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The Hard Drive is the sixth episode of the second season and the 16th overall episode of The Catch.

Short Summary[]

Alice and Val reexamine the cold case that brought them together as partners, and Ben and Rhys are faced with a major threat when they are told that their undercover status may have been compromised.

Full Summary[]

Alice is having sex with someone. It's revealed to be Ethan. It's 2009 and he's preparing to make a pitch to the city planning board. Ethan flirts with Alice as they get up out of bed. He thinks Alice should take the meeting, but she's taking bids for the news sports arena. She asks when she's going to make him partner and he counters by asking when she'll marry him. She doesn't think people will take her seriously if she does. He says he'll retire and take care of the kids while she runs the business. There's a knock at the door and when Ethan answers it, it's Nick and Valerie, detectives with the LAPD. They're arresting him for the murder of Steven Mason, another cop. Alice pushes Valerie, trying to stop her from arresting Ethan and gets arrested as well.

Alice gets her mug shot taken.

Ben asks if Margot thinks it's safe leaving Tessa alone in her room. Margot asks if he means for Tessa or for them, then assures him she placed a guard outside the door. Margot knows he has questions. She lied to him fifteen years ago about a Barcelona assignment. He doesn't know why she did it. Margot said she knew he'd want to settle down and be a family. She liked their life together. A baby would have changed everything. He says they should have made the decision together. If they had, things with them might have ended differently. Margot says he can take her if he wants to make decisions for her. Tessa hates her anyway. Ben says he can't take her because he's working undercover for the FBI. He wants to be involved in her life. He has to leave, but he'll come back in the morning and they'll find out what Tessa wants. Margot says she wants to join the Firm. Ben doesn't want Tessa to end up like them. She deserves a shot at a normal life.

Alice is looking at her mug shot when Valerie comes in and says they don't have to do it. Alice says they want to stay on his good side if he's going to be Chief of Police. Valerie asks about Alice becoming a stepmother. Alice says she's not even thinking about Tessa. She needs the case to distract her.

Alice talks to Danny and Sophie, saying they'll learn things about her she's not proud of. It's the past now. She and Valerie explain the case to the others. In 2009, Nick and Valerie were investigating the death of Steven Mason, a fellow detective. He was killed when a warehouse he was in exploded. They said it was a gas leak, but the warehouse owner was the lone holdout keeping Ethan from buying the last riverfront property. Mason was there investigating Ethan for corrupt business practices. They're going to find out if he paid the cops off to drop the investigation.

Alice tells Valerie that Ethan didn't murder Mason. She knows because they were together all night. They went to dinner then a club. Valerie implies that Alice was using drugs, but Alice denies it. Alice says they left the club at 2 AM or so. They took a cab home. Then the went to bed. Just then Martin Dixon comes in and says the family is there. Valerie says Mason's family is outside. She shows a picture of him with his wife and his two kids, who will now grow up without a father. Alice knows Valerie has no evidence that Ethan killed Mason or she wouldn't be grilling Alice so hard.

Alice lays out how their investigation will go. She wants to know if Ethan did it and how he got away with it.

Ben goes home. He's greeted by a man with a gun telling him not to move. He freezes, but then subdues the guy. Justine comes out and says Ben's one of hers. Rhys comes down the stairs. He's thankful that Ben's not dead, because they've been made. Justine says that's not necessarily true. There was a break-in at the FBI and there's a chance Ben and Rhys have been compromised, meaning they'll be killed.

Someone broke into the FBI and accessed their files. Rhys wants to leave town, but Justine says they can't leave. They'll station agents at their place and investigate the break-in. Ben wants to be part of the investigation. Justine says it's not protocol, but Ben doesn't care. Justine goes to make some calls, while Rhys asks Ben if he is sure he doesn't want to leave. Ben tells him he can't because of Tessa.

Margot leads a meeting in her room. Sybil interrupts to offer them tea. Alfie asks if the revenue projections include their pirate problem. She wasn't aware of the problem, which is pirates in the gulf. She wants to send someone that's already down there to deal with it. Sybil interrupts and says Margot should go deal with the problem personally. Tessa has an idea to sway the pirates' loyalty. Margot interrupts and says to send Fernando as planned and resumes the meeting.

