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This week's number is Samuel Gates, a tough-on-crime judge with so many enemies JC has no choice but to stay close in case someone makes a move. Which is the set-up of nearly every episode so far: JC stalking our weekly number. But this one is different, because the judge's son (also named Sam) gets kidnapped, so JC reveals himself to the judge as the only person who can help him (the kidnappers already told him he can't go to the police or the FBI. When the nanny ends up dead, she's no longer suspected of being involved, but Carter ends up on her murder case (because someone saw JC leave the scene), with Fuscoe by her side.
JC tracks down a guy whose middle name is Josef with an F, and he quickly figures out it's a Eastern European street gang called -- I kid you not -- Szajka Pruszkow Dziewiec (SP-9). Yes, JC just knows that name by heart, apparently. That's what all those years in the secret Army will teach you. SP-9 tells the judge they don't want money; they want him to throw a case in his court, called "The People vs. Angela Markham." The judge is confused, because she's just some woman who mowed down a guy in a parking garage -- a simple hit and run. But JC knows these people are out to kill Sam Sr., and that Sam shouldn't cooperate. He asks him to stall the trial, and make it look like he's cooperating. While the judge stalls the trial by a day, Bench follows Angela Markham. He catches a phone call between her and an SP-9 guy in which she seems to holding all the cards in some sort of business arrangement. Meanwhile, JC tries to break the SP-9 member he's got locked in his trunk. He eventually gives him an address to the place he goes to get paid, and JC finds a room full of cash, which he steals to try to hurt them. He also kidnaps another guy, and the two fight it out until one reveals the name of the SP-9 boss, Koska.
Bench figures out that Angela's the key to SP-9 laundering millions of dollars every day -- their own money and that of many rich and shady clients. Before JC and Bench can find Sam Jr., the judge rules Angela Markham innocent and heads to get his son back from SP-9. Bench and JC know what's in store -- both of the Sams' deaths -- so JC takes Angela at gunpoint and follows the judge to the meet. In perfect TV timing, JC shows up just as Koska is about to kill Sam Jr. in front of his father. He has Angela at gunpoint, of course, but that's not all: He also comes bearing enough information about SP-9's scheming for Koska to know they're screwed. As they draw guns to shoot JC and the Sams, JC shoots them all instead. But he doesn't kill, of course. That's not his way. He takes Koska for a ride, as Bench slips the laundering information to the district attorney who'd been trying to prosecute Angela for DUI. JC leaves all the gang members and Angela tied up right where Fuscoe and Carter's search for the nanny killer has led them. He watches from afar as they arrest all the bad guys.
So it's another happy ending, especially for the Sams. JC stops by the park where they're happily playing ball together, and bids the judge goodbye. Sam gives him a heartfelt thanks, and tells JC that he won't be able to protect him when people find him out someday. And then JC pays forward the thanks by thanking Bench for giving him a job. So Bench reveals a little bit about himself: He likes eggs Benedict. Baby steps, right?
Want more? The full recap starts right below!If you were hoping this episode might answer last week's cliffhanger, you'll be disappointed. Of course. So we're left to guess whether JC killed the bad man, or let him go. I'm voting he let him go. So far JC has not seemed willing to kill anyone unless it was necessary (he even said that once). Anyway, opening. Did you know the Machine can calculate your stress percentage? Maybe there can be a spin-off show where a team relieves stress for those folks that the Machine determines have too much.
We open this week with surveillance footage of a hit and run in a parking garage. Then, just like last week, what sounds like a phone call. An accented voice says, "We've got a problem." Cut to Reese eating in a diner when JC walks in and sits down. He asks "What's good here?" And Bench's reply -- "That won't work, Mr. Reese. Your interrogation technique." -- seems to imply JC wasn't invited to eat with Bench. JC says it was an innocent question, but Bench says it was a ploy to find out if Bench comes here often, and so he could try to figure out where Bench lives. Really, Bench, we know how good JC is at tailing people; if he wanted to know where you live, he probably already would. JC says Bench is paranoid, and Bench says he has good reason. JC smirks, "Maybe I just don't know what's good here. So I'm asking a regular." Bench hands JC the menu, puts some cash on the table, takes his copy of It Can't Happen Here, and leaves JC to figure that out for himself. JC's amused, but Bench clearly isn't.
