The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, Season 1, Episode 1 begins in 2022 at the funeral of Ernest "Boozer" Vickers, a fallen teammate of Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander James Reece. Reece mourns deeply, reflecting on the loss and the mission that led to their team's decimation. The narrative then shifts back to 2015 in Mosul, Iraq, focusing on Chief Special Warfare Operator Ben Edwards, who is part of a joint prisoner exchange operation involving American and Iraqi forces.

During the exchange, the team is tasked with handing over Hamid Al-Jabouri to ISIS in return for the release of Iraqi Special Forces family members. However, as soon as ISIS receives Hamid, they open fire unexpectedly, endangering civilians and soldiers alike. In the chaos, Iraqi officer Daran Amiri is shot multiple times in the leg and becomes immobile. Edwards acts quickly, managing to extract Amiri from the firefight and ensuring his survival. This act of saving Amiri establishes a debt of gratitude that will influence later events.

Following the firefight, Edwards and his team regroup. Edwards bonds with his Iraqi allies, including Mohammed Farooq, and they discuss the complexities of their mission and the dangers they face. Meanwhile, Edwards begins to grow disillusioned with the constraints and politics of warfare, sensing that the official rules and intelligence operations hinder effective action.

The story then introduces a covert operation involving Professor Molnar at the Nuclear Technical Institution. Edwards and Eliza, an associate connected to the mission, stalk Molnar and develop a rapport, sharing personal stories including Eliza's daughter's impending military conscription. Edwards gives Eliza a copy of Wilfred Owen's poem "Dulce et Decorum Est," emphasizing the tragic cost of war.

The next day, the team prepares to intercept a transaction where Molnar hands over nuclear material to Mo, an operative working to supply Iran with components for a nuclear bomb. The operation is tense, with multiple factions vying for control of the material. During the confrontation, Landry detains Mo to prevent enemy forces from capturing him, while Ish pursues an assailant onto a subway train.

In the subway, Ish is suddenly disconnected and killed by the assailant. Edwards, ignoring warnings from Hastings, boards the train alone to confront the threat. He methodically searches the train, finds the assailant, and kills him at point-blank range. Edwards then photographs the corpse to provide evidence for their intelligence network.

The episode closes with Edwards and his team solidifying their resolve to continue the dangerous mission, aware that the stakes involve nuclear proliferation and international espionage. The events set the stage for Edwards' transformation from a disillusioned soldier to a covert operative willing to cross lines for what he perceives as the greater good.

At the end of The Terminal List: Dark Wolf Season 1, Episode 1, Ben Edwards executes the ISIS handler Hamid Al-Jabouri after discovering Hamid's role in manipulating an Iraqi soldier into a suicide attack. This act leads to Edwards and Raife Hastings being dishonorably discharged from the Navy SEALs. However, their military careers do not end there, as they are soon approached by CIA spymaster Jed Haverford, who offers them a covert mission targeting terrorist leader Massoud Danawi, setting the stage for their new roles in intelligence operations.

The episode concludes with a tense and emotionally charged sequence that unfolds as follows:

The story begins with Edwards and his team involved in a prisoner exchange in Mosul, 2015. During the exchange, ISIS militants ambush the group, resulting in chaos and casualties. Edwards saves an Iraqi soldier, Daran Amiri, who later returns with a prosthetic leg after a suicide attack that kills many, including his own family. It is revealed that Amiri was manipulated by Hamid Al-Jabouri, an ISIS handler who is secretly a CIA asset.

Edwards, driven by a mix of anger and a sense of justice, tracks down Hamid, who is holding Amiri's daughter captive. In a decisive and violent confrontation, Edwards executes Hamid, an act that defies military protocol and leads to his and Hastings' dishonorable discharge from the Navy SEALs. This moment marks a turning point for Edwards, highlighting his growing disillusionment with the rules and the institutions he once served.

