Still on the run after 21 days, are family man Nick Cummings, best friends Anna and Elizabeth and dubious friends Ayo and Madu who have since gone their separate ways.
After taking a backseat in the last couple of episodes, Anna and Elizabeth feature a bit more heavily here. I like the two girls. They're young, perhaps a little naive, but spunky and determined. Their relationship strongly reminds me of last year's winners, Ian and Stephen, who were good entertainment.
When we catch up with the girls, we find out that they are hiding in Warwickshire. Deputy Ben Owen of the Hunters, formally in military intelligence, predicts that now the fugitives are so close to the finish line, they'll return home to group for that one final push. So the Hunters unleash another social media campaign. Meanwhile, the girls fall into the Hunters' trap. They return to their home country of Yorkshire and after hiking through the Yorkshire Dales for two days, they make contact with a Steve Barnett who shelters them. However, the Hunters have Barnett on their radar and move to intercept him. The girls make it away in time.
After Nick Cummings spectacularly tricking the Hunters last episode, he is in more of the background here. From Tring, Hertfordshire, he's moved south to Buckinghamshire, where he is visiting some childhood haunts. He then makes the wise decision of changing his clothes and that's all we se see of him for this episode. Great, as that means he'll be in next week's finale. Although anyone else find it strange that the Hunters didn't question Richard after catching him last week?
Time to move to Ayo who I was sure would be caught last episode. He makes the foolhardy decision of returning to his home turf of Hackney with the Hunters in hot pursuit. With ground teams, drone and dogs, I thought that Ayo would be dead meat, but no, one of his friends successfully drove him to safety. This was where I was glad to see Ayo finally showing some common sense. When his friend suggests to take Ayo to his mother's house, Ayo straight-out refuses knowing that it is not safe. Smart decision, as the Hunters have target Ayo's mother, but he continues to evade them.
Finally, we have come to Madu. We've not seen much of him, as he's been overshadowed by the louder, more extroverted Ayo. But now the two have split up, Madu finally got his moment to shine. Originally hiding with a stranger in Lancashire, Madu decides to go to Swansea to get into contact with some of his ex-university friends, falling into the Hunters' trap. The Hunters predict he would return to Swansea and pay a visit to his main contact. They take the electronics and leave. When Madu arrives, he is warned off and stays in a derelict beach house, where we see him start to break. Just like last year's formidable Ricky Allen, we see Madu beginning to give up. This is where he realises that he's pushed his luck and decides to leave Wales, committing two rookies errors in the process. Firstly, he uses a stranger's phone to call a contact, whom the Hunters are monitoring, to ask for more money. Secondly, he decides to get on a train to Reading. As the station is crawling with CCTV, the Hunters quickly spot Madu and identify where he is likely to be heading. Unable to stop him from getting on the train, they dispatch a team to Reading, but Madu gets there first. He wanders through the town centre telling everyone about his plans and asking where he can go to me meet his contact. With the Hunters right on his tail, Madu's paranoia grows and he heads out of the city onto the canal. Here he tells eve more people about his plans before he is directed to meet his contact at the Cunning Man pub. Madu goes to the pub, but he realises his foolhardiness when he notices how many security cameras there are. Oh and that the Hunters are lying in wait too. After a brief chase, Madu is caught.
It is very interesting to see the role reversal of Madu and Ayo. Wherea before, Ayo was the more reckless one, in this episode it is Madu whose overconfidence and carelessness that gets him caught. This was a surprise, as I thought he had a good chance, now that he had separated from Ayo. Although there is something quite telling in how the loose cannon Ayo is still at large, but it was the methodical, organised Madu who got caught. Perhaps Ayo's more unpredictable, foolhardy approach like Ayo.
So next week is the season finale with Ayo, Anna and Elizabeth and Nick Cummings still on the run. Will any of them make it for the full 28 days? I sure hope so. GO NICK!
Top tips for going on the run:
1. Don't call or visit home. This is the first place Hunters will look. It's what almost caught out Anna and Elizabeth.
2. Don't use the trains. Not only are they crawling with CCTV, but the Hunters can easily predict your next move. This is what caught out Madu.
3. Don't become overconfident. You're never safe, only safer. Madu's overconfidence is just another reason he got caught this week.
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