The Irrational (2023) s01e09 Episode Script
Cheating Life
1
It's inevitable.
We're born, we get sick,
we die. Right?
The old me ate those lies right up.
Now,
I eat this.
This
could be you.
I can't say throw out your heart meds.
But what I can say is
with my supplement regimen
and a healthy lifestyle,
you won't need them.
I make it easy, one packet a day.
Cancer? Preventable.
Alzheimer's? Preventable.
Wasting your money on snake oil
also preventable.
Vincent Lee is trying to help us
live longer and end chronic illness.
[CHUCKLES] Says the girl
who eats Spaghetti-O's
three days a week.
Uh, ate Spaghetti-Os.
Vincent has opened my eyes.
And I like his livestreams.
Please don't tell me you have
his magic pills on autoship.
He has a PhD in biochemistry.
He taught at UMD.
And didn't the two of you
used to be friends?
I'd say we could have been,
back when he was a serious
longevity scientist.
I mean, I'd run into him
in the TED Talk circuit.
And yes, we've had a few
deep chats in hotel lounges.
So what happened?
He fell out of touch.
And the last I heard,
he was a zealot salesman
who lost his ethics
in his protein shakes.
You sound like a hater.
[LAUGHS]
Could we help ourselves with
good nutrition and exercise?
Of course.
But we can't evade
every genetic landmine,
and we certainly can't beat death
for $139 a month.
Speaking of, you know
diabetes runs in our family.
And you know I'm on deadline
with my loss aversion paper.
I'm serious, you've seen his videos
where he spread misbeliefs
about Western medicine.
It's irresponsible.
Our health system has its problems,
but it's also saved countless lives.
Yours included. I know.
And if you're worried about me,
Alec, don't be.
Now, let me watch this man run.
Paradvm, you balance cholesterol
and boost virility.
With one packet a day, you're
looking at life past 110, 120.
Who knows how far we can go?
If you have to live like that,
who'd want to live forever?
your 90s.
You'll have the body of
a 25-year-old your entire
[SCREAMS]
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, Alec,
come here, look at this.
What's wrong?
I'm pretty sure Vincent just died.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
five-year-old entire
[SCREAMS]
That looks like the hood of a car.
Someone hit him.
You work so hard on your health
just to get hit by some idiot
who didn't even bother to slow down.
Play it again.
five-year-old entire
[SCREAMS]
♪
Hmm.
What, is it something
about the accident?
♪
I'm not sure it was an accident.
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
I knew it.
No skid or swerve marks before impact,
which matches what leapt out
on Vincent's livestream,
but also, not after.
That's an abnormal reaction.
Can't that just be panic taking over?
I'd freak out if I hit a guy.
When you encounter something surprising,
like a man in the middle of the road,
your body produces
a spike of adrenaline.
The most common reaction is to
slam on the brakes or swerve.
But this driver just kept going.
Meaning
they weren't surprised.
I think this was intentional.
Ma'am, sir, I need you to clear out.
This is an active investigation,
so no looky-loos.
- Uh, Detective?
- Hall.
I'm Professor Alec Mercer.
I'm a behavioral psychologist.
We came here to see if we could
help with the investigation.
Oh, right, you're the guy
the captain called about.
And why are you offering your
help with this hit and run?
Vincent and I go way back.
And I don't think this was an accident.
I'd like to help catch his killer.
Look, locals bomb down this
old road like it's Talladega
drag racing, splatting animals.
They never stop.
Maybe, but we're talking
about a tall ass athlete,
not some raccoon.
Yeah, but they would have
had to find him out here.
Vincent geotagged his live feeds.
That's how we got out here so fast.
Anyone who wanted to run Vincent down
could have done the same.
Due diligence.
What kind of car do you drive?
Alec doesn't have a car.
But mine is red,
not white, like the one
that hit him in the video.
Look, if someone
wanted to murder Vincent,
they could have killed him
after his run off camera.
But they didn't.
So tell me, why risk killing someone
when the whole world is watching?
It seems completely
Irrational.
That's my specialty.
[SIZZLING]
What's this?
Another Jace Richards special?
I tried something a little different,
a splash of cream in the eggs, yeah.
Oh.
Guess who has to go home right now
if he wants to make morning briefing?
Oh.
But hey, while I'm there,
why don't I just grab
a few things to keep here?
- Or not.
- [CHUCKLES AWKWARDLY]
Don't get me wrong.
I really like the way that
our relationship has
evolved
from colleagues, to friends, to
this.
But I've been out of my marriage,
for what feels like 10 seconds.
And I'm just not ready
to jump into another one.
Is that OK?
Yeah.
Yeah, I understand.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
You know you mean a lot to me, Marisa.
Of course I do.
I mean, me, too.
♪
I might go to hell for this,
but there might be something to Paradvm.
Is this not the sexiest funeral
you have ever seen?
Remember, correlation is not causation.
A CrossFit funeral would look the same
without the help
of Vincent's super pills.
Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah.
So how's your snooping going?
Have you found Vincent's murderer?
Vincent's a puzzle.
I don't understand how the man I knew
turned from scientific luminary
to fringe placebo pusher.
Not one of Vincent's close relatives
or old friends are here.
Vincent's wife Tori
is the only person here
he may have been genuinely close to.
And she was about to be his ex.
Until a few months ago, she
was all over Vincent's socials.
Then poof, gone.
Then he started posting about
how to release negative energy
from your house.
Sounds like divorce.
What? You're thinking it was her?
You know what Marisa says.
It's always the spouse.
For female victims, that's true.
But for male victims,
it's almost never true.
There are outliers, of course, but
Noted.
You can go home if you want to.
I kind of saw Vincent die.
I want to be here.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Alec.
Tori.
♪
The last time I saw Vincent,
it must have been before Paradvm.
When I met him, Vincent was this
sweet, nerdy biochemist.
And then he got into all this,
and I tried to keep up.
It must have been difficult.
I've seen a few of his videos.
His regimen was pretty demanding.
Try extreme.
There was no limit to how far
he was willing to push himself;
these cryo chambers and ozone therapies.
And by the end,
Vincent's idea of a fun date
was literally getting our
blood tested for biomarkers.
Hmm. How'd that go?
It didn't.
I get woozy around blood.
And Vincent called me weak
and uncommitted to his vision.
Sounds like a classic case
of slippery slope.
That describes our trip to Italy.
I wanted pasta and pleasure.
And I begged him, live a little.
And he told me
he intended to live forever.
Maybe I am weak, like he said.
No.
You were attending
to your own well-being.
Vincent should have known
that that's as key
to longevity as anything else.
Ask yourself,
was your marriage his only relationship
that fell apart?
The thing that happened with
Derek was pretty bad, too.
Derek Mitchell?
That was Vincent's partner
with the pharma startup, right?
They fell out after they
sold their Alzheimer's drug
to Gallen-May.
Vincent sold his shares
and started Paradvm.
And for a while,
they were friends, until Vincent
made those attack
videos against big pharma.
Let me guess, he went after Gallen-May.
He went after everyone.
But Derek took it personally.
♪
Still, I'd hope he'd show up today.
Even with Vincent gone,
Derek Mitchell still can't let it go.
♪
Thanks for your help with this.
And that is the last that
we have on Derek Mitchell.
