Written by R. Scott Gemmill

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 386.

Smith synopsis: Episode 9

Hope is in bed, but not asleep -- she knows she's in a world of trouble for using cocaine and breaking her parole violation. She hears a smash from downstairs -- her first instinct is to grab her gun. When she goes downstairs she finds it's Jason -- he broke a glass. Why is he drinking milk in the middle of the night? His dad usually has a midnight snack. He misses him. So does she.

But Bobby's away on business in San Francisco -- or at least that's what he told Hope. He's really in Houston, where he meets up with Joe and Annie outside a commercial building that rents office space to a French oil company. In the offices, there is a vault containing thirty million in bribe money that is being shipped to corrupt government officials in West Africa. Yves, the Frenchman who contracted Bobby for the vault job, has rented an office suite located on the floor directly above the vault -- the plan is to drill through the sub-floor, then into the vault. In four days, the money is scheduled to be shipped to Nigeria - but Bobby has a different plan. Back in Los Angeles, Jeff is pulled over for cruising on Pacific Coast Highway. He does his best to play it cool, but when one of the police officers searches the vehicle and finds a handgun with a missing serial number, things take a turn for the ugly and Jeff winds up behind bars.

Charlie is going over new design plans to refurbish her family's yacht when she gets a surprise visit from SEBASTIAN ASHTER, a fellow "business" man with a dangerous vibe. Charlie has committed herself and her crew to a job Ashter was setting up, now he's ready for them to make good on her promise. Unfortunately, Charlie has no idea where Bobby and the rest of his crew are. Sebastian pleasantly talks about Charlie's daughter -- but implying that something bad could happen to her if this job doesn't get done soon.

Hope visits her lawyer, EDWARD SHORE, to find out her options. Turns out, she really doesn't have any. As soon as her drug test hits her parole officer's desk, she'll be arrested and thrown back in jail for the 18 months remaining on her parole. Hope doesn't want to put her kids through this again. She floats out the idea of running. Bad idea. Her lawyer says if she runs, she'll be looking at an additional two years in prison when they catch her -- and they will catch her.

As shown in episode seven, AGENTS DODD and VALEZ now have a photograph of Annie and Jeff together in Reno. They get a hit on Jeff's picture when L.A.P.D. finds Kala's dead body on the beach -- along with the Honolulu police sketch of Jeff in Kala's pocket. Dodd and Valez head to Los Angeles, where they comb the beaches and find Tom and Jeff's abandoned beach house. It is riddled with bullets and Kala's blood is all over the place. When they speak to the LANDLORD, he reveals the tenants were two young men -- a man with an accent and a surfer. Dodd and Valez are convinced the crew is based in Los Angeles.

Back in Houston, Bobby and Yves meet to go over some other aspects of the job. As they're doing do, Bobby gets the sneaking suspicion that they're being followed and accuses Yves of spilling the beans on the job. Yves denies talking to anyone and tells Bobby to stop being ridiculous.

Bobby tells Annie about the possible tail. Annie reminds Bobby that this isn't one of Charlie's jobs and maybe they should split. We can't tell if Bobby agrees or not. But then he gets a call from Charlie and tosses his cell phone in the trash. Looks like he doesn't agree with Annie.

They're going to finish this job.

At Macy's house, homicide detectives show up for furthering questioning regarding the death of her brother-in-law Richie. We see a man staked out across the street, watching this whole exchange. This is QUINN, Charlie's henchman and under his nice suit and smart haircut, he still smells like hired meat.

In Los Angeles, Dodd and Valez get a call from local police -- a man matching Jeff's description is in custody for possession of an illegal firearm. But when they arrive at the jail, it's too late -- Tom has already bailed Jeff out. Tom and Jeff jump on the first flight to Houston and start shopping for supplies at a hardware store for the job -- unaware of how close they were from being caught.

Bobby calls Hope from a new cell phone -- says his cell died and he had to get a rental. She asks him if he's going to San Francisco tomorrow. Bobby tells her he doesn't know where they're sending him yet. He tries to stay ambiguous because he doesn't want her showing up to surprise him like last time. Hope tells him she wants to take a trip -- somewhere far away. Bobby tells her they will once he gets back.

