Matty goes to a party and a man, Senator Todd Steckler joins her at the window looking out over LA She says that she'd rather be working than partying, and Steckler says that someone is blackmailing him. The blackmailer somehow got their hands on one of his old computers, and the computer also has a file from his time on the committee overseeing covert ops: Dragonfly.
The next day at Phoenix, Matty tells the team that Steckler's computer was shipped overseas to Ghana to be dumped rather than recycled in the U.S. She shows them the email that Steckler received from the blackmailer, and says that they need to retrieve Dragonfly before the blackmailer stumbles across it. The information on Dragonfly is need-to-know, and Matty tells them that they're flying commercial out of LAX rather than taking a Phoenix jet. When Jack balks, Matty asks him politely to go and he tells her that they'll handle it. As they go, Jack says that Matty is scared.
The team arrive in Accra, Ghana, and speculate about what Dragonfly. Mac refuses, saying that if Matty wanted them to know, she'd tell them. Riley has them pull over at the bank where Steckler's bank was routed to, and Jack pus on a Willie Nelson CD. Mac figures that Dragonfly is personal to Matty. Riley detects someone withdrawing the money, and Mac, Riley, and Wilt go into the bank. They spot the man coming out, and the trio follow him through the streets.
He spots them and runs off, and the team cut him off in an alleyway. However, the courier ducks through a hole in a fence and parkours up a building. Mac manages to grab him and drags him back, and they realize that the courier is a teenager. Riley finds the courier's laptop in his backpack, and discovers that there are other parts are attached to it to boost is performance. She tells the courier, Abina, that if she gives them the computer that they want then they'll let her walk away. Riley figure that she's trying to sweeten the deal, and Mac says that they'll let Abina keep the blackmail money. Abina says that Joseph Musah keeps the hard drive locked up, and Joseph is the man that they work for, and has no choice but to take them to Joseph's "office".
Abina leads the team to an e-waste junkyard outside of Ghana. Dozens of kids are sifting through the pieces of thousands of computers. Kid "scavengers" break down the scrap into parts that they can resell. Mac helps a boy, Danso, open a printer cartridge using a cell phone leverage board to pry it open without throwing toxic ink. Abina thanks Mac for his help, and says that not everything is broken down. She takes them into a warehouse where locals are scanning hard drives for anything used to blackmail previous owners. Abina says that she wrote software to look for skin tones so they can pull photos, and shows them the cage where Joseph keeps the hard drives stored.
Wilt suggests that they look at Dragonfly with Riley's help. Matty calls and asks for a status update. Wilt tells her that they should have the hard drive in a few seconds. As Mac picks the lock on the cage, everyone whistles signaling that Joseph is there even though he wasn't supposed to be there. He tells them to hide, and they agree when Mac realizes how scared Abina is. Abina takes them into the room where she sleeps, while Joseph and his men pull in and get out. Jack wants to take out Joseph and his men, but Mac warns that the kids will suffer if they get involved. Joseph's men take the stack with Steckler's hard drive and drive off.
The team emerges and Jack says that the road is too wide for them to follow Joseph's car. Abina says that he can take them to Joseph's house but it will cost them. Once they pay, they go to Joseph's fortress-like manor and they call Matty and tell her the situation. Abina offers to distract the guards as long as they take her home with them, but Matty refuses. Riley takes the phone and tells her that without Abina's help the might as well and leave, and asks her how bad she wants Dragonfly. After a moment, Matty promises that she'll do what she can to find Abina somewhere to live.
Abina calls Joseph and tells him that the Sakawa Boys are raiding the landfill. Joseph and his men drive to the landfill, and Mac rigs the gate so that it doesn't close. Mac, Jack, and Wilt go in and Jack takes the back while the others break into the house. As they go in, Wilt figures that they can learn more about Matty from Dragonfly.
Abina asks Riley what's on the drive, and Riley says that they don't know but it's important enough that Matty wants it. The teenager says that the more photos she saw, the more she saw of herself traveling to the states and majoring in computer science. Riley assures her that Matty will let her do that as long as Abina uses her skills to help people rather than hurt them, and assures the girl that it will feel better.
Joseph and his men arrive at the landfill and spread out to search for the Sakawas. There's no sign of a raid, and Joseph realizes that he's been tricked.