No criminal record, but he
did get into trouble with PETA
over the unethical treatment
of mice in clinical trials.
Animal abuse can escalate
to violence against people.
Take a look at this.
After Vincent's attack videos dropped,
Derek remained silent,
which earned him a good deal
of heat from the public,
from pharma detractors.
His Gallen-May bosses.
That's got to be tough,
being stuck between your job
and someone you're so close to.
Under stress like that,
silence only adds to the pressure.
If it becomes too much
Maybe he had motive
to shut Vincent up for good,
and publicly.
Sorry about your friend.
He wasn't really my
Me, too.
Oh. Hey, Alec.
Um, sorry to interrupt, but
Right, we have to prepare for
our meeting with the senator.
- The senator?
- Yeah.
Jason and I are chasing a new
lead on the church bombing.
Short of which is Sanford was
losing his first Senate race.
Bomb blew up, turnout surged.
Sanford won.
Coincidence?
You think Sanford
might be this Matthias guy
we've been chasing?
All for what?
Some post-tragedy popularity bump?
We've got to look into every angle.
Uh, Marisa says you two are friends?
Yeah, he visited me
when I was in the burn unit,
well past the photo op necessity.
And we stayed in touch.
I've come to believe him to be a
good senator, and a better guy.
That said, I don't want the halo effect
to blind me just because
I don't want to hear it.
I'd rather find out the truth.
If you've got any ideas, we're all ears.
We know we can't just ask him outright.
So the plan is to go in,
bring Sanford a case up
Do you mind if I stop you there?
Because you're right.
A frontal attack will not work
with someone as smart as Sanford.
If he sees two FBI agents
walking in, you're DOA.
OK, so who goes in?
Me?
You?
♪
[SIGHS] I think it's got to be me.
I'm the one
with the personal connection.
I agree.
Personal angle's your best shot.
If you play to that part
and build trust,
maybe drop something personal,
privileged,
he may open up enough
to give you answers.
♪
How's it going with Derek Mitchell?
Vincent's ex partner
and possible killer?
We've, uh, begun looking into him.
Good. The trick now is to find out
where he was when Vincent was killed.
- Any ideas?
- I might have one.
An article I read on Vincent mentioned
a big Beltway longevity
conference going on.
- Vincent would have been there.
- There's a good chance
Mitchell would be there, too.
I agree.
Problem is, I can't
be the one that goes in.
So who should cosplay pharma rep?
[MISCHIEVOUS MUSIC]
What?
♪
[LIGHT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
Fellow traveler?
- Derek Mitchell.
- Yeah.
- I'm Carrie.
- Hi.
I've read your work on
tau proteins and longevity.
It's fascinating stuff.
I think so, too.
Though all anyone wanted
to talk about today
was a certain someone's
lack of longevity.
- Vincent Lee?
- Yeah.
He used to be your partner, right?
- Yep.
- Isn't it funny
how we all seem to forget
the lousy things
people did the second they die?
♪
Before Paradvm got big,
Vincent reached out.
Said he wanted to co-fund my
company's stroke drug research.
What he did is
twist the inside info I shared with him
into a hit piece against my employers.
It was all a stunt to
raise Paradvm's profile.
♪
Well
♪
After Gallant-May acquired
our Alzheimer's drug,
we failed FDA approval.
Vincent was livid.
Is that when Vincent left
to start Paradvm?
Yeah, and he said we were cool,
only to turn around
and spew all these videos
that anyone who's in bed
with Gallant-May
is poisoning the masses.
It was like Vincent
was trying to ruin me.
When he died, um,
how'd that feel?
Nauseating.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Though it might have been airsickness.
I was on a flight back from Geneva.
Just signed a new three-year
contract with Gallant-May.
Wow, I guess I just thought
Gallant-May is gonna make
a lot of money thanks to us
me and Vincent.
You know, on balance,
the guy did do a lot of good.
Though before I heard
it was an accident,
I wondered if maybe somebody
else he screwed over did him in.
Wasn't me. [CHUCKLES]
I think Vincent was worried.
'Cause from what I heard,
he hired a bodyguard.
What kind of supplement guru
needs a bodyguard?
♪
OK, so you suspected some pharma exec
and he told you that
Vincent hired a bodyguard?
How'd you get him to talk?
Downward comparison,
a.k.a., misery loves company.
Which, for better or for worse,
- took him off the suspect list.
- OK.
Well, I have been focused on the car.
With the paint chip we found
on Vincent's shirt
and our tire track analysis,
we managed to narrow it down
to a large white late model Toyota SUV.
I blasted the info on socials,
and I've been canvassing with these,
- but no tips yet.
- Hmm.
$5,000 reward's a good start,
but we need to give them
greater incentive
to really look.
More incentivizing than free money?
You ever heard of gamification?
No.
The idea is when you turn
a task into a game,
more people will do it.
♪
Kylie will post a scavenger hunt
where players are asked to post a selfie
with particular items.
The items will all be relatively easy,
except for one; our hit-and-run car.
They won't know it's the one
that killed Vincent.
To them, it's just another
quirky item to find.
Finding those easier items
will incentivize the players
to complete the game.
It's called goal gradient.
The closer you get to solving something,
the more motivated you are to finish.
OK.
Game's live.
What are you, some kind of hacker?
You asking me as the police?
[CHUCKLES]
♪
So what do we do now?
- We wait.
- Mm-hmm.
[LIGHT MUSIC]
♪
Don't tell me this fool painted
an uncooked bird yellow
- and called it a rubber chicken.
- [NOTIFICATIONS CHIMING]
I keep hearing bells. Any hits?
Yup.
So far, we've got five vehicles
that match the hit-and-run.
I've forwarded the plate
numbers to Detective Hall.
You mean Morgan.
I heard her ask you to call her that.
Maybe I'm not the only Mercer
who's a magnet for powerful
women in law enforcement.
You know I don't date cops.
Understood.
[PHONE RINGING]
You think she heard us?
[PHONE RINGING]
Detective Hall.
So if I wasn't locked in
on murder before, I am now.
One of the cars our gamers ID'd,
it was registered to Vincent Lee's wife.
You see?
It's always the spouse.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
You think Vincent was murdered?
With my car?
Which one? We have four.
♪
Found it in a chop shop.
That looks like my SUV,
which I hardly drive,
and I definitely wasn't driving
it when Vincent got hit.
Hmm, so what were you doing
that afternoon?
I was doing Pilates on the beach.
If I wanted Vincent dead,
you think I'd really hit him
with my car?
On livestream?
It's not the smartest plan,
but people in emotional
hot states tend to do,
well, not the smartest thing.
Vincent was worth about $40 mil.
I know losing that much in a divorce
would make me emotional.
And your husband had
just filed, hadn't he?
The terms of his will
and our prenup were the same.
I'd get $15 million, and the
rest would go to his charity.
Did Vincent recently hire a bodyguard?
♪
Can we get a name?
Contact details?
I don't recall.
By that point, Vincent and I were living
in different wings of the house,
and I barely interacted
with his bodyguard.
Mm.
Tori,
you're hiding something.
♪
I'd guess that you two
were sleeping together?
♪
It was just the one time.
Johann looks a little bit like Vincent
after a bottle of wine,
and he reminded me a lot
of the husband I was losing,
who I always loved.
