High Potential (2024) s02e05 Episode Script

1
["GIVE IT UP FOR THE MACHINES" PLAYING]
[WHIRRING]
I'm one hundred percent ♪
I want you dead or alive ♪
- Come on, let me do it.
- Dude, hey, stop.
Come on. Let go.
[PERSON 1] You're gonna make me crash. No!
No.
Look, it's still filming.
[PERSON 2] Is that a car?
[ELECTRONIC SCREECHING]
[BOTH] Oh!
["ONE MORE TIME" PLAYING]
She's drinking holy water ♪
When she's thirsty for a gin ♪
How did you find me?
Well, when you wouldn't take my calls,
I had to stalk your reviews.
Turns out Steve from Pen Tech, very
satisfied with his Thursday lawn care.
Five stars.
What can I help you with, Morgan? [SIGHS]
I was just wondering why you'd give
me your business card and then ghost me.
Roman asked me
to check on you and his kid.
I told him you were good.
The job is done.
So you and Roman are what? Pen pals?
[GRUNTS] Before I got the call,
I hadn't spoken to the man in 15 years.
So, someone you haven't spoken with
in over a decade calls,
and you drop everything
to go pick up a backpack in Nevada,
and then spy on my daughter and me?
Yeah, well, it sure seems that way.
Do you know where Roman is?
Roman called me from a burner, all right?
I didn't even see him
when I got out there, so.
I want that backpack.
[CHUCKLES] Then, why don't you ask some
of your cop friends about that?
- They can help you with it.
- Yeah, you're right.
I am friends with some people in the LAPD…
[ARTHUR] Mm-hmm.
…including the Financial Crimes division.
I wonder if they would peek
into your business for me.
You know what?
You probably have nothing to worry about.
I'm sure you've reported
every single dollar
of your cash-only business
to the IRS, right?
[SCOFFS]
Good.
I'll be in touch with a time and a place.
Keep up the five-star work, Arthur.
One of the things I'm most proud of
as your lieutenant
is this team's commitment to its duty.
Every day, you tackle the toughest crimes
this city throws at you
with honor and tenacity.
And tenacious is also how
I would describe Captain Wagner.
His track record speaks for itself.
Welcome, Captain Nick Wagner.
Thank you, Lieutenant Soto.
I know what it's like
to have a change in command
and all the uncertainties
that come with it,
which is why I want to be clear up front.
I'm not here to step on toes.
My job is to support you,
so you can do yours.
I'm looking forward
to getting to know you better.
And to start that process, I'm gonna be
meeting with you individually.
It's nothing formal. Just some talk.
And since my office is on three,
I was hoping Lieutenant Soto
wouldn't mind if I used hers
as home base for a few days.
- Whatever you need, Captain.
- Great.
- Thank you, everyone.
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Detective Ozdil, free for a chat?
Sure.
Hey, you okay with all this?
Are you referring to
getting kicked out of my own office
or Captain Wagner in general?
Yes.
[LAUGHS] I'm fine, really.
First few days of new command
is always a little bumpy.
Daphne. What do we know about Wagner?
Well… [EXHALES] …I know he's
one of the Wagners.
- [MORGAN] What does that mean?
- The Wagners are an LAPD dynasty.
Grandfather, father, uncle.
All made captain.
His dad retired a decade ago
and went into politics.
I heard his dad pulled some strings
to get his son into command.
Must be nice to have that kind of in.
Hey, guys. I just got a call.
Dead body found at Shay Ranch Pond.
Go check it out.
[KARADEC] What are we looking at?
Victim was shot in the chest. No ID.
Car is registered to a Tori Nolan.
Thirty-one.
We pulled a pic from the DMV.
We think the car
might have been stolen by the vic.
No, she didn't steal Tori Nolan's car.
She is Tori Nolan.
Looks like Tori
had some work done recently.
Botox, microplaning, threads,
cheek fillers, eyelash extensions.
She chopped her hair off
and dyed it brown.
Sounds like she went through a lot
of trouble to change her appearance.
Yeah, either she succumbed
to the pressures of being a woman in LA,
- or she was hiding from someone.
- Mmm.
Hey, these bullet wounds definitely
came from a small caliber, maybe a .380.
[MORGAN] Those are steam burns,
but look, these seem chemical.
[KARADEC] There's red staining
on her clothes and skin too.
None of it looks like blood. [EXHALES]
Some kind of dye?
All the windows are missing.
Might have been shot out.
Looks like Tori had a storage unit.
Hold on. Why is this still dripping?
The rest of the dash is dry.
Okay.
