Trainwreck: P.I. Moms (2025)

[bunniefuu]

[tense music plays]

[men speaking indistinctly on radio]

In early 2011, I was a special

agent assigned to wiretaps.

[static crackles]

-[man 1] What's happening?

-[man 2] What's going on?

[agent] I had this case

where a corrupt cop

had been stealing

drugs outta evidence

before redistributing them

onto the very streets

he's supposed to

be keeping them from.

[man 2]

The guy wants three more packages.

[man 1]

Whoo-hoo! [chuckles]

[agent] But then,

right in the middle of the conversation,

...they started talking

about something else entirely.

[eerie sting]

[man 1]

We have this great TV show.

Everything was going great.

Then, all of a sudden, boom!

Don't k*ll the project.

I was like, "Is this

some elaborate Hollywood hoax on us?"

[dramatic sting]

I mean, very few cases in my 25 years

have had such a strange story behind it.

[frenetic string music plays]

[man 3] The idea of the reality show,

P.I. Moms of San Francisco,

was a very ingenious idea.

They are private investigator moms

going undercover on sting operations

and making busts,

all in time to get home and

help the kids with homework.

Check this out.

Oh my God, this is not happening.

I was like, "Wow!

We're gonna be on a billboard."

As a showrunner,

I've got tons of great characters.

This is gonna be the easiest

show I've ever produced.

Chris, why women?

You say they're great multitaskers.

That's correct.

[music becomes tense]

Also, no one

really challenges my authority.

[woman] This story was supposed

to be about the P.I. Moms,

but by the deeds

of a few men, it was gone.

It was taken from us.

[dramatic music plays]

It was constantly one problem

and disaster after another.

Who the f*ck just

completely sabotaged everything?

[people clamoring]

I didn't want this to be like

a Real Housewives,

and this has become worse

than a Real Housewives.

-[tires skidding]

-[car horn blares]

We were all completely unaware

what was really going on.

Somebody is blatantly lying

on my stage again!

Holy sh*t.

What is happening here?

[man 4] There was so much lying,

cheating, and psychosis.

I mean, it was just crazy town.

[music building]

[Chris] We're talking

about the crystal.

He wants the sample.

It was all over the place.

[bell rings]

Methamphetamine,

P.I. Moms, police corruption,

wiretapping, potential threats

-[clapper clacks]

-and reality TV.

[music crescendos, ends]

Time out. Time out.

[electronic whooshing]

[distorted electric

guitar note plays]

-[car horns honking]

-[siren wailing in distance]

[mellow jazz music plays]

My name is Lucas Platt.

And in 2010,

I was living in New York City.

As a reality TV showrunner,

I was just wrapping up the first season

of Steven Seagal: Lawman.

-[siren wailing] [narrator]

No scripts, no stunt doubles,

no second chances.

[people clamoring]

[Lucas] At the time, shows like that

were big business and huge money spinners,

and everyone wanted the next

Keeping Up with the Kardashians

or Real Housewives,

and there seemed to be

no end to the reality boom.

For me, though,

I just really loved the adrenaline rush

and the quick thinking

that you had to do to-- to come up with

a-- a great hour of television.

[music fades]

[laptop chimes]

I was looking for my next job,

and I got an email from Lifetime.

They were interested

in making a series

about this private investigation

firm out in the Bay Area,

with a really interesting twist.

[intriguing music plays]

They are private

investigator moms.

Thanks very much for being here.

This is fascinating.

First of all,

how did you get started in this?

Before becoming

a private investigator,

I had worked in the legal world

in different capacities.

I had just become a new mom,

and I had very small children

and was trying to figure out

how I could still have a career,

but also be with my kids.

And that's when it popped up,

this job at Butler & Associates.

[dramatic music plays]

[Chris] Who wanted this?

-My name is Chris Butler.

-[clapper clacks]

I am the owner of Butler

& Associates Private Investigations.

Uh, what we do here is, uh,

uncover the truth.

I find each person at this table

very valuable.

[Denise] Working for Chris was great.

He was very professional.

You know, it seemed like he stumbled upon,

like, the secret of investigative work,

of, like, hiring moms.

[woman] Oh, here we go.

[Denise] For me, it was exciting,

and every case was different.

