Shooter Episode 2.02 Remember the Alamo

Bob Lee looks into the terrorist attack that may have targeted his Marine unit; Memphis helps on the ground in Germany; Flashbacks to Afghanistan help shed light on who might be after them.

As Bob Lee Swagger (Ryan Phillippe) continues to follow the trail of those responsible for the attack in Frankfurt, Germany, he finds that it leads five years back, all the way to Afghanistan and an old adversary. Meanwhile, Isaac Johnson (Omar Epps) is on the run in Bangkok but not running fast enough, and Julie Swagger (Shantel VanSanten) is back in Texas, but can't get far enough from the trauma of the attack.

Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2012

Swagger and his unit head into a town on a tip and come upon a massive stash of heroin. After capturing the village in a firefight, they prepare the take the body of the local mullah with them over the objection of his wife and son. They are debating what to do with the drugs when they get word of hostiles approaching. Swagger sets up on overwatch while Colin Dobbs (Todd Lowe) offers cigarettes to the men they found guarding the heroin. He skips the one who fought back, Waheed Zakeera, but drops his matchbook and the Waheed grabs it. Later, Waheed is angry with the Americans and asks them why they're going to destroy the drugs, saying: "We work for you!"

The Maltese Impostors

Angela Tio (Jaina Lee Ortiz) helps Dobbs and Swagger follow up on the attackers. They were Turkish but had passports from Malta. Those are easily bought, so Swagger is looking for answers. After learning the Maltese Consul is leaving the country, he wants a chance to talk to him first. He and Dobbs stage an abduction, in which they fake shooting the ambassador's aide to learn who bought the passports. He gives them the name "Golden Crescent". Before they can leave, they're interrupted by armed men -- and Nadine Memphis (Cynthia Addai-Robinson). She's there on special assignment to bring Swagger home. He tells her about the Golden Crescent and asks for time to run it down. She gives them until her flight leaves at midnight.

Close Call with the Enemy

In the ballroom crime scene, the mystery sniper poses as a German investigator and learns two Marines are MIA. Later, Memphis finds the man going through Swagger's things in his hotel room. She's suspicious, but mentions the Golden Crescent to him. He explains they're a crime syndicate and he gives her a cell phone number to trace. When he leaves the room he makes a call, warning someone to clear out a warehouse immediately. So when Tio, Dobbs, and Swagger arrive there a short while later, it's completely empty. They find evidence that the bomb vests were made there, and also a matchbook from the Black Wolf bar in Austin, TX. Dobbs recognizes it immediately as the one he dropped in Helmand.

Julie's Unease Follows Her Home

Julie is back home with Mary and the nanny Estella in Texas, but she's still not recovered from the overseas attack. She's anxious and badly bruised from diving to the ballroom floor. To make up for biting Mary's head off over nothing, he takes her out for breakfast for lunch, in their PJs. The quality mother-daughter time seems to help, but Julie is very aware that they're exposed without Bob Lee around.

Johnson Loses Everything

Isaac makes plans to get his wounded wife attention. He stops by his gym to pick up their passports and money, while she waits in the car outside. Inside, Johnson is jumped by an assassin. He's on the wrong end of a chokehold but manages to get the man's gun and kill him to escape. He races back to the car, but is crushed to find his wife has been murdered in the short time he was gone.

Tracing a Bad Lead

Memphis traces the number the sniper gave her to Lashkargah Bank in Frankfurt, but she calls Swagger with the info before the man she believes was local law enforcement. Meanwhile the sniper heads to the bank to meet with the man who hired him -- the man from Helmand, Waheed. The shooter doesn't seem terribly concerned with pleasing the man who hired him.

In flashback, we learn that Waheed's mother had told Swagger's unit whom the drugs belong to: Hugh Meachum, with the CIA. Swagger and Johnson decided to burn the pile just the same and take Waheed's mother with them for questioning.

Back in the present, Swagger, Dobbs, and Tio bust into the bank under cover of darkness and find bodies everywhere. Swagger finds Waheed, barely alive and strapped to a chair with a bomb vest on. Swagger recognizes him and then has seconds to dive for cover before Waheed explodes.

All Roads Lead Back to Helmand

Flashbacking to overwatch, Swagger is picking off the advancing enemy as fast as he can but finally there are too many and they pack up for exfiltration. Back at base, Johnson and Swagger try to make sense of what they just stepped in. Johnson knows the intel to hit the town came from Meachum, who apparently was cleaning house. "We burned $100 million of CIA dope. You don't think there's going to be some blowback?" Johnson says.

Chickens Coming Home to Roost

After losing his wife, Johnson decides it's time to stop running and return to the States. He's stopped by Customs at the Canadian border. There's an Interpol notice on him saying he's a threat to national security. Johnson isn't in the mood to explain himself and instead looks into the security camera and says only: "Patricia Gregson".

On the U.S./Mexico border, the sniper uses a coyote to cross onto U.S. soil, then kills his transport. The fight that started on foreign ground is coming home.