So Tori Nolan changed her face,
carried a gun,
only to get shot, burned,
and dumped into a pond.
Well, whoever she was hiding from,
it looks like they found her.
Hula Hound.
And you know about this place because…
I know all the bars in LA
with trivia nights.
Don't judge me. Knowing random facts
is the whole point of a pub quiz.
- They love it.
- Mmm.
Maybe they don't love it because,
you know,
I'm banned from most of them,
but that's not why we're here.
We're here because you said
Tori had a storage unit, right?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Ta-da.
Nobody's popping into
the Hula Hound for no reason,
and I'm thinking
Tori's reason was proximity.
Yeah, it's as good a place
to start as any.
Tori's last known address
was in Koreatown,
but landlord said
she hasn't lived there for years.
- Let's go see what she was storing.
- Let's.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC ENDS]
- What do these mean?
- I don't know yet.
There was no laptop in Tori's car.
Maybe the killer took it.
Whoa. Look at these.
[MORGAN] Ha.
All these match up with
the places on the filing cabinets.
Tori was traveling the world
under assumed identities.
Who was this girl? Carmen Sandiego?
[EXHALES] It's gonna take days
to piece all that back together.
We might not have to.
Okay, so everywhere Tori traveled,
there was some sort of big scandal.
Crystal Lake had
this massive E. coli outbreak
from faulty water pipes in July of 2018.
Late 2023, an American au pair agency
was running a human trafficking ring
out of Cambodia.
And do you see these red symbols
right here?
Those are editing marks.
And these numbers, they're dates
and issue numbers from a magazine.
Tori wasn't
an international woman of mystery.
She was an investigative reporter.
Well, whatever story she was covering now
might have gotten her killed.
Find anything in Tori Nolan's financials?
Oz.
- Oz.
- [CLEARS THROAT] Uh. Sorry.
Okay, you've been acting weird ever
since your meeting with the captain.
- I thought you said it went well.
- Yeah, it did.
I think. I don't know.
- You'll see when you meet with him.
- [PHONE RINGS]
[KARADEC] Daphne, what'd you find out?
Okay, I cross-referenced the location,
dates, and issue numbers you sent.
Morgan was right. Tori was a journalist
for Takedown Magazine,
an online publication
known for its exposés.
[OZ] According to her editor,
Tori always wrote under a pseudonym.
Apparently she got
doxed after an article
she published in her college newspaper.
Having her private information
blasted all over the Internet
was so traumatic
she dropped out of school.
Did the editor know what Tori
was currently investigating?
No, but that wasn't unusual.
She said Tori would drop off the grid
when following a story.
Good news is they insisted
on getting proof of life from her
whenever she was undercover,
so I'm sending that to you now.
[PHONE BUZZES]
[MORGAN] This is recent. She had
the same nails on when she died.
There's no grow-out around the cuticles.
But this picture could
have been taken anywhere, Morgan.
There's no landmarks or anything else
in the background we can use.
Not true.
You got a poodle dog.
There's literally no poodle.
Okay, I get it.
We're looking for poodle dog plants,
but how do you know
this is the right area?
Because there was a fire in these hills
just a few months ago.
Poodle dog bushes are pyrophytes.
Fire followers.
Their seeds lay dormant until
the intense heat of a fire wakes them up.
Based on the size of the plant
in this picture she took.
This location fits the timeline.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, look.
Look, we're getting close. See?
Okay, stop. Check it out.
- She took the picture right here.
- [KARADEC] Hmm.
Okay, if I am Tori, I am not taking
no trespassing for an answer.
If you're Tori?
Well, why would I? Any bozo
can buy a sign, tack it to a fence.
Morgan, whoever put up that sign,
they might mean it.
Tori's embedded herself
in some dangerous
situations with some dangerous people,
so we don't know
what we might be walking into here.
["WANNA GO WILD" PLAYING]
What is this place?
Oh, you don't have a teenager.
This is a content house.
[CHUCKLES]
[SCREAMS, LAUGHS]
These guys all live
here and shoot videos
for their streaming platforms.
Could explain Tori's enhancements.
She'd have to be camera ready 24-7 if
she was going
undercover as an influencer.
[KARADEC] Mmm.
Well, this isn't really on
par with the other
stories she went after.
What was she investigating here?
Can I help you?
I'm Detective Karadec.
This is Morgan Gillory, LAPD.
You recognize this woman?
That's Darla.
She lives here.
Is she okay?
No, unfortunately she's not. She's dead.
Hey. Anyone else want
to take a dip in the gel-cuzzi?
Uh, that's a no?
[CREATOR 1] Darla… Well, Tori, I guess,
she'd only been in the house a few weeks,
but everyone liked her.