And there was just

an empowering feeling of knowing

one part of you is taking the kids

to school and the daycare,

and the other part's

doing undercover work,

investigating fraud, or

surveillance on some cheating spouse.

It was pretty cool.

[Chris] My background is

in law enforcement,

and it was

a very tumultuous ten-year career.

[woman talking indistinctly]

[Chris] I push the envelope.

And that's-- I carry that over

into this work. I don't stop.

Testing. Testing.

-Alright, let's go.

-Beautiful, let's go.

[woman] My first impression of Chris

was definitely like a businessman,

-but I also saw his vision.

-[clapper clacks]

And I thought,

"Wow, he's got a great idea."

I mean, he's really trying

to give mothers an opportunity,

and at that time,

I wanted that opportunity as well.

[music ends]

I had just come from the sheriff's office,

where I worked 12-hour days, um,

so my kids were in daycare a lot.

I wasn't--

I missed a lot of birthday parties,

a lot of holidays.

So, with this new job,

it was not only more flexible,

I also knew right away

that I-- I loved it.

'Cause I was out in the field,

I was moving,

and I was working with

these amazing, powerful women

with various backgrounds.

[women speaking indistinctly]

[Denise] We obviously had

a lot of women in the office.

There was Michelle,

Charmagne, and Ami,

but we also had one guy.

-His name was Carl Marino.

-[clapper clacks]

He was former

law enforcement,

and he had come on board

because there were times where

you just needed a male partner

or a male, like,

to be in a particular case.

And, you know, initially, we were like,

"Wow, he's very attractive."

And,

"He kind of looks like a model."

And we started to learn

that he was interested in acting

and did some extra roles on TV.

-Find someone else to flirt with.

-She's my f*cking girlfriend, as*h*le!

I thought that was interesting.

"You got this side thing you do."

Chris definitely gravitated

more towards Carl,

and I think a lot of that

had to do with his acting.

I mean, Chris was always

chasing the limelight,

and we were all aware

that he was trying to brand P.I. Moms

and really push both us and him

out into the media.

Welcome, Chris Butler

and three of his P.I. Moms,

-Denise, Michelle, and Charmagne.

-[applause]

Chris, why women?

You say they're great multitaskers.

What do you mean?

When I switched to women,

specifically P.I. Moms,

it was more of a team mentality.

More nurturing, more-- more caring,

and that translated directly

into, uh, happier clients.

[Lucas] After I saw the Dr. Phil clips

[pleasant music playing]

I immediately flew out to California

to meet Chris and the P.I. Moms.

I just loved the idea

of showing this group of women

busting criminals together.

I liked Lucas from the get-go.

Like, he seemed to be great.

He seemed to be very interested

in doing this show and this story,

but I told him, "I don't want this

to be like a Real Housewives."

You [bleep] stupid b*tch! Get [bleep]

Reality TV, it shows

the worst of people, I feel like.

-I'll [bleep] hurt you. Don't do that.

-[woman] Stop!

If this show's gonna be

about us internally fighting

and all this kind of stuff, like,

I really wasn't interested.

[Lucas] The moms were really concerned

about the show,

but I reassured them we weren't looking

for infighting or drama,

just good cases and personal stories.

When Lucas approached me about the show

and wanting to put me

on there as a P.I. Mom,

I just didn't wanna have

anything to do with it.

[Lucas] Ami struck me as a person

who had been through

some pretty traumatic stuff,

but smart and decisive and-- and just a--

You know, like, a good person

who would be really good for TV.

[intriguing jazz music playing]

[Ami] I had a little bit

of a rough background,

and Lucas said that

we could definitely incorporate my traumas

into the show itself.

And so I decided I wanted to show

other women that you can survive,

you can make it,

and don't let anyone tell you you can't.

[music ends]

[Lucas] After that initial meeting

with the P.I. Moms,

I just thought, "This is a home run."

They're articulate and funny and smart.

We're gonna make a great series.

My name is Theresa Moore-King.

I was the line producer for P.I. Moms.

If there is a problem in the production,

be it people, personnel,

schedule, locations, money,

it is my job to fix it.

[producer] So you're the real boss, then?

[laughing]

Okay.

Sure.

-[pops]

-[women scream and laugh]

[dramatic music plays]

Lifetime was a thousand percent

behind this show.