We're all prone to rationalization,
coming up with reasons, stories,
that justify our behavior.
But if we're too good at it,
we can even hide the truth
from ourselves.
I was fighting for my marriage.
Johann, he kept trying to win me over
and he wouldn't stop calling.
And
♪
Until Vincent died.
Wait, did Johann have access
to your car keys?
The entire staff did.
♪
What are you thinking?
Vincent hired a bodyguard
to protect him.
In the end, it's entirely possible
that the bodyguard is who he
needed to be protected from.
♪
You're running for state assembly?
- Marisa, I love it.
- I'm considering.
Alec must be thrilled.
Uh, Alec and I recently divorced.
- Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
- That's all right.
Point is,
I haven't told Alec yet
because I haven't told anyone.
I wanted to talk to you first
before I made any decision.
I get it.
Before my first campaign,
I was just like you.
I was full of hesitation.
But, you know, four terms in,
I can tell you this.
People vote for a story
that they can connect to.
Talk about a good story,
you won your first race
against a long time incumbent.
That is huge.
'02, yeah.
Tough campaign.
I I give all the credit to my team
for pushing my numbers over the edge.
Yeah, them and the Black vote.
You were a couple points down until
♪
I guess what I'm wondering is
if it's gonna take a tragedy
for a first timer like me
to get a lead, too.
♪
Sympathy vote.
Sounds awful, doesn't it?
But no, that's a real thing.
Though the truth is, at the time,
I was more worried about the opposite,
that folks would be too scared
to come out and vote,
and then I end up losing.
Because right before the bombing,
internal polling had put me
ahead of Gilbert.
Internal polling?
Press at the time had
underestimated turnout.
So I think the bombing
may have helped my margin,
but I was already up 4%.
Never trust the media poll.
That's my advice to you.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Well, I appreciate the assist.
The Maryland Department
of Energy was hacked,
so our tech team is on overdrive.
Lucky for you, my new favorite hobby
is investigating Vincent's murder.
So I've been looking
at the bodyguard's socials,
and homeboy was obsessed.
You can tell Vincent was his hero.
I mean, he even got the same tat as him.
But Vincent never posted about him
or included him in his videos?
Nope, which makes me wonder.
You really think Tori
only slept with Johann once?
You so want it to be the wife.
No, I don't!
OK, fine. I sort of do.
But ignoring
the mildly insensitive Kylie
who may want to see an episode
of "Snapped" come to life
All right, like your brother said,
we can't know for sure
that Tori didn't do it.
But I think the bodyguard
who slept with her
- has much more motive.
- Mm.
Which would make it an
episode of "Deadly Affairs."
Do you watch "Deadly Affairs"?
Girl, don't even get me
started on "Deadly Affairs."
Oh!
But that's what doesn't
sit right with me.
- What do you mean?
- Well, I get that Johann
wouldn't leave Tori alone.
I get that he's not answering his phone.
Super sus. But
you really think he'd kill his hero?
Adulation can cause
a hero placebo effect
where you believe
your idol is infallible.
I think when Johann learned
what Vincent was really like,
he may have felt
a powerful contrast effect
known as hero nocebo.
So Vincent turned his biggest fan
into his worst enemy.
Damn.
Gives a whole new meaning
to never meet your heroes.
[PHONE CHIMES]
Oh, looks like
Paradvm confirmed the address
that Tori gave for Vincent's bodyguard.
Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Johann's a chill dude,
quiet, a lot cleaner than
my other short term renters.
Didn't give me murderer vibes.
What time did Johann check out?
Uh, Tuesday. 11:30 a.m.
Vincent died at 1:00 p.m.
So that means he could
have done it, right?
Did you see him leave?
No, he checked out through the app.
Did he leave a forwarding address,
emergency contact, that kind of thing?
Maybe.
I'll check in my office.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
♪
Hmm.
♪
- You a soccer fan?
- Oh.
Uh, yeah.
[CHUCKLES] Me, too.
I went to a match in Berlin last summer.
It's pretty rare to find
another Union fan in the US.
Yeah. Big Union fan. [CHUCKLES]
[LAUGHS]
- Except that's
- BOTH: A Bayern Munich scarf.
♪
What else are you hiding, Aaron?
Nothing. I swear.
All I did was bring some stuff
Johann left behind
in here for safe keeping.
♪
I don't think all of
that was for safe keeping.
It it was in the safe.
Uh, Johann must have forgotten it.
But now that I have
his emergency contact,
I can box it all and mail it off to
Germany. [CHUCKLES]
Hmm.
I see why Tori fooled around
with this guy.
He out-thirst-traps Vincent
even in a passport photo.
[CHUCKLES]
So what do you think?
Is this Aaron guy telling the truth?
About the scarf?
He definitely meant
to keep it for himself,
but I don't think he killed Vincent.
He probably didn't even know him.
What's throwing me is Johann.
Why would he take everything,
his clothes, his toiletries,
even clean out the refrigerator,
but leave his most personal valuables?
Well, I might forget a trinket or two
if I were in a hurry to kill my boss.
Not that I have a boss.
If you just murdered someone, sure.
You'd be in a hot state.
You might forget something.
But Johann checked out
before Vincent's death.
He would have been in a cold,
premeditative phase.
Meaning?
Johann's moves would have
been deliberate,
- calculated.
- Mm.
I don't know, Ky.
- Something feels off.
- Okay, thanks.
So I talked with
Johann's family in Germany.
They haven't heard from Johann
since last week.
But he does share a family credit card.
Stats at the banks called
about unusual purchases in
the past few days, all on Long Island.
Who runs to Long Island?
I don't know. I'm about to find out.
I just got my travel greenlit,
and I've been in touch
with local authorities
for an agency assist.
Oh, cool.
♪
Well, hopefully
you'll keep us in the loop?
Shouldn't be too hard
from three feet away.
Y'all up for a road trip?
♪
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
Clear. There's no one home.
Are you sure this is Johann's new place?
Credit card company
reported multiple orders
from Vegan Plate Bistro,
and the restaurant said Johann's meals
were delivered here.
Well, Johann's definitely
been staying here.
And the bodyguard
is still a Paradvm guy.
Doesn't make any sense.
Why would someone who could afford this
stay at Aaron's cheap-ass place?
Kylie.
Look up Sunrise Garden
and what they would be charging
Johann $37,000 for this month.
Damn. On it.
Oh, well, it says right there.
"Services."
That's not vague.
No online hits for Sunrise Garden.
Sketchy AF.
And how does Johann pay
for these services
on a bodyguard's salary?
Maybe he isn't.
Could be in cahoots with Tori.
Maybe she slept with the
bodyguard to win him over.
Paid him a whole bunch of money
to kill Vincent.
It's faster to murder the husband
than to wait for a settlement.
Like I said, it is always
Kylie, it's not always the spouse.
[QUIETLY] Sometimes it's the spouse.
What are you doing?
Star 69.
Star 60-who?
It's too old-school for you millennials.
It's a function that redials
the last caller.
Your request for pickup
at 191 Stone Hill Court
has been received.
You will receive a courtesy
call when your shuttle arrives.
Goodbye.
Wow.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Whoa. Redecorating?
I'm going over all the files
from the church bombing case.
It's an old Alec trick.