- What kind of content did she make?
- ASMR videos.
Her channel wasn't doing great,
but it was growing.
[KARADEC] When's the last time
you saw Tori?
[CREATOR 3] A day ago, maybe two.
When everyone's filming,
we tend to lose track of time.
[KARADEC] Do you know anyone
who would want to hurt her?
[CREATOR 2] No, we've all had creeps
in our comments,
but Tori never mentioned
anyone she was concerned about.
Do you think one
of her followers killed her?
Well, we're not ruling anything out.
Thanks. We'll be in touch.
[SIGHS] No one claims
to know what happened.
You got anything?
Just that these kids are
under a crazy amount of pressure.
You know, that bit that Prénkz was doing?
A six-ounce box of gelatin makes two cups.
A standard kiddie pool
is about 400 gallons.
That's 3,360 boxes just to fill it up.
I'm guessing from set-up to clean-up,
that's what?
Thirty hours of work
for a 30-second video.
That's barely gonna move the needle
on his goal chart.
This guy Phineas is running
this place like a sweatshop.
- Okay. Looks like we found Prénkz's lair.
- [TOY SQUEAKS]
Red dye?
Like the red dye
that was all over Tori's body?
[CREATOR 3] What are you gonna say?
You don't know what happened.
- Just let me talk!
- Play it cool. Okay, we're going in.
Something you guys wanna tell us?
- We did it. We did it. We killed her.
- Uh. It was an accident.
One of you shot Tori?
She was shot?
How do you think you killed her?
Like that.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. No. Karadec!
- You might wanna turn back.
- What…
- [MORGAN SCREAMS] Oh!
- [PRÉNKZ] Oh, geez.
Darla, um, Tori leaves the house every
Wednesday afternoon to do errands.
Since we knew she'd
be in her car, Prénkz
and I set up a situation
in her back seat.
What kind of a situation?
The devil's toothpaste.
Exactly what happened
to Detective Karadec, except bigger.
Show me.
[RAQUEL CHUCKLING ON LAPTOP]
[PRÉNKZ CHUCKLES] Get ready.
[CHUCKLES] This is gonna get so many hits.
[CREATOR 3] Sorry, Darla,
but you asked for this.
- [EXPLOSION]
- [CREATOR 3] Oh, my God.
- [PRÉNKZ] What do we do?
- I don't know.
[PRÉNKZ] Hurry, the car's still rolling.
We need to get outta here.
[CREATOR 3] Just stop filming, Prénkz!
Did you check on her?
Well, we freaked out,
so we called Phineas. [EXHALES]
He runs Cloud House.
Phineas said Darla
was fine but really mad.
She was just gonna go
for a drive and cool off.
No, with a force like that,
Tori was definitely concussed.
She wasn't driving anywhere.
You guys,
that was a really dangerous prank.
I know. I didn't think it'd be
that big of an explosion.
All right, what was in it?
Just dye, soap, yeast, and peroxide.
- How much peroxide?
- A lot.
A lot. Okay, well,
that explains the steam burns.
When hydrogen peroxide meets yeast,
it produces a lot of oxygen
and a lot of heat.
The oxygen forms a fabulous foam,
and the higher the peroxide percentage,
the bigger the boom.
[EXPLOSION]
It also explains
the lack of blood in Tori's car.
The peroxide would have cleaned it up.
Mmm.
In the video,
you said Tori asked for it. Why?
She stole my L3 protein powder.
Live Laugh Lift.
I was supposed to do
an exclusive promo for them.
I'm the only content creator in
the country to get L3 before the launch.
It was gonna bring a ton
of traffic to my channel,
but Tori stole the powder
before I could film it.
Why would she do that?
Probably because her own channel
wasn't doing so well,
so she wanted to sabotage mine.
Those morons could've killed Tori
with that dumb prank,
but I don't think they shot her.
I think someone else did.
Look, red dye and tire tracks
extend down into those weeds.
I think this is where Tori was shot.
[CAR APPROACHES]
Wonder who would've wanted to do that.
[TIRES SQUEAL]
Let's get back to the car.
I'll put out a BOLO.
Hold on… [CHUCKLES] …one second.
Did you just try
and chase after a sports car?
It was an instinct.
Your instinct was that you could
catch up to a twin-turbo V-8?
- Morgan.
- This might be the best day of my life.
[KARADEC] Uh-huh.
I just wanna thank you
for that beautiful gift.
[KARADEC] Okay.
[DOOR OPENS]
[DOOR CLOSES]
We didn't know you'd be home early.
Clearly. What is this?
Oh, a PB and J.
