Summary: A murder in the Hollywood Hills leads Don’s team to an investigation of blackmail
Original air date: October 5, 2007 (US)
Written by: Andrew Dettman
Directed by: Alex Zakrzewski
Opening numbers:
98,000: Out of work actors
89.6: Liters of water
3: Friends
30: Frames per second
Family Concepts: (character development)
- Colby is still at the LA office awaiting re-assignment.
- David doesn’t know what to think now about their friendship and feels guilty about accepting Colby was a traitor so quickly
- Amita has a key to the Craftman house now, supposedly so Alan won’t have to keep answering the door for her.
- Charlie’s “Mathematical Analysis of Friendship Dynamics” written when he was 12 years old will be published.
- Charlie fights cases of writer’s block by cleaning the house
- Charlie and Alan keep fish
- Liz browses “trashy gossip web sites”
Episode Quotes:
- Megan: It’s hard to believe people line up to get into this place.
David: Lots more line up to get turned away. Don’t ever say I don’t take you to the hottest places.
Episode Synopsis:
A video tape sent to the FBI anonymously appears to show a dead woman in the bath tub of Brett Chandler, an up and coming actor in Hollywood. Charlie is able to compensate for the refractive properties of the tub water and is able to get an identification, Andrea Barton. It’s no longer thought to be a hoax or prank when the identification also pulls up a Jane Doe at the LA County morgue.
Colby and Liz team up to go out to Chandler’s house to see what he can tell them. Colby thinks Liz was teamed with him to watch him; and he also realizes David is uncomfortable around him now. Liz tells him she is there to investigate a crime and not spy on Colby. They show a picture of Andrea in the tub to Brett and his friends Logan and Josh, all three claim they have never seen her before and Brett is surprised to see the picture is of his own bathroom. They tell the agents another friend from childhood, Pete Sears, was a the house a few days ago. He shot the video that was sent to the FBI and disappeared.
David and Megan go to Andrea’s apartment to see about next-of-kin only to see what appears to be Andrea driving away from the building after nearly running David down. A search of her apartment leads David and Megan to an LA plastic surgeon. He wants to know which of the twins is the dead woman, he apparently cut the two women to appear to be twins. Further investigation reveals the dead woman is actually named Tracy Meade; Andrea is alive and well and still working for the Hollywood madam that paid for the plastic surgery.
Logan makes a call to Liz saying he wants to talk but if he does everything will come apart. Liz wants to meet him and get him to explain, he tells her he’s out at one of the turn offs but when Liz and Don get there, they find Logan dead. A search of Logan’s computer find several very large email files he’s sent, presumably to Tracy who he was dating. However it’s discovered the files were actually being sent to Andrea and that the files were of pre-screen DVD’s Brett would get from the production companies for films soon to be released. David and Megan track the DVD piracy back to a local club and arrest the brothers involved.
Bryce Lee, claims Andrea was one of his best suppliers of pirated material as she would get leverage on people and then blackmail them to get the films. When questioned Andrea reveals Brett killed his brother four years previously in an incident only witnessed by Brett, Logan and Josh; this is why he allowed them to live in his house. The truth about the death is also known to Brett’s manager Mark Green. Brett states he and Josh were together the night Logan was killed, which only leaves Mark. Mark killed Logan presumably to make sure no one talked about the shooting four years ago; Don also hopes to charge him with Tracy’s murder.