The worst episodes of The Bureau
Ranked by viewer rating, lows first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.
- 01
DGSE discovers that Debailly is using the stolen IDs of former agents to travel back to France. Nadia hears from her assistant's Iranian contact that Debailly is free, but DGSE refuses to tell her anything; they use Prune to tempt Debailly into making contact with her. Debailly uses burner phones to contact Prune, and then gets a message to Nadia. Meanwhile, the Mossad agent tells Marina that her mission is completed. Before he leaves he realises that Marina has not been telling him the whole truth about herself, and begins to suspect that she is a spy. He confronts her and holds her captive. Marina uses their agreed code to call for Simon's help.
- 02
Marie-Jeanne presents her candidacy to succeed Michel Ponte as director of the service. An Uzbek tourist in Paris finds a weapon. Is he part of Mikhail's revenge?
- 03
Duflot lectures his team about loyalty, then offers to resign, but his boss refuses to accept. The DGSE investigates Debailly's disloyalty and interviews his colleagues. Debailly takes the suicide bomber's place as cameraman for the interview with Boumaza. In Iran, the CIA has agreed to trade one of its prisoners for Marina, but the Pasdaran try to kill her after encouraging her escape. However, she evades capture and is exfiltrated to France. In Raqqa, Debailly meets and kills the jihadist, but is himself captured and made hostage. Nadia opens the letter he left her, which expresses the same feelings about their love affair that she did, in the first episode of season one.
- 04
Just as Karlov is beginning to lose patience, Malotru suggests recruiting Ellenstein. Back at the DGSE, Marie-Jeanne is monitoring a cyberattack, hoping to track down the person responsible for hacking Marina’s phone. Meanwhile in Mosul, Jonas and Jean-Paul are searching for a way through the ravaged city to get to the Collector.
- 05
JJA, the director of Dsec, has taken over the leadership of Le Bureau, while Marie-Jeanne has moved to Egypt. A newspaper article on the events in Ukraine emerge. The agency fears they have a leak.
- 06
Liz Bernstein and La Mule are quietly continuing their investigations to identify the mole in the service. After a few weeks of rest in Sologne, Marina finds her post in Paris. Sisteron is responsible for training Andrea on the computer programs used by Israeli hackers. Meanwhile, in Phnom Penh, Sylvain decided to collaborate with the group led by Véra. In Paris, his superiors questioned his ability to manage the danger associated with this mission.
- 07
A meeting between the different chiefs of the Sinai tribes is to be held at the Nile Sorman hotel where Marie-Jeanne is working undercover. Fouad, the Egyptian security officer, travels to Paris for a meeting with the Bureau. Marina joins Andrea in Jordan to help him in his mission.
- 08
At the DGSE, the work of JJA is carefully examined. Dsec is particularly interested in the way he manages Pacemaker, who is on a mission in Cambodia. In Cairo, Marie-Jeanne discovers that her hotel room has been bugged. Pacemaker is closely watched at work.
- 09
Karlov asks Malotru to join the FSB in Moscow. In Paris, Sisteron and the entire Bureau must answer to an inquiry questionnaire on Marie-Jeanne, which JJA intends to use against her during the next board meeting. Meanwhile, Marina is resenting the way the Bureau is using Micha, afraid to once again leave a trail of destruction in her wake.
- 10
Malotru is in place in the Russian agency FSB as "Pavel Lebedev". Sisteron is sent in the greatest secrecy to Cairo. Meanwhile, Jules announces to JJA that he has located Sylvain's phone. Digital tracing indicates that Sylvain is in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
- 11
JJA is told to go ahead and recruit Mikhail. He contacts Pavel in Moscow to develop a strategy. Sylvain is sent to Seoul by the Russians to enlist Yellow Joon, a genius hacker. In Paris, Sisteron admits having lost confidence in JJA. In Cairo, intelligence indicates an attack is imminent.
- 12
Debailly is still under routine surveillance, whilst resuming his affair with Nadia under his cover identity Paul Lefevbre. He starts to question Nadia's reason for being in Paris. Meanwhile, the DGSE hires psychologist Dr Balmes, and asks her to review his state of mind. Agent Gherbi is exfiltrated from Algiers after hearing about Cyclone, and Marina continues preparing for her mission. The episode closes with a brief scene of Debailly recounting his story while connected to a polygraph.
- 13
DGSE makes contact with Algerians holding Cyclone, and Sisteron goes to Algeria. The Syrians continue to investigate Paul Lefevbre, testing him by mugging him in the street. They also seek help from the Russians. Meanwhile, DGSE puts Marina through a surprise mock interrogation. DGSE is also concerned that Cyclone's capture could have compromised the Sahara Desert operation, in which the Americans are involved. In flashforward, Debailly continues to recount his story to the Americans.
- 14
Debailly continues to be tailed by the Russians. The DGSE meet an Algerian with information about Cyclone. They decide to recruit Nadia; Marie-Jeanne realises that Debailly has not told her the full truth, and confronts him. She also helps Marina compel a second colleague to refuse the Iran secondment, and teaches Marina a lesson about not getting close to her contacts. Debailly continues to be interrogated by the CIA in flashforward; it is revealed that Dr Balmes works for the Americans.