Cookies are not bread.
Argh. Air patrol's out looking for a guy,
so I got a little time.
That's so cool.
You should have asked for a fly along.
Mmm. I prefer to do my barfing on land.
[CHLOE CRIES]
Hey, uh, Elliot,
can you go grab your sister?
I thought you were hiring a babysitter.
Can you just go get her?
Please? You're her favorite
person in the whole wide world.
I know you're just saying that
to manipulate me.
Is it working?
Yes, but only
because it's true. She's a big Elliot fan.
- Aren't we all?
- Mmm. He's all right.
Argh. Gross.
The other reason I wanted
to swing by home was
to let you know that
I tracked down Arthur this morning.
- The guy who knows my dad?
- Mm-hmm.
Does he know where he is?
No, but he did agree
to give me his backpack.
- Okay, let's go get it.
- Hey… [CHUCKLES] …hold on a second.
We haven't figured out
a time or a place yet,
but when we do, I will get the backpack.
- I can't go with you?
- No.
- Why not?
- We don't even know who this guy is.
I'm not letting him anywhere near you. No.
- But, Mom, what if he has information or…
- Ava.
It's not a negotiation.
[SOFTLY] Okay.
I'll keep you posted.
[DAPHNE] Phineas's orange Lamborghini
wasn't hard to find.
Highway patrol picked him up
in Ventura an hour ago.
So far he's had nothing to say.
Keeping his mouth shut is probably
the smartest thing he's done in a while.
[DAPHNE] Mm-hmm.
I'm not interrupting, am I?
No, Detectives Oz and Karadec
are letting Phineas sweat a bit
before starting their interrogation.
Good. So Detective Forrester has a minute.
I hope you don't mind, but I stopped
at your desk and I couldn't resist.
No, that's what they're there for.
I never had a sweet tooth… [EXHALES]
…until I joined the force.
Now I can't go a day without having sugar.
Oh, well, there is worse habits.
True, and there's some habits
that serve you well on your job.
I saw your file, Detective.
Have you ever considered
sitting for the sergeant's exam?
[STUTTERS] Y-Yeah, I thought about it,
but nothing serious.
You should. I have a friend
that used to be a test assessor.
He can give you tips,
get you the right study materials.
That's great, but you know,
I'm really happy here and
No, of course you are,
but it never hurts to
be curious about broadening your horizons.
I'm sure Lieutenant Soto would agree.
- I do.
- I love to hear it.
- I'll set it up.
- Thank you.
What did I miss?
Nothing. They haven't started
the interrogation yet,
but I'm glad you popped in, Morgan.
I was hoping we could sit
down and have that talk and see
Ye… Oh. You know what, I-I… Great.
I can't though 'cause I gotta give this
my attention, so later.
[PHINEAS] Maybe someone can
tell me what this is about.
Maybe.
Of course.
- Let's talk about Tori Nolan.
- Who?
The reporter you shot
and then dumped in a pond.
We're thinking you found out
she was embedded at your house.
You were worried about the story
she'd run, and so you got rid of her.
You mean Darla?
So the details are familiar
but not the name.
I d-didn't know that was Darla.
I-I definitely didn't know
that she was a reporter.
Why was she at Cloud House?
We were wondering
the same thing, but then we had a look
at your financials.
- $200,000 sports car.
- Mmm.
Several stays at the Ibiza Four Seasons.
You work the kids hard,
pay them way less than they're earning,
then skim all the profits for yourself.
That sounds like a story to me.
Any money that I take from
the creators is for their room and board.
Right. 50K a month each.
Seems a bit steep, doesn't it, Phineas?
Even by Los Angeles standards.
- I gotta do a quick mic pop.
- A what?
[MORGAN] I need to see his watch.
[KARADEC] Watch, please.
Thank you.
Check out the joints.
There's corrosion in there, you see that?
That's what happens when titanium comes
in contact with concentrated peroxide.
Ooh. You see, after the explosion,
Tori was covered in that, Phineas,
and you must have gotten
a good bit of it on yourself too
when you moved her body
from the driver's seat.
You were in Tori's car
after Raquel and Prénkz foamed it.
You're the one who shot her
and then moved the car.
[INHALES] I moved the body,
but I swear I did not kill her.
Uh. There was so much foam everywhere.
I had no idea that she was shot
until I got to the pond.
If you didn't kill her,
why'd you move the body?
Because I'd lose the lease on the house.
Landlord's been trying
to evict Cloud House for months.
The neighbors hate us,
and if they kick us out,
I'd have to shut the entire thing down.
- Can you prove that you didn't kill her?
- I can.