Bobby meets up with Tom -- tells him that he'd be good at running the crew. Tom wants to know if he's leaving the business. Bobby tells him he can't do it forever. Bobby senses something's up, he looks around and spots a tail, STEPHEN, and when he sees that he's been spotted, he takes off. Bobby and Tom give chase that eventually leads them to a rooftop, where Stephen has no place else to run. He tries to pull out his gun but Bobby and Tom beat him to the draw with their fists and feet to his skull. Bobby picks him up and asks him whom he's working for. Stephen answers with something in French. Bobby smiles and throws him off the roof.

Bobby meets up with Yves at a dark waterfront. Yves can tell something is amiss. Bobby pulls a tarp off a covered mass on the ground to reveal Stephen -- gagged and bruised with a nasty tibia fracture. Bobby puts a gun to Yves's head and Yves quickly explains that Stephen is his brother-in-law and he had him follow Bobby's crew to make sure they were on the up and up. Bobby tells Yves if he sees him or his brother around his crew again, he will kill them.

The pressure is getting too high for Hope. She decides to pack her things and get out of town. She leaves her kids with her mom and tells them she's going to visit Bobby. She heads for the airport -- not before Charlie greets her in the driveway. Charlie asks her where Bobby is -- she tells her he's on a business trip. Charlie tells Hope she can't seem to get in touch with him -- let him know I'm looking for him.

In Houston, the crew is together outside their hotel. Bobby explains to all of them that they've been tailed by Yves for insurance reasons. This doesn't sit well with anyone. How do we know Yves is telling the truth? Bobby thinks the smart thing to do is walk. But instead he decides to flip a coin. Why not? Heads we stay, tails we go. He flips it -- it lands on tails. Bobby tosses the coin in a nearby fountain and tells them they're staying anyway.

Hope stops by Sawyer Paper Products. She asks the secretary where Bobby is but the secretary plays dumb. Hope has had enough. She turns Bobby's office upside down as the secretary tries to calm her down. Hope finds an unmarked envelope taped to the bottom of a drawer. Inside is a mailbox key.

Bobby meets up with Yves, who tells Bobby that he desperately needs him for this job. Bobby asks him why this job? Yves explains it's the last job for he's doing -- he's going to open a restaurant. Bobby tells Yves that his crew will finish the job, but he needs to stay away from them. Yves agrees and offers Bobby a gig at his restaurant once this job is done. This sits with Bobby after Yves takes off. Bobby calls Hope but gets her voicemail. He leaves a message, saying he needs to talk to her about "some things."

At the airport, Hope waits in line to board a plane. We can tell this plane is probably heading south of the border, since she's surrounded by honeymooners, vacationers and Mexican Nationals. But Hope doesn't get on the plane. She can't. Her family is too important. The next place we see her is in her parole office. She tells her parole officer, Lauper that her tests are going to come back positive for cocaine. Lauper tells her she's going back to jail and to stay in her seat until she comes back. Lauper walks down the hall to her supervisor's office. They talk and look at Hope from through the glass walls. When Lauper comes back she tells hope she will have mandatory NA meetings everyday and drug tests Monday through Friday -- any further violations and Hope goes to jail. She's giving Hope a second chance. Hope doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

In Houston, the crew is preparing for the "job" - painting an over night delivery truck, changing license plates, etc. Joe picks up a stolen cell phone and tries to call Macy, but he gets her voicemail. That's because Macy is at Charlie's house to discuss "employment opportunities." Charlie is giving her and Ryan a "tour" of the house. Charlie takes Ryan out to see the pool while Macy makes herself a coffee. Macy hears her cell phone beep and sees she has a voicemail. As Macy checks the message, Quinn steps up behind her and strangles her with leather strap. The cell phone hits the marble floor as we hear Joe's message.

Hope is in NA and this time she's the one doing all the talking. All of the other people in the group quietly listen as Hope finally gets her addiction with cocaine out of her system -- at least verbally.

THE END