They knew the possibilities were endless.

You know, it could break off into New York

or into Chicago or into Atlanta.

You know, those were all opportunities.

But the spark of that

had to be with this show in San Francisco.

[clapper clacks]

For a reality show,

this was a pretty big-scale production.

There were three camera crews,

multiple locations,

and just a lot of different elements.

I think our budget

was about four million for eight episodes,

which is obviously a healthy budget,

but only if you're getting all the things

you need to make a show happen.

-[cymbal crashes]

-[music ends]

[Lucas] Before we started sh**ting,

I went to Butler's offices,

and there was a guy

at the front desk, this guy Carl Marino.

I think he was manning the phones

while everybody else was at lunch,

and, uh, he just kind of grabbed me

and told me that he really felt strongly

-that he should be, um

-[intriguing music playing]

one of the main characters in the series.

Carl's argument was

that because of the work that he had done

on this series Trauma

Premature ventricular contractions,

probably too much green tea.

[Lucas] that that fan base,

particularly women,

would tune in to see

the P.I. Moms series because of him.

It just felt like egotism run amok.

I explained to him

that the show is called P.I. Moms,

and he's not a mom.

"I'm so sorry,

but the network has already decided

that it's gonna be Chris and the moms,

and that was that."

So I thought, "Okay."

"He's out of the picture.

We're good to go."

-[lights clunking]

-[dramatic music plays]

That first day of sh**ting,

it was very exhilarating.

They showcased us training,

they showcased us doing certain cases.

And I was thinking, "Hopefully,

this will inspire other women."

"Hey, you can do this job too," you know?

"We're ordinary people

doing this cool thing,

and you can do it too."

[Ami] I was having so much fun.

I loved production. We were a family.

I'd say we were like the Charlie's Angels

because we were so different,

yet so powerful.

[music crescendos]

[music ends]

At that point, I just thought,

"I've got tons of great characters."

"This is gonna be

the easiest show I've ever produced."

[producer] And, was it?

[chuckles]

[Pete] I feel this is the point

in the story

where everything takes a left turn.

-[chuckles]

-[intriguing music plays]

I'm a journalist, and one day,

I got a really interesting pitch.

A Beverly Hills publicist

emailed me and said,

"Hey, you might not know this,

but there's a group

of private eye investigators

who are also sort of soccer moms."

"They're filming for a new reality series

for Lifetime Television."

"Would you like to ride along

on an investigation

on a day off from filming?"

-And I really smelled a great story here.

-[music ends]

[Denise] It was

your typical infidelity case.

The client believed

that her fianc was cheating on her.

And so she wanted

to make sure before she got married,

"Is this guy for real?"

[intriguing music plays]

[Pete] So I got in the minivan

with the P.I. Moms.

Denise is slouched down

in the passenger seat

with the video camera sh**ting.

As a huge fan of detective stories,

I had butterflies.

[Denise] It's an exciting job, so

You know, and I was hoping

that would come through in the article.

Oh! Oh, look!

Here he comes.

[Peter] Within just a few minutes,

the fianc came roaring up the driveway

and took off.

Charmagne hit the gas hard.

[tires skidding]

-[engine revving]

-The chase was on.

The guy pulled into a nice lunch spot.

[Denise] Look! Look, look!

But he's got a young brunette

in the passenger seat.

They stopped right in front of our car

with Denise filming on video.

[Denise] We have a cheater, people.

And then, boom case closed.

[chuckles softly]

[typing on keyboard]

[Peter] I'm not a reality show watcher,

but this one felt like

it would make for a gripping show.

These were likable moms.

Butler was an interesting character.

I felt like this idea can't miss.

And then, all of a sudden,

an email comes in

-[computer chimes]

-[dramatic sting]

that completely changes

my perspective on the story.

[intriguing music plays]

It's from somebody

named Ronald Rutherford.

"I'm writing this as a courtesy to you."

"It'd be a mistake to publish the article

on the P.I. Moms and Chris Butler."

-"Chris totally played you."

-[dramatic sting]

"The case that you sat in on

was totally scripted."

"All the participants

were employees or paid actors."

"I'm not sure

what your intentions are with the article,

but I hope that publishing it

is not in your plans."