[STUTTERS] Do you guys know what bots are?
Fake account holders on social networks.
People use them
to pad their followers. Yeah.
Exactly. Darla's number
Tori's numbers were terrible,
and right before Prénkz
and Raquel came running up,
I was in my office buying bots
to pump up Tori's channel.
Which you never would have done
if you were planning
on getting rid of her a minute later.
Exactly.
Damn it.
We booked Phineas for evidence tampering
and illegal transport.
He offered up Tori's bag
as a bargaining chip for leniency.
Said he took it
to keep anyone from ID'ing her.
Somebody who loves cars didn't think
we could find her
through her VIN number?
[OZ] Come on.
Great. Tori has
state-of-the-art encryption on here.
Not surprising for someone with her job.
[MORGAN] Raquel was right.
Tori did steal the protein powder.
But why?
I checked Tori's Cloud House channel.
- She never advertised it.
- Yeah, well, why would she?
She didn't actually
care about her numbers,
which means she wouldn't
sabotage somebody else's.
Morgan, how about this?
You recognize anything
in these lab results?
Yeah, nothing super interesting,
except castoreum.
- What's that?
- Beaver butt secretion.
It's a flavoring agent.
So is ethyl methylphenylglycidate.
Artificial strawberry.
I know that from my weekly fight
with my kids in the cereal aisle.
Yep.
Strawberry.
Okay, so Tori wasn't
investigating the content house,
she was investigating
the protein powder. Why?
Yeah, the woman made a career
out of exposing major scandals.
She covered corruption.
- She saved animals from abuse.
- [HORSE WHINNIES]
[MORGAN] She took on big oil.
And then protein powder?
Going after a small-time
product doesn't make any sense.
We said she was doxed, right?
Yeah, she wrote an article
about a classmate
who was running
a test-taker-for-hire business.
He cyberbullied her for revenge.
His name was, um, Robert Romano.
Well, I think he goes by Bobby now.
- Thank you.
- Robert Romano?
Whoa, my full name.
That's what my mom calls me
when I'm in trouble. [CHUCKLES]
- Wait, am I in trouble?
- No, we just wanna talk.
It's an impressive operation you got here.
Thanks, man.
Yeah, it's exciting times at L3.
Yeah, our pre-orders are flying.
I'm trying to stay humble,
but I got a feeling
Live Laugh Lift is gonna
revolutionize the fitness industry.
Really?
Oh. 'Cause it kind of looks like
you're just repackaging
a bunch of bulk protein powder from
China and slapping your label on it.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
[CHUCKLES] It's way more than that.
- Is it?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
L3 is a movement, okay?
This guy gets it. I can tell.
Bobby, San Dimas
delivery is gonna be late.
The truck got a flat.
If you two are from
the health department,
our certifications are in compliance.
Don't worry, they're not
health inspectors. They're just cops.
Guys, this is Lamar Vulpis.
He's my operations manager.
Can we help you with something?
Yeah, we were hoping to take
a look around, Lamar.
Sure, you got a warrant?
I don't know. Is there something here
that warrants a warrant?
Whoa, no, no. We don't… They
don't need a warrant, dude. [CHUCKLES]
- We're just talking, right?
- That's right.
Yeah. Look, Lamar, I'll call San Dimas.
- You got it, Boss.
- [BOBBY] Okay, thank you.
I know, he seems pretty tough, right?
That's just his job.
I couldn't run the place without him.
-Hmm
-Yeah, I don't doubt it.
I mean, your other businesses
were all scams, right?
Designer shoe company that
turned out to be low-end knockoffs.
The concert app that was
kicking out fraudulent tickets.
Oh, yeah.
That one got you pinched for wire fraud.
You did two years in prison, right?
Mm-hmm. Yeah, the feds got interested
in you because of an anonymous tip,
but she wasn't so anonymous for you,
was she?
- Yeah, you're talking about Tori Nolan?
- Hmm.
- She just has it out for me.
- Oh, yeah?
You think it had anything to do
with the time you doxed her so bad
she had to drop out of school?
I really regret that.
I was a stupid kid,
and I did stupid things.
[BOBBY SIGHS]
Please.
So, why are you asking about Tori?
Well, Bobby, um, she's dead.
[HUFFS] That's heavy.
[KARADEC] Mm-hmm.
Wait, you don't think I
had something to do with it?
Strong and smart.
- He's the whole package.
- Thanks.
When's the last time
you had contact with Tori?
Well, she called me a week ago.
She told me she was this big reporter now,
and she was gonna take me
down for good this time.
- Well, how was she gonna do that?
- I have no idea.
I hung up on her.