Immerse yourself in the data.
Sleep on it. Maybe
the answer will come to you.
You managed to get Sanford's
internal polling numbers.
An old friend at the FEC hooked me up.
There it is. Up 4%, two weeks out.
- Yeah.
- He's telling the truth.
His story checks out.
So maybe he's not Matthias.
Maybe they targeted Sanford
or someone from his campaign.
- Can you hand me that box?
- Yeah.
Well, I stopped by to see
if maybe you wanted
to grab a bite to eat together.
Oh.
Um
honestly,
I'm in the thick of it.
I should probably keep at it.
♪
Yeah. OK.
I will I'll leave you to it.
♪
So the mystery shuttle brought us to
Johann's very expensive spa?
That's a scent I'll never forget,
hospital disinfectant.
It's not a spa. It's a medical facility.
♪
I think Sunrise Garden
is a high-end cancer treatment center.
Making Johann's services
chemotherapy.
Wait, Johann has cancer?
No.
No. Not Johann.
Excuse me, we'd like to speak
to one of your patients.
It's about a murder.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Hello, Vincent.
♪
- Cancer?
- Bone.
- Stage 4.
- I'm sorry.
But you still look pretty good
for a dead man.
- I can explain.
- No.
Why don't I?
You stop me if I get anything wrong.
First, you took pains
to hire a man with a resemblance to you.
Poor Johann had no idea
what you had in store.
You tricked viewers into believing
they were witnessing you die
in a choppy livestream.
♪
But it wasn't you,
and it wasn't live at all.
In reality, they were watching Johann
being killed in a video
you spliced together.
It was an impressive piece of theater.
And with the body,
you made sure
his face was mangled enough
so that a squeamish Tori
wouldn't look close enough
doing a postmortem ID.
You'd already checked out
of Johann's rental
with most of his things
so that no one would be the wiser.
♪
Which brings us here.
With Vincent Lee gone,
you can now live as Johann Bartz,
undergo chemo with the money
from your charity,
and all so you could hide
the inconvenient truth
that Paradvm doesn't work.
No. Paradvm does work.
Yes, I resorted to chemo,
but I'm responding better
than anybody should
because of Paradvm.
Wasn't it supposed to prevent
cancer in the first place?
It would have.
If I'd had those supplements earlier,
I wouldn't be here now.
But our early adopters,
they won't have to suffer
like I'm suffering.
That's my gift, and Johann's,
as an unfortunate
but necessary sacrifice.
I understand how much you believe that.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
All my life,
all I've tried to do is help
people make better choices.
Same as you, Alec.
♪
You can make the better choice now.
If people find out I have cancer,
Paradvm falls apart.
Think of the good.
All you have to do
is stay quiet.
♪
The cost is small.
♪
The cost is everything.
♪
Detective Hall.
♪
Vincent Lee,
you'll want to check in
with your care team
because you're being placed
under arrest.
♪
What was Vincent hoping for anyway?
To beat terminal cancer
and then gallivant as Johann Bartz
to the end of time?
Cognitive dissonance.
He invested too much money, effort,
everything to ever doubt Paradvm.
We still saved the day,
so what's up with this?
[SIGHS]
Vincent thinks that he and I are alike.
And as misguided as the man was,
it did start with wanting to help people
make better decisions.
Yeah, but
We do share a tendency
to put our work first
and surround ourselves with people
that tell us how great we are.
OK, stop.
Vincent went way more extreme
than you ever would or could.
OK, so you're divorced.
But Rose feels like a real chance.
And the fact that you're even
asking these questions, Alec,
proves that you're different.
- Hmm.
- Besides,
you're forgetting the one thing
you have that he doesn't.
What's that?
- Me.
- Ah.
'Cause I'll take you down
a peg whenever you need.
[LAUGHS]
OK, so I'll return the favor.
Because I have something I
don't think you want to hear.
You and Morgan,
you like her.
I know you don't date cops.
Sometimes we gotta break the rules.
[QUIETLY] I don't like you.
Go out there and talk to her.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
Hey, Morgan.
♪
I'm just gonna spit this out.
♪
I like you.
But
You don't like cops.
I get it. I used to feel the same way.
So what changed?
The truth is,
- I needed to make rent.
- Mm.
And Staties were the only ones hiring
with a decent paycheck.
And
I have struggled with it over the years.
♪
But if people like me aren't
around to make things better,
then how will things change?
So I stick with it.
And that gives me a sense of pride.
It's like every day I wake up,
and I have a purpose.
Guess I'm searching for what you have,
purpose
but with six figures.
[LAUGHS]
Well, it's only five figures.
But if you're looking,
you are kind of good
at this solving crime thing.
Me, a cop?
Girl. [LAUGHS]
♪
How about we start
with me going on a date with one?
♪
So Paradvm?
Is being dissolved.
We've also started a fund
to aid Johann's family
and everyone else hurt by Vincent.
And how are you?
I just want to make everything right.
Vincent's actions hurt
his customers and Johann.
But they also hurt you.
I just can't believe that Vincent
didn't die, and Johann did.
And even if he survives this,
the husband I loved is gone.
He failed me, but why do
I still feel like
somehow I failed him?
Because you did.
Look, Vincent set impossible standards,
so impossible,
he couldn't even meet them.
So how can anyone else?
We're better off
seeking our own standards.
And it sounded to me like that
may involve activities
more like eating pasta in Italy.
Maybe our goal
has got to be to live more
and not longer.
Mm-hmm.
♪
Professor, we just got your 911.
Is it about Vincent or your paper?
What do you need us to do?
I need you both to go home.
I've recently been reminded
that it's important for us
sometimes to break our own rules.
- But your paper
- Is this an experiment?
It's just a night off.
Call it self-care, whatever you want.
Now go.
Kids, go have some fun.
[CHUCKLES]
There was a time when Vincent Lee and I
weren't so different.
We saw ourselves as disruptors.
Innovators.
Making people's lives better.
And better meant longer.
It had to.
How else could I have held on
through surgery after surgery,
for years in the hospital?
Surviving gave me the gift
of a longer life.
But the longer I've lived,
the more I realized
that living isn't measured in years.
It's measured in moments,
the ones we treasure all the
more because they're fleeting.
And in the end, all we are
is the sum of the choices
we make in those moments.
It's measured in meaning,
in impact,
and the people whose lives we touch.
I was cleaning when it hit me.
Sanford's mother said
that Matthias intended
to set the bomb off
an hour after Sanford's speech.
We assumed that they targeted
an empty church.
What if they knew the church
wasn't gonna be empty?
Right.
Stragglers, clean-up crew.
I found some of Sanford's
campaign schedules.
His team always designated
specific people for cleanup.
We need to find a staff schedule,
see who was on post-event duty.
Because one of them
might have been Matthias' true target.
Damn.
Nice work, Clark.
I told you it was gonna come to me.
Can I be honest with you?
I was, uh, kind of hoping
you didn't invite me over
to talk about work.
I didn't, not entirely, anyway.
I have been keeping you at arm's length.
I thought I had to,
to find myself.
I'm working on
getting better boundaries.
Because what we have is good.
♪
So
♪
I want to show you something.
♪
A closet.
Not just any closet.
Your closet.
So next time,
you won't have to go home.
