| An Unjust Death | |
| Season 02, Episode 01 | |
| Airdate: | March 4th, 2012 |
| Writer(s): | |
| Director: | |
| Previous: | Where in the World is Carmen Vega |
| Next: | Round Two |
An Unjust Death is the first episode of Breakout Kings Season 2[1].
Plot
The escape
Damien Fontleroy, an inmate in his 30s, sits in his cell, running his fingers across the pages of a book, reading and mumbling Hebrew to himself. A guard arrives and tosses a package into Damien's cell. Damien tears open the package to find the Torah. The guard tells Damien not to expect any special privileges once he's converted. Now alone, Damien tears open the book's spine to reveal the long, flat, leather strip inside. A small smile crosses his face...
Damien rips the elastic band from his underwear, and cuts a hole in the bottom of a water bottle that has been cut in half. He then burns two plastic spoons into sharp points and runs a string from the elastic band, now fastened to two posts of his bunk and drawn back like a bow.
Later that night, Damien moans in pain drawing a plainly annoyed guard to his cell. Damien tells the guard that he thinks he has food poisoning and convinces him to open the cell door. Before the guard can get inside, Damien ducks and kicks the string, which releases the drawn elastic strap, firing the two sharp-pointed spoons into the guard's throat. As the guard collapses, Damien takes his keys and makes a run for the roof.
Draping the leather strap over the wire that runs from the prison roof to the outside world, Damien zip lines over the prison walls and into the woods as alarms begin to sound. He's too fast for the guards, and when the dogs catch up to him, Damien commands them to "sit" and "stay" in Hebrew. The dogs obey, and Damien runs off into the night.
The pursuit
Charlie DuChamp and Chief Inspector Craig Renner sit in a New York City restaurant eating breakfast. Craig tells Charlie that he's perfect for the promotion they want to give him. Charlie, flattered, tells Craig that, while interested, he still has concerns about leaving his team in New York. Charlie's cell phone rings: informing them they have a runner.
Shea, Erica, and Lloyd ride to the Marshals headquarters. Lloyd is positively giddy with anticipation and overjoyed to be breathing clean, "un-institutionalized" air. Shea gives Lloyd a hard time, saying he's just excited to see Julianna. Meanwhile, Erica takes count of the fugitives she has helped catch - 17. She tells the guys that she got an extra two months added to her bid when she threw a punch at another female inmate who made a move on her.
Ray Zancanelli arrives in the bullpen and is greeted by a weirdly energetic Julianne who hands him Damien's information. He takes the folder and heads into Charlie's office, closing the door behind him. Ray asks Charlie when he was going to inform him about his potential promotion. Charlie explains that nothing is set in stone. Ray fires back that the team was his idea, but that both Charlie and the cons are the only ones seeing any perks.
The cons arrive and are greeted by a still-peppy Julianne, who hands them Damien's info and briefs them about his escape. She skips off while Lloyd, confused and curious, wonders what the hell is up with her. Shea notices the commotion in Charlie's office and alerts the others. Something isn't right.
Ray and Charlie step out from the office and debrief the team as Julianne puts up a picture of Damien. Lloyd stares in disbelief. When he was just out of college he signed onto a government study of the criminal mind and testified against Damien at his hearing, saying that he should be institutionalized. Ray, still reading over Damien's file, is amazed to find out that Damien learned Hebrew after he found out that the K9 unit had been trained in Israel. Charlie tells Lloyd that he wants him front and center on this case, starting with interviewing Damien's former partner, Brent Howson, who's still locked up in Jersey.
In a clearing, Damien finds a wooden box. He brushes off the leaves and pulls out a large cooler. Inside he finds a map, car keys, a change of clothes, and a paper bag with a big smiley face on it. Finally out of his prison uniform, Damien tries to start the car that was left for him, but the battery is dead. Frustrated, he punches the steering wheel and digs through the glove box where he finds a magic marker. He looks at it as a plan begins to form.