"Thanks. A concerned citizen."

[music fades]

It was just wild,

because I had never suspected

that this had been staged at all.

[intriguing string music plays]

I was angry

that I had been exploited like this,

and that I had been played for a chump.

But I also thought if Chris Butler

was willing to do this to a local magazine

and go to such elaborate lengths,

what's to stop them

from doing it for this reality show?

I needed to talk to whoever

was running the whole P.I. Moms show.

Because, after all,

everybody wonders

how fake reality television is.

[computer chimes]

[Lucas] Oh, sh*t.

We've got a big problem.

[talking indistinctly]

If somebody decided to publish a story

about how this show was fake,

that would just ruin us.

I explained to him

that what we were doing was 100% real,

and I was very clear

that all the cases were legitimate.

[Peter] He told me that they were doing

backflips trying to make a reality show

about real cases and-- and real people.

I appreciated

that he was being transparent with me,

and I believed him.

[music ends]

The first email comes in

to Diablo magazine

[Lucas] Pete told me

about this Ronald Rutherford character,

and at that point, then I did get worried,

because it was very clear

that someone's trying to ruin the series.

Ugh.

[bell ringing]

There was a certain irony

to suggesting that we had fake cases,

because, at that point,

part of the problem with the TV show

was there weren't that many cases

to begin with.

[ominous music plays]

[Flitter] Lucas told me

that Chris had over-promised

how many cases he was actually working on.

-So I was brought on to find cases

-[clapper clacks]

that the P.I. Moms could sleuth out.

Yeah, in effect,

I was drumming up business for Chris.

[laughs]

On top of that, as we started sh**ting,

I really saw Chris as the weak link.

[GPS voice] Approaching left turn.

[Chris] But I wanna go right.

[Denise] That's okay. It'll reset.

I couldn't tell

if, you know, he was the type of person

who played everything

really close to the vest, or shy,

or what it was,

but I was concerned

because quiet, inarticulate,

awkward characters in reality TV

are death.

[women] Oh!

Did I just hear that?

[Lucas] But I knew

we were gonna be able to overcome it,

because the moms,

they were big characters,

and their stories were so rich,

and I knew that if we focused

on them, not him,

we could make something great.

-Nice to meet you.

-Yeah.

-Wanna see what I worked up for you?

-Yes.

[Lucas] One scene we shot,

Ami wanted to get a tattoo.

It was a way of her

kind of working through personal trauma.

[gentle, poignant music playing]

[Ami] I thought,

"I wanna take this opportunity

to tell my story on camera."

[producer] Ami interview, take one, mark.

[Ami] I sat down, and Lucas said,

"Tell me about your son."

[sighs]

When my son was 13 months old,

I trusted somebody being around my child,

but my son was attacked,

which caused brain damage,

and, a few years later,

my son ultimately died.

He was a special boy.

[breathes uneasily]

[delicate piano music plays]

That was the first time

that I had really talked about it

with anybody, including my family.

It was so difficult,

and it took everything in me.

[Denise] Prior to the show,

I didn't know that about her.

It was very emotional,

because, to me,

Ami was just such a tough woman.

When I heard that story,

I thought to myself,

"Wow, something that big

and that serious?"

"That was really cool that the show

wanted to take something like that on."

[train horn blares]

[Lucas] After we filmed that scene,

we started to really ramp up sh**ting.

[intriguing music plays]

[Flitter] "The Unlicensed P.I."

was one of our show ideas.

The P.I. Moms, they were going to sting

an actual unlicensed private investigator

by setting him up with a pretend case,

and then bust him,

like, "Hey, you're not supposed

to do this without a license."

The network, me, the producers,

we all were very excited about it.

So then that way, if he makes a left

and goes west, you can follow him.

-And I'll have a chance to get behind you.

-All right.

[Ami] Lucas and the crew

had already filmed

all of our hard work, uh,

Denise researching,

Michelle preparing

and making contact with him.

-So all we needed was the final sting

-[computer chimes]

to close out that case

and have a great episode

for the P.I. Moms show.

[suspenseful music plays]

On the day of the final scene,

Michelle and I were supposed to meet

the unlicensed private investigator

in Walnut Creek.

[Lucas] I was in my production office,

waiting to hear back from my producers.