♪
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC]
♪
It's inevitable.
We're born, we get sick,
we die. Right?
The old me ate those lies right up.
Now,
I eat this.
This
could be you.
I can't say throw out your heart meds.
But what I can say is
with my supplement regimen
and a healthy lifestyle,
you won't need them.
I make it easy, one packet a day.
Cancer? Preventable.
Alzheimer's? Preventable.
Wasting your money on snake oil
also preventable.
Vincent Lee is trying to help us
live longer and end chronic illness.
[CHUCKLES] Says the girl
who eats Spaghetti-O's
three days a week.
Uh, ate Spaghetti-Os.
Vincent has opened my eyes.
And I like his livestreams.
Please don't tell me you have
his magic pills on autoship.
He has a PhD in biochemistry.
He taught at UMD.
And didn't the two of you
used to be friends?
I'd say we could have been,
back when he was a serious
longevity scientist.
I mean, I'd run into him
in the TED Talk circuit.
And yes, we've had a few
deep chats in hotel lounges.
So what happened?
He fell out of touch.
And the last I heard,
he was a zealot salesman
who lost his ethics
in his protein shakes.
You sound like a hater.
[LAUGHS]
Could we help ourselves with
good nutrition and exercise?
Of course.
But we can't evade
every genetic landmine,
and we certainly can't beat death
for $139 a month.
Speaking of, you know
diabetes runs in our family.
And you know I'm on deadline
with my loss aversion paper.
I'm serious, you've seen his videos
where he spread misbeliefs
about Western medicine.
It's irresponsible.
Our health system has its problems,
but it's also saved countless lives.
Yours included. I know.
And if you're worried about me,
Alec, don't be.
Now, let me watch this man run.
Paradvm, you balance cholesterol
and boost virility.
With one packet a day, you're
looking at life past 110, 120.
Who knows how far we can go?
If you have to live like that,
who'd want to live forever?
your 90s.
You'll have the body of
a 25-year-old your entire
[SCREAMS]
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, Alec,
come here, look at this.
What's wrong?
I'm pretty sure Vincent just died.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
five-year-old entire
[SCREAMS]
That looks like the hood of a car.
Someone hit him.
You work so hard on your health
just to get hit by some idiot
who didn't even bother to slow down.
Play it again.
five-year-old entire
[SCREAMS]
♪
Hmm.
What, is it something
about the accident?
♪
I'm not sure it was an accident.
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
I knew it.
No skid or swerve marks before impact,
which matches what leapt out
on Vincent's livestream,
but also, not after.
That's an abnormal reaction.
Can't that just be panic taking over?
I'd freak out if I hit a guy.
When you encounter something surprising,
like a man in the middle of the road,
your body produces
a spike of adrenaline.
The most common reaction is to
slam on the brakes or swerve.
But this driver just kept going.
Meaning
they weren't surprised.
I think this was intentional.
Ma'am, sir, I need you to clear out.
This is an active investigation,
so no looky-loos.
- Uh, Detective?
- Hall.
I'm Professor Alec Mercer.
I'm a behavioral psychologist.
We came here to see if we could
help with the investigation.
Oh, right, you're the guy
the captain called about.
And why are you offering your
help with this hit and run?
Vincent and I go way back.
And I don't think this was an accident.
I'd like to help catch his killer.
Look, locals bomb down this
old road like it's Talladega
drag racing, splatting animals.
They never stop.
Maybe, but we're talking
about a tall ass athlete,
not some raccoon.
Yeah, but they would have
had to find him out here.
Vincent geotagged his live feeds.
That's how we got out here so fast.
Anyone who wanted to run Vincent down
could have done the same.
Due diligence.
What kind of car do you drive?
Alec doesn't have a car.
But mine is red,
not white, like the one
that hit him in the video.
Look, if someone
wanted to murder Vincent,
they could have killed him
after his run off camera.
But they didn't.
So tell me, why risk killing someone
when the whole world is watching?
It seems completely
Irrational.
That's my specialty.
[SIZZLING]
What's this?
Another Jace Richards special?
I tried something a little different,
a splash of cream in the eggs, yeah.
Oh.
Guess who has to go home right now
if he wants to make morning briefing?
Oh.
But hey, while I'm there,
why don't I just grab
a few things to keep here?
- Or not.
- [CHUCKLES AWKWARDLY]
Don't get me wrong.
I really like the way that
our relationship has
evolved
from colleagues, to friends, to
this.
But I've been out of my marriage,
for what feels like 10 seconds.
And I'm just not ready
to jump into another one.
Is that OK?
Yeah.
Yeah, I understand.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
You know you mean a lot to me, Marisa.
Of course I do.
I mean, me, too.
♪
I might go to hell for this,
but there might be something to Paradvm.
Is this not the sexiest funeral
you have ever seen?
Remember, correlation is not causation.
A CrossFit funeral would look the same
without the help
of Vincent's super pills.
Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah.
So how's your snooping going?
Have you found Vincent's murderer?
Vincent's a puzzle.
I don't understand how the man I knew
turned from scientific luminary
to fringe placebo pusher.
Not one of Vincent's close relatives
or old friends are here.
Vincent's wife Tori
is the only person here
he may have been genuinely close to.
And she was about to be his ex.
Until a few months ago, she
was all over Vincent's socials.
Then poof, gone.
Then he started posting about
how to release negative energy
from your house.
Sounds like divorce.
What? You're thinking it was her?
You know what Marisa says.
It's always the spouse.
For female victims, that's true.
But for male victims,
it's almost never true.
There are outliers, of course, but
Noted.
You can go home if you want to.
I kind of saw Vincent die.
I want to be here.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Alec.
Tori.
♪
The last time I saw Vincent,
it must have been before Paradvm.
When I met him, Vincent was this
sweet, nerdy biochemist.
And then he got into all this,
and I tried to keep up.
It must have been difficult.
I've seen a few of his videos.
His regimen was pretty demanding.
Try extreme.
There was no limit to how far
he was willing to push himself;
these cryo chambers and ozone therapies.
And by the end,
Vincent's idea of a fun date
was literally getting our
blood tested for biomarkers.
Hmm. How'd that go?
It didn't.
I get woozy around blood.
And Vincent called me weak
and uncommitted to his vision.
Sounds like a classic case
of slippery slope.
That describes our trip to Italy.
I wanted pasta and pleasure.
And I begged him, live a little.
And he told me
he intended to live forever.
Maybe I am weak, like he said.
No.
You were attending
to your own well-being.
Vincent should have known
that that's as key
to longevity as anything else.
Ask yourself,
was your marriage his only relationship
that fell apart?
The thing that happened with
Derek was pretty bad, too.
Derek Mitchell?
That was Vincent's partner
with the pharma startup, right?
They fell out after they
sold their Alzheimer's drug
to Gallen-May.
Vincent sold his shares
and started Paradvm.
And for a while,
they were friends, until Vincent
made those attack
videos against big pharma.
Let me guess, he went after Gallen-May.
He went after everyone.
But Derek took it personally.
♪
Still, I'd hope he'd show up today.
Even with Vincent gone,
Derek Mitchell still can't let it go.
♪
Thanks for your help with this.
And that is the last that
we have on Derek Mitchell.
No criminal record, but he
did get into trouble with PETA
over the unethical treatment
of mice in clinical trials.
