| The Truth | |
|---|---|
| Season One, Episode Six | |
| |
| First aired | July 17, 2010 |
| Written by | Sandy Isaac |
| Directed by | Steve Shill |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Incoming |
Next Smoke and Steel |
The Truth is an episode of Persons Unknown.
Synopsis[]
Mark Renbe drags his unamused lover, yet interested editor, along to Rome, where ambassador Franklin Fairchild buries his daughter Tori Fairchild. Joe Tucker's crush on Janet Cooper leads to the others suspecting him of being in cahoots with the mastermind. When Joe is struck ill, Erika Taylor holds the key to his cure, but refuses to provide it unless he answers her questions. He's forced to 'confess', apparently frustrating program-dedicated Tom X's efforts to save Joe. Bill Blackham is the easy bullying prey, cruelly abused by Erika and her new cahoot.
Plot[]
In the town, Joe is jogging around the town square. Graham is watching him from his bedroom window when Moira comes in and they discuss the fact that Joe is one of "them" based on his actions at the bank and in the elevator. All they can do is figure they have to keep watching him.
Renbe gets a call from the mysterious Irish man, who warns him that he's involved Kat and put her at risk as well. The reporter goes to Kat's apartment and discovers that she's been bound and gagged to a chair by men dressed in blue. As he tries to get her out, two men in blue bust in with guns. Kat hits them from behind and they head down the stairs. The men in blue come out but Edick arrives and shoots them, and tells Kat and Renbe to come with him.
As they drive away, Edick warns them that they have to get out of town before the men in blue find them. When Kat insists he let her out, Edick knocks her unconscious and tells Renbe that they have to get to Rome.
As they eat at the Shanghai Palace, Bill wants to know what they need to do with Erika. Moira insists she just needs time to adjust, but Bill isn't convinced. Erika comes in from the kitchen, having overhead the entire conversation, and tells them that the cooks will make them anything they want. Janet comes in and Erika greets her, and Bill notices that the two women are getting along. He reaches for some of Erika's bacon and she stabs his hand with a fork. Bill walks away as Erika and Janet snicker at him.
In the command center, Tom watches and observes, and points out to Joe that he figures that Erika is interested. Joe asks him if he's heard anything from their superiors, and Tom informs him that he has but it's none of Joe's business. He admits that he enjoys giving Joe grief and sends him back out to continue his infiltration.
Janet and Erika walk the streets and Erika decides to go off on her own. She admits that it's been a while since she could do anything she wants. Erika goes back to the hotel and tries to take the elevator, and notices that it's stuck on the first floor. As she starts to walk away, the doors open and Joe comes out. He walks away and Erika suspiciously watches him.
Bill asks Charlie to meet him in the town square and figures that he's going to be stuck with the other losers for the rest of his life. He's not happy at being beaten and berated, and he warns Charlie that he's not who they think he is. Bill yells out that he's not going to take any more grief from the people running the town.
Erika comes to Janet's room and tells her about Joe and the elevator. She figures that Joe acted like he got caught doing something, but Janet defends him. Erika isn't convinced and warns that she's going to keep an eye on Janet's "boy."
In Italy, Franklin speaks at his daughter Tori's funeral, giving the eulogy. Renbe and Kat are in the congregation. A man, Stefano, gets up and accuses Franklin of making Tori's life hell, and draws a gun. Franklin's security men respond, Stefano has his own men, and Franklin tells them all to put their guns down, for Tori's sake. Everyone does so and the man leaves. Renbe goes after him and Kat follows. When the escorts grab Renbe, Kat intervenes, speaking in Italian and convincing them to let Renbe go because he's her disturbed brother. Once they're gone, Kat warns that the men were a bunch of thugs, and she doesn't want to be involved. She tells him she's going to go back to San Francisco and call the police. Renbe apologizes for involving her, but there's no turning back and Stefano is the only lead they have.
Moira and Graham tell Charlie what they know about Joe. He isn't convinced. The elevator door opens and Bill steps out with a sledge hammer. He explains that he destroyed all the furniture in his room, and starts smashing the lobby furniture. Bill tells them that everyone is either with him, or are willing to settle down and accept whatever their captors throw at them. He doesn't care what they do, but he plans to control what he can of his own life in the town.
Joe leaves his room and gets in the elevator, and Erika gets in with him. Halfway down to the lobby, she stops the elevator and demands to know who he is. Joe insists that he's just a normal guy who has been kidnapped, and wants to know why she showed up right after Tori disappeared. She figures he's trying to throw attention off of himself by accusing her and warns him that he isn't fooling her. As she restarts the elevator, she tells him to stay away from Janet because she has dibs. Tom watches the entire incident on the cameras.