When he opens his menu, though, I get the feeling he was invited to dine with Bench, because there's a picture of the Machine's latest number inside the menu. It's Samuel Gates. JC and Bench fill us in he was born in Boston; has a law degree from NYU; lives on the Upper West Side with his son, Sam; and his wife died of cancer last year. JC spies on them, and wonders about the nanny. Her name's Christina Rojas, and she was hired when the wife fell ill. The kid loves her, and she works long hours because of Judge Sam's long hours. JC psychoanalyzes (or self-analyzes) that he's putting in long hours to cope with losing the woman he loved. Bench says the Machine probably sent his number, because he works as a tough-on-crime city judge, and gets plenty of death threats. JC visits the courtroom and plants a camera on the way out. Bench says they need to determine which of the many death threats Judge Sam's gotten is real. JC says his best bet is to stay close until someone makes a move. Then he finds an envelope of threatening letters in Judge Sam's drawer.
JC watches Judge Sam eat and tell Bench the only threat he sees so far is cholesterol. Bench has identified six potential threats from the letters JC gave him, and JC asks if any of them is a white guy with a crew cut (since he sees a number of them standing around the restaurant Judge Sam's eating -- and they follow him when he leaves). JC pursues and, for the second week in a row, finds a phone where he thought he saw a weapon. Crew Cut 1 throws the phone in the trash; JC takes it. The most recent messages say "Court in session, good to go" and "School's out, moving in." JC tells Bench they've been protecting the wrong Sam Gates, because Sam Jr.'s the one in trouble. Cut to Sam Jr. arriving home to kidnappers instead of Christina. JC shows up, and tries to take on all five of the kidnappers (four Crew Cuts and one long-haired guy). JC's about got them all taken down, until Long-Haired Guy shoots him in the shoulder. The kidnappers take off with Sam Jr.
JC's all patched up at the Library, telling Bench he can't be there in time if he's getting bad information. Bench assures him that Judge Sam is in trouble if the Machine said so, and that it must be connected. Meanwhile, Judge Sam gets a call from his son, then the kidnapper gets on the line and tells him to keep quiet and they'll work this out. They hang up, so Judge Sam calls Sam Jr.'s phone, then Christina's phone, then a friend's house. He realizes the kidnapping call was real, and sits down on the steps in front of the courthouse. JC sits down to him, and tells him they need to get his son back. Judge Sam thinks he's with the kidnappers, but JC says he isn't; he tried to stop them. He says that since they called Judge Sam, that's a good sign; they want to deal. He asks JC who the hell he is, but JC says there are two questions right now: "Who are you?" And "Where's my son?" He asks Judge Sam which one he wants to focus on.
Judge Sam trusts him by now, apparently, because he takes JC back to his house and lets him tap his house and set up surveillance on the street. Judge Sam wonders where Christina was, and JC says he didn't see her, so she could be in on it. Judge Sam says that's impossible. JC asks if Judge Sam's tried any kidnapping cases. Judge Sam doesn't really answer, but says he has $300,000 in the bank and can pay the kidnappers. JC tells him to stay and wait for the call. Judge Sam tells JC the kidnappers said no cops, no FBI. JC: "They didn't say anything about me." Bench wants to save the kid, too, but he doesn't really like JC revealing himself to a judge. JC tells him he'll worry about Judge Sam once they get Sam Jr. back, but he can't work a kidnapping from arm's length. Bench hasn't been able to trace the kidnapper's call to Judge Sam, and he can't find any useful information on Crew Cut 1's disposable cell. So he's trying to hack the cell phone company for more information. Their firewall is impressive, though. JC wonders how hacking a firewall could be so tough, since he built a Machine that spies on the whole country. Bench gets testy, and says it's a lot easier when you work for the government. JC tells him to figure it out quick, because he's at the nanny's house, and she's dead, which might explain how they got the alarm code to the Gates home. He takes the bullet used to shoot her from the wall, then dials 911, and leaves.