Animal abuse can escalate
to violence against people.
Take a look at this.
After Vincent's attack videos dropped,
Derek remained silent,
which earned him a good deal
of heat from the public,
from pharma detractors.
His Gallen-May bosses.
That's got to be tough,
being stuck between your job
and someone you're so close to.
Under stress like that,
silence only adds to the pressure.
If it becomes too much
Maybe he had motive
to shut Vincent up for good,
and publicly.
Sorry about your friend.
He wasn't really my
Me, too.
Oh. Hey, Alec.
Um, sorry to interrupt, but
Right, we have to prepare for
our meeting with the senator.
- The senator?
- Yeah.
Jason and I are chasing a new
lead on the church bombing.
Short of which is Sanford was
losing his first Senate race.
Bomb blew up, turnout surged.
Sanford won.
Coincidence?
You think Sanford
might be this Matthias guy
we've been chasing?
All for what?
Some post-tragedy popularity bump?
We've got to look into every angle.
Uh, Marisa says you two are friends?
Yeah, he visited me
when I was in the burn unit,
well past the photo op necessity.
And we stayed in touch.
I've come to believe him to be a
good senator, and a better guy.
That said, I don't want the halo effect
to blind me just because
I don't want to hear it.
I'd rather find out the truth.
If you've got any ideas, we're all ears.
We know we can't just ask him outright.
So the plan is to go in,
bring Sanford a case up
Do you mind if I stop you there?
Because you're right.
A frontal attack will not work
with someone as smart as Sanford.
If he sees two FBI agents
walking in, you're DOA.
OK, so who goes in?
Me?
You?
♪
[SIGHS] I think it's got to be me.
I'm the one
with the personal connection.
I agree.
Personal angle's your best shot.
If you play to that part
and build trust,
maybe drop something personal,
privileged,
he may open up enough
to give you answers.
♪
How's it going with Derek Mitchell?
Vincent's ex partner
and possible killer?
We've, uh, begun looking into him.
Good. The trick now is to find out
where he was when Vincent was killed.
- Any ideas?
- I might have one.
An article I read on Vincent mentioned
a big Beltway longevity
conference going on.
- Vincent would have been there.
- There's a good chance
Mitchell would be there, too.
I agree.
Problem is, I can't
be the one that goes in.
So who should cosplay pharma rep?
[MISCHIEVOUS MUSIC]
What?
♪
[LIGHT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
♪
Fellow traveler?
- Derek Mitchell.
- Yeah.
- I'm Carrie.
- Hi.
I've read your work on
tau proteins and longevity.
It's fascinating stuff.
I think so, too.
Though all anyone wanted
to talk about today
was a certain someone's
lack of longevity.
- Vincent Lee?
- Yeah.
He used to be your partner, right?
- Yep.
- Isn't it funny
how we all seem to forget
the lousy things
people did the second they die?
♪
Before Paradvm got big,
Vincent reached out.
Said he wanted to co-fund my
company's stroke drug research.
What he did is
twist the inside info I shared with him
into a hit piece against my employers.
It was all a stunt to
raise Paradvm's profile.
♪
Well
♪
After Gallant-May acquired
our Alzheimer's drug,
we failed FDA approval.
Vincent was livid.
Is that when Vincent left
to start Paradvm?
Yeah, and he said we were cool,
only to turn around
and spew all these videos
that anyone who's in bed
with Gallant-May
is poisoning the masses.
It was like Vincent
was trying to ruin me.
When he died, um,
how'd that feel?
Nauseating.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Though it might have been airsickness.
I was on a flight back from Geneva.
Just signed a new three-year
contract with Gallant-May.
Wow, I guess I just thought
Gallant-May is gonna make
a lot of money thanks to us
me and Vincent.
You know, on balance,
the guy did do a lot of good.
Though before I heard
it was an accident,
I wondered if maybe somebody
else he screwed over did him in.
Wasn't me. [CHUCKLES]
I think Vincent was worried.
'Cause from what I heard,
he hired a bodyguard.
What kind of supplement guru
needs a bodyguard?
♪
OK, so you suspected some pharma exec
and he told you that
Vincent hired a bodyguard?
How'd you get him to talk?
Downward comparison,
a.k.a., misery loves company.
Which, for better or for worse,
- took him off the suspect list.
- OK.
Well, I have been focused on the car.
With the paint chip we found
on Vincent's shirt
and our tire track analysis,
we managed to narrow it down
to a large white late model Toyota SUV.
I blasted the info on socials,
and I've been canvassing with these,
- but no tips yet.
- Hmm.
$5,000 reward's a good start,
but we need to give them
greater incentive
to really look.
More incentivizing than free money?
You ever heard of gamification?
No.
The idea is when you turn
a task into a game,
more people will do it.
♪
Kylie will post a scavenger hunt
where players are asked to post a selfie
with particular items.
The items will all be relatively easy,
except for one; our hit-and-run car.
They won't know it's the one
that killed Vincent.
To them, it's just another
quirky item to find.
Finding those easier items
will incentivize the players
to complete the game.
It's called goal gradient.
The closer you get to solving something,
the more motivated you are to finish.
OK.
Game's live.
What are you, some kind of hacker?
You asking me as the police?
[CHUCKLES]
♪
So what do we do now?
- We wait.
- Mm-hmm.
[LIGHT MUSIC]
♪
Don't tell me this fool painted
an uncooked bird yellow
- and called it a rubber chicken.
- [NOTIFICATIONS CHIMING]
I keep hearing bells. Any hits?
Yup.
So far, we've got five vehicles
that match the hit-and-run.
I've forwarded the plate
numbers to Detective Hall.
You mean Morgan.
I heard her ask you to call her that.
Maybe I'm not the only Mercer
who's a magnet for powerful
women in law enforcement.
You know I don't date cops.
Understood.
[PHONE RINGING]
You think she heard us?
[PHONE RINGING]
Detective Hall.
So if I wasn't locked in
on murder before, I am now.
One of the cars our gamers ID'd,
it was registered to Vincent Lee's wife.
You see?
It's always the spouse.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
You think Vincent was murdered?
With my car?
Which one? We have four.
♪
Found it in a chop shop.
That looks like my SUV,
which I hardly drive,
and I definitely wasn't driving
it when Vincent got hit.
Hmm, so what were you doing
that afternoon?
I was doing Pilates on the beach.
If I wanted Vincent dead,
you think I'd really hit him
with my car?
On livestream?
It's not the smartest plan,
but people in emotional
hot states tend to do,
well, not the smartest thing.
Vincent was worth about $40 mil.
I know losing that much in a divorce
would make me emotional.
And your husband had
just filed, hadn't he?
The terms of his will
and our prenup were the same.
I'd get $15 million, and the
rest would go to his charity.
Did Vincent recently hire a bodyguard?
♪
Can we get a name?
Contact details?
I don't recall.
By that point, Vincent and I were living
in different wings of the house,
and I barely interacted
with his bodyguard.
Mm.
Tori,
you're hiding something.
♪
I'd guess that you two
were sleeping together?
♪
It was just the one time.
Johann looks a little bit like Vincent
after a bottle of wine,
and he reminded me a lot
of the husband I was losing,
who I always loved.