At Ramapo Prison in New Jersey, Brent Howson sits creepily at a table in the visiting area. Erica, posing as a Marshal - and dressed in a low-cut button-up - approaches Brent as Lloyd and Ray look on from the viewing room. She sits across from Brent, who ignores her unbuttoned shirt. He tells Erica that he's found God and would do anything to have Damien caught, but, unfortunately, he has no idea where he might be.
Unsure if Brent is telling the truth, Lloyd tags in for Erica. Brent looks up, clearly recognizing Lloyd, who sits down across from him. Lloyd starts reciting a Bible verse at Brent, to see if he's as devoted as he swears he is, but Brent has no problem finishing it. Still skeptical, Lloyd scribbles down his cell phone number and tells Brent to call him if he hears anything.
Damien arrives at an old farmhouse and is greeted by an old man with a shotgun. Damien, startled, tells the man that he was just out on a camping trip/bachelor party for his brother when they got him drunk and left him out in the woods. The older man eases up when he sees that Damien has the word "turd" written on his forehead in magic marker. Believing the lie, the farmer lowers the gun and lets Damien in. Damien wastes no time knocking him to the ground, picking up the shotgun and killing him.
Meanwhile, the police have located Damien's non-functioning car. A cop tells Charlie and team that the car was rented to a Susie G. Brown... who doesn't exist. Looking at the smiley face on the brown paper bag, Shea realizes Damien's accomplice is probably a female "groupie." And if it was a groupie, the team decides, there must be fan mail.
The team arrives back to the bullpen, where Julianne, hair down and tousled, tells Charlie he has a message waiting for him from Inspector Renner. As Ray and Charlie go into Charlie's office, a handsome man steps into the bullpen. Erica notices him immediately. He's Pete Gillies, their new office neighbor. He just moved in on the second floor and is embarrassed to find himself bugging his new neighbors for printing paper. Without hesitation, Erica hands him a ream and shoots him her million-dollar smile. Lloyd watches the whole interaction, thoroughly amused.
Shea walks over to Julianne and motions to Ray and Charlie, arguing in the office. He tells her that Ray told him about Craig. Julianne, believing Shea, reveals that Ray has been on edge since hearing about Charlie's promotion. He's worried about what will happen to the team when the new boss arrives. Shea takes it in.
At a frat party, an attractive young woman named Alexa sits on a low brick wall, watching with some disgust as her friend sloppily makes out with a frat dude. Damien sits next to her, reading her annoyance. He turns on the charm, telling Alexa that he's a new adjunct professor in the psychology department. Immediately interested, Alexa asks to accompany Damien into town to grab some coffee. As they walk to Damien's car, he spots a police cruiser behind him. In a panic, he yells at Alexa, telling her she can't come, and speeds away. Alexa stand there, confused, not realizing how close she came.
Shea and Erica enter Charlie's office with a stack of "fan mail" sent to Damien while he was incarcerated. They notice that the letters and envelopes have different handwriting. While the letters were clearly written by a man, the writing on the envelopes resembles a woman's handwriting. The cons tell Charlie that, most likely, an inmate wrote the letters and sent them to the female accomplice who then sent them to Damien. Charlie yells to Julianne to get Brent's prison on the line immediately.
Back at Ramapo Prison, Brent stares out the window of the chapel, cleaning a chalice, while the priest finishes packing up after service. Just outside, a bookmobile is parked and its driver, Marge, is talking to a guard. Brent watches their interaction impatiently. The priest tells Brent it's time to leave, but Brent isn't listening. The guard finally leaves the bookmobile woman alone, and Brent knows it's the moment he has been waiting for. He hits the priest over the head with the chalice and makes a run for it.
