Previous recap: Repercussions (October 26)
Following recap: Ambush (November 9)
Emily watched David walk along the beach, and she flashed back to presenting him with a starfish when she'd been a young girl. He had instructed her to throw it back, and she'd protested that she wanted to watch it grow. He explained that it would take a lot of time, and he had picked her up and twirled her around.
Nolan questioned whether Emily would have talked to her father if Nolan hadn't been able to hack into the FBI's database, and she contended that she was giving David space. Nolan argued that they were invading David's privacy by accessing his file, and he pulled up photos of David's wounds. Emily watched a tape of an FBI agent interrogating David, and the agent had asked about David's primary emotions during his captivity. David had replied that at first he'd felt fear that he'd never see the sun again or survive the torture, but eventually, he'd stopped feeling entirely.
David had said that he felt more alone than ever since he'd been freed, and the agent had asked if David had been prone to mood swings or violent impulses, but David had shaken his head. Emily asked Nolan what David's diagnosis had been, and Nolan reported that it had been posttraumatic stress. Emily suspected that there was more to the story, and Nolan wondered if David would disclose anything during his television interview that night. Emily couldn't imagine that David would announce his secrets on live television, but Nolan thought she was looking for an easy answer that wasn't there.
Charlotte awakened and called out for Vince, the man she'd left the club with. She asked him where her stuff was, and he told her to make herself comfortable as he indicated that he had a gun hidden under his shirt. He said that he usually didn't sleep with the bait, and she asked what she had been the bait for. He cryptically revealed that he'd been after a particular fish for a very long time.
Charlotte pleaded that she was only 19, and she was just starting her life after she'd gotten her father back. Vince snapped that he knew what she was trying to do by providing personal details, but he warned that it wouldn't work. He chugged a beer, and she suddenly sprung up and threw her chair at him. Vince violently tossed Charlotte across the room and menacingly asked where her enthusiasm had been the prior night. They engaged in a vicious fight, and she scaled up a wall and landed heavily on him. She grabbed his gun and pointed it at him, but he didn't move.
Charlotte quickly got dressed in the dress she'd worn to the club the night before, and she started to call for help, but she discovered a file with newspaper clippings about David. Later, Charlotte anxiously answered a knock at the door, and she let Emily in. Emily examined Vince's motionless body and determined that his neck was broken. Charlotte explained that she'd started dialing the police, but she hadn't been sure what to make of the file of clippings about David. Charlotte added that Vince had referred to her as bait, and she surmised that Vince had been using her to get to David.
Emily spotted Vince's car keys, and she noted that he had owned the same make and model of car that had tried to run down David earlier. Emily spotted a recent photo of David in public among the clippings, and she reasoned that Vince had been a fanatic who had doubted David's innocence. Emily asked what drugs Charlotte had been on the night before, and Charlotte admitted that she'd been drinking and snorting cocaine, but she'd turned down Vince's offer of heroin. Emily said that she needed it.
Emily injected Vince with heroin and set the scene to appear as if he had tried to call 9-1-1, but he had fallen and broken his neck. Charlotte said that she couldn't imagine being a killer like Emily, and Emily replied that she'd never killed anyone. Emily stated that removing traces of herself was her expertise, and she couldn't see their father again. Charlotte assumed that Emily was ashamed of herself, and Emily ranted that she'd given Charlotte the benefit of the doubt, but it was time Charlotte owned her bad choices.
Emily continued that Charlotte could have been the dead one, and she knew that Charlotte had only called Emily in an effort to save herself, but only Charlotte could pull herself out of rock bottom. Charlotte realized that Vince had died before he'd shot up, so the drugs couldn't circulate through his system, but Emily said that he didn't need to be alive, and she began to pump his chest. Charlotte accused Emily of killing Aiden by administering an overdose, but Emily revealed that Victoria had killed him.
During a meeting at the police station, Chief Sanchez announced that there would be a wake that night to pay respects to Jim, a former officer who had died of a heart attack. After the meeting concluded, Ben pulled aside Will, the cop who had given him the file about Conrad's murder, and he asked if anyone was looking into Jim's death. Ben found it suspicious that Jim had beaten up Conrad just before Conrad had been murdered, but Will said that Jim had been cleared. Will ordered Ben to drop it, and he commented to Jack that Ben had been eager to pin Conrad's death on Jack the week before.
Jack stormed off, and Ben chased after him. Ben swore that he'd dropped the inquiry after he'd found out Jack had had an alibi, and he defended that he'd wanted to make detective by solving a cold case, but Jack declared that Conrad's killer deserved a medal. Ben wondered if Jack had ever thought about killing Conrad, but Jack countered that Ben's continued pursuit of the case reflected badly on Jack.