That kind of negative energy is not
what Live Laugh Lift is all about.
It's nonsense anyway,
because L3 is legit. [SCOFFS]
Okay, so that must
have really pissed you
off, that she was
trying to take it down.
I wouldn't hurt anyone.
You can look around all you want.
I'm an open book.
- Morgan…
- Karadec, he's an open book.
- Yeah, I'm cool with it.
- He's cool with it.
He was at a gym across
town when Tori was shot.
Because I never skip leg day.
- Can you verify that?
- Yes.
Oh, you meant, like, an alibi.
Yeah, my pump partner can vouch for me.
Oh, God, this keeps getting better.
I'll check out Bobby's alibi,
see if the gym had cameras.
You're saying you don't trust
the word of his pump partner?
Well, even if his story is true,
it doesn't mean he had
nothing to do with Tori's death.
- He could've hired someone to kill her.
- Yeah, maybe.
His nav app doesn't have him going
to Cloud House,
however it does say
that he stops by a place
called Serenity Arms at least once a week.
- [KARADEC] Mmm.
- It sounds like a cult.
No, actually,
it's a halfway house for ex-cons.
Maybe Bobby stayed there
after he got out of prison.
Might be a good place
to get some confirmation
as to how reformed he actually is.
[PHONE BUZZES]
Great, I'm being summoned for
my meeting with the captain.
No, thank you. It's good timing though.
I gotta grab my car from the station
and deal with a family thing.
Everything okay?
Oh, yeah. Never any drama
in the Gillory household.
Oh, never.
[KNOCKS ON DOOR]
Detective Karadec, come in.
Don't worry, it's not yours.
I wasn't worried.
Nor should you be.
I didn't even read your file.
Your reputation precedes you. Please.
Morgan Gillory, tell me about her.
I thought this meeting was about me.
It is, but she's your partner,
and I think we can
both admit that it's unconventional
and really not your style, Detective.
So, you have read my file.
I don't need to read anything to know
that you're a
badge-and-oath kind of guy.
But Morgan, she doesn't strike me
as somebody who stays in her lane.
[SCOFFS]
Well, we work well together
- if that's what you're getting at.
- You certainly do.
Your case rate has increased
ever since you two teamed up.
You were smart
to claim her as your partner.
You don't know Morgan if you
think anyone can claim her.
Mmm.
[KARADEC SIGHS]
Was there something else you needed,
Detective?
No.
Hey, heard back from the guy
that runs Serenity Arms, Gavin Tillman.
- He's available to meet.
- Hmm. Let's go.
["SAD SANDRA" PLAYING]
[ARTHUR GRUNTS]
I think you forgot something.
- I wanna talk first.
- About what?
This is very simple.
You've got the backpack.
You give me the backpack.
End of transaction.
[SCOFFS]
So, you really think that,
uh, whatever's in that bag
will give you answers
and not just more questions?
You didn't look in it, did you?
Why?
I don't know,
I thought about it, you know?
But I know Roman, okay?
The dude is solid, and he wouldn't just
up and disappear from
his people for no reason.
So, I keep asking myself,
what the hell happened 15 years ago
that was bad enough
to make a good man run?
And to be quite honest, I'm not sure
if I wanna know the answer to that.
Do you?
Yes, so give us the bag.
[STUTTERS] What are you…
How did you know where I was?
The family tracker app.
You can see my location, I can see yours.
- No, we're not doing this, okay?
- No, Mom, stop.
We didn't get the bag yet.
You can go,
but I'm not leaving here without it.
[CHUCKLES]
No, it's…
You look just like your dad when he's
about to start digging into something.
- You really knew my dad?
- Oh, yeah.
You know, him and me, we went way back.
I mean, we came up together.
We were practically inseparable.
And he spent so much time at my house,
ate so many meals,
that my mom started calling him Plates.
[CHUCKLES]
We need your help.
I don't understand why my dad left me,
but I need to.
[INHALES] All right, look, I get it, okay?
When I heard his voice, it was
like time hadn't passed, but it had.
I mean 15 years is
a long time to disappear.
And I miss him.
My mom's like ridiculously smart,
so if there's a clue in that bag,
she'll find it
and then maybe we'll find him.
Please?
All right. Okay.
I'll get it to you.
Wonderful. Ready?
- I know you didn't want me here
- Not another word.
- No. Do you see? I helped.
- Ava, stop it.
He wouldn't have given it to us if I
We will talk about this later.
Right now, I am so angry I don't trust
anything that would
come out of my mouth.
[OZ] What can you tell us
about Bobby Romano?
I've run this place 22 years,
and I can honestly say
I've never met anyone like Bobby.
