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In 1960, Lucy is tasked with treating an inmate named Webb Porter who spends every night wailing in agony. He's been placed in solitary confinement so that he doesn't deprive the other inmates of sleep. Lucy quickly determines that he suffers from tinnitus, most likely the result of his mother trying to drown him in childhood. She teaches him to tune out the ringing with music. She even procures a violin for him. Webb turns out to be a savant, able to play within moments of picking up a bow.
When he shows up in 2012, he's determined to join the San Francisco Philharmonic. He practices with such vigor that his bow frays. No worries, though, because he's got a woman tied up and uses her hair to repair the bow. Seems to me human hair would be too smooth for that purpose, but whatever. Hauser and the the rest of the team pick up that distinctive '63 scent and hunt him down, but it soon becomes apparent that Hauser's secrets are getting in the way. He hasn't told them about Lucy or the colloidal silver or much of anything else and they end up chasing their tails for a while.
When a second woman turns up dead and hairless, the team finally picks up on what's going on. They track down his third victim, who's still alive and tells Webb is playing with the symphony that night. He's not, really, because they turn him down after discovering he can't read music. He just goes to the concert hall and plays for an empty audience, where the team nabs him with ease. Hauser takes him back to the woodsy prison. Webb's magic blood is a match for Lucy. She wakes within minutes of being transfused, her eyes opening dramatically just in time to witness the end credits. Stay tuned for the full weecap.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Chinatown, night. Hauser skulks his way down a quiet street. He's actually walking in a normal way, but he's so sneaky in general that it just looks like skulking. Doc pops out from a doorway about half a block behind him and follows. Like Hauser's not going to notice this big, sore thumb of a guy wearing 15 layers of tweed. Hauser disappears into a building, glancing behind him. The we see of him, he's sitting on a massage table in a dark room, his jacket and tie lying beside him. A woman with Chinese tattoos gives him a little cup of pills. He looks at them and remarks the blue one is new. Little blue pill? Maybe it's one of those "happy ending" massages. He downs the pills without waiting for an explanation. The woman climbs up onto the table behind him. "I wasn't always like this, you know," he says.
To prove his point, he has a flashback to 1960. He walks Lucy to the pier. They hold hands and talk about philosophy. Young Hauser seems to be a lot taller than Old Hauser. Aging is hell. An SFPD patrol boat pulls up alongside them to take Lucy to Alcatraz for the day. They make plans to see each other later. Hauser is positively giddy at the prospect.
Once Lucy gets to the island, Warden James takes her straight up to the infirmary. He wants her to treat an inmate who's been there every night, having been taken out of the general population because of his nightly wailing. Lucy looks at his file and notes that Mr. Porter has an IQ of 162. She finds porter in an infirmary cell where he's pushed his bed up against one wall so that he can press his ear to it. He's unresponsive to their presence; Warden James says Porter hasn't spoken in a year. "His file says his mother tried to drown him in the bathtub when he was only six," Lucy says. "Undoubtedly the reason that he butchered her," says the Warden, "and four other women suffering the full magnitude of his fatal blows that very night." Lucy presses her ear to the wall and hears a low hum. "How long have you heard the ringing in your ears, Mr. Porter?" she asks. He looks up at her, surprised, but doesn't answer. She turns to the Warden and says Porter suffers from tinnitus, most likely caused by the drowning incident. Porter has been listening to Dr. Beauregard's refrigerator on the other side of the wall to mask the ringing in his ears. Lucy thinks she can help him. "Tell me, Mr. Porter, do you like music?"
Present day. Porter plays the violin in a cozy little living room somewhere. (Unfortunately, the actor is no violinist, so it looks pretty terrible. The soundtrack is fine, but the badly mimed bowing and fingering make me twitchy.) He plays with such fervor that some of the hairs on his bow come loose. He calmly goes to the bathroom, fills the tub with water, then goes into the bedroom. A woman lies on the bed in her slip, her hair cut close to the scalp. "I'm not ready," Porter says. "I'm missing something." Sanity? I bet it's sanity. "Your hair," he says, petting the top of her head. "I wish there was more of it." He apologizes, then drags her kicking and screaming and scratching into the bathroom. This scene of disturbing violence is intercut with shots of him playing.
Bar. Nikki and Rebecca play pool and drink beer. When Nikki gives their waiter an appreciative look, Rebecca goes, "Oh, my God, you're shameless!" It was barely a glance, for crying out loud. As they chat, Rebecca confesses to experiencing some family stress. Nikki correctly guesses it's to do with Ray. Before they can get much further into any kind of discussion that would develop the characters or make them seem like human beings in any way, Nikki and Rebecca both get calls on their cells. Rebecca's call is from Doc. After following Hauser for a while, he decided to go visit Lucy at the hospital. "She's gone," he says. "He took her." He hangs up when the nurse comes to tell him what happened, which seems like a privacy issue, but whatever. Nikki's call is about the woman in the scene. Rebecca asks to tag along, because she has no life.
