136 - Satellites
Summary
Five people - three unknowns, the barista, and a guy with a gun - go missing from a coffee shop. As the team tries to figure out who the unknowns are and how they are all connected, they find out that sexual abuse at a camp 12 years ago is the connecting factor (except for the barista, who was just a very unlucky bystander swept away with them all). It was all about trying to get justice for a horrible wrong.
Rating
If we didn’t have the neverending Jack stuff, this would be a solid 2 stars.
Discussion
Thus ends the shortened (because of the writer’s strike) season. This was a decent story, with the interesting idea of figuring out what the connection was between them all.
A guy with his head down and wearing a baseball cap walks into coffee shop, and all 5 people disappear. The gun was fired into the floor. It’s not a robbery, so the team needs to figure out who the people are (three unknowns, suspect, barista).
Julian Simonson and Mary Warren are two of the unknowns. They went to camp together in 1996, and recently reconnected. They attended the funeral of another camper, who killed himself. All three, and others, had been sexually abused by the third unknown, Dan Mahoney, formerly known as Bruce Matthews. The gunman, Bob Clifford, was the father of the young man who committed suicide. They were going to seek justice, or at least a confession, but Bob wanted Bruce/Dan dead. Our team reaches them before anyone dies, though Mary was accidentally shot, and Vivian shoots Bob when he goes to shoot Bruce/Dan.
And in the storyline that just won’t go away, Jack and the rest of the team meet with OPR. Jack continues meeting with the psychologist. This storyline is why fast forward buttons exist.
And Sam pops. Though I’m not a Jack/Samantha shipper, that final scene was nice.
Notes
The song “All My Days” by Alexi Murdoch is featured in the beginning and end of the episode. It’s a great song.
Jack demoted: no longer the unit lead, pay grade drops to 13 (which is still pretty good pay and stuff), and he will be a street agent.
Quotes
Samantha: [On the phone.] No, we will definitely look into it. We will. All calls to the tip line are taken very seriously. Yep. [Hangs up the phone.] Especially the ones from citizens of Saturn.
Jack: Who are you?
Agent Beams: [Sitting at Samantha's desk.] Agent Beams.
Jack: Where’s Agent Spade?
Agent Beams: Told me to watch her desk.
Jack: How long ago was that?
Agent Beams: Hour or two ago.
Jack: That’s precise. You use her phone?
Agent Beams: No. She told me to answer it if it rang.
Jack: Did it?
Agent Beams: No. [Jack hits redial. Presumably he finds out she called the hospital.]
Samantha: You found me.
Jack: I bribed a stork.