Ten o'clock, nothing.

Eleven o'clock, nothing.

[line ringing]

Noon, nothing.

[Flitter] Lucas was just pacing

back and forth.

And I was kind of just looking around,

going, "What is going on?"

We were like,

"Oh no, he's not gonna show up."

And so the production crew

asked Michelle to call him one more time.

[line ringing]

[suspenseful music building]

And, finally, he actually answered

[line ringing]

-[dramatic sting]

-[music ends]

and told Michelle,

"I'm not coming. I've been tipped off."

[eerie music plays]

My initial thought was, "Who the f*ck

just completely sabotaged everything?"

[music ends]

[Lucas] I was just

[ominous music plays]

livid.

But I wasn't just gonna kinda let it go.

I thought, first, we needed

to figure out who's the tipster.

Maybe that's who was sending

the crazy Ronald Rutherford emails

to Pete.

[tense music playing]

So I called the unlicensed P.I.,

and I said, "Listen, you're right,

you were going to be filmed,

but if you don't mind,

call the guy who called you,

and let us hear the voice."

And he did.

[music ends]

[line ringing]

He dialed the phone

[line ringing]

it rang a few times

[line ringing]

and, finally, phone connected.

[suspenseful music building]

-[music crescendos]

-[line connects]

[man] Hello?

[intriguing string music plays]

I couldn't f*cking believe it.

Ronald Rutherford was Carl Marino.

[Ami] I felt rage.

Like, in my mind, I was thinking,

"You're a f*cking idiot."

"Why would you f*cking do this?"

[Flitter] It didn't make sense.

He was sabotaging the show

and sabotaging the sh**t,

yet he wanted to be on camera.

I think he was completely naive

to think that he was gonna get

a spot on the show.

[tense music plays]

[Lucas] At that point,

I had a come-to-Jesus with Chris,

and I told him, I said, "Listen,

if you wanna have a show at all,

you're gonna have to fire Carl

and just get rid of him."

Chris's reaction was,

"Don't worry about it,"

like it was some minor infraction.

I was gobsmacked.

It's kind of surprising that Chris

isn't beating the f*ck out of Carl.

I mean, it was just

[chuckles in disbelief] It was insane.

The only explanation I could come up with

was they were lovers.

Why else wouldn't somebody

fire this-- this person

who was behaving so badly?

[ominous music plays]

After that conversation with Chris,

I talked to the network

about how to handle Carl,

and they decided they were going

to send him a cease-and-desist letter.

[Theresa] Carl was given notice,

"You have to stop talking about the show."

"You can't ruin our cases."

"You're not-- You're not a part of it."

Our hope was that it would stop.

So the good side

is that the network took care of it.

[laptop chimes]

The bad side is

that now they're eagle eyes on the show.

Way more stress on Lucas

to get things going.

So after the production found out

that Carl was interfering with cases,

something was off with Chris.

[Chris] Sit down. Would you put

your camera down and sit down?

It felt like

he wasn't connected to any of us.

We didn't understand

when he was there and wasn't there,

and it just seemed like

he was doing his own thing.

[women conversing and laughing]

[ominous piano music plays]

Clearly, he had other things

that were happening

that were taking precedence.

[music fades]

[Peter] After our initial meeting,

Lucas told me,

"I know who sent you that email."

"Carl Marino

who has been sabotaging the cases."

[intriguing music plays]

Lucas said Carl was out of the picture.

[computer chimes]

But, apparently,

he still had more secrets to tell me.

[music intensifies]

"I am hesitant to tell you this,

but Mr. Butler is involved

in some serious criminal activity

right now."

"Butler is selling

large amounts of marijuana,

along with other drugs,

prescription Xanax, and steroids

that has been confiscated

by the Contra Costa County Task Force."

"You see, the commander of the task force

is taking the drugs from raids

and giving them to Chris to move,

and then he gives them to, well, me."

[music softens]

"I have not sold any and don't want to."

"I am not a drug dealer

and do not want anything to do with this."

This was just mind-blowing,

mind-melting information.

You know,

this all started with me being invited

to write a fluffy lifestyle piece

about a reality show.

Now I'm being brought into this,

what sounds like,

very dangerous conspiracy

involving stolen drugs

and dirty cops who are putting them

back out on the street

after they've already been confiscated.

