The Enemy Within series premiere recap: Can Erica Shepherd and Will Keaton work together?

The Enemy Within is finally here and you’ve had a chance to check out the latest episode. It’s time to delve into the series premiere with a detailed recap.

The Enemy Within didn’t waste time in getting started. I’ll admit, one of the reasons I love shorter season orders is the intensity in every episode. There’s no time for a long drawn-out explanation, so we get straight into business.

And that’s the case with the new NBC drama. Initially setting up the story with Erica Shepherd being arrested and convicted as a traitor, we then jump three years ahead to the current day. A synchronized attack takes place on CIA agents and it’s clear that this is the work of the guy Erica had previously been working for.

Catch a spy with a spy

The only way to catch this guy is to pull in Erica, who has been in a Supermax Prison with no visitors for the last three years. Will Keaton naturally doesn’t want to work with her but he doesn’t get a choice. We do find out that his fiancee was one of those who died in the attack that had led to Erica’s arrest, so it adds the personal element to the story.

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It looks like nobody is happy with Erica joining the task force. Naturally, nobody trusts her because she’s not cooperated once up to this point. And why would she? People had just assumed she was a traitor without trying to get to the bottom of things. The only reason she’s helping now is because she knows she can get something out of it.

And it’s not surprising that the team have needed Erica on the case. As soon as she’s brought in, she sees details that others can’t. She suggests checking phone records in case the phone was ripped instead of cloned. She figures out that the maps have been manipulated. This is the woman who figures out a lot of clues for the case of the week, which involves a young CIA analyst who needs to be saved.

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An escape attempt

During the episode, Erica attempts to escape, getting to her daughter’s school. When she’s arrested again, it’s soon clear that she never tried to actually escape. She just needed to see her daughter. And that’s when Will finally learns the full truth of the story.

Erica’s daughter’s life had been put on the line. Putting your own life on the line for your child is easy, but Erica put the lives of four CIA agents on the line to save her daughter. She never told anyone this in court because she never wanted her daughter to know — she didn’t want her daughter to feel the guilt that she did.

This backstory helps Will find some humanity in this woman he’s viewed as a murderer and traitor for three years. While it’s not going to immediately make them BFFs, he sees that there’s more to her than just being a spy.

And he’s willing to listen to her when she says this terrorist he’s trying to stop already has spies in the CIA, FBI, and elsewhere. The number of spies has increased from 100 in 2017 to 3,000 in 2018/2019. This is a serious problem and they need to work together to solve it.

Just who happens to be one of the spies? Of course, it’s the young CIA agent that Will and his team saved while Erica had escaped to see her daughter. That’s where the next episode of The Enemy Within will likely pick up.

What did you think of The Enemy Within‘s series premiere? Is this an espionage series for you? What questions do you have for the series? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Enemy Within airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.