker John Parks, team commander, is there. The Lightman Group are watching via satellite and Lightman starts to question the newly shaven Franco Vincent. Franco, at the answer to his address, rattles it off quickly like it is memorized. He fails on many questions that Lightman gives and says that the marines could be held at the safest location. This means that there are more then one. Lightman calls Franco a Traitor. Parks wants to know if the mission is a go or not, Lightman says that 70% he is lying. Parks aborts the mission.

Lightman wants to examine Franco further. He has a plan that will speed things up. Ed Kominsky from the state department arrives to monitor the progress of Lightman while in Afghanistan to monitor the prisoner as well. Lightman enters in and points a gun on Franco. He attempts to fight but the Marines that were going to be sent to the compound are there. This shows that Franco is a fighter. The marines get in Franco’s face and tell them of their lives and get the traitor angry. This gets Franco thinking about whose side he is on. The whole time back in the Lightman group, Foster is alerting Ed Kominsky of the reasons to why Lightman is doing this. Torres spills her soda on Foster and tells her that she needs to get that out now, there is something that she needs to tell. Franco agrees to the terms, but wants that every question to require a question answered from Lightman. Franco shows them on the map where they are hiding the Marines. Lightman tells Parks that Franco is still with the Taliban but is on Lightman’s side and he is telling the truth. Torres and Foster are in the bathroom and Torress tells that there is a connection between Kominsky and Franco. Foster has picked up on it too. Emily walks in asking if they have heard from Lightman and Foster tells her that he is just really swamped and goes back into the room and locks the door.

Back in Afghanistan, Franco recognizes the cave and Franco asks if he is ever going to get home. Lightman tells him that if he does, it is not going to be good. The Marines go in the cave and it is raided with Taliban. Parks and another Marine go for Franco with a knife. He tells one of the Marines that speaks the language that dying would be an honor, but he is not lying that he didn’t know it was an ambush. Back at the Lightman group, Kominsky watches with close attention. Torres moves the camera on Kominsky and Lightman realizes that Franco recognizes him. He questions Franco, who lies and denies knowing him. Lightman kills the feed to the Lightman group. They tie Franco up and now he has changed his tune about dying for honor and wants to get home after seeing Kominsky. Franco tells that there is another way in. Franco tells Lightman that he gets high for war and Lightman loves to be in the middle of it. Lightman tells about Bosnia 1994. He tells that he was really close to death and that it is was a rush. Now it’s Franco’s turn. He tells them to go left and find a rock with an arch. That is the other way in. Lightman gets inside the real meaning to why he is acting up and knows that if it goes south, then he won’t be the only one to blame. If it succeeds, then everyone is going to welcome him home.

Foster meets with the Assistan Deputy to the President Lennox to get some information on Kominsky. She tells that he is a Pentagon Ghost. She doesn’t know anything about Franco. Lightman is back online but Emily walks in and sees that Lightman is not in Florida. During the rescue mission, the base that Lightman is in starts to get attacked and the feed is lost to the Lightman Group. The group fears that he might be dead. Lightman and Franco are talking about their secrets and it is a game of tag as Lightman tells that he was intelligence in Bosnia. He tells Franco that he betrayed himself but not his country. We find out that Franco’s real name is not who he is saying but that of Special Agent Glenn Welsh. Glenn wanted Special Opts, but he was in a bar fight. He tells that he was knifed in the back during training and that he was betrayed. Lightman feels that he knows how they found Glenn’s location. He holds him on the ground and starts digging in his back with a knife.

Meanwhile at the Lightman Group, Glenn’s Aunt Wendy is there and she starts to tell lie after lie. Finally she starts telling the truth about how the CIA came to her and said that she could help serve her country. Foster tells Kominsky that it was his idea to leave Glenn to rot. But Kominsky says that his battery died on the tracker and they lost track of him but leaves disgruntled. In the bunker in Afghanistan, Lightman pulls out the battery tracker from Glenn’s back and he tells Lightman that he was one of the good guys until the Marines came and beat him up. That is when he went with the Taliban. Foster tells Emily to tell her mother about Lightman in fear that he is dead. Emily says that Lightman can tell her when he gets home. In the bunker, Lightman feels that Glenn is going to fight on the right side and gives him the weapon. Glenn waits for the Taliban to enter as the team escapes. Lightman gets his home address before leaving. The base is blown up as Lightman and the rest escape. Glenn is left inside.

Lightman visits the home of Special Agent Welsh and Kominski is there. He tells that if he tells the truth of Welsh, he would be breaking the law. Lightman tells that he doesn’t care and that the people have a right to know the truth. Kominski agrees and asks if he could do the talking. Meanwhile, the Lightman Group Christmas party is underway and a lot of people are not there because of the snow issues. Emily is sitting in the office when Lightman walks in. Lightman apologizes and Emily tells him that she was scared. She tells him to never do that ever again. They walk out and join the Christmas party. Lightman tells that he got Loker in the Secret Santa and gives him a bag. It is one of the snowflakes from Afghanistan. Loker puts it on the tree.

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