They head over to the victim's apartment. She was a music student. Her mother came to visit and found her dead in the bathtub. That's where she still is, which seemed odd to me for reasons too long to go into. Nikki takes a look at the body. The bruises on her ankles show that she may have been tied up for three days. Rebecca notices the jaggedly shorn hair hair and thinks the killer took it as a trophy. She also notices a broken fingernail and tracks it down to the living room.
Back at the Hub, Rebecca and Doc go over old inmate records for anyone who may have had a thing for musicians. They don't come up with anything and think maybe they're not looking for a '63. "Hey, so what's the deal with Hauser?" Rebecca asks Doc. "He's right behind you," Hauser says right behind them. Rebecca and Doc practically jump out of their chairs. Hauser points at Doc. "If you ever follow me again, I may decide to shoot you after all." But who would provide all your infodumps? Rebecca sticks up for Doc, blaming Hauser for not telling them things. She mentions Lucy, but Hauser cuts her off. He changes the subject to the dead music student. Rebecca says Nikki found blood under her fingernail, but it was tainted with colloidal silver. Hauser makes dramatic faces. "Does this mean something to you?" Rebecca asks. "He's one of ours," Hauser says. He confesses that some of the inmates they're hunting down have tested positive for colloidal silver. Rebecca's like, "What tests? I thought you were taking them to prison!" They're not mutually exclusive, lady. Cue Hauser's terrible VO.
Rebecca and Doc pay a visit to the music student's teacher who is pretty cute and welcome to come back anytime. Seriously, show, you need some male eye candy. They show him an assortment of mug shots, but he doesn't recognize any of them.
Woodsy prison. Dr. Beauregard tries his best to video-conference with Hauser. He's baffled by the webcam. Maybe Hauser should look into getting a more modernized doctor to work on Lucy. Anyway, Dr. Beauregard reassures Hauser that the silver is the key to healing Lucy and that he'll test the new blood sample when he gets it. He also makes an interesting comment about not having seen the sky in a while. Is it because he's a prisoner of sorts? Or has he been just that busy? Dr. Beauregard sadly informs Hauser that Lucy may not have much longer.
1960. Lucy tells Porter that she can take away his painful memories. He just keeps pressing his ear to the infirmary wall and doesn't answer. With Lucy's permission, a guard goes into the room over and unplugs the refrigerator. As the motor falls silent, Porter's tinnitus comes to the fore. He panics. "Turn it back on, please," he begs. Dr. Beauregard, watching from the sidelines, is startled to hear him speak. Lucy turns on a record player. Soft piano music fills the room. Porter paces, his agitation growing. Lucy explains that he can carry the music in his head. Eventually, he calms down. He slumps to the floor. Lucy kneels beside him. "Can you tell me about the night your mother tried to drown you?" she asks. We get a flashback-within-a-flashback as he remembers his mother pushing him under. From his point of view, her long hair floats above him. He tears up as he remembers. "Now I can help you," Lucy says. He looks grateful.
Present day. A youngish Asian woman is surprised to find Porter playing the violin on her doorstep. "You're the guy from that party last week," she says. He's all bashful smiles as he tells her that someone at the party got him an audition. "Still getting ready for it," he says, holding up his violin. He reminds her she told him she'd love to hear him play. She's kind of impressed, apparently thinking he's flirting with her. She asks him if he was playing Stravinksy. He says he was playing his own music. "Just things in my head," he says. He takes a step towards her. She goes from being impressed to being a little wary. He takes another step. She looks scared. "I like your hair," he says, and grabs her by the throat.
Woodsy prison. Hauser shows up at Beauregard's request and learns that the mystery '63's blood type is a match for Lucy's. He couldn't have told Hauser this over the phone? Maybe the webcam confused him again.
Concert hall. Porter auditions for an audience of six men and women. There are some creepy-looking mannequin things on stage with him, dressed in white, set up for some unknown production. His audience is impressed. "Your bow makes the sweetest sound," says one of the men. "I string it myself," Porter says. Someone hands him some sheet music, but Porter can't read it. His audience disperses. The audition is over.
In a rage, Porter returns to the Asian woman's home. Like the victim, she's bound and gagged on her bed, and her hair has been snipped close to the scalp. She cries and silently pleads for her life. "It didn't work," Porter says. "I probably wasn't good enough. You weren't good enough!" He makes his cursory apologies and begins to untie her.
Alcatraz music room, 1960. Some inmates play a swinging jazz tune. Tiller sits and taps his toes to the music. A man on the edge of the room records the motley band with a small camera. He's like, "This is going to be great when MTV is invented 21 years from now!" Lucy and Porter come in to borrow a musical instrument. Tiller dismisses his band and cameraman. Porter takes a gander at the storage locker and immediately falls in love with a violin. Miraculously, it's not out of tune and the bow doesn't need a fresh rubbing of rosin. He picks it up and plays. He's terrible for a few seconds, but quickly gets the hang of it. "I think we've got ourselves a sandbagger," Tiller says. "No, I think we've got ourselves a savant," Lucy says.