At the prison gates, a guard checks the bottom of the bookmobile with an extended mirror. Marge, in the driver's seat, gets the good-to-go from the guards and drives off. Moments later, Brent emerges from one of the bookcases in the trunk and joins Marge in the front. She hands Brent her phone and Damien, on the other end, tells him to get there safe. Brent tells him that Lloyd is working with the Marshals. The smile disappears from Damien's face as pure rage and hatred take over.
Charlie, Lloyd, Erica, and Julianne are in full war room mode on the heels of Brent's escape. The team realizes that Marge gave a fake name and ID to the prison, but the plates were actually registered and clean. Julianne does a quick search and finds out that Marge used to work at a DMV in Hoboken, NJ.
Julianne, feeling good, grabs her empty coffee cup and shimmies into the coffee nook, "raising the roof" in a very un-Julianne-like manner. Lloyd sees this, follows her into the nook, and asks her if she's still taking her meds. Julianne tells him that she is... when she thinks she needs them. Lloyd, not approving of her self-medication, scolds her. Ray walks into the nook, oblivious to Julianne's unusual behavior, and tells Lloyd to get a move on.
Charlie, gun drawn, kicks in the door of a remote cabin. Inside, he finds Marge submerged in the tub, dead. Lloyd tells the team that, from what he understands about Brent and Damien, they should be sated for a little while after this kill. Erica disagrees, pointing out that Marge, an older, heavier woman, seems out of their M.O. Lloyd's phone rings. It's Damien. He assures Lloyd that he remembers who he is and that hasn't forgotten Lloyd's diagnosis in court, then he hangs up. The team heads out, but Lloyd, not going a step closer to Damien unarmed, grabs a pair of scissors from a nearby table and tucks it into his pants.
Charlie's cell phone rings and he goes off to a corner to take the call. Shea, notices and nudges Lloyd, telling him that it's probably Craig on the line. The cons cram into the small bathroom where Shea suggests throwing the investigation to keep Charlie from being promoted... anything to keep from getting stuck with a new boss who may not give them the same perks.
Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. They're busted. Moments later, they're sitting on the bed as Charlie explains that the offer is not set in stone and he's just entertaining the idea for now. He warns them that if they don't do their jobs, they'll be heading straight back to maximum security, but assures them that he realizes this promotion wouldn't be happening had it not been for the hard work of everybody involved.
That night, Damien rides down the street on a bike. He loses control and falls over, hitting the pavement and screaming in pain. A coed, jogging nearby, runs to his aid just as Brent pulls up in a van. He picks Damien up and asks the woman to open the back door of his van. She hustles over and opens the back of the van. Once they get close, they both grab her and shove her inside.
Charlie stands in front of the open motel room door. He disconnects a phone call. Ray approaches with two coffees. Charlie tells Ray that Craig wants an answer from him today. Ray tells Charlie to do what's best for him and his family, but Charlie tells Ray that he's decided to turn down the promotion. Ray nods, a hint of a smile on his face. Before anyone can celebrate, they hear Lloyd's phone going off inside the room. They run into the room, waking up the cons and shoving Lloyd's phone in his face. On the other end is the kidnapped woman, terrified. Damien's voice comes on the line. He tells Lloyd, "This one's for you," and disconnects.
On the screen on Julianne's computer is a picture of the kidnapped woman, whose name is Becky. On speakerphone, she tells the team that Becky's boyfriend called the police when she didn't show up last night. Charlie, Shea, and Erica are gathered around the cell phone as Lloyd sits off to the side, out of earshot, head in his hands. On his laptop, Charlie sees the image of Becky, mid-stride. It's a good image though taken at night because she's right under a street light. The team realizes that the fugitives have gone back to their old M.O., but they still have no information on where they are.
In an abandoned warehouse, a terrified Becky, still in her running gear, is strapped into an old chair. Brent tears off more duct tape as Damien carefully lays out the tools that the late Marge provided for them: pliers, clamps, and other instruments of torture. Damien turns to Brent and instructs him to get her ready.