Sophie shows Alice the dirt she dug up on Mason. He was in rehab and there was an IA investigation into his gambling. Valerie is upset that Sophie was investigating him because he was the victim. Alice dismisses Sophie and asks Valerie if she wants them to stop the investigation. Valerie says no, but Mason was a good cop. He had demons, but he beat them. Alice should understand that more than anyone.

Alice snorts a line of cocaine just as Ethan comes in. She says they have back to back meetings all day. He says he cancelled them as he washes the rest of the drugs down the drain. He says the police are watching them. They need to lay low. She says that's the opposite of what they need to do. Their clients need to see them acting like there's no problem. Ethan tells Alice he didn't kill the cop or have him killed. Alice tells Ethan she lied to the cops about them leaving the club together. They kiss and then Ethan asks Alice to marry him again. Alice asks about being made partner and he agrees.

Rhys asks Ben about Tessa. Ben says he doesn't know much about her. Rhys tells him not to rush into getting to know her, but Ben says he owes her 15 years. Rhys says he saved her 15 years with Margot as her mother, which is what's happening now. Alice knows, but Justine doesn't and they need to keep it that was so that Margot doesn't end up on the FBI radar. She'll hit back hard. Justine comes in and asks if they found anything. Ben shows her security footage from near the building. He thinks he found the guys. One of them had a tattoo popular among Navy S.E.A.L.S. Justine thinks they're from Blackwell. The FBI has been investigating. They need to get warrants, but that could take weeks. Ben wants to go in to steal their data. He'll get Alice to get him a new identity.

He calls Alice and tells her that once again, the FBI is no match for her. She asks how she can help.

Alice asks Ben how fatherhood is treating him and he laments that he's already a deadbeat dad. He asks her what she knows about Blackwell. She thinks even they'll have a tough time with Tessa. He explains that they broke into the FBI and he needs a new ID. He asks if she has time and what she's working on. Looking over at Ethan's mug shot, she tells Ben it's a cold case and tells him to tell her what he needs. She asks if they decided what to do with Tessa. Alice thinks she needs professional help because she's a 15 year old killer. Ben defends that he got his first gun at 13 and he turned out okay. She hangs up as Valerie comes in. Valerie tells her that Mason's widow moved to a ritzier area and is paying $80,000 for private school. She's not working or re-married. They suspect Ethan's paying her off.

Alice walks down the street. She speeds up as she suspects someone's following her. She looks in the reflection in a storefront and then goes back the way she came. She kicks just as Danny comes around the corner, knocking him down. She holds a gun and asks who he is. He tells her to put the gun away. He's not the only one following her and the undercover cops won't be as forgiving of the fact that she doesn't have a license to carry a firearm in the state of California. Alice looks to see the cops trying to find her and asks Danny who he is.

Danny explains that Ethan hired him to ensure Alice's safety. She asks why Ethan didn't tell her about it and where his gun is. She figures out that Danny's really there to spy on her, to make sure she doesn't talk to the cops. She asks him if Ethan really killed that cop. Danny doesn't know. Alice says she's going to start paying Danny to keep her secrets.

Margot gets out of the shower as Sybil comes into her room. Margot says if she wants to help, she should help with Tessa, as Margot doesn't need help running the Firm. Tessa comes in and asks if she heard about Fernando. She needs to go to Mexico. Margot looks at photos of Fernando's severed head. She needs to go to Mexico. Tessa wants to go, but Margot says no. They send Tessa away and Sybil says she warned Margot. Margot says she can handle it. Tessa has left her phone there to spy on them and they take it into Tessa's room and reveal that they found it.

Nick wants to re-open the Mason murder case. Valerie says she can't do that without calling attention to the fact that he let Ethan walk the first time. He says he didn't do that. They can't prove that he bought her off, but it looks bad that she invested in Ethan's development and made $5 million of her husband's death. They ask him to let them find out the truth.

Valerie comes into the room where Alice is waiting and asks why she had the change of heart. Alice tells her that he he hired someone to spy on her. She wants to know that she's protected. She says that she doesn't think Ethan killed Mason. But Ethan wasn't with her when she left the club the night of the murder. And she won't keep secrets for a man who's lying to her. She asks if Valerie wants her to spy on him. Valerie says he started it.

