Prime Target episode 7 was limited to an Axiorn building where Edward was forced to make the Prime Finder under the watchful eye of Andrew. Edward was understandably skeptical about making a key that would open every digital lock in the world, even though Andrew claimed that he wanted Edward to create the Prime Finder so that Axiorn and the NSA would have the tools to defeat anyone else out there trying to replicate the same technology. When he hit a speed bump, Professor Osborne was brought in to help. Taylah was brought into the fold by Jane because Axiorn needed someone smart enough to turn the mathematical version of Edward’s Prime Finder into a functional program. But Taylah betrayed her godmother and sprung Edward and Osborne out of Axiorn’s sophisticated prison. Sadly, Osborne bit the dust in an attempt to aid Edward and Taylah in getting away from Andrew. Meanwhile, Andrea figured out that Alderman and Akram were the ones who had set off the explosion in Baghdad to get to the Bayt al-Hikmah, and that they intended to use Edward’s intellect to make the Prime Finder. So, who did Edward and Taylah side with? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Alderman’s Origins
Episode 8 of Prime Target opens with a young Alderman teaching a class about the genesis of the Prime Finder at Stanford University all the way back in 1975. He talks about the Enigma machine, invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius, which was used by Nazis during World War II to communicate with each other in the form of coded messages. Eventually, Alan Turing got his hands on it; the key to the code was discovered, and it was one of the reasons why the Nazis were defeated. To remedy this, Alderman posited the theory that for every piece of treasure, they should create a special kind of lock, and then that lock would be closed by one key and opened by another. The key that’d close the lock would be available to the public; meanwhile, the one that’d open it would be inimitable.
So, while everyone will be able to lock up their prized digital possessions, only those capable of figuring out the prime number-based algorithm that links the locking key and the unlocking key will be able to open every digital lock. That’s the basic principle of the Prime Finder. However, it’s apparent that Alderman never managed to take this concept beyond its theoretical confines, and hence, he has been searching for geniuses like Safiya, Mallinder, and now Edward to do the impossible for him. By the way, if you are wondering what the aged Alderman was doing in front of the mirror, checking under his eyes, I don’t think the answer is that deep. He was probably just seeing how much time has passed since the day he proposed the aforementioned theory and thinking about how close he is to finally getting his hands on the Prime Finder.
Taylah Frames Jane
Speaking of the maker of the Prime Finder, we see Edward sitting with Taylah in a car that they’ve stolen. While Taylah deletes all the footage that Axiorn has of Edward working on his theorem in their room after she hacks into their database through her cellphone, Edward comes to terms with Osborne’s death. Since Axiorn’s systems are temporarily deactivated, Jane heads over to the Kaplar Institute to use their computers to keep tabs on Edward and Taylah. Edward manages to secretly inform Fiona he needs her to stash some supplies for him and Taylah in his old room so that they can restore their energy levels, and Fiona, like the good friend she is, helps them out without raising an eyebrow. That said, while Edward and Taylah are planning to use the Prime Finder to take down Axiorn, Kaplar, Andrew, and Jane in one fell swoop and then destroy anything related to that equation/code, Fiona bursts back into the room to check how Edward is doing. Once they are done exchanging pleasantries, Taylah has an epiphany about using Fiona to break into Darnell College’s mainframe and using that to incapacitate Kaplar.
Jane tries to corner Taylah and Edward by lying to the police that Edward is probably responsible for Osborne’s death so that she can track the police’s movements and get to Edward and Taylah before the police can. Of course, Jane’s plan doesn’t work out because Taylah, with some major help from Fiona, uses the computer in the library of Darnell College to neutralize Kaplar’s whole system. By the time Nields and Jane locate the spot where Taylah was operating from, she is gone. Jane learns that Taylah has exposed the connection between Axiorn, Kaplar, and Jane’s branch of the NSA. So, she advises Kaplar to destroy every bit of evidence that can confirm Taylah’s allegations, and abandon the building that they are headquartered at. Nields, realizing the gravity of the situation, doesn’t waste a second to vacate the premises. As promised earlier, Edward destroys his notebook and steps out into the open to attract the attention of the Axiorn/NSA operatives, and he takes them on a bit of a wild-goose chase. Since they are busy with Edward, Jane has no option but to go to the rendezvous point selected by Taylah all on her own. Taylah states the obvious to Jane about informing the NSA about Axiorn’s activities. Jane gives Taylah an earful about her newfound sense of righteousness while Taylah argues that both of them deserve to suffer for what they’ve done. Jane tells Taylah that Edward will also be treated as a fugitive for creating the Prime Finder, which is currently on Taylah’s cell phone, just so that Taylah knows that she has made a mistake by “freeing” Edward from Axiorn’s clutches. On that note, Taylah and Jane part ways.
Andrea Leads Edward to Alderman
Edward met Andrea for the first time after the former left Baghdad, and he brought her up to speed about everything that has gone down since then, including the information about the Prime Finder and Axiorn being the ones responsible for Mallinder’s death. The conversation leaves Edward and Andrea wanting to sit with each other in silence because all this is too overwhelming for a couple of academicians, but that’s interrupted by Alderman, who wants to meet Edward ASAP. We, the audience, wonder why Alderman wants Edward all to himself. I was under the impression that when Alderman told Andrea to not tell anyone that Akram had set off the explosion in Baghdad after he learned about the House of Wisdom’s location from her research, Andrea had figured out that something was fishy. I was wrong. Andrea doesn’t suspect Alderman at all, and hence she delivers Edward to his doorstep without giving it a second thought. With Andrea out of the picture, Alderman begins revealing his true face, including the fact that he was part of the research group at Stanford that basically invented the concept of public key cryptography. He is shocked to learn that Edward has actually solved a problem that the greatest minds have been trying to crack since 1975.