As Edwards and Hastings leave the military, their futures seem uncertain. However, CIA spymaster Jed Haverford approaches them, revealing that he orchestrated the cover-up protecting Hamid and now needs skilled operatives for a new mission. He recruits Edwards and Hastings for a covert operation to capture Massoud Danawi, a high-value terrorist target. This recruitment signals their transition from military operatives to intelligence agents, expanding the scope of their conflict and setting up the narrative for the following episodes.

The episode ends with Edwards and Hastings accepting the mission, stepping into a shadowy world of espionage and covert warfare, leaving behind their former lives as Navy SEALs but embarking on a path fraught with moral ambiguity and danger. The fate of Edwards and Hastings at this point is uncertain but poised for further development as they navigate this new chapter.

The Terminal List: Dark Wolf Season 1 Episode 1 does not have a post-credit scene. The episode ends with a focus on Ben Edwards' tragic backstory and the events that set his path toward betrayal and conflict, leaving viewers with a strong emotional and narrative conclusion but no additional scene after the credits roll.

The episode carefully establishes Ben's origins and the human cost of his choices, culminating in a poignant ending that sets the tone for the rest of the series without a post-credit teaser or extra scene.

In Episode 1 of The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, Ben Edwards and Lieutenant Raife Hastings are shown working closely during a prisoner exchange operation in Mosul, Iraq. Their relationship is marked by mutual reliance and trust in a high-stakes mission where Edwards' quick thinking saves lives, including that of Daran Amiri. This bond sets the foundation for Edwards' character development and his navigation through dangerous operations early in the series.

The prisoner exchange mission in Mosul involves returning Hamid Al-Jabouri to ISIS in exchange for Iraqi Special Forces family members. However, the mission goes awry when ISIS soldiers open fire immediately after receiving Hamid, endangering civilians and soldiers alike. Edwards' quick actions help save Daran Amiri, who is injured during the chaos. This event triggers a series of responses from Edwards and Amiri, influencing the plot in the first two episodes.

The $5 million cryptocurrency payment is shown as a down payment from Golubev to Professor Balaz Molnar in Budapest for a nuclear bomb prototype Iran is developing. This transaction is central to the espionage and black operations storyline, with Farooq impersonating Danawi to deliver the payment and gather intelligence. The payment sets off a chain of events involving covert meetings, betrayals, and firefights, highlighting the high-stakes geopolitical tension in the series.

Mohammed Farooq is an Iraqi Special Operations Forces officer who joins the CIA team. In Episode 1, he impersonates Danawi to deliver the cryptocurrency payment to Professor Molnar. Farooq discovers Danawi's estranged daughter, Thana Haddad, who knows about her father's death. Despite orders to kill her, Farooq spares her life, creating an internal conflict and setting up a future revenge plot. This decision reveals Farooq's complex morality and personal struggles within the covert operations.

During the meeting between Farooq (impersonating Danawi) and Professor Molnar in Budapest, a third party intervenes, leading to a firefight and chase. Ish Reinhart, a CIA officer, pursues an assailant into the subway but is killed. Edwards disregards warnings from Hastings and boards the train alone, where he kills the assailant and takes a photo of the body for identification. This sequence demonstrates Edwards' decisiveness and combat skills under pressure, furthering the espionage plot.

The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, Season 1, Episode 1 is not family friendly and is rated TV-MA, indicating it is intended for mature audiences only. It contains strong language, intense violence, and some disturbing scenes that may be upsetting for children or sensitive viewers.

Potentially objectionable or upsetting aspects include:

• Frequent strong language, including many uses of the "f" word and other profanities.
• Numerous scenes of intense action violence, including gunfights, executions, and visible bloody wounds such as a leg gunshot wound.
• Depictions of dead bodies in distressing contexts, such as people hanging or a character's deceased spouse.
• A sexually suggestive joke, though no actual sex or nudity occurs in the episode.
• Brief smoking and severe portrayals of alcohol and drug use in the series overall.
• A dark, suspenseful tone with themes of revenge, deception, and moral conflict.

There is no explicit sex or nudity in this episode, but the mature themes, graphic violence, and harsh language make it unsuitable for children and sensitive viewers.