As Kat and Renbe hit the streets of Rome, trying to locate Stefano, and learn he's a major criminal. Some of his thugs follow them. They run for it but are quickly cut off and captured.
In the town, Joe and Janet go out and she notices that he's not looking well. He claims he's suffering from bad pork, and admits that he doesn't trust Erika. Janet says that Erika said the same thing, and Janet admits that he appears to be hiding something. When he presses the issue, Janet admits that she has some doubts. He asks if it would help if he told her everything about him, it would help her trust him. Janet admits that it might, and he asks what she wants to know. She starts by asking where they are, but before he can respond, he collapses in agony, vomiting.
The others get Joe into the hotel and Erika accuses him of drinking. Joe just wants to lie down and Janet insists on going with him, but he says he'll go on his own. He gets in the elevator and then activates the sequence to get to the command bunker. Nothing happens, and outside everyone watches as the floor indicator doesn't change. Finally the elevator starts and goes upstairs.
Stefano ties up Kat and Renbe and demands answers. Renbe explains that he thinks that Janet's disappearance is linked to Tori's death, and tells Stefano about the men in blue. Stefano demands specifics but when Renbe can't provide them, he notes that Renbe is a tabloid reporter. He grabs a knife and threatens Renbe, and he admits that Janet is his ex-wife and the mother of his daughter. Kat asks for the chance to show them a video of the two abductions and establish the similarities, and Stefano reconsiders.
In his room, Joe is trying to sleep on his bed. Tom comes in through a secret passage and gets him some water, but warns that he's breaking protocol. He admits he doesn't know if the illness is their superiors' response to Tom's actions. However, Tom warns that there's nothing he can to help, and he's committed his life to the program. He warns Joe that no single life is more important, and that Joe used to believe that as well. Tom leaves the way he came.
Stefano watches the videos of Tori and explains that he and she were in love. Franklin did everything to break them up, and learned that they were going to elope. That was when Tori disappeared. He has also been tracking the blue men, and warns that Franklin is capable of almost anything. Renbe admits that he might be right, and Kat figures the ambassador is somehow connected. She suggests they go on a fishing expedition at the embassy.
The next morning, the others check on Joe and Moira concludes that he's been poisoned. She has no way to tell what kind of poison without tests, and the wrong antidote could make him worse. Bill volunteers to go to the restaurant and check for poison, while the others check the drugstore. Janet insists on staying with Joe, and Moira and Erika both tell her there's nothing she can do for him. Janet reluctantly leaves to conduct the search.
Later, Janet returns to check on Joe, who is growing steadily worse. Erika comes in and caresses her, and Janet shrugs her off. The new arrival admits she may have been wrong about Joe, and she didn't want to cause Janet grief. Erika insists all she wanted to do was protect Janet, and Janet says that she doesn't protection from anyone.
Renbe and Kat disguise themselves as a priest and a nun and go to the Tori's funeral reception. When they try to cut in line, the security chief stops them and Renbe backs off. They notice the security guard going through a door with a key card, and Kat tells Renbe to relax. She then goes to the buffet and starts a distraction, faking a collapse. She manages to steal a key card from Franklin when he comes to help, and then slips it to Renbe. He gets through the secure door into Franklin's office and uses the key card to open a secret panel. Inside are photos of Joe, Janet, and Tori outside the Shanghai Palace. Renbe takes photos of them and puts them back, and then hides under the desk as the security chief comes in. He fails to stop Renbe and leaves, and the reporter slips out a few minutes later.
Moira manages to create two antidotes, but warns that one will cause more damage. The other could interact with the poison, causing a worse reaction and killing him. Bill shouts out his protest at the cameras. Erika suggests that they use vodka, based on symptoms she saw of people who used anti-freeze to poison themselves. However, first Erika tells Joe that he has to tell them the truth. When Charlie objects, Erika kicks him in the groin and returns to demanding answers. He finally admits that he's one of them. She gives him the vodka and he starts to recover. Bill starts to strangle him and Graham pulls him off. Graham and Moira figure they can use Joe for information, or as a bargaining tool.
As they take a cab to the airport, Renbe shows Kat the photo and says they have to check Chinese restaurants. Kat isn't impressed and says that she isn't going to help him search for his ex-wife. He responds by kissing her. The driver locks the cab doors and gets out. Renbe manages to kick the door open and they get away just as their cab explodes.
Joe wakes up and finds Janet at his bedside. He apologizes and insists that he kept his secrets to protect her. She doesn't believe him and demands the truth. Joe affirms that he is and she slaps him and walks away. Below, Tom watches on the screen and wonders what they're going to do with him. He then spots Erika in her room, pouring antifreeze down the drain.
Gallery[]
