In the sixth episode of The Day of the Jackal, we saw that, out of nowhere, the Jackal had called Rasmus and asked him to meet. At that moment it felt like an impulsive move, but obviously that was not the case. The Jackal made a near escape when the farmer and his friends attacked him, and he eventually had to kill them to escape from there. The Jackal knew that the odds were not in his favor this time around, and that he would really have to work hard to execute the plan. So let’s find out what happened in episode 7 and if the Jackal was able to kill UDC.
Spoiler Alert
Why did the Jackal meet Rasmus?
In the 7th episode, we came to know why the Jackal had contacted Rasmus and decided to meet him all of a sudden. The Jackal knew that Rasmus worked at the Konsterdisaal and that he would need him to get access to the place. UDC was going to come to that place to launch his software, River, and the Jackal knew that that was the only chance he would have to kill the man. The Jackal knew that he would be able to manipulate Rasmus if he spent some quality time with him. I don’t think that the Jackal liked taking advantage of or deceiving Rasmus, for that matter. He knew that Rasmus was a kindhearted man and that he wouldn’t doubt his intentions. I personally don’t know how difficult or easy it was for the Jackal to get intimate with Rasmus. He was not only betraying Rasmus’ trust but he was also lying to his wife. The Jackal was probably the kind of man who believed in getting the job done no matter the cost. Probably his conscience didn’t get burdened by guilt when he did such things. The Jackal was well aware of the fact that the odds were not in his favor. He knew that he had a very slight chance to successfully execute the mission. He had done things in the past that left an imprint on his subconscious. No matter how hard he tried, he was just not able to get over the trauma. He had blood on his hands, and through the various flashbacks he got, it felt like he blamed himself for all those people who had died. The Jackal was going through the blueprint of Konsterdisaal, and he told Rasmus that he didn’t understand a lot of things about the architecture and that he would love the opportunity to go there and see the site. Rasmus agreed to take him there, and he also told him that a concert was being organized there and then for some unspecified reason the place was going to be shut for the next few days. The Jackal knew that the lockdown was because UDC was unveiling his software there the next day, but he didn’t explicitly reveal anything to Rasmus.
Why did the Jackal ask for Zina’s help?
The Jackal knew that he wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else apart from eliminating the target, and so he met Zina and asked her to take care of Vince and Bianca, who he knew were going to be at the Konsterdisaal. Zina was quite surprised as the Jackal, up until then, had made it very clear that he liked working alone and that he would be able to handle the job all by himself. This conversation between Zina and the Jackal showed that the latter was in a desperate situation and this time around he was having great difficulty in handling everything on his own. Zina talked to her bosses, who hired people to go and teach Bianca and Vince a lesson. Meanwhile, the female police officer who came looking for a burglar at the Jackal’s hotel identified him, and she reported the matter to Bianca. Bianca asked her to sit with a sketch artist so that the law enforcement authorities had some clue about what the assassin looked like. The Jackal was a ghost, and he was an excellent makeup artist. He’d always disguised himself in such a manner that to date nobody knew how he looked. Bianca made a near escape, and together with Vince, she was able to reach the concert hall. Bianca still hoped that UDC would change his plans and didn’t come to the venue. UDC’s chief of security also told him that an assassin was on the loose and that it wasn’t advisable for him to leave his house and go anywhere outside. But UDC’s partner pushed him to not postpone the launch event. So UDC reached the venue, and the Jackal got ready to take down the target.
Who tried to kill UDC?
The Jackal, in episode 7, had told Rasmus that he was going to leave in the evening. But obviously he didn’t do that. The Jackal went and hid inside the vent situated on the upper floors so that he could get a clear shot at UDC from that height. The Jackal stayed in that claustrophobic vent for the night, as he knew that it would be impossible for him to enter the building on the day of the event. The Jackal stayed in that uncomfortable position, not losing his focus, not becoming restless. It showed the training the man had. Not only was he an excellent sniper, but he knew how to push his physical limits and defy the odds.
At the end of The Day of the Jackal episode 7, just when our assassin was going to shoot UDC, something unprecedented happened. Two men got on the stage, and they shot at UDC. The security officers killed one of them, but the other was able to escape with the crowd. The Jackal couldn’t get a clear shot of UDC, and he was escorted out of the venue safely. Now I personally do not think that Zina or her bosses had anything to do with it. Zina felt as surprised as anybody else. I don’t know why, but I have a gut feeling that UDC’s partner, his confidant, had a role to play in the scheme of things. It felt as if the man had some ulterior motives, and though he was pretending to be UDC’s biggest supporter, he didn’t want him to succeed. UDC’s partner knew that there was a threat to his life, but still he pushed him to go ahead and launch the software on the pre-decided date. But it is just a theory as of now, and I can be totally wrong about it.
At this juncture I personally don’t trust Nuria’s intentions either. We saw in episode 7 that her brother took cash from the Jackal’s vault for a business venture, and he promised Nuria that he would return it as soon as he turned a profit. Nobody knew that the Jackal had installed secret cameras in the facility and that he was seeing everything on his mobile phone. The Jackal didn’t say anything to Nuria, but he probably realized at that moment that nobody could be trusted.
At the end of episode 7, the Jackal was able to escape from the venue, but Rasmus spotted him amidst the crowd. Rasmus was surprised as he didn’t know that the Jackal was staying back that night. The thing is, Rasmus really had no idea what he had signed up for. The Jackal didn’t want to kill him, but he was left with no option. He could have exposed him to his enemies. The Jackal either choked or stabbed Rasmus to death so as not to leave any loose ends. In the subsequent episodes, we will get to know who was the mastermind behind the surprise attack and if Zina’s bosses had anything to do with the entire fiasco.