Fusco (whose name it turns out I've been spelling incorrectly, so I'm fixing that now) rifles through a folder on Carter's desk, but she comes in and nearly catches him. She notices her folders are out of order, so she starts grilling Fusco, saying she's heard rumors about him and that she likes to know what she's dealing with. He gets a text and tells her he's going to buy her a coffee since she's being so nice. He heads out to a coffee stand, and JC shows up behind him, praising him for coming when he's called. "Now if I could just train you to stop trying to kill me." Fusco wonders how long he has to work down here, because the commute's a bitch. JC says Fusco should feel grateful to be on the task force. "Plus, I let you live." He asks how close Carter's getting, and Fusco says he pissed off the wrong cop who's not going to stop until she finds him. JC leaves him the bullet for ballistics and tells him to find out if it's connected to a bunch of white guys with crew cuts and tattoos, one with long hair. JC asks about Amber Alerts, and Fusco gets interested in helping a missing kid. But JC just takes off while Fusco's talking.
Meanwhile, Bench has gotten into the cell phone company and finds out which block that cell phone was on every night. JC shows up and fights Crew Cut 1 in a stairway. Crew Cut 1 pulls a knife, but JC knocks him down the stairs. He calls Bench and fills him in. The guy's ID says his name is Turski, Leon Josef, "with an f," which is apparently enough for JC to know to rip the guy's shirt open and find a tattoo, which he recognizes immediately as belonging to a nasty Eastern European street gang called Szajka Pruszkow Dziewiec (or SP-9, as we'll be calling them). JC had dealings with them in his life, when they were trading guns for heroin with the Pashtun warlords. But they also run a kidnapping ring in Warsaw. JC says he just found their New York branch. He takes the unconscious Crew Cut to his car.
Carter shows up at the nanny's crime scene. She's been called because someone spotted her mystery guy, JC, leaving the crime scene two hours after her death. She doesn't think he killed the nanny, but she thinks he called 911. Carter asks what kind of work this girl does, which leads them to Judge Sam, who pretends to the cop that his son's upstairs playing, but says this explains why she didn't show up for work that day. Judge Sam heads back inside, and JC's there. Judge Sam cries about Christina's death, saying she was there when his wife died, and she was just a kid. JC says his son's okay as long as they need something from Judge Sam. But Judge Sam's sick of all the mystery. He asks who JC is, and he says all Judge Sam needs to know is that he knows how to deal with situations like this and that he knows how to be invisible, but the police don't. He asks if Judge Sam's heard of SP-9. He hasn't.
The phone rings, and Judge Sam insists on hearing from his son. He does, but not for long before the kidnapper -- The Observer on a break from observing, apparently -- gets back on the line. He tells Judge Sam he doesn't want any money; he wants the judge's help. He tells him to throw a case in his court right now, The People Vs. Angela Markham. He says Markham walks or Sam Jr. dies. Judge Sam hangs up, totally confused that they'd care this much about a simple hit and run. JC says that simple hit and run has just become to the key to finding Sam Jr.
Judge Sam says Angela Markham's an account executive at a tech company who got drunk six weeks ago and hit a CPA on her way out. She's been charged with DWI and vehicular manslaughter. We see her, and that she's the woman who was on trial when JC was in the courtroom earlier, planting a video. Judge Sam asks what she has to do with his son, and JC says he doesn't know but it's not just Sam Jr.; they're planning to kill the judge too. Judge Sam asks where he's getting his information, and JC just says he has a source that's never wrong. He says these people can't be reasoned with, so he can't trust them. The trial resumes in thirty minutes, so JC tells Judge Sam to stall and look like he's cooperating, but to buy JC some time.
JC and Bench dig into SP-9 back at the library. They can't find any digital footprint, and they can't find how Angela Markham connects. JC's best guess is that she's sleeping with someone high up in the organization. He tells Bench to look into Angela, while he looks into the gang. Which is much more convenient when you have a gang member in your trunk, which JC does. He opens it up and tells Crew Cut 1 that the longest it's taken him to get someone to break is sixteen hours. Smirking, "You don't look like you're going to set a record." But the guy, tied up and taped, just yells at JC, so JC shuts him back in.
Carter and Fusco discuss the nanny crime scene, with a missing bullet, when Fusco's phone rings. It's JC, so Fusco slips away and tells JC that Carter's working this crime scene. He wonders if the nanny has to do with the missing kid, but JC says it's not his business. Fusco says JC needs all the help he can get; if he can ID the nanny killer, wouldn't it help him? JC says he'll give Fusco a way to contact him, so he can keep him posted. But then he doesn't give him a way to contact him. He just tells Fusco to keep Carter out of his way. Fusco heads back to Carter and finally gets helpful in trying to figure out the nanny killer's identity. And she's finally interested in his opinion.