We're all prone to rationalization,
coming up with reasons, stories,
that justify our behavior.
But if we're too good at it,
we can even hide the truth
from ourselves.
I was fighting for my marriage.
Johann, he kept trying to win me over
and he wouldn't stop calling.
And
♪
Until Vincent died.
Wait, did Johann have access
to your car keys?
The entire staff did.
♪
What are you thinking?
Vincent hired a bodyguard
to protect him.
In the end, it's entirely possible
that the bodyguard is who he
needed to be protected from.
♪
You're running for state assembly?
- Marisa, I love it.
- I'm considering.
Alec must be thrilled.
Uh, Alec and I recently divorced.
- Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
- That's all right.
Point is,
I haven't told Alec yet
because I haven't told anyone.
I wanted to talk to you first
before I made any decision.
I get it.
Before my first campaign,
I was just like you.
I was full of hesitation.
But, you know, four terms in,
I can tell you this.
People vote for a story
that they can connect to.
Talk about a good story,
you won your first race
against a long time incumbent.
That is huge.
'02, yeah.
Tough campaign.
I I give all the credit to my team
for pushing my numbers over the edge.
Yeah, them and the Black vote.
You were a couple points down until
♪
I guess what I'm wondering is
if it's gonna take a tragedy
for a first timer like me
to get a lead, too.
♪
Sympathy vote.
Sounds awful, doesn't it?
But no, that's a real thing.
Though the truth is, at the time,
I was more worried about the opposite,
that folks would be too scared
to come out and vote,
and then I end up losing.
Because right before the bombing,
internal polling had put me
ahead of Gilbert.
Internal polling?
Press at the time had
underestimated turnout.
So I think the bombing
may have helped my margin,
but I was already up 4%.
Never trust the media poll.
That's my advice to you.
♪
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Well, I appreciate the assist.
The Maryland Department
of Energy was hacked,
so our tech team is on overdrive.
Lucky for you, my new favorite hobby
is investigating Vincent's murder.
So I've been looking
at the bodyguard's socials,
and homeboy was obsessed.
You can tell Vincent was his hero.
I mean, he even got the same tat as him.
But Vincent never posted about him
or included him in his videos?
Nope, which makes me wonder.
You really think Tori
only slept with Johann once?
You so want it to be the wife.
No, I don't!
OK, fine. I sort of do.
But ignoring
the mildly insensitive Kylie
who may want to see an episode
of "Snapped" come to life
All right, like your brother said,
we can't know for sure
that Tori didn't do it.
But I think the bodyguard
who slept with her
- has much more motive.
- Mm.
Which would make it an
episode of "Deadly Affairs."
Do you watch "Deadly Affairs"?
Girl, don't even get me
started on "Deadly Affairs."
Oh!
But that's what doesn't
sit right with me.
- What do you mean?
- Well, I get that Johann
wouldn't leave Tori alone.
I get that he's not answering his phone.
Super sus. But
you really think he'd kill his hero?
Adulation can cause
a hero placebo effect
where you believe
your idol is infallible.
I think when Johann learned
what Vincent was really like,
he may have felt
a powerful contrast effect
known as hero nocebo.
So Vincent turned his biggest fan
into his worst enemy.
Damn.
Gives a whole new meaning
to never meet your heroes.
[PHONE CHIMES]
Oh, looks like
Paradvm confirmed the address
that Tori gave for Vincent's bodyguard.
Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Johann's a chill dude,
quiet, a lot cleaner than
my other short term renters.
Didn't give me murderer vibes.
What time did Johann check out?
Uh, Tuesday. 11:30 a.m.
Vincent died at 1:00 p.m.
So that means he could
have done it, right?
Did you see him leave?
No, he checked out through the app.
Did he leave a forwarding address,
emergency contact, that kind of thing?
Maybe.
I'll check in my office.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
♪
Hmm.
♪
- You a soccer fan?
- Oh.
Uh, yeah.
[CHUCKLES] Me, too.
I went to a match in Berlin last summer.
It's pretty rare to find
another Union fan in the US.
Yeah. Big Union fan. [CHUCKLES]
[LAUGHS]
- Except that's
- BOTH: A Bayern Munich scarf.
♪
What else are you hiding, Aaron?
Nothing. I swear.
All I did was bring some stuff
Johann left behind
in here for safe keeping.
♪
I don't think all of
that was for safe keeping.
It it was in the safe.
Uh, Johann must have forgotten it.
But now that I have
his emergency contact,
I can box it all and mail it off to
Germany. [CHUCKLES]
Hmm.
I see why Tori fooled around
with this guy.
He out-thirst-traps Vincent
even in a passport photo.
[CHUCKLES]
So what do you think?
Is this Aaron guy telling the truth?
About the scarf?
He definitely meant
to keep it for himself,
but I don't think he killed Vincent.
He probably didn't even know him.
What's throwing me is Johann.
Why would he take everything,
his clothes, his toiletries,
even clean out the refrigerator,
but leave his most personal valuables?
Well, I might forget a trinket or two
if I were in a hurry to kill my boss.
Not that I have a boss.
If you just murdered someone, sure.
You'd be in a hot state.
You might forget something.
But Johann checked out
before Vincent's death.
He would have been in a cold,
premeditative phase.
Meaning?
Johann's moves would have
been deliberate,
- calculated.
- Mm.
I don't know, Ky.
- Something feels off.
- Okay, thanks.
So I talked with
Johann's family in Germany.
They haven't heard from Johann
since last week.
But he does share a family credit card.
Stats at the banks called
about unusual purchases in
the past few days, all on Long Island.
Who runs to Long Island?
I don't know. I'm about to find out.
I just got my travel greenlit,
and I've been in touch
with local authorities
for an agency assist.
Oh, cool.
♪
Well, hopefully
you'll keep us in the loop?
Shouldn't be too hard
from three feet away.
Y'all up for a road trip?
♪
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
Clear. There's no one home.
Are you sure this is Johann's new place?
Credit card company
reported multiple orders
from Vegan Plate Bistro,
and the restaurant said Johann's meals
were delivered here.
Well, Johann's definitely
been staying here.
And the bodyguard
is still a Paradvm guy.
Doesn't make any sense.
Why would someone who could afford this
stay at Aaron's cheap-ass place?
Kylie.
Look up Sunrise Garden
and what they would be charging
Johann $37,000 for this month.
Damn. On it.
Oh, well, it says right there.
"Services."
That's not vague.
No online hits for Sunrise Garden.
Sketchy AF.
And how does Johann pay
for these services
on a bodyguard's salary?
Maybe he isn't.
Could be in cahoots with Tori.
Maybe she slept with the
bodyguard to win him over.
Paid him a whole bunch of money
to kill Vincent.
It's faster to murder the husband
than to wait for a settlement.
Like I said, it is always
Kylie, it's not always the spouse.
[QUIETLY] Sometimes it's the spouse.
What are you doing?
Star 69.
Star 60-who?
It's too old-school for you millennials.
It's a function that redials
the last caller.
Your request for pickup
at 191 Stone Hill Court
has been received.
You will receive a courtesy
call when your shuttle arrives.
Goodbye.
Wow.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Whoa. Redecorating?
I'm going over all the files
from the church bombing case.
It's an old Alec trick.
Immerse yourself in the data.
