“You’re going to tell me everything.” And with that, X Company closed out its first season with a cliffhanger. Yes, I did suspect Alfred was a captive of the Germans and this first season was a peek back at what had happened leading up until that point, but it didn’t take away from what has been one hell of a dramatic ride.

Written by series co-creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern, “Into the Fire” brought the conflicting sides in the war together into a tapestry woven of raw emotion and action. Tom quickly proved to Drabek the woman he’d trusted was actually readying to sell him to the Germans and after Tom dispatched her the men were on the run to the catacombs to prepare for an extraction. Drabek needed to let the world leaders know about the concentration camps, but he passed along the horrible details to Alfred in case Drabek was killed.

Ellis and Morgenstern—heck, all of X Company‘s writers—have been able to deftly mix emotion with action and Wednesday’s finale was no different, alternating between Aurora’s relations being probable victims in a camp and an impressive gunfight between the team and the Germans. You know, the bullet battle that ensued after Siobhan admitted to Harry that she’d betrayed he and the squad to the Germans. Everyone put up a good fight and took out several baddies, but Alfred was eventually captured and hauled away. For one fleeting moment it appeared Aurora would make good and ensure Alfred didn’t fall into enemy hands, but she couldn’t pull the trigger.

The only positive in Alfred’s capture is that Franz is the man in charge. After watching him choose to kill Ulli rather than see him trucked off to an institution, Franz’s emotions are raw and he may equate Alfred’s specialness with his own son. It’s not to outrageous a wish; we’ve seen throughout this season that not all Germans are cold-blooded killers.

The other loose end in the season finale is Tom’s fate. The last we saw of him, he’d taken a bullet to the stomach and Neil was trying to stop the bleeding. Will he survive, and what will become of Alfred? We’ll have to wait until Season 2 to find out.

Notes and quotes

• “Four months ago, all I wanted to do was forget. Now I realize, if you remember something you’re responsible for it.” Wise words from Alfred.
• So, Rene is alive and imprisoned somewhere. Has he been leaking information about the team too? And is he being kept anywhere near Alfred?
• “In three … two … one.” — Aurora, before she unleashed a can of lead-filled whoop-ass on the German soldiers
• Mayhew told Sinclair to focus on the upcoming Allied invasion of Dieppe for success. Unfortunately, we know that raid was a failure too.

What have you thought of X Company? Comment below or via @tv_eh.

With just one more week to go in Season 1 of X Company, Wednesday’s cliffhanger left Tom’s life in question. “Quislings”—named after Vidkun Quisling, who headed a Nazi collaborationist regime during the Second World War—focused on the team taking out three French targets in Paris who had been helping the Germans.

Harry, who was still getting over his injuries from last week, was pretty much left out of the equation, though he was chased from the apartment by soldiers with radio-detecting devices. Luckily, Harry had a hand grenade—and a new radio—both of which he used to take out the trio of baddies who tracked him down.

That left Tom, Neil and the duo of Aurora and Alfred to carry out the mission. None of the targets was easy, but Aurora’s was personal. Michel, a local baker she and Rene had hung around with, was accused of accepting money from the Germans in exchange for ratting out his pals. Nineteen pals, in fact, including Rene. Aurora, thrust into the role of team leader when Rene was killed, has evolved from an emotional mess into a cold-blooded killer. She mercilessly shot Michel in the back of the head for his actions and warned his sister would meet the same fate if she revealed anything.

Meanwhile, Neil was still battling his emotions surrounding the death of the German radio man. And what better way to his head back in the game than engage his target in a bare-knuckle brawl? Warren Brown’s face is so expressive; you could read the torment over the radio man in his twisting features. Could he ever kill again? Yes, he could, completing his mission after a bloody, physical battle involving furniture, a wine bottle and neck-breaking chokehold.

Finally, Tom’s target proved not only to be elusive but the storyline was a historical game-changer. After tracking his female target to an apartment, Tom wasn’t able to pull the trigger. He did stick around to speak to the man she had been giving medical attention to, a Jew who produced sketches and a tale of hell on earth: concentration camps. The woman’s arrival back at the hide-out—followed by German soldiers she tipped off—left the episode unfinished. Will Tom use his German accent and/or charm to win the day or will the team suffer another tragic loss?

We’ll have to wait until next week to find out.

X Company airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.