JC drives his car in circles, torturing Crew Cut 1. Then he opens the trunk again. Crew Cut 1 swears he doesn't know why they wanted that kid, or who Angela Markham is. He says they run it in small teams. JC asks who's on his, but all he knows is code names. JC starts to shut him back in, but Crew Cut 1 tells him he knows one other thing: an address, of where he goes to get paid. JC throws a burger in the trunk with him, and tells him to figure out how to eat it.
Judge Sam's courtroom. The People Vs. Angela Markham is now in session. Bench is observing, and cloning Markham's phone on his own. Judge Sam is very clearly favoring Angela Markham's case, sustaining all of her attorney's objections. When the D.A. balks, he sternly tells her he's going to give her time to better prepare and that court will resume at 10 a.m. the day. In his chambers, he gets a call from The Observer/Kidnapper, who's disappointed that he's stalling. Judge Sam asks who Angela Markham is, but The Observer/Kidnapper ignores him. Judge Sam says he has to make sure this is handled right, so the D.A. can't appeal. The Kidnapper/Observer tells him not to forget what he's playing for. Then he gets a text picture of his son, all tied up. Hmmm. How about we look and see what number that came from? Bench gets the same picture on his phone, which I guess is from them surveilling the judge, not Angela. But he continues following Angela out of the courtroom. He follows her outside, where she gets a phone call from The Observer/Kidnapper. They have a conversation, which Bench listens in on. She threatens The Observer/Kidnapper, since there's no one else who can do what she can do. But it's not a sexual thing, judging by the rest of the call. She's clearly in business with them, not in a relationship.
JC's heading to the address Crew Cut 1 gave him. When he gets there, he finds Long-Haired Guy, whom he attacks, but he doesn't know where Sam Jr. is either. Then JC finds a roomful of money, which he sees as his way to make these guys hurt. In a warehouse somewhere, The Observer/Kidnapper is not happy to discover he's missing two men and a half-million dollars. He throws his phone at Sam Jr., and tells his men there's been a change of plans. At the Library, Bench tells JC there's lots more money where this came from. He's looked into Angela and determined that she designed an anti-laundering money system, which she can turn off with the click of a mouse. So SP-9 can get their money clean using a legitimate bank. Which is also why there's no digital footprint; they're using cash for everything. But Bench says if they can access the bank accounts, they'll have a way to get Sam Jr. back.
day, Judge Sam's heading into court. He tells JC they know he's stalling, but JC tells him to stall a little longer. Judge Sam seems to doubt JC, and is ready to deal with SP-9. This is even clearer in court, when he practically holds the D.A. in contempt, and then tells her at the bench that she has no idea how far he'll go. The prosecution rests. Bench isn't there this time, though. He's hacking into the bank's system at the actual bank, disguised as a tech guy coming in to fix their firewall problem. And JC unties one of the two guys in his trunk to let him beat the boss's name out of the other guy.
NYPD. Fusco finds surveillance footage of a long-haired white guy outside the nanny's house around the time of the murder, and shows Carter. She tells him it's just a guy, and wonders if he got a description she doesn't know about. He says it's just a hunch, but he's already run the guy's license plates, and the car isn't owned by an individual but a company: Coldfield Holdings in Brooklyn. She thinks it's worth a look. JC calls Bench he got a boss's name: Jarek Koska. Bench tells JC there are no accounts in his name, but the operation is massive: Every day Angela shuts down the anti-laundering system for three minutes and lets millions of dollars flow in undetected. They're not just laundering their own money, but they have hundreds of clients. JC gets a text from Fusco, who tells him about Coldfield Holdings. Bench plugs that into the system, and says it's a large account, and the money's being used to buy boats, planes, real estate mostly in New York. Bench finds a building ten blocks from Gates's house, purchased two days before Angela went on trial. JC tells Bench to call 911 and tell them about Sam if he doesn't hear from him four minutes.