[dramatic music plays]

Suddenly, this was a much bigger issue

than I felt I could share with Lucas.

I mean, this wasn't just a staged case

for a reality television show.

This was serious criminal activity.

[keyboard clacking]

So I continued to correspond with Carl

and said to him,

"You need to go to the police."

But he wasn't sure who he could trust

and asked me for my help.

[dramatic music continues]

[Daryl] My phone rang,

and it was a journalist

by the name of Peter Crooks.

-And he begins to tell me about a case

-[clapper clacks]

that potentially involved

police corruption,

and that we needed to speak

to an individual

by the name of Carl Marino.

[music ends]

I arranged for him

to meet me at our DA's office after hours.

And I said,

"Carl, tell me, why are we here?"

[frenetic jazz music plays]

Then, he starts talking

about Chris Butler, police corruption,

drug dealers, a reality TV series,

the Dr. Phil show, Peter Crooks,

P.I. Moms, marijuana, methamphetamine.

It was all over the place.

-I stopped him, and I said, "Time out."

-[music ends]

And I remember shaking my head.

I said, "Maybe it's 'cause I'm older"

[snapping fingers] "my synapses

aren't firing like everybody else's."

But, at the time,

I didn't really understand anything,

but that changed.

-[thuds heavily]

-[intriguing music plays]

A pound of weed,

plop, right on top of the table.

Carl told me

Chris had given him the weed to sell,

and he couldn't get out of it.

It was obvious there was something

to the story that he was telling me,

because I do have

the marijuana in front of me.

At that point, I knew I had a job to do.

[music fades]

My perception of reality TV is,

I don't believe it's-- it's real life.

I'm mostly interested in true crime.

[ominous music plays]

Using Carl, we were asked

to help build a case

against Chris Butler and this corrupt cop.

So we came up with a plan

to try and get Chris to mention drugs.

And then we met Carl, and we wired him up.

You're comfortable?

Everything's all right?

[Carl] Yeah, I'm a little nervous,

but we do undercover stings,

so it's kind of the same feeling.

It's a little different

when I'm doing it with my boss.

-[Robert] That'll do it. Good luck, buddy.

-[Carl] Thanks.

[Robert] The device that Carl had

broadcast on a frequency

that was on my police radio,

so I could turn the channel

and listen to what was going on.

[Chris] What's happening?

[Carl] I sold the one package that I had.

[Chris] Whoo-hoo!

[Carl] And the guy

wants three more packages.

[Chris] Tell him yeah.

[Robert] As soon as I heard that,

I knew this was gonna end

with somebody going to jail.

[dramatic sting]

But very few cases in my 25 years

were like this.

[Chris] The guy ID'd your voice.

Dude, I don't know.

I felt like just f*cking sh**ting myself.

You've got to let this go

with the network,

because the network

are ready to pull the plug.

I'm gonna lose my f*cking show.

Then, I'll close my business

and will have nothing left.

I don't have a career.

I don't have movie-star good looks.

I look like this.

I was like, "This is weird."

To me, they're more interested

in Carl ruining the TV show

than the drugs.

[Chris] I understand why you did it,

because if I was in the same position,

I probably would've done

the same f*cking thing,

but maybe I'd have thought

it out a little better.

Don't k*ll the project!

[music ends]

[siren wailing]

[intriguing piano music plays]

So, initially, when we were doing

the first operation or two, uh,

we obviously didn't tell them,

but we were looking at the TV show

just to see everything that was going on.

I noticed there were

a lot of, uh, police cars.

And I thought that was strange

for being such a really calm, sleepy town.

[Ami] It was odd to have

the local police department show up

while we were filming.

They were just sitting there watching.

You got this feeling in the air

of, like, something's not right

with this entire production at this point.

What is happening here?

At that point, I felt like

we were barely holding things together.

[tense music playing]

But we had this one case

that was our chance to save the series.

The East Bay couple is convinced

that its teenage daughter is in danger.

The 15-year-old

is classified as a runaway.

-[dramatic music playing]

-A real girl really missing.

This case really felt big.

[newscaster] The parents woke up Monday

to find her gone,

they say, with no warning, no provocation,

taking only a laptop,

a few clothes, $20, and a backpack.

