Prime Target Season 1, Episode 4 is called “Kaplar” — and everything about the Kaplar Institute gives off villainous Bond vibes. The Institute’s head Stephen Patrick Nield is surrounded by top-tier security and touchscreen technology, but his intentions are far from honorable. As Edward Brooks gets closer to unraveling the mystery of Safiya Zamil’s research, a complex equation becomes the least of his problems.

Following the death of an academic and Andrea Lavin’s journey to Baghdad, another puzzle piece slots into place, pitting Edward and Taylah Sanders against unknown enemies coming at them in all directions. The mismatched duo are forced to rely on each other more, while the TV show seems poised to expand its world beyond the walls of Cambridge University. In Prime Target Episode 4, series creator and writer Steve Thompson successfully ups the ante.

Prime Target Explores the Idea of Think Tanks

Episode 4 Makes These Institutions Look Like Threats

Prime Target Season 1, Episode 4 takes a long, hard look at the Kaplar Institute — an opulent research facility that claims to promote the preservation of knowledge. The soft-spoken and influential Nield has spent three episodes trying to convince Edward to join him, using everything from formal business cards to persuasive conversations behind closed doors. Thompson has been great at building up to this episode, in which Edward’s orientation day quickly turns into something much shadier.

The entire building seems designed to make Edward drop his guard, and bring the audience along with him. Open-plan offices shape the workspace, and transparent partitions covered in complex equations scream intellect. This hub of cutting-edge research sits at a crossroads between the educated elite and those in positions of power. However, this scheme of deceit goes deeper than some expensive interior design features. Edward cracks Kaplar open like an egg with some good, old-fashioned hacking, uncovering surveillance footage that could put people in jail.

“Kaplar” illustrates that In a world where lives are lived remotely, avatars are invented through AI, and people can be anybody they like, original ideas are all that matter. The idea of the Everyman at odds with the modern world goes back to films like the 1970s thriller Marathon Man, in which Dustin Hoffman was tortured by Sir Laurence Olivier in the pursuit of Nazi diamonds. Edward has more of the facts than Hoffman’s character Babe ever did, but his intellectual focus blinds him in other ways. This episode makes his relationship with Taylah even more crucial. However, it’s not just Kaplar that Edward has to fear; NSA agents Jane Torres and Andrew Carter from the NSA are also introduced, adding American counterintelligence to the list of possible adversaries.

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Prime Target Episode 4 Introduces New NSA Agents

The Show Suggests Kaplar May Not Be Working Alone

Slowly but surely, the players in this Apple TV original series are revealing themselves and picking sides. Jane Torres might be the primary point of contact for Taylah, seemingly forever in contemplation behind her desk at NSA headquarters, but Torres looks like she prefers to play with loaded dice. Andrew Carter enters the fray with an arrogance and awareness that instantly makes him untrustworthy. The two share veiled conversations while the audience is left to guess at their motivations. Meanwhile, other characters do the dirty work, making clear how much the odds are stacked against Taylah and Edward.

Edward eventually flees from the Kaplar Institute with information essential to national security. He’s still intent on finding the answer to this numerical conundrum, but unable to recall his proof from the table cloth Robert Mallinger burned, so he and Taylah aim to follow the numbers. The episode puts the two of them on a collision course with Professor Andrea Lavin in Baghdad. Exactly what this equation can do is still unclear, but with two murdered characters and other people on some kind of hit list, it’s clear that things will get messy. The days of just doing math on a chalkboard are gone forever.

With hitmen coming out of the woodwork, angel investors funding military grade mercenaries and time becoming a factor, Prime Target has all its pieces in play. However, Thompson still maintains a sense of anticipation that will keep audiences coming back. So far, almost all the action has taken place in England, with visits to Iraq being purely for context. There obviously has to be more to the archeological find there than scaffolding and ancient runes etched into the stonework. Safiya Zamil has a lot to answer for — and a trail of bodies has followed her thesis. The audience gets some information in “Kaplar,” but there are plenty of unanswered questions left to be pursued.

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Prime Target Episode 4 Is Still Holding Back

The Series Has Yet to Reach Its Full Potential

The best thing about Prime Target Season 1, Episode 4 is its consistency. Bringing Edward and Taylah closer together also makes them more reliant on one another — which allows Thompson to expand their characters and encourage emotional investment. While the death of Dr. Charan Nathoo feels more like collateral damage than anything else, getting Andrea more involved adds to the dramatic tension. And it’s not just characters that get developed. The intrusive “Big Brother” angle that the Kaplar Insitute represents also touches on contemporary issues around identity theft and individual privacy. Up until now, Prime Target has been confined to academic circles. By expanding into corporate think tanks and government arenas, the series has just gained a significant backbone — both dramatically and in terms of its entertainment value.

In Episode 4, Prime Target has moved beyond ancient arithmetic and half-submerged libraries to embrace hotter topics. Dragging things into the 21st century with retinal scanners, biometric scanners and an elitist chic gives the show a different feel. However, there are also definitely darker places the show can go to, based on the events of “Kaplar.” This is hinted at in the episode’s closing minutes, in which Torres confers with Carter, yet audiences don’t need that conversation to understand the possibilities. Severance Season 2 may be getting all the attention from Apple TV+ viewers, but people have to find time to jump on board Prime Target and immerse themselves in the world of this highly underrated thriller. As much as the world is opening up to Edward, there are still plenty of answers left to find.

Prime Target streams Wednesdays on Apple TV+.

Prime Target Season 1, Episode 4

Release Date

January 22, 2025

Cast

• 

  Leo Woodall

  Edward Brooks

• 

  Quintessa Swindell

  Taylah Sanders

Pros & Cons

• An intriguing exploration of corporate think tanks and government subterfuge.
• Martha Plimpton makes a strong impression as Jane Torres.
• The episode leaves plenty of room for future story possibilities.

• The show still feels like it’s holding something back.