The Brink

In Islamabad, Pakistan, low-level State Department bureaucrat Alex Talbot asks his driver Rafiq to take him to a bazaar to score some weed. Encountering a mass protest that turns violent, they flee their car and take refuge in the house Rafiq shares with his parents and sister. In Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Walter Larson is fetched from a hotel tryst by his seen-it-all aide, Kendra Peterson, to attend an emergency White House meeting on the growing unrest in Pakistan. After learning that paranoid General Umair Zaman is threatening the region with destruction, President Navarro and ultra-hawkish Secretary of Defense Grey put a plan in motion to remove Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, against Larson's advice that such an operation is risky and reckless.

With President Navarro and Defense Secretary Grey ordering a military response to General Zaman's threats, Walter argues that an air strike could unleash a world war. He and Kendra must track down a moderate contact inside the Pakistan government to defuse the crisis. Meanwhile, after learning that classified information has been sent from Rafiq's house, Zaman's men storm the place, threaten Rafiq's family, and drag Alex to an undisclosed location for interrogation of the worst kind. In the skies over Pakistan, with Walter and the president looking on via an airborne camera, Zeke tries to sober up a drug-addled Glenn, but his partner accidentally launches a missile that creates high anxiety in three world capitals.

Alex attempts to get a message to Walter. Walter has to deal with some personal and professional surprises.

In New Delhi, Walter defies doctor's orders and meets with the Indian foreign minister (Ajay Mehta) to urge him to withdraw his troops. Zeke contemplates the merits and perils of leading a double life before he and Glenn take off on a recon mission. In Islamabad, Alex encounters resistance as he tries to deliver a package to Raja.

Zeke and Glenn narrowly escape two armed men in a tribal region before being picked up by Martin and Vanessa, an eccentric British couple. With Fareeda missing, Alex and Rafiq head to her school and encounter a group of girls with nowhere to go. Against the president's orders, Walter pays an unscheduled visit to the Israeli foreign minister (Iris Bahr).

Walter runs into Joanne in Tel Aviv. Martin and Vanessa hold Zeke and Glenn hostage.

Zeke is challenged to a fight. En route to DC, Walter fakes a medical emergency to force an unscheduled landing. With the American embassy on lockdown, Alex plots an escape.

With tensions rising in Islamabad, Walter tries to convince the president to act with caution. On the aircraft carrier, Zeke must deal with the women in his life before he and his fellow pilots get new orders. Inside the Embassy, Alex tries to make amends with Rafiq and Fareeda.

Walter tries to strike a deal with Zaman's highest-ranking general. Zeke and Glenn find a way to pass the time after being grounded. With Rafiq translating, Alex tries to figure out if and when he should initiate Walter's "Plan B.".

With a global crisis looming, Zeke and Glenn once again find themselves in a compromised state. Walter tries to defuse the situation with various heads of state via videoconference; Alex attempts to connect with Zaman on a personal level.