[Ami] It was kind of like

a do-or-die situation at that point,

and Lucas was like,

"You're gonna do this."

"You're gonna find her

and you're gonna save the show."

[Theresa] Our resources

that were spent were big.

There were helicopters in the air

trying to find out where she was.

[siren wailing]

[Lucas] In terms of the TV part of things,

it's great to have lots of leads

and follow them

and have lots of story to tell,

but, ultimately, of course,

what you really wanna do

is find the girl

and get her back to her family.

[newscaster] Her parents have shared

what they know with detectives.

Now, they wait.

[music fades]

-[phone ringing]

-[sighs]

[Lucas] The next thing I know,

I got a call.

And they say,

"You're not gonna f*cking believe this."

-[mysterious music playing]

-"Carl has found the missing girl."

[dramatic string music plays]

-Once again, he's f*cking things up.

-[elevator dings]

[Theresa] We were angry.

One of my producers,

I thought I had to go give her a sedative,

because she wanted to m*rder him.

[Lucas] It turned out

that Chris had initially assigned Carl

to look for the missing girl

before handing it over to the P.I. Moms,

but that Carl was still pursuing

the case on his own.

And I thought that

he was basically trying to set things up

so that he would be filmed finding her

and reuniting her with her family.

Carl called the police,

but he didn't let the P.I. Moms take over.

The producers told us

to meet at a certain place,

because we believed

that the girl could be at this location.

[music ends]

[Ami] The first thing

I wanted to do was find Carl,

confront him, and just, like,

have it out with him.

[tense music plays]

[siren wails]

-[Lucas] When I got down there, it was

-[people shouting indistinctly]

a clusterfuck of the highest order.

-[dramatic music plays]

-[sirens wailing]

There were red and blue

flashing lights everywhere.

People were screaming at each other,

and the crew was yelling,

and the missing girl wasn't even there.

But, lo and behold, there was Carl,

like, in the middle of all of that.

He was determined,

come hell or high water,

to have his 15 minutes of fame.

In my mind, I was thinking,

"You're so selfish,"

because Carl knew where she was

and didn't share it with anybody

until it would benefit him.

[people shouting]

I mean, how f*cking dumb are you

to think they're really gonna push us out,

and then you're gonna be

the star of the show?

Who the f*ck do you think you are?

[Denise] I didn't want this

to be like a Real Housewives,

and this has become worse

than a Real Housewives.

[music fading]

Crazy chaos and people fighting.

How did we get to this place?

[suspenseful music plays]

[Lucas] Almost immediately,

the network called me for a crisis call.

At that point, they had invested hundreds

of thousands of dollars in the show,

and they were furious.

We were told

that if anything else went south,

they would pull the plug.

[Chris] Now,

what we're talking about is the crystal.

We're ready now.

He wants the sample, right?

[Carl] If he likes it,

he'll buy it today.

[Robert] Right after

the missing juvenile case,

we heard Chris mention that he had

three pounds of methamphetamine for sale.

That pushed it over

the edge for us.

We knew then that

this needed to stop.

[music intensifies]

[Robert]

The next thing we needed to do

was arrange a-- a buy between

the corrupt cop, Chris, and Carl.

We met with Carl,

we wired him up,

provided him with $10,000 cash,

...and instructed him to go to

the P.I. firm to meet Chris.

[music ends]

[Carl] What's up?

[Chris] Okay, come on back here.

Let's see that salad.

Holy [bleep] This is a lot!

[tense music plays]

[Robert] That moment

when Chris took the money from Carl

and was counting it out

[Chris] One pound, one ounce.

and the methamphetamine

was essentially given to Carl

[Chris] Let me get rid of this

as quick as I can.

[music intensifies]

Once that happens, it's game over.

-We got you.

-[music fades]

[theme music plays]

[newscaster]

A private investigator,

connected to a police corruption scandal,

cut a deal.

[reporter]

Think you did anything wrong?

[newscaster]

Facing seven felony charges,

a lot of damning evidence,

and a possible life sentence,

Chris Butler decided to take a plea deal.

-Holy sh*t! What just happened?

-[ominous music plays]

Chris just got arrested

for selling drugs.

[chuckling in disbelief] I was just

I was floored.

