Almeria
Episode 4 of Jaguar starts with our gang on the cusp of Almeria, preparing to find Heim. Now, Isabel has history with this guy given she used to be a housemaid for him during the war. We’ve seen these glimmers throughout the series but here it collates together into something tangible. It also helps to show how deep these wounds go for our protagonist. The first step though is to decode the letter they found. Santa Tecla appears to be a post box, which could well hold the clue, but with one day to go until Heim arrives – and no name registered under Bachmann at the local hotels – it seems the gang are chasing ghosts. Isabel though remembers what Ilse told her about the beaches and figures out that’s the best place to look. It works a treat too and it’s Deaf Man who finds the woman, tailing her back to a villa. As the gang take it in turns to stake out the property, renting out a property across the way in the process, we learn more about Marse’s struggles in the camps. His drawings speak volumes, as Isabel sits with him, and it paves way for a slick, gorgeously executed animation. Given how young Marse was at the time, he was forced to see – and commit – awful acts and that’s why the death of Heim’s assistant hit him so hard. In the morning, Lucena and Isabel watch as someone arrives at the property to greet Ilse. Only, his face is obscured and it takes rooting around in the trash to find the truth. Isabel is convinced that this is definitely Heim, thanks to the coffee sweet wrappers she remembers so vividly from the past. Lucena is not sure that’s enough, needing to be sure before diving into this mission. Thanks to Deaf Man and Castro’s investigative work, they figure out what the numbers are correlating to. It turns out it’s a berth at a private dock and the Santa Tecla is actually a boat, not a post box. This could well be a small boat bound for a freighter, allowing Heim to skip away undetected. Out at sea, Deaf Man confronts Castro and questions just what he’s been up to. Given he’s been signaling someone from his window at night, Deaf Man demands to know who. After nearly drowning him, Castro admits that he’s been meeting a guy in secret and this was their way of communicating. Thankfully it’s nothing that compromises the mission, but when Lucena finds out it certainly riles him up. Needing to get into the villa to confirm Heim’s identity, Castro is forced to pose as an electrician. He’s watched the entire time by the hired help inside the villa, although he keeps his wits about him and never loses his cool. Castro does his job, learning that a freighter passes Almeria on Sundays. At 3am, it goes to the nearest point on the coast – which would give Heim enough time to grab the fishing boat and hop aboard the freighter. The original idea about Africa seems to ring true too, given it’s bound for Egypt. When Bachmann and Heim leave, the crew follow and manage to corner their car. After blowing it up, they hold Heim up at gunpoint…but there’s a problem. It’s not Heim and in fact, it’s actually a decoy. The real Heim is down by the docks, and by the time our crew figure it out, it’s too late. They race down to the shore, scrambling aboard their speedboat bound for the freighter. As they pull up alongside it, gunshots echo through the air. One of those bullets pierces the engine for our speedboat but it all ends in disaster as they drive straight into the side of it, with the whole thing exploding in one fell swoop.
The Episode Review
Episode 4 is the shortest chapter of Jaguar but it’s certainty no less exciting. The show has done well so far with keeping the crew at arm’s length from the Nazis but now it seems they’ve closed in on their prey and are ready to strike. Understanding more about the history of our crew and what drives each of these men is a great inclusion too, and it helps to give Jaguar some real high-stakes throughout. The whole idea of these survivors banding together to destroy the secret Nazi escape routes is nicely executed and the production design is top notch. That much is especially true when it comes to the animated flashback, which is beautifully illustrated and helps to show the horrors of the camps without descending into needless visceral violence. That cliffhanger is sure to raise a few eyebrows though and thankfully we don’t have to wait too long to find out what happens next! Roll on the next chapter.