Present day. The Asian woman lies dead in her bathtub. Hauser's already there and he's pissed when Rebecca shows up. "Where they hell have you been?" he asks. She starts to explain, but he cuts her off. "I call you into an active crime scene and you waddle in here 25 minutes later!" Ha! She doesn't dignify that with a remark and walks out of the room. He chases after her. "While this woman was being murdered, you were off talking to more boring people for information that isn't getting us anywhere!" Okay, as annoying as I find Rebecca, he's really being unfair here. He was fair about the waddling, though. She really does kind of waddle. She points out that talking to boring people is her job. And the viewer's curse. Doc joins them and says the landlord heard someone playing violin, but the victim didn't play any musical instrument.
Doc and Rebecca sift through the old music room. Along with several canisters of old film, they find a violin. Luckily for the team, Porter scratched his name into the back of it.
Hauser goes to a jazz club called Ratty's. He talks to a guy at the piano. His name is Elmore and he seems to be a friend. Hauser says Elmore knows every musician in town and asks if knows about any odd, 29-year-old new arrivals in town. Sure enough, Elmore knows a guy who sold a violin to a kid who's stacking chairs at the philharmonic. Ugh. So painfully contrived.
On his way out of the club, Hauser has a flashback. It's date night at Ratty's with Lucy. They flirt and talk about Lucy's work with the inmates. They're very sweet together, but she seems sad when he kisses her.
Hub. Rebecca and Doc go through the victims' credit card records. Purchases place them both at a fundraiser for the San Francisco Philharmonic on the same night. At the same time, Hauser calls them from the concert hall to tell them about Porter working there. He texts them Porter's home address.
Hauser and Rebecca meet outside Porter's apartment. When no one answers the door, Rebecca picks the lock. The apartment is tidy, but obviously lived-in, with dishes and knickknacks on the table. Doc shows up out of nowhere. "They're renting apartments now?" he asks. "The landlord says he's been here for months," Rebecca says. Hauser finds four frayed bows and realizes why Porter's been taking his victims' hair. There's no reason for him to have that many bows lying around except for the discovering of them. Two are strung with blond hair, two with black. (Human hair would make crappy bows, in case any psychos out there were thinking of trying it.) Hauser finds a fifth bow, this one with red hair. "He's got another girl," Rebecca says.
That girl is currently lying tied up in her bed somewhere, half her hair lopped off. He mopes about not getting the gig of his dreams, then has a flashback. Accompanied by guards, Porter and Lucy take an evening stroll around the yard. She delivers the "good news" that he'll soon be back in general population. He'll even be allowed to keep the violin and play at night. "Why are you doing all this for me?" he asks, genuinely touched. "Because I believe a man can change," she says. He thanks her. "Maybe one day I'll be able to repay the favor."
Hub. The team goes over photos of all the female guests at the fundraiser, narrowing their choices to the redheads and then settle on the one who hasn't posted on her Facebook-like page recently. They find her tied up but still alive. She tells them that Porter told her he auditioned, they said yes, and he's playing for the first time that night. So, not only is he a psycho murderer, but a liar, too!
He plays for an empty audience in the concert hall. Such is the power of his delusion that he can hear effusive applause as he finishes.
Flashback. Warden James accompanies Porter to his cell, much to the audible dismay of the other prisoners in general population. They shout and moan and plead with the Warden, but politely refrain from using curse words. As Porter is sealed into his cell, he takes out his violin and begins to play. The angry protests quiet down. The camera moves down the cell block, showing some of our past prisoners of the week as they enjoy the serenade. Come back, Jack Sylvane! Tiller, Beauregard and Lucy watch the transformation from the other end of the cell block. Beauregard is impressed. Tiller is unmoved. "The Warden's got himself a new toy," Dr. Beauregard says. "Mr. Porter is not a toy," Lucy says. Dr. Beauregard chuckles. "I was talking about you." Lucy makes a worried face.
Returning to the present day, Porter has just finished packing up his violin when Rebecca and Hauser burst into the concert hall. Porter hides. "I want him alive and unharmed," Hauser says. They chase him up into the catwalks above the stage. When he finds himself cornered, he moves to leap to his death. Hauser grabs him by his pants and pulls him back up.
Woodsy prison. Hauser leads Porter into Lucy's room. "She's here, too," Porter says in wonder. "Ernest Cobb shot her," Hauser says. Porter stands over her bed, looking like he's going to cry. "Is she going to live?" he asks. "With your help," Hauser says. Beauregard walks into the room, prompting a bug-eyed stare from Porter. He does as he's told when Beauregard tells him to roll up his sleeve.
Hub. Doc is digitizing the old film reels when Rebecca walks in. They're both stunned to see Lucy with the prisoners and realize she's one of the '63s, too. "Lucy was there when it was all happening," Rebecca says. "She could be the key to everything."
Back to the woodsy prison. Porter plays in his new cell while Dr. Beauregard and Hauser wait by Lucy's bedside. Porter's freshly donated blood drips into her veins. Hauser discreetly holds his rosary. As Porter plays his last note, Lucy's eyes open just in time to see the end credits. Dramatic!
Tippi Blevins disappeared from prison 50 years ago and then mysteriously reappeared to write about this show. Email her at b_tippi@yahoo.com, or find her on Twitter.