Justine says in order to prove that Blackwell is behind the breech, they need to go after Donna Kane, the woman who ordered it, Blackwell's CEO. She started the company after serving in the Marines. Rhys wants to charm her, but Justine tells him she's a lesbian. Ben says he'll meet with her as a prospective client and Justine and Rhys will find the files. Justine says Donna only meets with major player, which is why Ben isn't going in as himself. He'll be a wealthy gold baron. Alice already got him his new identity. There's only one way to check if Donna already knows what he looks like from the stolen data.

Ben and Justine are escorted into Blackwell. Ben swipes a security badge form an employee and hands it over to Justine. As they meet with Donna, she tells them she has the contracts ready, but Ben and Justine say they have questions before they sign. Justine's phone rings, so she stays behind while Ben goes on a tour with Donna. Once they're gone, Justine drops the badge in a trash can, pushed by Rhys, dressed as a custodian. He slips into a closet and comes out in a suit, getting directions from Justine through an earpiece. Rhys gets caught at the door to the server room, but Justine comes up behind the guy and punches him. They pull him into the room. They're shocked to see that the room looks like an apartment. Troy comes out in a towel, surprised to see them. He drops his towel, somewhat distracting both of them. He knows who they both are. They ask where the information is being stored. He tells them he is the hard drive and asks if they're there to rescue him.

Troy tells them he has an eidetic memory. Working for Blackwell was cool at first, but once they realized the value of the information in his head, they held him captive and only let him out under their strict supervision. Troy says he's fine now that he's out, but Ben says once Blackwell realizes he's missing, they're going to come looking for him and for them. Rhys says they can't let him go because he knows everything about them. And he's pretty. Justine figures out that if he knows everything about them, he probably also knows everything about Blackwell. He says he does. They can use his information to take Blackwell down and arrest Donna Kane.

Sybil toasts to family, but Tessa says it's bad luck to toast with water. Despite this, Sybil refuses to give her wine. She tells Tessa she tried to talk Margot out of giving her away. Tessa picks up her phone and Sybil says she can't tell if she's being rude or just young. Tessa apologizes and puts down her phone. Sybil asks if there's anything Tessa wants to ask her about the Firm or her grandfather. Tessa asks if there are really pirates in the Gulf attacking their shipments. Sybil says there are, but Tessa is surprised because she thought it was a plot to get Margot out of the way. Sybil says she's a quick study. The photograph of Fernando's head was photoshopped. Sybil says they won't kill Margot because she's family, but she'll be out of the way so Sybil can take back over. Just then Margot comes in, surprising Sybil. Margot plays a recording of Sybil telling Tessa the truth. Margot tells Sybil to leave, because she's not welcome anymore. She is lead out of the room.

Danny says he talked to Mason's widow. She told him she was going to sue them and then she sent her dog after him. Sophie thinks she found what the widow is hiding. She went through Mason's widow's financials and learned that she was making the same $10,000 deposit to a fake charity each month. The fake charity is registered to Martin Dixon, Valerie's old supervisor.

Valerie tells Sophie that Marty Dixon is retired, but was a good cop. Danny comes in and says Dixon opened a safety deposit box after Mason's death. It's been sitting untouched since. Alice says she'll pose as the bank manager.

Alice calls Dixon and tell him the bank branch is closing, so he needs to come retrieve his belongings.

Dixon goes into the bank to get his stuff. As he leaves, he's confronted by Alice and Valerie. They ask him to explain what's in the envelope he retrieved. He says it's what kept Ethan from spending the rest of his life in jail.

Alice goes to Ethan to ask him a question, but stops when she sees he's on the phone. The police want to talk to him. Ethan asks her what she told the police. He asks if she told them he killed the cop. She says she doesn't know if he killed the cop because she doesn't know what he did that night. He put her in a cab, which he says he did because she was wasted. He asks if she thinks he went out after that and burned a man alive. He says he loved her and was going to marry her. He gave her everything, but she says she earned it all. He says she's weak and selfish. He knew that the whole time and still loved her. He leaves.

Alice shows Nick what was in the envelope. It's a copy of Mason's suicide note to his wife. He killed himself. He was struggling and knew his wife would collect if he were killed in the line of duty, so he set the fire. Dixon kept a copy of the note to blackmail his widow. This clears Nick and it's up to him what to do with Dixon. Nick points out that this means Ethan was innocent.

