01x09 - Cheating Life

[bunniefuu]

- 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
b*at 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 d*ed.

[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 k*ller.

- Look, locals b*mb 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 m*rder Vincent,

they could have k*lled him
after his run off camera.

But they didn't.

So tell me,
why risk k*lling 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 m*rder*r?

- 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 att*ck
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 v*olence against people.

Take a look at this.

After Vincent's
att*ck 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.

b*mb 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 att*ck 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 sh*t.

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 k*ller?

We've, uh,
begun looking into him.

- Good.
The trick now is to find out

where he was
when Vincent was k*lled.

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 d*ed, 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 k*lled 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 m*rder 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 m*rder*d?

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 d*ed.

- 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 m*rder.

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 k*ll 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 m*rder*r vibes.

- What time did
Johann check out?

- Uh, Tuesday. 11:30 a.m.

Vincent d*ed 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 k*lled 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 k*ll my boss.

Not that I have a boss.

- If you just m*rder*d 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 k*ll Vincent.

It's faster to m*rder
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 m*rder.

[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 k*lled in a video
you spliced together.

It was an impressive
piece of theater.

And with the body,

you made sure
his face was m*nled 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 b*at 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 b*mb 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]

♪ ♪