At Jim's wake, Ben quizzed Jim's daughter about whether Jim had dealt with anger issues, and she replied that she hadn't known of any. Jack approached and said that he'd heard great things about Jim, and Ben mentioned that Jim had taken early retirement after winning big in Atlantic City. Jim's daughter said that her father had been trying to sell the house, and Ben remarked to Jack that the people in the room had the answers he needed. Jack threatened to request a new partner.
Ben sneaked into Jim's garage, and Jack followed him. Ben said that things didn't add up, and Jack realized that Ben honestly thought Jim had been involved in Conrad's death. Ben said that Jim hadn't left town in five years, and he believed that Jim had made up the Atlantic City story to explain his windfall after someone had paid him off. As Ben looked around, he explained that Jim had lived alone, but neighbors had spotted someone entering and leaving the garage. Ben spotted a carving on the wall, and Jack recognized the double-infinity sign. Jack decided to join Ben in his search.
David told Victoria that his first night at home had been surreal, since it had almost seemed like nothing had changed. She recounted that she'd held on to the place for years after his arrest, and she'd spent time there while she'd imagined being with him. She informed him that she'd arranged for a tailor to stop by for a fitting before the interview that evening, and she remarked that he couldn't underestimate the hunger of the audience who wanted to know his story. He was determined to set the record straight by showing people that he had been the victim, and she suggested that they go over talking points, but he asserted that he didn't need them, since he had the truth.
Nolan answered the door to David, and the men shook hands. David said that he'd been thinking about Nolan's warning not to be too quick to trust, and he realized that Nolan had been talking about Victoria. David hoped that Nolan would attend his interview to ensure that someone would be in his corner, and Nolan promised that he would be there. David praised that Nolan's hard work had paid off, and Nolan said that he wouldn't have had any of his success if David hadn't believed in him.
Margaux called Daniel and asked if he'd seen the story about him and "sexpot" Louise being in bed together. He was relieved when Margaux elaborated that the story was about Louise hiring him to manage her millions, and Margaux crowed that he was back in the game. Margaux invited him to play tennis later, but he said that he had a meeting with a Realtor to check out office space. After he hung up, Victoria arrived with an urgent need to talk to Margaux.
Victoria fretted that David had been acting strange, and she noticed the newspaper article about Louise and cautioned that Louise was mentally imbalanced. Victoria claimed that she'd checked herself into a psychiatric hospital while she'd been away, since she hadn't been able to bear for her children to see her life in shambles, and Louise had been her roommate. Daniel declared that he could handle Louise, and Victoria huffed that he'd said the same thing about Emily.
Louise sauntered into the yacht club and spotted Victoria at the bar. Louise fantasized that Victoria was extremely grateful to her for working with Daniel, and she imagined Victoria saying that Louise could have been her own blood. Louise snapped out of her daydream and approached Victoria as a waiter reported that Victoria's table was ready. Louise assumed that they'd sit together, but Victoria coolly said that she was short on time, and she demanded to know how Louise had ended up working with Daniel.
Louise claimed that it had practically been Victoria's idea, since Victoria had mentioned that the Graysons were struggling, and she wanted to repay Victoria for acting like a mother to her at Claremont. Victoria stated that they'd been roommates for a day, and Louise quipped that life was just a series of moments. Victoria questioned Louise's intentions, since Louise was aware of how terrifying a mother's love for her children could be, and Louise asked when they could see one another again. Victoria replied that she didn't think it was a good idea, and Louise scowled as Victoria greeted Margaux with a hug.
Victoria handed Margaux a list of questions for David's interview, but Margaux said that she'd already handled it. Victoria fretted that anything could go wrong on a live feed, and Margaux asked if there was an even bigger story at hand. Margaux added that Victoria was welcome to attend the interview, but she wouldn't tolerate any interference, and she instructed Victoria to tell Nolan the same thing, since David had requested his presence.
Later, Margaux finished a tennis match, and Daniel showed up and was surprised when he saw that Louise was her opponent. Daniel explained that he'd wanted to wish Margaux luck on the interview, and she left to meet her crew. Daniel confronted Louise about cozying up to his girlfriend, and Louise claimed it had been an innocent coincidence. He asked why Louise hadn't told him about meeting Victoria in the psychiatric hospital, and Louise said that people looked at her differently if they knew she'd spent time there, like the way he was looking at her right then. Daniel apologized for being paranoid, and he divulged that people with hidden agendas had targeted him before.
Minutes before the interview, Emily called Nolan, but he said that he couldn't talk. She informed him that her hunch about David had been right, since she'd found a photo of David taken in public when he'd supposedly been imprisoned. She asked Nolan to hack into the police radio frequency, but he snapped that it was time she faced the truth, and she didn't understand why he wouldn't dig deeper. Nolan revealed that David was about to go on live television and that David needed his support, since Nolan wasn't afraid to reconnect with her father.