It might be too late for Judge Sam not to throw the case, though, because the jury's reached a not guilty verdict just as JC shows up at the building to find no Sam Jr. He texts Bench, who's somehow in the courtroom, to let him know. Angela looks gratefully at Judge Sam, who glares at her. Judge Sam leaves the courtroom and gets a call from Koska, who tells him where to go and to come alone. If he sees anyone who's not Judge Sam, Sam Jr. dies. Bench hears the call, of course, so tells JC that Angela Markham walks and Judge Sam's heading to a death sentence. That's the plan all along, or the Machine wouldn't have sent the number. JC says he's tried to warn Judge Sam, but he won't listen. Bench says they have to do something, but JC's already on it. He puts a gun in Angela's back.
Judge Sam shows up to the rainy meeting point, where several SUVs wait. Koska puts a gun to Sam Jr.'s head and tells Judge Sam he'll let him say goodbye. Judge Sam says he did everything he asked him to, so to please let his son go and take him instead. Koska says he's sorry, and is about to pull the trigger, when Angela yells for him to stop. JC walks around a corner with a gun pointed at her, and tells Jarek Koska he knows his name, his bank account number, how much money he laundered last year. Koska's not impressed that JC got info from that alcoholic bitch. He tells JC that Koska's the last one he'll ever tell, and his gang trains guns on JC. But JC says he's not alone, and Koska's phone alert beeps, showing him that his and all of his clients' accounts are being drained, obviously by Bench back at the Library. Koska tells his men the operation's been burnt. "Shoot them all." JC follows instructions much better, however, because he shoots all of Koska's gang (though doesn't kill any), and then shots Koska himself, in the leg and the shoulder. JC asks Judge Sam if his son's all right. When he says he is, JC tells him to take him home. Angela Markham's somehow disappeared when we get a wide shot, but don't worry; she'll be back. Bench is in court again, with the same D.A. from Markham's case. He's secretly slipped her bank receipts that can get Angela put away for much longer than the DWI would have. She looks around to see who left this, but Bench has slipped out.
Carter and Fusco show up where their Coldfield Holdings lead has sent them. It's the spot JC went and found Long-Haired Guy and the money. Only what Carter and Fusco find is Angela (I guess she didn't get too far before JC caught her again), Koska, Long-Haired Guy and other SP-9 members tied up with a pile of cash. JC watches from afar as the bad guys are arrested.
Judge Sam and his son play soccer in the park. JC shows up to bid farewell to Judge Sam, who says he wasn't sure he'd ever see him again. JC says he's not great at keeping in touch with people. Judge Sam doesn't know how to thank him, but JC says he doesn't need to say anything. "I'd prefer it actually." Judge Sam says he doesn't know what JC is doing or how he's doing it, but he knows that when and if people find out, he won't be able to do anything to protect him. But it would be cool if that came up someday and Judge Sam came back, wouldn't it? JC finds Bench at his favorite diner, apparently, and Bench asks what the judge said. JC: "That I don't need to worry. That he might even help us someday." Bench scoffs that he was listening to the conversation, and JC says he was reading between the lines. To be fair, that's what I heard too. Bench picks up another book (this time we can't see the title), and says time will tell which one of them was right about the judge. JC thanks Bench, who begs his pardon. "For giving me a job." Bench doesn't see this as manipulation, though, and decides to let his guard down a little. "Try the eggs Benedict, Mr. Reese. I've had them many times." He leaves JC alone. JC opens the menu to make sure this was genuine, and not another number drop, and smiles. At last!
week: They're following some woman who's a fixer. She's sexy, and comes on to JC. Bench ends up with a gun in his hand, which he seems less than comfortable with. This should be fun.
DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, doesn't want to wait five episodes to see JC smile again. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.
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week: They're following some woman who's a fixer. She's sexy, and comes on to JC. Bench ends up with a gun in his hand, which he seems less than comfortable with. This should be fun.
DeAnn, a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon, doesn't want to wait five episodes to see JC smile again. You can contact her at twopmodmars@gmail.com.
Think you've got game? Prove it! Check out Games Without Pity, our new area featuring trivia, puzzle, card, strategy, action and word games -- all free to play and guaranteed to help pass the time until your show starts.
What are people saying about your favorite shows and stars right now? Find out with Talk Without Pity, the social media site for real TV fans. See Tweets and Facebook comments in real time and add your own -- all without leaving TWoP. Join the conversation now!