Line #1 YMMV/StrikeBack


1	* CompleteMonster: While most of the villains in the series have [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes loved ones]] or [[EvenEvilHasStandards some form of honor]], these two, from "Project Dawn", have neither:
2	** [[BigBad Latif]], a [[MiddleEasternTerrorists Pakistani terrorist leader]], is the mastermind behind ''Project Dawn'', which aims to strike back at the West for "Trojan Horse" [[note]]a plan involving planting nerve gas in Iraq, possibly to justify [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror the US invasion of Iraq]][[/note]]; his actions, however, would [[DisproportionateRetribution possibly kill thousands of innocent people]]. After kidnapping and executing John Porter from the first season, [[DeadPersonImpersonation Latif poses as a Pakistani intelligence officer]] so he can assist Section 20. He also sends a group of terrorists to storm a hotel in hopes of finding a scientist named Mahmood, with dozens killed in the chaos. After the crisis is resolved, Latif reveals himself to Mahmood and proceeds to interrogate and kill her. With the assistance of several mercenaries, Latif uses the intelligence he gained from Mahmood to find hidden caches of [[DeadlyGas VX nerve gas]] around the world. He then conspires with drug and ArmsDealer Fatmir Hasani to construct an organ farm so that his doctor, Irina Mullova, will have plenty of candidates to aid him with his plans. Once Latif acquires the location of the final nerve gas cache from [[TheMole Joseph Allen]], he immediately has Allen killed, shortly before having Fatmir killed as well [[YouHaveFailedMe for taking a risk that nearly exposed him to Section 20]]. With Mullova's help, Latif plants the nerve gas with two suicide bombers so they can attack a World Summit. Latif murders Mullova [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness after her work is done]], lures his men to Section 20 where they kill most of their personnel, and then kidnaps Colonel Grant and Pakistani presidential candidate General Akmal Ramiz. Furious over their knowledge of Trojan Horse, Latif demands that they confess to the operation on camera, or he'll set off one of the two bombs. He murders Ramiz after he refuses, but Grant complies. Even after she confesses, Latif activates the bomb anyway in hopes of killing thousands.
3	** [[ArcVillain Episodes 5 & 6]]: [[ScaryBlackMan Tahir]] is the leader of a group of [[AfricanTerrorists Janjaweed rebels]] who RapePillageAndBurn as they please, also kidnapping children in hopes of [[ChildSoldiers raising them to be soldiers]]. After Tahir's rebels kidnap Dr. Clare Somersby, the daughter of [[ArmsDealer Gerald Crawford]], and her entourage, Tahir guns down Clare's fiancé, deeming him invaluable. When Tahir agrees to give Clare back to her father in exchange for the weapons he promised him, Tahir responds by cutting off her right ear upon discovering that Crawford is still short on the weapons. He brings Clare back to his camp and spends his time tormenting her; he dares her to dig through a mass grave in order to find her fiancé's body, and later tries to seduce her, all while his soldiers are getting ready to gang rape Clare's friend. After Stonebridge and Crawford storm Tahir's camp and rescue Clare, he gathers what soldiers he has left to try and hunt them all down.
4	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Stapleton and Winchester get to really stretch their dramatic chops in ''Project Dawn'' Episode 9, when Scott quits and Stonebridge has to talk him down.
5	** Any time the action slows down enough, the two get great dramatic moments.
6	* HilariousInHindsight: All three of the show's leads ended up in major roles on 2015 Creator/{{NBC}} shows. They haven't crossed over though.
7	** Creator/RichardArmitage played ArcVillain Francis Dolarhyde on ''{{Series/Hannibal}}''.
8	** Creator/SullivanStapleton landed the male lead role on ''{{Series/Blindspot}}''.
9	** Creator/PhilipWinchester got the lead role on ''Series/ThePlayer''.
10	* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: It's extremely unlikely that a certain character was blown to pieces at the end of an episode. That said, some credit is due for the "next time" promos acting like they would.
11	** And then horribly averted when many recurring characters are suddenly and unceremoniously KilledOffForReal. [[note]]By the time Series 4 ends, every single officer in Section 20 is dead with the exception of Locke. Apart from the Dynamic Duo, Richmond is the ''only'' character from Series 2 who is still alive.[[/note]]
12	** In the final episode of '"Shadow Warfare'', Locke agrees to exchange Stonebridge and Scott for the BigBad with a Russian mobster... and then it turns out he has snipers ready to kill the mobster as soon as the exchange is complete.
