'Atomic' Episode 2 Recap And Ending Explained: Is Danny Dead?

In the first episode of Atomic, Max ran into Mohammed while smuggling some statues from Beirut to Marrakech for Danny Lopez, who was a member of a Venezuelan drug cartel. There were several hurdles along the way, but Max and Mohammed managed to reach their destination and reunite with Danny. The main issue was that the shipment that Max was supposed to deliver had been burnt by a warlord who was miffed at Mohammed’s act of defiance. As Danny saw that as a failure, he was willing to kill both Mohammed and Max because without the shipment, he couldn’t send out the statues to Antonio Alam. Now, Alam wasn’t the only one waiting for those statues; Oksana Shirokova and Rifaat Atallah wanted them to be delivered safely too. With Max dead, that plan would be jeopardized. All this confusion allowed Max and Mohammed to get the better of Danny’s men, take the statues, and make a run for it. While on their way out, Rifaat advised Max to keep the two statues at least two meters apart. That’s because the statues had uranium in them. What does Alam intend to do with it, though? And how will Max and Mohammed keep them out of Alam’s hands? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Episode 2 of Atomic introduces us to Cassandra Bryce, a teacher at the American University in Beirut, who is approached by Khaled Awad, an officer of the Drug Enforcement Agency, because the authorities require her nuclear expertise. Khaled says that this is an emergency and they need to act immediately. Of course Cassandra requires some information before she does this side hustle, and Khaled tells her that, while his sources don’t know whether the stolen uranium is weapons-grade or not, it’s true that the nuclear fuel is out there somewhere. Based on that, Cassandra’s initial opinion is that the uranium in question is not weapons-grade, and it’s just the work of some scammers who are trying to sell low-quality uranium to make some money. Hence, she doesn’t need to get involved in all this. But when Khaled says the weight of the uranium involved—which is 50 kg—Cassandra gets serious because, I suppose, even a large volume of low-quality uranium can do a lot of damage. That’s when Khaled gets a call from his source about how the “uranium for cocaine” exchange has gone sideways and he needs to look into it. 

Cassandra decides to put her day job on hold and go with Khaled because if a Hiroshima-esque bomb goes off in the city, then what’ll be the point of being a teacher? Khaled, Cassandra, and the DEA barge into the establishment from where Max and Mohammed stole the uranium. Khaled reveals that the place is owned by Rifaat, and he is the one who has been leaking information to him. One of Khaled’s team members presents CCTV footage of Max and Mohammed running through the streets with the statues. Based on the distance between them, which they have to maintain to prevent the uranium from reacting, Cassandra assesses that they have the uranium with them. On that note, Cassandra asks Khaled to drop her home, and that’s when we see that she is not some ordinary teacher; she has multiple passports and arms with her. While she might have fooled everyone at the university, Khaled figures out almost immediately that she is an undercover CIA agent. While they chit-chat for a bit about her work in the field of espionage, Khaled gets a message from Rifaat regarding Max and Mohammed’s location, and they head out without wasting another second.

Speaking of the source of this emergency, Max and Mohammed are seen running through the streets of Beirut trying to avoid being captured by Danny’s men. They take refuge in a church, and just when they think that they can take a breather, they get a call on Danny’s phone, which Mohammed had nicked on their way out from the cartel’s temporary base of operations. The individual on the other end is none other than Alam. Realizing that he wants his statues, Mohammed tells him that he’ll get them once he is ready to pay and then hangs up (which is a total power move). Max warns Mohammed that this’ll backfire on them, but Mohammed is confident that this is the correct way to deal with a cartel boss. Alam meets with Oksana, who inquires about the statues, and Alam assures her that they are on their way and that everything is proceeding according to the plan. The only thing that’s not a part of said plan is Oksana’s presence in Marrakesh. Oksana apologizes for surprising him and explains that, given the gravity of their mission, she felt that she needed to be present in Marrakesh when the statues reached there. Alam appreciates Oksana’s hands-on approach when it comes to handling such a delicate matter and even labels her as his friend. When he gets a call from Danny, he requests Oksana to treat his house as her house and freshen up while he goes to take care of his business. 