- Is that a good thing?
- [GAVIN] Oh, yeah.
See, a lot of people land here,
they're fresh out of prison.
They're mad at the world.
They want to burn it all down.
But not Bobby.
He dusted himself off
and decided to make the world better.
With protein powder?
[CHUCKLES] Okay, yeah, I know it
sounds silly, but Bobby believes in it.
What's the harm?
Well, if Bobby felt
so strongly about his business,
how far do you think
he'd go to protect it?
What are you asking?
A woman's been murdered.
Um, Tori Nolan.
She and Bobby had a bit of a past.
Do you know that name?
Bobby mentioned Tori a few times
when he first got here,
said that she actually helped
put him in prison,
but he wasn't angry about it.
Like I said, Bobby left all
that behind when he got out.
But then… she threatened him.
- He told us she called him.
- [GAVIN] Oh, she did more than that.
She showed up at his warehouse.
She said not only
would she ruin his launch,
but she'd see to it that
he went back to prison for life.
What did Tori find out?
Bobby wouldn't say.
But when he missed his last group
session that morning, I called him.
He was frantic.
He said… [HUFFS] …"I should have
taken care of this ten years ago."
Look, I thought he meant get
a restraining order or something.
I didn't think he'd hurt her.
- LAPD.
- Bobby, open the door.
How long has Bobby been dead?
ME says a few hours.
An employee told us that Bobby was
very upset after we spoke with him,
sent everyone home early
and locked himself in his office.
And we're guessing that's where he
swallowed enough pills to overdose?
- [OZ] Mm-hmm.
- What'd he take?
It's a new party drug called Dazzle Kitty.
It's a euphoria inducing stimulant
like ecstasy, but five
times more potent.
In large quantities,
it can cause cardiac arrest,
which we believe
is what happened to Bobby.
The L3 was a cover for shipping the drugs.
We found bags of it
hidden in the powder canisters.
Now, most of these are real companies just
purchasing protein powder,
but this code, 44889,
corresponds to the orders
that had bags of drugs in the powder.
We assume they're being trafficked
to distributors around the country.
We also found a .380 pistol in his desk
that matches the gunshot wounds on Tori.
We're sending to ballistics for testing.
[MORGAN] Beef and barley soup!
Beef and barley soup.
Saying it again doesn't
make it any clearer, Morgan.
Somebody wants us to think that
Bobby killed Tori and then OD'd.
- But you don't buy it.
- No, when we were here earlier,
Bobby couldn't wait to show us around.
Now he's not the brightest bulb,
but even he's smart enough
to not want cops digging around
in a place where there's drugs.
- Plus, the soup.
- Soup?
I opened his mouth
and I smelled inside of it,
and it definitely smells
like beef and barley soup.
And he dribbled
a little bit on his T-shirt.
You can see it there.
That wasn't there before.
This guy ate the soup
and died right around the same time.
- Okay?
- There's no soup container.
We checked all the trash cans, nothing.
We also checked the sink drain.
- Is that…
- A carrot?
Mm-hmm.
And a half-melted capsule of Dazzle Kitty.
So, either Bobby drugged his own soup,
ate it,
and then high as a kite,
dumped the rest down the drain,
magicked the container
away before passing out…
- Or…
- Or someone else put the drug in the soup.
And that someone wants us to think
that the drug operation and Tori's
murder were all Bobby's doing.
And now that he's dead,
it's a closed case.
Yes. I think whoever killed Bobby
also killed Tori
and masterminded the whole thing.
Then who's the brains?
[SIREN WAILING]
- [OFFICER 1] Freeze!
- [OFFICER 2] Hands up!
Gavin Tillman,
get out of the vehicle with your hands up.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER ON WALKIE-TALKIE]
I hope you're curious how
we found out about this,
'cause I've been
pretty excited to tell you.
At first, we thought, "Oh, for sure,
it's Lamar."
Yeah, we brought him in for questioning,
but he wouldn't give anything up.
He's loyal, isn't he? I'll give him that.
But Bobby didn't get the same courtesy.
Lamar was very quick to tell
us that he met Bobby in prison,
and Bobby brought him
into his L3 drug operation.
See, the problem there is that
neither of those things are true.
A, Bobby had no idea
there was a drug operation,
and B,
they weren't in prison at the same time.
They sure weren't.
After they got out, they spent time
at your halfway house, Serenity Arms.
Once we made that connection,
Lamar was much more cooperative.
[MORGAN] Oh, yeah, he gave you right up.
Yeah, but Lamar insisted he had
nothing to do with Tori
and Bobby's deaths,
and he had the alibis to prove it.