13	** Also averted in Episode 9 of ''Vendetta'', when it looks like the team is going to get there JustInTime to rescue Chetri. Surely they wouldn't kill the NaiveNewcomer [=/=] EveryonesBabySister! Especially not after having already killed a team member--holy shit, they ''did''.
14	** It looks like Arianna Demachi is going to be a KarmaHoudini. . . only for S20 to track her down and Coltrane to execute her.
15	* MagnificentBastard:
16	** ''Vengeance'': [[EvilCounterpart Craig Hanson]] is Michael Stonebridge's ArchEnemy throughout the season. After his brother is killed by Michael during a botched SAS training mission, Hanson retaliated by [[RevengeByProxy murdering Stonebridge's wife, Kerry]]. Not long after, Hanson decided to become a mercenary and auditioned to be part of [[TheDragon Karl Matlock]]'s crew. When Matlock refuses to hire him, Hanson single-handedly neutralizes Matlock's security detail and sneaks into [[BigBad Conrad Knox]]'s mansion; Knox then convinces Matlock to hire him. As Knox's mercenary, Hanson assisted Knox with his schemes, using all of his skills to elude Section 20, attempt to kill Michael several times, and eliminate any law enforcement officers or soldiers in his path. After Knox's initial plans fail, Hanson helps Knox escape minutes before he can be captured. After getting arrested, Hanson escapes from police custody and later murders Matlock when he tries to abandon Knox, taking his place to set off nuclear bombs in Johannesburg. During his final confrontation with Stonebridge, Hanson tries to convince him that they're [[NotSoDifferentRemark not so different]] before attempting to kill him.
17	** ''Shadow Warfare'': [[TheManBehindTheMan Leo Kamali]] is the true mastermind behind all the events of the season. Longing for {{revenge}} over his wife's death, Kamali became an undercover CIA agent working for a mysterious terrorist known as [[TheGhost al-Zuhari]]. While undercover, Kamali murdered Liam Baxter and supplied al-Zuhari's coconspirators with the weapons and funds needed to continue their illegal operations. After being captured by Section 20, Kamali escapes, and later reveals his CIA identity once he's recaptured. While working for Section 20, Kamali frequently [[PlayingBothSides played both sides to his advantage]], engineering the deaths of al-Zuhari's wife and Rachel Dalton, the bombing of a British embassy, the death of his CIA handler, and the torture or deaths of various soldiers and law enforcement agents. Upon discovering al-Zuhari planned on creating weaponized smallpox, Kamali acquired a sample before [[FakingTheDead fabricating his own death]] so he could proceed with his schemes. Once he had the smallpox, Kamali intended on releasing the virus into Ramstein Air Base to cause an outbreak in America. When his plans fail, Kamali instead tries to release the virus in Berlin.
18	** ''Vendetta'': [[EvilMatriarch Arianna Demachi]], also known as [[spoiler:Elena Stabokina]], is a prominent crime lord within the Albanian Mafia. Knowing that her family is drowning in debt, Arianna pushes for her husband, Edon, to go through with dealing a bioweapon to terrorists. After Edon is killed by Section 20, she vows for revenge against the whole team. Teaming up with Zayef, Arianna has him [[spoiler:kill Thomas [=McAllister=]]], and later uses her resources to assassinate other members within the Albanian Mafia so she can take over. As she acquires access to an arms cache to exchange with Zayef for millions of dollars, she also lures Section 20 into a trap and continues to secure her position in the syndicate, even going as far as [[spoiler:murdering her son, Loric]] when he attempts to overthrow her. [[spoiler:After being called back to work for her Russian superiors, Arianna has a team kidnap Manisha Chetri, where she and her cohorts interrogate Chetri to try and acquire a hard drive containing valuable information. When Chetri destroys the information, Arianna simply kills her moments before Section 20 can rescue her. Knowing her superiors will eventually have her killed, Arianna betrays the Russian government, stealing $250 million and swapping it out with counterfeit cash]].
19	* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/AndrewLincoln as Collinson in series 1/''Origins'', which aired on [=Sky1=] in May 2010. ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' premiered on AMC on Halloween of the same year.
20	* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: No one expected much of the show when Creator/{{Cinemax}} involved, believing that it would be nothing more than an excuse plot hung on gratuitous sex and violence. Audiences were pleasantly surprised to find out that the writing and performances were top-notch and that the show featured some truly spectacular stunt work. Opinions are mixed on the copious sex scenes, however.

Context YMMV / StrikeBack