As Mac breaks into the room with the hard drives, a guard asks them what's going on. Wilt traps him, but the guard calls Joseph and warns that they have intrudes. Mac knocks the guard out with a lamp, warns Jack that Joseph is coming back, and uses the wiring from the lamp to break open the lock to Joseph's study. They start searching the hard drives for Steckler's information.
Joseph and his men come back, lock the gates, and surround the place. Riley calls to warn her teammates, and Abina points out something that would help.
Wilt finds the fly and they grab the hard drive and climb out the window. Jack joins them, and the thugs find them and open fire. The trio take cover and Jack warns that he can't hold them off for long. Riley drives a dump truck through the gates and her teammates get in the back. She drives off, the heavy truck walls providing protection from the bullets, and they get out.
As the team heads down the road, Joseph's men follow them. Mac and Wilt toss debris out to slow them down, and Jack calls Matty. Matty says that she's working on an exfil. When Riley reminds her of Abina, Matty reminds her that the operation is off the books. The pursuing SUVs stop and turn around, and military hummers start chasing them. Abina says that Joseph has connections with the military.
Mac and Wilt run out of junk, and Riley swerves to knock one hummer off of the road. Mac grabs a junked microwave and removes the magnetron, and says that they need to get closer to the hummers' alternators. He has Jack plug it in, and yells at Riley to hit the brakes. Once she does and they're close enough, Mac fries the alternators.
Steckler enters Matty's office and Matty tells him that her team retrieved his drive. She needs Steckler's help getting Abina out of Ghana. Steckler points out that they have accomplished the objective and says that he would have to spend too much political capital to get Abina out under the radar. He tells Matty that he already did her a favor by telling her about Dragonfly and keeping "him" out of immediate danger. Matty says that he's going to do her one more favor and if he doesn't, the blackmail photos will go to every staffer in the district.
The team pulls over and Riley analyzes Dragonfly. She says that it's encrypted but she can beak it, and Mac figures that they should let Matty keep her secrets. Matty texts that Abina is booked on a flight to LA, and they head to the airport. Danso calls Abina on the radio and says that he needs her help. Joseph comes on the radio and tells Abina that he gave her a place to live. If she doesn't bring him the hard drive then he'll kill her friends, and gives her thirty minutes to get there.
Once the team goes to the landfill, Riley hacks the surveillance cameras and determines how many men are there. Jack sneaks in and Mac figures that they need to get the kids away from the guards. He uses a tape player to send a higher frequency that only the children can hear but the guards can't. Mac has Abina record a message telling her friends to run when they hear a whistle.
Jack takes out two guards.
Mac plays Abina's recording, and Abina goes in with the hard drive and calls to Joseph. He asks where the team is, and Abina claims that they left. Joseph doesn't believe her, and Abina says that she swapped the hard drive for a decoy. He tells her to hand over the drive, and Abina says that she will once he releases the hostages.
Jack takes out more guards, and Mac moves in with the battery bombs that he's rigged.
Riley gives the signal, the kids run, and Mac throws the bombs. Riley trips Joseph with a cord and knocks him out, and Jack shoots one guard and knocks out another. Matty calls and says that Joseph's organization is being dismantled and the corrupted Ghanian soldiers are turning on each other. She says that she's acquired temporary housing for Abina while they sort out her situation, and tells them to get the drive back to Phoenix.
The others tells Mac that they agree that Matty can keep her secrets. Abina says that she's not coming because she can't abandon her fellow scavengers and if she leaves, someone else like Joseph will take over. Mac says that's not going to work for him and the others agree.
Later at Phoenix, the team arrives in the war room and give Matty the drive. She thanks them for going to Ghana, and Wilt admits that they considered looking at Dragonfly but none of them did because Matty deserves her secrecy. Matty explains that Phoenix just entered into a non-profit to set up prefabricated homes near the landfill for Abina and her friends. Abina is on the video feed and thanks them.
That night, Matty returns to the war room and brings up Dragonfly. It's a video file of Ethan Reigns, standing in an office at CIA headquarter in 2010. Ethan says that he goes into deep cover and he's making the file for the people that know about Operation Dragonfly. He then tells Matty that he's sorry and removes his wedding ring, and says that he loves her. Matty says that she loves him as well.
Written by Gadfly on Nov 10, 2018