So, Alderman decides to offer Mallinder’s post to Edward so that he can have a safe place to operate from, especially since Edward has destroyed the equation for the Prime Finder and he’ll need to work on it from scratch. Yes, Alderman obviously doesn’t know that the coded version of that theorem exists on Taylah’s phone. By the way, Taylah returns to Edward’s room to find out that he has burnt his notebook (which had the theorem in it) and taken her gun probably with the intention of killing Alderman. Taylah asks Andrea for directions, and she says that she’ll take her to Alderman’s office, because that’s where Edward is. Coincidentally, while talking to Taylah, Andrea notices Akram walking near Darnell College with his daughter, Afina. As Akram and Afina begin talking about the strings that have been pulled to obtain the latter’s admission in Darnell College, Andrea puts two and two together and understands that Alderman and Akram have been working together all this while; they are the ones who set off the explosion in Baghdad, and she has unknowingly delivered the one thing that they need, i.e., Edward, right into Alderman’s lap.
Edward Kills Alderman
As Andrea and Taylah rush to Edward’s rescue, we see Alderman explaining his reasoning behind creating the Prime Finder. According to the Master of the College, he invented the encryption to help people secure confidential stuff, but then governments got hold of it and used that technology to hide videos of torture post 9/11. Here’s the confusing part, though. Why did Alderman, as well as those who were part of his research team, send out the encrypted lock for public use without figuring out the Prime Finder? Sure, now Alderman wants to make amends and unmask all those who have used his technology for their own nefarious purposes. But am I supposed to believe that Alderman was so naive that he thought that his encrypted lock wouldn’t be misused? Did he really think that by the time humans realized that they could use Alderman’s creation to hide the government’s deepest, darkest secrets, he and his team would come up with the Prime Finder? If that’s truly the case, either Alderman is lying, and he sold his invention for a huge sum of money without thinking of the consequences, or Alderman’s explanation is an example of bad writing. I’ll let you be the judge of that.
In Prime Target’s ending, Alderman tells Edward that, after recreating the Prime Finder, he intends to hit the banks first and cause chaos. After that, he is going to go after every mechanism that runs the world and its governments. Once everything has been turned to dust, society will be built anew without any firewalls and encrypted locks. When Edwards asks Alderman if he cares about the toll that it’s going to take on the common folk, Alderman vomits some idealistic albeit unrealistic nonsense like “revolution doesn’t come gently.” Edwards used to think like that too, but after Osborne’s death, his perspective has changed. He has understood that scientific achievements can’t come at such a heavy price. Hence, he wants to walk away from this whole mess. That said, when he hears that Alderman won’t stop even if Edward refuses to help him and that he will sacrifice countless lives to recreate the Prime Finder, Edward arrives at the decision to kill Alderman. It’s not a spur-of-the-moment step that Edward takes; he has clearly put a lot of thought into it, and only when he realizes that the only way to stop this madness is by killing Alderman does he pull the trigger.
Once Alderman is down, Taylah and Andrea arrive and are shocked to see that Edward has taken a life. Taylah and Edward go on the run while Andrea hides the murder weapon. After putting some distance between themselves and Darnell College, Taylah gives Edward her phone and tells him to go off the grid. Taylah gives herself up to the police and is arrested for killing Osborne and maybe even Alderman. Later on, we see a press conference at the NSA Headquarters in Fort Meade, USA, where the spokesperson addresses the recent leaks and the allegations of corruption within the agency. It’s clear that Jane has taken the fall for the NSA’s collusion with Axiorn, because it’s her face that was blasted all across social media by Taylah, while Andrew has been promoted to the post of Chief Director of Surveillance Operations. Edward is sitting at Piccadilly Circus, London, probably planning to use the Prime Finder to shed light on Andrew’s illegal activities.
Season 2 Theories
I suppose the chances of Prime Target getting renewed for a second season are slim to none. It’d take a true miracle for Apple TV+ to greenlight Season 2, but if it does happen, I think it’ll be something akin to the video game series Watch Dogs. I mean, Edward has nailed the look, and he has a phone that can pretty much hack into everything. If you are wondering if this show was a stealth Watch Dogs adaptation all along, well, maybe it was. However, I am not sure if the series has garnered enough attention with this lackluster first season to truly hit its stride in the future. It would’ve been cool to see Edward dismantle all the organizations and agencies that are harboring all kinds of chilling secrets before finally getting to Andrew, without causing any harm to the general public.
As for Taylah and Jane, maybe their arcs would’ve played out like a courtroom drama, and through that process they would’ve mended the bridge that they had broken in Season 1. I have a feeling that Andrea would’ve taken Alderman’s position and used her influence to mold the bright minds at Darnell College for something positive so that nobody would’ve to meet the same fate as Mallinder and Safiya. That would’ve put her at odds with Akram and Bogdan, and it would’ve been interesting to see Akram putting the fate of her daughter in Andrea’s hands while being at odds with her regarding her stance about the Prime Finder. Alas, I have a feeling that we won’t get to see all that because Prime Target Season 1 doesn’t seem to be that big of a hit. What are your thoughts on the finale? Did you like the show as a whole, or did you dislike it? Let me know in the comments section below.