He sure did. No, that was all you. But
you were honest with Karadec and Oz.
Bobby did tell you
about Tori in his sessions,
and Bobby did talk to you
about Tori's threats.
[KARADEC] Bobby had no idea what Tori
was talking about, but you did.
Tori reaching out to Bobby blew her cover.
You knew exactly where to find her.
[MORGAN] So, you waited at Cloud House,
and when Tori's car came into view,
you shot her.
[SCREAMS]
You couldn't have predicted
the state she'd be in,
but you just used it to your advantage.
At that point, Bobby was a liability.
Lamar said he called you right after
we showed up to the warehouse.
You needed to tie up loose ends.
When we talked to you at
the halfway house, Bobby was already dead.
- I want a lawyer.
- Oh, I bet you do.
Maybe more than one.
Go deep on that bench.
[KARADEC]
Spoke to the editor of Takedown Magazine.
They're gonna finish Tori's last
article and put out a tribute issue.
- Oh, yeah?
- Yeah.
Aw, I like that.
The world needs more Toris in it.
Yeah.
I'm gonna get out of here
before the captain ambushes me.
You know, you can't avoid him forever.
Um. I have owed
the Culver City Public Library
$3.50 since the '90s,
so, I'm gonna beg to differ.
Mmm. You know there's
always some growing
pains when a new person joins a team.
There is?
I remember nothing but
absolute delight when I came on board.
Oh.
See ya.
- [CAR DOOR SLAMS]
- Hey, you need some help?
No, I'm good.
She just needs
some coolant or she gets cranky.
- Not cranky, assertive.
- [CHUCKLES]
I thought you were
gonna come by for a chat today.
Nah, I made that up to buy some time
so I could get out of it.
Plus, I was busy, you know, doing my job.
Yeah, you like working here.
- Is that a question?
- No, that's a surprised observation.
- Why surprised?
- I just heard some rumors
you don't respond positively to authority.
I don't respond positively
to authority that abuses their power.
Is that how you see me?
I don't know.
I haven't decided on that yet.
Well, what have you decided on?
[INHALES] Um…
I've decided I'd like you
to get your car out of my way
so I can go home to my kids.
All right, Gillory.
Let me have it.
All right… [CLEARS THROAT] …Let's see.
You're from a legacy family, right?
So, that tells me you
could take the easy road,
but you choose not to because you
want to prove to everybody that you can.
And that's admirable,
but it also makes you smug.
You like being captain.
You like the respect, like the authority.
Love the boots.
But you also miss being in the field
a little bit more than
you thought you would.
You like to be in the action, right?
'Cause that makes you feel important.
Anything else?
Mm-hmm.
You like to keep people guessing
if your interest in them is real
or just a way to get something you want.
Pretty good.
You got two out of the three.
Oh, yeah? Which one did I get wrong?
I'm not as good at this game as you are.
But I've learned one thing for sure.
You give Morgan Gillory a puzzle,
she won't stop thinking
about it until it's solved.
Good night, Morgan.
[CAR DOOR SLAMS]
Hey.
Hey.
You're still mad.
[SIGHS] Yeah, I am.
I love you more than
anything in this world,
so I'm gonna do whatever I need
to do to keep you safe.
If I say no to you,
I expect you to listen.
- But nothing bad happened.
- That's not the point.
I told you no, and you went off and
did whatever you wanted to do anyway.
- Sounds familiar.
- Excuse me?
If you don't agree with someone,
you never listen to them.
- What would you have done if you were me?
- [GRUNTS]
- Yeah, exactly.
- Ava.
You're not wrong, okay?
The difference is I am an adult.
- I get to make those choices. You don't.
- You're such a hypocrite.
Okay, I'm glad the SAT prep is paying
off, but let's watch the tone, please.
I'm serious. You're being unfair.
I'm being your mom.
Ava, I make mistakes all the time.
This isn't one of them, okay?
- And actions have consequences.
- What does that mean?
It means I need to think about
how much I want to involve you
in the stuff with your dad
until I can trust you again.
You're never gonna trust me enough
because you don't want to.
I'm sorry, trust is something
that you earn from a p
No, stop. You think you're some cool mom
or something,
but you're really just embarrassing.
[DOOR SLAMS]
[SIGHS]
["PIECES" PLAYING]
Hey there, child ♪
Pick up the pieces, pick up the pieces ♪
[KNOCKS ON DOOR]
…'cause I've seen everything ♪
Oh, I know 'cause I've seen everything ♪
Oh, I know 'cause I've seen everything ♪
Oh, I know 'cause I've seen everything ♪