Back in the motel room, the team searches desperately for clues. Julianne, still on the phone, tells them that Becky's boyfriend said she would download the data from each run to her computer. That's when it hits Charlie - she must be wearing a runner's watch which has a GPS attached to it. With that, they can track her down.
Back at the warehouse, Brent has elaborately and lovingly bound Becky's shins and forearms to the chair with duct tape. He's also carefully applied make up, lipstick, and mascara. He adds one last stroke of lip gloss to Becky's lips, then, satisfied that everything is just right, steps back to evaluate his work. Meanwhile, Damien is outside, waiting for Brent to finish up. In the distance, he sees a black SUV pull up and the cons and Marshals pile out. Damien, now panicking, looks back at the warehouse where his accomplice and victim are. After a brief internal debate, he decides to save his own ass. He runs off.
The team splits up. Charlie and Lloyd rush into the warehouse. Brent, in an attempt to save himself, shoves Becky - chair and all - over a ledge. She screams and, as she falls, the chair legs get caught up in the web of steam pipes underneath the opening. She hangs upside down, dangling precariously, an inch away from a fatal fall. Brent slips away, disappearing in the maze of machinery and pillars. Charlie races to the opening, and grabs onto the steaming pipe, burning his hand, but also pulling up Becky before she falls. Badly burned, Charlie gets up and runs after Brent.
Brent runs to the bookmobile van, looking behind him desperately as he pulls the keys from his pocket. Charlie emerges from the building, gun drawn. Brent ignores Charlie's warning and whips out his gun. BANG - Brent's head snaps back. He drops to the ground, dead.
Charlie runs and stands over Brent's body. He looks around and pulls out his two-way to call Ray. Before he can finish his sentence, a shot rings out. Charlie falls.
His eyes go wide and he looks down, a red dot on his chest begins to blossom into a large red stain. His mouth drops open, brain scrambling, realizing he's been shot. As he drops to his knees, Damien appears behind him, gun in hand.
Damien calmly walks over and kicks Charlie onto his back. Charlie's going into shock, touching his chest, looking at the blood on his fingertips. Damien takes Charlie's gun, then his shield. He hears footsteps approach, and looks over as Lloyd comes running up.
Lloyd stops, sees Charlie on the ground, fading, and Damien walking toward him, grinning. Lloyd raises his hands above his head. Damien tells him to get down on his knees and puts the tip of the gun barrel to Lloyd's forehead. Just as he starts to pull the trigger, he hears Ray's voice in the distance. Distracted, Damien looks away. Lloyd uses the opportunity to pull the scissors from his sock and sink them into Damien's thigh. Damien screams in pain as Lloyd ducks for cover. Damien limps over to Brent's lifeless body, grabs the keys to the van, and makes his escape.
Ray, and the rest of the team run up to Charlie, panicked. Lloyd presses his sweater into Charlie's wound. Erica, covering her mouth in shock, stands nearby. Shea kneels next to Charlie, holding his hand. But it's too late. Charlie slips away, leaving his crew standing over him in complete and utter disbelief.
At the bullpen, Lloyd scrubs his hands mechanically, in a daze. The blood circles the drain. He turns off the water and stands there, hands dripping wet. He stares at his reflection, eyes welling up. He joins the rest of the team outside. Everyone, still in a daze, sits in silence. The elevator doors open and Craig steps out.
After offering his condolences, he informs the team that Charlie had two requirements for accepting the promotion, had he done so. The first was that the original task-force remain intact. The second was for Ray to be reinstated as a Marshal. Craig hands Ray an envelope. Ray pours out the contents and discovers his badge and a letter of reinstatement. Craig tells the cons that they have to head back to Maybelle as the case has been reassigned to another team. The cons and Ray are not happy with this news.
After Craig leaves, Ray tells the team that no matter how angry they are, he refuses to dishonor Charlie by going rogue. But he assures them that they will cross paths with Damien again, and when they do, they're taking him
Trivia
- The title of this episode was revealed on 6 October 2011[2].