[Denise] I was at home when I learned

that Chris Butler had been arrested.

[sputtering] I couldn't believe

that that was happening.

Chris was my friend,

and so seeing him on TV

in, like, the jumpsuits and stuff,

...it was, like--

it was very sad, it was very scary.

[man speaking indistinctly over phone]

[Lucas] I got a phone call that

Chris Butler had been arrested,

...and that was it.

The network was like,

"You know what, f*ck it."

"We're done."

[music fades]

I gathered everybody

back at the production office,

the crew, the moms,

...and I I broke the news.

[morose music plays]

I was crying through

that whole speech.

I just felt terrible

that, you know, I put them through

everything that I put them through

for nothing.

[Denise] Chris and Carl

just took it away from everybody.

They put their desires

above everybody else's,

and, like, so many people

were affected by that show.

And I know for a lot of people,

they're like, "It's just a show."

But it was a show that we were

really passionate about,

sharing our stories

and empowering other women

to do this kind of work.

And then it was gone.

It was taken away from us.

[talking indistinctly]

[Ami] When our show was canceled,

that opportunity that I had

of me sharing my story was taken away.

-[inaudible]

-[tattoo machine buzzing]

So that was another reason

why I was so disappointed,

was because I opened up,

and I shared so much for the first time,

and who knows who

I could have touched

if my story got out,

and I shared all of this with the world.

[Ami talking indistinctly]

He doesn't realize

what he took personally from me.

[sighs deeply]

[reporter] Chris,

got any reality TV ideas?

[Chris] Sorry, excuse me.

[intriguing music plays]

After the damning information

came out about Chris Butler,

I worked straight

through a weekend

and wrote a 10,000-word piece.

The news coverage was instant,

and it gave Carl the dynamite

to blow up the building.

I've always been that type of person

who's always wanted to-- to, uh,

you know, to serve, to help people.

I had no idea what it was,

how I was gonna do it,

when I was gonna do it.

Knowing where the drugs came from,

I knew something had to be done.

[Lucas] I was just like,

"Oh, now, I get it."

"Now, I understand."

I thought they were lovers,

and then, I finally saw all the leverage

that Carl had over Chris

because of the ill*gal activity.

Ah my God, I get it.

[Ami] Despite everything Carl did,

he was basically hailed as a hero

because he rolled on them

and then went undercover,

and that was Carl's big moment.

If you had not stepped forward,

who knows how far this would've gone?

Maybe it would've turned into

a m*rder case.

But the moms, we were just all attacked

and made fun of and embarrassed.

You say these women had visions of being

on the red carpet with the Kardashians?

I think everybody involved here

had visions that they were gonna be on,

you know, Access Hollywood every night

...and making a million dollars.

[Flitter] The P.I. Moms took

a lot of that heat

because of the fact

that their name was the show.

It wasn't the Chris Butler show.

And it wasn't the Carl Marino show.

It was the

P.I. Moms show.

So I think there may

have been an assumption

that the P.I. Moms

were involved in the whole setup,

and that couldn't have been

further from the truth.

[music fades]

People were calling us frauds and fake,

and drug dealers, and all sorts of things,

and we didn't get

to say anything about it.

[tense music plays]

But Carl's 15 minutes of fame

seemed to continue on

when he became a regular

on some TV show.

Yes, this is Lt. Kenda from

Colorado Springs Police Department.

I'm working a homicide

-[intriguing music plays]

[Lucas] Having made a lot of reality TV,

there is a certain type of person

who has some kind of emotional hole

in the center of their psyche,

and they really feel

that, like, the adulation of fans

is gonna fill that hole.

And I think that maybe

that's what happened with Carl.

You would hope somebody in your group,

the success that he had with that show,

you'd want to cheer them on,

but the fact of how he got there,

...can't do it. [chuckles]

Can't do it.

-[producer] Was he any good in it?

-No.

[chuckles]

He ruined us and became

the center of attention.

He got what he wanted.

[music fades]

[producer] Let's hold for two minutes.

I'm just gonna pop out.

Everyone stay there.

-Please do not bring Carl in here.

-[man] No!

[all chuckling and laughing]

I will sock that m*therf*cker.

[chuckles]

[mellow jazz music plays]

[music fades]