[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Terminal List: Dark Wolf  Season 1 Episode 5, “E&E.”]

Spy thriller The Terminal List: Dark Wolf follows Ben Edwards’ (Taylor Kitsch) descent from devoted Navy SEAL and loyal brother to corrupted CIA operative and betrayer, as the actioner drives further down a twisted path, this time exploring how the dark side tests a man of moral standing like Raife Hastings (Tom Hopper).

In Episode 4, “The Sound of the Guns,” Ben joins a covert mission in Munich to intercept nuclear centrifuge bearings bound for Iran. Disguised as Austrian police, he and Eliza (Rona-Lee Shimon) breach a convoy and secure the briefcase, but an ambush turns the op deadly. In the chaos, Eliza betrays Ben, shooting him, leaving him unconscious, and fleeing with the bearings. Ben survives but is abandoned.

Meanwhile, Raife grows wary of Jed Haverford’s (Robert Wisdom) reckless leadership and confirms through a family contact that his instincts are right: Haverford is unstable. Eliza’s betrayal and the botched mission vindicate Raife’s doubts, forcing him to confront the cost of loyalty and embrace his darker side.

When Episode 5, “E&E” (short for “escape and evasion,” the actions a service member takes to escape a hostile situation and evade capture) begins, viewers are met with a warning: “This episode contains graphic scenes involving torture. Viewer discretion is advised.” Not a typical disclaimer for most shows, it signals that things are about to take a dark turn.

Ben is still reeling from betrayal, but the focus shifts to Raife. Holding a hostage from the ambush, Raife is determined to get answers. “Neither one of us decides how this conversation ends tonight,” he says, picking up a knife. “Time will.”

Raife methodically slices into his hostage, who screams through his bindings. “Now that we have an understanding,” Raife says coldly, “let’s talk about who you are, and how the f**k the Khalid Network knew we were coming.”

Hours pass, and Raife escalates. He tries water deprivation, but the hostage only laughs, calling Raife a mercenary “just like me,” a man without a home or a cause. Still refusing to give up information on the Khalid Network, the man is strung up, his joints dislocated. When he insists they didn’t know, Raife snaps: “You are running out of time.”

Later, Raife shifts tactics, telling stories from his childhood in Africa, of hunting with his uncle, and using lye to “break down the soft tissue” of the beasts he caught. “I got very good at it,” he says, before applying lye to his hostage’s wounds. As the flesh sizzles, Raife presses again: “How did the Khalid know we were coming?” This time, the man breaks, admitting he is with German Intelligence, not the Khalid Network. “You’re a f**king friendly?” (a military term for ally) Raife demands. “CIA,” the man gasps, before collapsing.

Realizing he’s been torturing an ally, Raife scurries to patch the man up.“F**. F**k!” But it is too late, and Raife’s methods were too good. The agent is gone.

The scenes are harrowing and deserving of a warning. Actor Tom Hopper is cold and calculating, a stark contrast to his initially brotherly and protective nature introduced at the beginning of the series. Talking to TV Insider, Hopper offers insight into the shift in his character and what it takes to break a man.

Prime Video

“Raife lives by a code. The brotherhood that he has known for so long is the code of the Navy SEALs. What they stand for is each other, without any shadow of a doubt: they care more about than themselves is the brother beside them,” said Hopper. “And I think a big part of this season as well is that Raife’s loyalty to [James] Reece (Chris Pratt) is so strong that when Reece says, ‘I need you to look after our brother,’ which is Ben, he can’t break that promise.”

“There’s a part of him that all the way through this, there has been a conflict of whether he’s doing the right thing in terms of the mission that we’re on,” he continued. “He doesn’t agree with it, but he feels like he has to stand by Ben because he’s absolutely his brother, but for the promise he made Reece as well. So loyalty for Raife comes from what he’s built within the code of the teams.”

“With a character up against someone like Ben, you’re almost destined to fail. But Raife is so dogged in his mission to try and keep Ben on the right path. It’s tough,” said Hopper of the soldier’s dark descent during his missions. “And I think there’s a part of Raife that knows that might be where this is heading, and because he knows the way that Ben works.”

“[Raife] has a conversation with Reece in Episode 2 where he’s like, if you look closely enough, you see those strings vibrating, and that is Raife’s knowledge of Ben and the way that Ben works. Him saying, ‘I need to know you can find the brakes when it matters,’ that is him saying, ‘I know you can’t,’” explains Hopper. “So there’s a part of him that’s like, ‘Why the hell are you doing this?’ And again, it comes down to loyalty.”

“He’s willing to stick by him to the very last moment. There are things that happen to Raife…When he’s torturing the guy who he ultimately he realizes that he’s a friendly, and because of the mission Ben has been pushing, which is like, ‘We have to do this,’ Raife has done something against his moral code, and [that] has pushed him over the line,” explains Hopper. “He’s like, ‘I will not do this any further for you.’ And because he knows there’s no turning back for Ben.”

The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, Season 1, Wednesdays, Prime Video