I gave the Bureau my whole life …
Summary: An ex-FBI agent is a main suspect in a string of bank robberies
Original air date: May 8, 2009 (US)
Written by: Andrew Dettmann
Directed by: Stephen Gyllenhaal
Opening numbers:
1300: Branch offices
6: Perfect crimes
32: Years of service
1: Chance for redemption
Family Concepts: (character development)
- Charlie is unsure about his future
- Amita finds a series of letters in the desk of Charlie’s new office, letter written by mathematical luminaries who had the same office before him.
- Colby’s father was a machinist in a tractor parts factory. When he made a mistake he was fired.
- Colby wonders if his father’s death was really a suicide
- Charlie was eight when his future in math was determined
- Amita is kidnapped at the close of the episode
Episode Quotes:
- Don [to Charlie]: I don’t know about the whole destiny thing. You’ve had it pounded into your head since you were a kid. Why don’t you just do what you want on any given day.
Episode Synopsis:
During the initial investigation of a bank robbery, Nikki starts reciting the events of the robbery to the bank manager. She’s s spot on with the details, including finding a body concealed in a cabinet. It turns out an identical robbery was pulled when she was a rookie cop with LAPD, and the case was never solved by the FBI. David and Nikki go see Charlie at his new office to see if he can help with the case. Charlie agrees to help, leaving his office still unpacked, and while he starts work, Liz begins running through the bank’s security tapes looking for anyone who might be casing the bank.
Charlie discovers two more “perfect crimes” recreated in recent weeks. None of the members of the original crews are the same, and Charlie is at a loss to find a connection. Don however notices all of the files were recently checked out by ex-FBI agent Roger Bloom. Colby and Nikki go to see Bloom. Bloom tells them he had a suspect in the original case for their current copy-cat robbery, however the man and his team are all dead. Don however still has suspicions, and Bloom is brought in for questioning.
While Bloom is being interrogated, Liz identifies him on the security footage from two days before the robbery. Colby and Nikki search Bloom’s house and find more evidence Bloom is aware of the bank robberies. They leave the house as they found it and Bloom is released. During all of this Colby can’t help but feel some sympathy for Bloom; Bloom made one mistake in a otherwise stellar career and Bloom is fired. Colby sees a similarity to a similar situation with his own father.
The FBI has another bank staked out when Colby spots Bloom’s car moving at the bank. Just as Bloom pulls up, another car pulls in next to him and a group of men in ski masks carrying guns, gets out and heads toward the bank. Bloom also gets out of his car, but instead of joining the group, he tries to single-handedly arrest the robbery crew. As Don’s team moves in as well, shooting starts and one of the potential bank robbers is shot, but they all manage to escape. Don arrests Bloom for failure to report and conspiracy. LAPD also find the body of the suspect Nikki shot.
Bloom is soon released, and Colby follows him to talk. Bloom explains he wants to catch the robbery crew as a way to clear his name with the FBI, he wants the last thing the institution to remember about him to be positive. Colby takes Bloom to Charlie to help with the case. Charlie and Bloom find nine more “perfect crimes” and try to narrow down which one will be the next scenario the crew copies. They also find a link to the original cases: all of the suspects in the original crimes did time at Lompoc prison, Teddy Devaro, the brother of the man Nikki shot, also did time at Lompoc.
Charlie and Bloom however disagree on the method working out where the next robbery will be. They eventually agree one they think has the highest probability is a robbery in 1981 of the Federal Reserve. Eleven people were murdered with a Vietnam era gas before, and both Charlie and Bloom think it’s about to happen again. Their theory is bolstered when Colby remembers a recent robbery at a Naval facility in which a nerve gas was stolen. David and Liz question a security guard who was involved in the nerve gas robbery. Marcus cracks and tells them where to find Teddy.
Don’s team with Bloom along follow up on the information Marcus gave them. The FBI plan to quietly evacuate the area where Teddy is falls apart when they are spotted. Teddy and the remaining members of his crew try to shot it out, however Teddy manages to escape and take a woman hostage with the nerve gas in hand. Teddy backs into the street and tries to carjack a van only to be captured by Bloom.
Charlie and Amita are discussing their future together on the way to dinner when Charlie is attacked and Amita kidnapped.