Atomic - Season 1 Guide

Drug smuggler Max’s life changes forever when, during a drug run in the Libyan desert, he is saved by an insurgent militant and fellow Englishman, JJ.

With both men now on the run, they are quickly swept up into a chaotic and high-stakes mission that neither of them bargained for – and could prove their undoing.

As the pair find themselves trafficking highly enriched uranium across North Africa and the Middle East, soon the CIA, MI6 and other powerful forces are hot on their tail.

Now they’re not sure who to trust, or what to do next.

Here’s how the season unfolds.

The main cast members for Atomic are:

• Alfie Allen (SAS: Rogue Heroes, Game of Thrones) as Max
• Shazad Latif (Star Trek: Discovery, What’s Love Got To Do With It) as JJ
• Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale, Orange is the New Black) as Cassie Bryce

Joining them in supporting roles are:

• Avital Lvova (The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Power) as Oksana Shirokova
• Mikhail Safronov (Ransom, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning) as Oleg Kuzayev
• Franklin Virgüez (Lord of the Skies, Rosario) as Antonio Alam
• Brian Gleeson (Bad Sisters, The Lazarus Project) as Mark Ellis
• Akin Gazi (Da Vinci’s Demons, Knightfall) as Sayed Ahman
• Charlie Murphy (Happy Valley, Peaky Blinders) as Laetitia
• Stuart Martin (Army of Thieves, Miss Scarlet and The Duke) as Robert "Rab" Mackintosh
• Newcomer Jacob George Wright as Peter Holmes

Season one of Atomic runs for five episodes in total

Here’s how the series breaks down.

When free-spirited drug smuggler Max (Alfie Allen) is ambushed by a group of insurgent militants while crossing the Libyan desert, he is unexpectedly spared by one of his assailants - JJ (Shazad Latif), also from the UK.

At gunpoint, JJ demands Max to take him to Benghazi, which threatens to derail Max’s objective of exchanging his cargo for two priceless statues in Beirut. Max and JJ set out on this perilous road trip across Libya and Algeria to Beirut, still unsure of each other. But despite being very different people, the pair form an unlikely bond, and they renege on their deal with the cartel (with deadly consequences) and are forced to go on the run.

In Beirut, deep cover CIA Agent Cassie Elliott (Samira Wiley) receives a tip off about an exchange of uranium that has apparently just taken place in the city - close to where Max and JJ are now laying low - and decides to investigate.

But when Max receives evidence that the cartel has kidnapped his girlfriend Laetitia (Charlie Murphy), and becomes aware that the statues contain uranium, his priorities suddenly shift. If he wants to save her, he must take the statues all the way to a new destination - Marrakech. Against their better judgement, Max and JJ’s road trip continues, but now with Elliott in hot pursuit.

Max and JJ are forced to try and secure safe passage to Marrakech through Syria, a country that hides a troubled past for JJ. He reveals he first travelled there 10 years ago as part of the Islamic state with his wife and son, both of whom later died from military air strikes.

This revelation brings the unlikely pair closer together with Max revealing more about his personal life with Laetitia. Meanwhile a former CIA colleague, Mark Ellis (Brian Gleeson), lands in Syria to help Cassie catch the two runaways. Once captured by Cassie and Mark, the pair broker a deal which sees Max and JJ continue with the trade in a bid to lead the CIA to the cartel in Marrakech. In exchange, the CIA promises Max that they’ll rescue Laetitia.

In Marrakesh, Max and JJ prepare for the uranium exchange with the cartel, all under the watchful eye of Cassie and the CIA. But when self-doubt gets the better of JJ, he flees, while Max is captured by the cartel and imprisoned alongside Laetitia. But she is not pleased to see him – their reunion reveals that she has not been his girlfriend for years – Max just couldn’t get over her, and his obsession has now put her in danger.

When the cartel finally catches up with ‘JJ’, they intend to kill all three of them, but a freak event allows the trio to escape and go on the run again, this time to stop the uranium falling further into the wrong hands. Meanwhile, Cassie finds out that her former CIA colleague Mark has been outplaying and undermining her the whole time, helped by a mole within the cartel.

The cartel might have the bomb, but Max & JJ are still alive. And they won’t allow the uranium to be used for more death and destruction. Together, they decide to drive to Casablanca to find it and steal it back.

Arriving in Casablanca, an impressive heist sees Max and JJ win back the uranium from the cartel with the help of Cassie – who begins working as a double agent as she now trusts the pair more than she does the CIA or anyone else.

With Cassie’s help, the runaways disassemble the bomb and drive off deep into the desert. With the CIA, the cartel and others now closing in to take back the uranium, Max and JJ face a choice: to keep running, or to smash the two pieces of uranium together in the hope that it creates an explosion and renders them useless. A sudden sign - from God, or the universe, or something - makes it clear to them that this plan is the right one. It’s now or never. But can they do it? Could you?

All episodes of Atomic are now available on Sky Atlantic.

You can also stream them via SkyGo and NOW.