Alice tells Ethan she owes him an apology. He says she doesn't, but she says she owes him everything. She came to LA with nothing and he changed her life. She knows he's innocent now. She says she's sorry. She's not there to ask him for anything, but she needed him to know. He says okay.

Valerie asks Alice what Ethan said when she apologized. She tells her he said okay. Alice thinks she ruined Ethan's life, but Valerie says she didn't. Ethan was not a good guy, but Alice says she wasn't either.

Ben gives Rhys a hard drive and tell him to give it to Justine to give it to the FBI. And also give Troy to the FBI. Troy is nearly naked on the couch, because Rhys says he was hot. Rhys wants to keep him, but Ben says he already has a child, Rhys doesn't need one, too. Ben leaves and Justine comes in and says she'll need to arrest Troy. The data in his head is government property. Troy wakes up and asks Justine to let him go. Justine says they'll work out a deal. Troy offers to tell Justine where her husband is. He knows where Eddie was before he disappeared, which is a place to start. Justine says he can help her find her husband so she can kill him.

Ben suggests a family dinner, with them and Tessa. Alice says she might enjoy time with her dad without her stepmother. Alice tells Ben about the case she was working on and tells him about Ethan. He already knew and he modeled Christopher Hall after the best parts of Ethan. He profiled Alice and learned she had a type and became the type. He says he's different now and so is Alice. Alice says it'll be fine, but ... she's interrupted by the doorbell. She opens the door to find Ethan. He asks if they can talk.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Cons and Cases[]

Nicholas Turner/Ethan Ward[]

AVI looked into the Ethan Ward case to figure out what had really happened there. In 2009, Ethan was arrested for the murder of Steven Mason, a police officer. He had died in a warehouse explosion. It was allegedly a gas leak. Mason was at the warehouse investigating Ethan for corruption and bribery. The warehouse was the last property Ethan hadn't purchased on the riverfront. The charge of murder against Ethan was mysteriously dropped. They investigated and learned that Mason had spent time in rehab for addiction. They also found out that his widow was living a lavish lifestyle, making them believe Ethan was paying her off. in the past, he'd hired Danny to follow Alice and make sure she didn't talk to the cops. They discovered that she'd invested in Ethan's business and that she was giving $10,000 to a fake charity registered to Marty Dixon. They pretended to be the bank, calling him to come remove any items from the safe deposit box he had opened. He retrieved an envelope and they confronted him outside, where he said it was what kept Ethan out of jail. It contained a suicide note from Mason, who was struggling and killed himself and made it look like he was killed in the line of duty so his family could collect insurance money. Marty kept a copy of the suicide note and used it to blackmail Mason's wife for the money. Ethan was innocent.

The Hard Drive[]

There was a security breech at the FBI, meaning Rhys and Ben were possibly compromised as CIs. Worried they'd been made, Ben and Rhys wanted to flee to save their lives. The FBI was investigating the break-in and Ben wanted them to be involved. Rhys still wanted to flee, but Ben said they couldn't because of Tessa. They reviewed the CCTV footage from the surrounding area and found what looked like the guys. One had a tattoo of a trident, leading Justine to conclude that they were from Blackwell, which the FBI was investigating. Alice got them fake identities to use and Ben, Justine, and Rhys set an appointment at Blackwell to get access and stole a security badge to get into the data center. They found that the hard drive was not an actual drive, but a person. He knew who both of them were and asked if they were there to rescue him. He had an eidetic memory and said the job was nice at first, but then he became like a prisoner. He knew enough about Blackwell to shut them down. In order to avoid arrest, he offered to help Justine find her missing husband.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Where Did You Go" KP
"Prisoner" Har Mar Superstar feat. Fabrizio Moretti
"Serious Love" Anya Marina

Notes and Trivia[]

The_Catch_2x06_Promo_"The_Hard_Drive"_(HD)_Season_2_Episode_6_Promo

The Catch 2x06 Promo "The Hard Drive" (HD) Season 2 Episode 6 Promo

  • This episode scored 3.15 million viewers.
  • This episode features flashbacks of how AVI came to be and how Alice, Valerie, and Danny met.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.

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