- 15
ISIS threatens to execute Cyclone; Debailly is asked to work on his rescue. Nadim tries to blackmail him with Nadia's life, wanting him to betray Syrian sources; Debailly refuses to do so. The Americans pull out of the Sahara operation; DGSE suspects they may have a mole. Marina is further tested before leaving for Iran. Debailly shares details of the rescue plan for Cyclone with his colleagues.
- 16
Marie-Jeanne is back at the Bureau. Sisteron processes information from Karlov. Mikhail must explain to his wife and son the difficult situation they are in. Jonas discovers that the young woman with whom he has had an affair for several weeks is working ... for the Russians.
- 17
Shahanah is murdered by the Iranians. DGSE sets up a secret meeting between Duflot and Cochise near Jarabulus, and Duflot prepares for his mission. Lely asks to meet Nadia again, and DGSE suspects IS may have lost Debailly; their agents in Iraq confirm he has escaped. Meanwhile IS catch and kill the Russian spy, but Debailly manages to evade capture.
- 18
Debailly manages to escape into the hills, and seeks help from a farmer who betrays him to IS, and he is recaptured. French agents identify the area where he escaped, but arrive too late. In Baku Marina gives her presentation to the conference, and is offered a job there, which Mossad urges her to take; she agrees after consulting DGSE. She panics when asked to take a polygraph, but is trained by Mossad on how to pass. In Syria, Esrin takes Duflot to his clandestine meeting with Cochise; however, Cochise is followed across the river by two of his men.
- 19
Cochise refuses to spy for DGSE within IS, wanting exfiltration. Duflot agrees, if Cochise can free Debailly. Before he can return, Duflot is shot by one of Cochise's men; he is taken to hospital but later dies. Cochise obtains custody of Debailly. Meanwhile DGSE identify that Mossad plans to use Marina to infect the Iranian nuclear programme with a computer virus, which will subsequently allow them to disrupt it, via the seismic monitoring system linked to Baku. Marina panics again when she discovers the Iranian connections of her new security manager, and tries to flee but is intercepted and reassured by the Mossad agent.
- 20
The CIA wants to bomb the camp where Debailly might be held, but DGSE insists they wait. Duflot wants to get Debailly released before he retires, but MAG reminds him that the agency doesn't normally make much effort to rescue disloyal agents. DGSE use Prune to pressure Nadia into agreeing to resume negotiations; Nadia meets Lely again and is given the hostage video. DGSE see that the points diagram has been altered to communicate that Cochise wants to defect. Duflot volunteers to go into the field and handle both cases himself. In Iraq, the FSB spy escapes into the desert with Debailly, with IS in pursuit. Meanwhile, Mossad persuades Marina to speak at a seismology conference in Baku. Simon, Marina's ex who works for DGSI, offers his help if she runs into trouble.
- 21
Agent Malotru (Debailly) is recalled to Paris after six years undercover in Damascus, and ends his affair with Nadia El Mansour. In Algiers, agent Cyclone is arrested, drunk, despite being avowedly teetotal. Debailly struggles to forget Nadia and to return to a more normal working life. He is assigned to train Marina Loiseau, who will work undercover in Iran. Debailly discovers that Nadia is in Paris and resumes contact with her. Meanwhile, agent Cyclone has gone missing in Algeria.
- 22
One of Debailly's jailers is a Russian FSB mole and offers to help him. Meanwhile, Duflot tries to help Marina overcome her trauma. Shahanah takes Nadia to meet Lely, a female intermediary for IS. Sisteron and Kurdish fighter Esrin are ambushed by snipers and she is injured, and flown to France for treatment. Sisteron suggests to Duflot that Esrin should be recruited in exchange for help with her son's education. Marina, plagued by panic attacks, resigns from the DGSE. The FSB mole is seriously injured in combat.
- 23
Debailly loses hope after his FSB helper is wounded, and stops eating. Marina is approached by Phillipe, a Mossad agent who is posing as DGSE and wanting to recruit her. DGSE advises her to accept the offer, and report everything back to them. Shahanah requires Nadia to launder stolen artefacts from Syria in return for his help with the negotiations, but she refuses to compromise herself. The FSB mole recovers in hospital, and returns just as Debailly is being filmed for a new hostage video by IS.
- 24
Debailly recalls when he first met Nadia, and continues to agonise about her fate. The CIA confirms its interest in Zamani, but Debailly and Marie-Jeanne fall out over Marina's mission; Debailly persuades Deflot to replace her with him as Marina's handler. Debailly tells Marina to get close to Zamani. The Iranian secret police take an interest in Zamani and Marina. The French Government authorises action against Boumaza; Cyclone cultivates the jihadist's family, and Sisteron poses as a supportive lawyer. Duflot continues to hunt for the mole inside the Bureau. Nadia is held prisoner in Syria.
- 25
The DGSE recruits the jihadist's sister, planning to trap and kill Boumaza. Meanwhile the Iranian secret police continues to investigate Marina, and DGSE discovers this from a source. Marina is recalled to Paris, but leaves on an expedition before receiving the message, and is arrested. In Syria, Judge Badran interrogates Nadia about her affair. Duflot suspects that Dr Balmes, who has resigned from the DGSE, may have been the CIA mole, but fails to find any evidence.
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