David thanked Nolan for being there, and he took his place in front of the camera. Victoria approached Nolan and noted that the men seemed close, and Nolan snarled that he'd been there for David when she'd left him to rot in prison. Victoria whispered in David's ear that she would always be on his side, no matter what happened, and a production assistant shuttled Victoria out of the way as the interview began.
The interviewer asked David what it had been like when Conrad had imprisoned him for ten years, and David replied that the conditions had been filthy and oppressive. David recounted that he'd drunk water from the same place he'd bathed, and he had slept as much as possible on a small cot during the 4,000 days of his life that he'd spent there. The interviewer asked why David hadn't given up, and he said that he'd thought about ending it, but the people who had wronged him would have won if he had, and he never would have seen his loved ones again. David stated that one of them was there, and Victoria glowered when David asked Nolan to join him. Meanwhile, Emily checked out the room where David had lived.
Victoria pressed Margaux to end the interview, but Margaux argued that it was what the audience wanted to hear. David called Nolan the son he'd never had, and he declared that he'd known that Nolan would be a success. Nolan credited David with having the courage to invest in him, and David disclosed that he'd believed that the profits would have provided a nice nest egg for his daughter, but she'd never received the money. David publicly accused Nolan of stealing Amanda's inheritance, but Nolan insisted that he'd given her all the money he'd owed her.
David announced that he'd obtained Amanda's financial records, and she'd stood to inherit $100 million, but she'd only received a tiny fraction of that sum. David raged that he'd trusted Nolan, but Nolan had chosen to buy custom cars and private islands while Amanda had scraped by as a stripper. David bellowed that Amanda had died without knowing Nolan had betrayed both her and David, and he would never forgive Nolan. The interviewer pushed Nolan to respond to the allegations, but Nolan removed his microphone and walked out.
Later, Louise called Margaux to congratulate her on the riveting David Clarke interview, and she asked how Victoria had felt about it. Margaux replied that Victoria thought it had gone well, and Louise suggested that they talk more about it over a tennis rematch the next day. Margaux asked how Louise had known Margaux would be at the office, and Louise said that Margaux seemed like the workaholic type.
Charlotte informed Victoria that she was taking control of her own life by going to rehab. Victoria supportively hugged her, but Charlotte said that part of the reason for her decision was to get away from Victoria and her lies. Charlotte asserted that David deserved to know the truth about Emily, and she promised not to say anything, but she also refused to stick around while Victoria continued to lie. Charlotte divulged that she knew Victoria had killed Aiden, and she was sick of being caught in the cycle of hate. Victoria swore that she'd acted out of love to keep their family together, but Charlotte spat that Victoria had done nothing but tear their family apart.
Charlotte visited Daniel, who asked what had pushed her to make a change. She confided that she was scared of turning into Victoria, and Daniel admitted that he was terrified of seeing Conrad when he looked in the mirror. Charlotte said that she didn't know where she'd be without Daniel, and they hugged. He commended her for never being afraid to tell the truth, and she replied that she didn't want to leave with a lie between them. She announced that there was something she needed to tell him about Emily.
Nolan watched a tape of the broadcast, and David entered through the back door. Nolan barked that David needed to start calling first, and David growled that his money had bought the house. Nolan couldn't believe that David thought he'd done something like that to Amanda, and he maintained that he hadn't kept the money. Nolan recounted that David had believed in him, and he had trusted David like a father, but David punched him and stalked out. Emily found Nolan sprawled on the floor, and Nolan said that her lies had finally caught up with him.
At the beach house, David apologized for being distant with Victoria that day, but he hadn't wanted to risk involving her if Nolan had retaliated. He mentioned that things had gotten out of hand when he'd gone to see Nolan, and she empathized that he'd reacted on behalf of his child. He lamented that Amanda was gone, and Nolan had been one of the few people left from his old life, but Victoria was the only person who connected him to his past. Victoria pledged to always be there for him, and he asked her to stay with him that night and every night. She said she wanted nothing more, and they kissed.
Nolan held Emily responsible for David's actions because she'd kept David in the dark, and he thought it was time to tell David the truth. Emily revealed that she'd found a recent public photo of David, and she'd visited the room where David had allegedly been held captive. She explained that the place had leaked like a sieve when it had rained, but there hadn't been rust on the bed. She believed that David had gone to elaborate lengths to stage the place, but he hadn't taken the rain into account. Emily concluded that if David was lying about that, he was lying about everything.
Previous recap: Repercussions (October 26)
Following recap: Ambush (November 9)