Sleep on it. Maybe
the answer will come to you.
You managed to get Sanford's
internal polling numbers.
An old friend at the FEC hooked me up.
There it is. Up 4%, two weeks out.
- Yeah.
- He's telling the truth.
His story checks out.
So maybe he's not Matthias.
Maybe they targeted Sanford
or someone from his campaign.
- Can you hand me that box?
- Yeah.
Well, I stopped by to see
if maybe you wanted
to grab a bite to eat together.
Oh.
Um
honestly,
I'm in the thick of it.
I should probably keep at it.
♪
Yeah. OK.
I will I'll leave you to it.
♪
So the mystery shuttle brought us to
Johann's very expensive spa?
That's a scent I'll never forget,
hospital disinfectant.
It's not a spa. It's a medical facility.
♪
I think Sunrise Garden
is a high-end cancer treatment center.
Making Johann's services
chemotherapy.
Wait, Johann has cancer?
No.
No. Not Johann.
Excuse me, we'd like to speak
to one of your patients.
It's about a murder.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
♪
Hello, Vincent.
♪
- Cancer?
- Bone.
- Stage 4.
- I'm sorry.
But you still look pretty good
for a dead man.
- I can explain.
- No.
Why don't I?
You stop me if I get anything wrong.
First, you took pains
to hire a man with a resemblance to you.
Poor Johann had no idea
what you had in store.
You tricked viewers into believing
they were witnessing you die
in a choppy livestream.
♪
But it wasn't you,
and it wasn't live at all.
In reality, they were watching Johann
being killed in a video
you spliced together.
It was an impressive piece of theater.
And with the body,
you made sure
his face was mangled enough
so that a squeamish Tori
wouldn't look close enough
doing a postmortem ID.
You'd already checked out
of Johann's rental
with most of his things
so that no one would be the wiser.
♪
Which brings us here.
With Vincent Lee gone,
you can now live as Johann Bartz,
undergo chemo with the money
from your charity,
and all so you could hide
the inconvenient truth
that Paradvm doesn't work.
No. Paradvm does work.
Yes, I resorted to chemo,
but I'm responding better
than anybody should
because of Paradvm.
Wasn't it supposed to prevent
cancer in the first place?
It would have.
If I'd had those supplements earlier,
I wouldn't be here now.
But our early adopters,
they won't have to suffer
like I'm suffering.
That's my gift, and Johann's,
as an unfortunate
but necessary sacrifice.
I understand how much you believe that.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
All my life,
all I've tried to do is help
people make better choices.
Same as you, Alec.
♪
You can make the better choice now.
If people find out I have cancer,
Paradvm falls apart.
Think of the good.
All you have to do
is stay quiet.
♪
The cost is small.
♪
The cost is everything.
♪
Detective Hall.
♪
Vincent Lee,
you'll want to check in
with your care team
because you're being placed
under arrest.
♪
What was Vincent hoping for anyway?
To beat terminal cancer
and then gallivant as Johann Bartz
to the end of time?
Cognitive dissonance.
He invested too much money, effort,
everything to ever doubt Paradvm.
We still saved the day,
so what's up with this?
[SIGHS]
Vincent thinks that he and I are alike.
And as misguided as the man was,
it did start with wanting to help people
make better decisions.
Yeah, but
We do share a tendency
to put our work first
and surround ourselves with people
that tell us how great we are.
OK, stop.
Vincent went way more extreme
than you ever would or could.
OK, so you're divorced.
But Rose feels like a real chance.
And the fact that you're even
asking these questions, Alec,
proves that you're different.
- Hmm.
- Besides,
you're forgetting the one thing
you have that he doesn't.
What's that?
- Me.
- Ah.
'Cause I'll take you down
a peg whenever you need.
[LAUGHS]
OK, so I'll return the favor.
Because I have something I
don't think you want to hear.
You and Morgan,
you like her.
I know you don't date cops.
Sometimes we gotta break the rules.
[QUIETLY] I don't like you.
Go out there and talk to her.
[SOFT MUSIC]
♪
Hey, Morgan.
♪
I'm just gonna spit this out.
♪
I like you.
But
You don't like cops.
I get it. I used to feel the same way.
So what changed?
The truth is,
- I needed to make rent.
- Mm.
And Staties were the only ones hiring
with a decent paycheck.
And
I have struggled with it over the years.
♪
But if people like me aren't
around to make things better,
then how will things change?
So I stick with it.
And that gives me a sense of pride.
It's like every day I wake up,
and I have a purpose.
Guess I'm searching for what you have,
purpose
but with six figures.
[LAUGHS]
Well, it's only five figures.
But if you're looking,
you are kind of good
at this solving crime thing.
Me, a cop?
Girl. [LAUGHS]
♪
How about we start
with me going on a date with one?
♪
So Paradvm?
Is being dissolved.
We've also started a fund
to aid Johann's family
and everyone else hurt by Vincent.
And how are you?
I just want to make everything right.
Vincent's actions hurt
his customers and Johann.
But they also hurt you.
I just can't believe that Vincent
didn't die, and Johann did.
And even if he survives this,
the husband I loved is gone.
He failed me, but why do
I still feel like
somehow I failed him?
Because you did.
Look, Vincent set impossible standards,
so impossible,
he couldn't even meet them.
So how can anyone else?
We're better off
seeking our own standards.
And it sounded to me like that
may involve activities
more like eating pasta in Italy.
Maybe our goal
has got to be to live more
and not longer.
Mm-hmm.
♪
Professor, we just got your 911.
Is it about Vincent or your paper?
What do you need us to do?
I need you both to go home.
I've recently been reminded
that it's important for us
sometimes to break our own rules.
- But your paper
- Is this an experiment?
It's just a night off.
Call it self-care, whatever you want.
Now go.
Kids, go have some fun.
[CHUCKLES]
There was a time when Vincent Lee and I
weren't so different.
We saw ourselves as disruptors.
Innovators.
Making people's lives better.
And better meant longer.
It had to.
How else could I have held on
through surgery after surgery,
for years in the hospital?
Surviving gave me the gift
of a longer life.
But the longer I've lived,
the more I realized
that living isn't measured in years.
It's measured in moments,
the ones we treasure all the
more because they're fleeting.
And in the end, all we are
is the sum of the choices
we make in those moments.
It's measured in meaning,
in impact,
and the people whose lives we touch.
I was cleaning when it hit me.
Sanford's mother said
that Matthias intended
to set the bomb off
an hour after Sanford's speech.
We assumed that they targeted
an empty church.
What if they knew the church
wasn't gonna be empty?
Right.
Stragglers, clean-up crew.
I found some of Sanford's
campaign schedules.
His team always designated
specific people for cleanup.
We need to find a staff schedule,
see who was on post-event duty.
Because one of them
might have been Matthias' true target.
Damn.
Nice work, Clark.
I told you it was gonna come to me.
Can I be honest with you?
I was, uh, kind of hoping
you didn't invite me over
to talk about work.
I didn't, not entirely, anyway.
I have been keeping you at arm's length.
I thought I had to,
to find myself.
I'm working on
getting better boundaries.
Because what we have is good.
♪
So
♪
I want to show you something.
♪
A closet.
Not just any closet.
Your closet.
So next time,
you won't have to go home.
♪
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC]
♪