Once he is out of earshot of Oksana, Alam asks Danny if Max has a weak spot that they can exploit in order to make him give up the statues. Danny reveals that Max has a girlfriend who lives in Spain, and Alam orders her right-hand woman to get on it immediately. In the meantime, Mohammed figures out that the statues themselves aren’t all that heavy; the base that they’re standing on is. So, he breaks open the base of one of the statues and discovers the uranium inside it. He does the same to the other statue and extracts the second piece of the puzzle. No, they don’t know that that’s actual uranium that’s going to be used to make a dirty bomb because they don’t really care yet. Mohammed tells Max to give Alam a call and simply demand one million pounds for each of the two chunks of “metal.” Max follows Mohammed’s advice, and Alam plays along—asking Max to come to a location to get his two million pounds—because Max’s girlfriend has been captured. Mohammed is smart enough to figure out that Alam is probably drawing them into a trap and wants to think of ways to ensure that they don’t get duped over some food because it’s impossible to plan on an empty stomach.

Upon reaching their destination—which is an abandoned building—the first thing that they do is hide the uranium. But then they are distracted by a party that’s happening in said abandoned building. While Mohammed goes and “drops some acid,” Max attends yet another call from Alam, who finally reveals to him that the “metal” that they have been lugging around for so long is uranium. And he says that if he doesn’t give it up to Danny, his girlfriend will have to face the consequences of his actions. Max understands that Alam isn’t bluffing, because he sends Max a video of his girlfriend in the custody of his gang’s members, and he immediately rushes to Mohammed to convey all the information he has just received. Max says that they need to comply, or else his girlfriend is going to die. Mohammed doesn’t want to give up so easily, but before they can discuss this topic any further, they spot Danny’s car. So, Mohammed goes to check what the status of their enemies is while Max goes to get the uranium. 

However, one of Danny’s henchmen gets the better of Max, captures him, and takes him to Danny. Mohammed is captured too and brought to Danny. The man is obviously livid and roughs up Max. As the drugs kick in and Mohammed begins to ramble, the DEA reaches the location, thanks to Rifaat, and chaos ensues. Rifaat gets injured in the process.Much like last time, Max gets the better of Danny and holds him at gunpoint. Given how everyone knows that Max can’t kill, Danny assumes that he is going to choke again. However, as soon as Danny brings up the topic of his girlfriend and how he won’t be able to save him, Max shoots Danny in the head and kills him.

Sensing that the DEA are closing in on them, Max and Mohammed chart their escape with the uranium. Cassandra catches up to them, but Mohammed incapacitates her, and the dynamic duo leaves unscathed. At the end of Atomic episode 2, Max hotwires a car and heads out of Beirut with Mohammed and the payload. Back at the DEA office, as Cassandra puts ice on her head as well as her bruised ego, Mark Ellis, from the CIA, shows up, thereby indicating that the Americans are interested in this nuclear affair happening in North Africa. Speaking of North Africa, Alam and Oksana are seen enjoying a nice evening together. However, that’s disrupted by a call from Max, who informs the mob boss that there’s a rat in his team and that Danny is dead. Max doesn’t talk in a threatening tone because he doesn’t want to endanger the life of his girlfriend. He says that he can still deliver the uranium; Alam just needs to specify the location once again. 

Based on Oksana’s suggestion, Alam tells Max to get to Syria, which is somewhere Mohammed wanted to go in the first place, probably due to spiritual reasons, and once he and Mohammed get there, Oksana’s people will take care of the rest. When Max conveys this info to Mohammed, he tells Max to head to Palmyra (I didn’t get the subtitles for the show, so this is a guess; correct me if I am wrong). It’s quite possible that Palmyra has some sentimental value for Mohammed, or maybe he has some contacts over there who can help them not get one-upped by Oksana and Alam’s people. However, those aren’t the only people they’ll be up against. They have Beirut’s DEA, the CIA, and maybe even the MI6. And if they are captured by any one of them before they can deliver the uranium to Oksana’s team, then Max has to bid adieu to his girlfriend. That said, if he does deliver the uranium, he’ll become instrumental to a potential nuclear attack. What will Max and Mohammed do? We’ll have to wait till next week to find out.