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The Pilot is the first episode of season one and 1st overall episode of The Catch.

Short Summary[]

Alice Vaughan is LA's top private investigator and the type of woman you don't want to mess with. Having built Anderson/Vaughan Investigations from the ground up with her best friend and business partner, Valerie Anderson, they investigate some of the most elaborate cases around the world, alongside their elite team of private investigators: Danny Yoon, a mischievous and irreverent PI who is not afraid to break the law when necessary to solve a case; and their newest member, Sophie Novak, who serves as their in-house counsel and brilliant hacker.

Alice is on the top of her game, but when her fiancé, Benjamin Jones, cons her out of millions and disappears, she suddenly becomes the victim and goes on a private mission for payback, stopping at nothing to catch her man. However, she is not the only one chasing Ben. FBI Agent Jules Dao has been following his criminal activity across Europe and now is closer than ever to capturing him and hopes to elicit Alice’s help in taking him down. Meanwhile, the elusive Ben has slipped back into the dangerous and sexy world of international crime with his long-time partners, mastermind Margot Bishop and Reggie Lennox. With stakes this high, you can’t make one misstep, but both Alice and Ben are playing with fire in this intoxicating game of cat and mouse.

Full Summary[]

Mario Visconti enters a museum to attend a gallery opening. He spots a woman, whose badge reads Natasha Kendall, and joins her as they discuss the painting they're standing in front of. He asks if there are any more paintings of the painter. She says there is one, but it arrived too late for the opening. She dishes the painting was loaned from a private collection. She offers him to go see it.

They go some back room, using her badge. They talk about the painting, which depicts a man kissing a woman's neck. He thinks it's love, even though they agree it's clear it won't last. She says they should go back.

Back in the main hall, he offers to meet up after her work, but snatches her badge as he leans in to talk in her ear. She tells him to come find her. He walks off.

He uses her badge to go back to the painting in the back room. He removes the canvas from the frame and rolls it up, then hides it in his coat.

He leaves the museum, but is immediately stopped outside by a group of people: Shawn, Danny, and Sophie. Danny asks to see his coat. Mario wants to go back inside, but "Natasha" immediately floors him. She handcuffs him and explains she's a private investigator. Mario says she can't arrest him then. Alice knows that, which is why she called the cops. She says this is the fun part for her.

Alice arrives at AVI, Anderson/Vaughan Investigations, where Danny immediately tells her he tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen to him. Alice sees Valerie in the conference room and tries to sneak past it, but Sophie comes over with a cake. She wonders why Alice didn't tell her she was getting married. Alice wanted it to go down quitely, with more dignity and less cake. Valerie comes out of the conference room and reminds Alice that she asked her to be her best woman. Valerie no longer believes in marriage, but this is the kind of partner and friend she is. She threatens to choose the carrot cake if Alice refuses to taste the cakes.

In the conference room, Valerie, Alice, Danny, and Sophie are eating cake while discussing last night. Sophie is new at the firm, but Alice thinks she did great. Danny thinks she attracted a little too much attention, and he's not sure they need a lawyer since their clients only come to them when the police can't help them anymore. Sophie states she's not here to be the law; she's here to help them in case they break it, which she's heard he does quite often. The receptionist, Robin, comes in and says he sent another one.

They walk into Alice's office as they explain to Sophie that Mr. X sent another message that reads "Are you ready to play?". This guy has stolen $5 million from two of their clients during the last nine months, and they have no idea who he is or what he looks like. He sent them the same e-mail before both jobs. He finds a malcontent in their client's firm to copy confidential files to hard drive, which he then trades for a briefcase full of money. He's coming after AVI because they have the best client list in town. They have been monitoring their clients's employees and they suspect Mr. X is working with Patrick Lewis, an account manager who's been taken for granted for 11 years.

Patrick walks up to his desk, looking unhappy, and finds a box with a hard drive in it. He starts tranferring files.

Danny informs his colleagues that Danny eats his same lunch every day at 1:10PM at the same plaza. Alice wants security to cover every inch of the plaza so Mr. X won't get in or out without them knowing it.

Mr. X arrives at the plaza in a fancy Lamborghini. He notices the security agents and uses his key to make the car alarm go off as he follows Patrick.

AVI is observing on their monitors in a van. Alice knows it's a distraction.

Shawn is out on the plaza and confirms he has his eyes on Patrick. He starts to follow him, but Mr. X lures a dog to hamper Shawn as he gets caught up in the leash. Shawn confesses to his colleagues that he lost Patrick. Danny and Alice get out of their van and run towards the plaza. They go their separate ways as Patrick sits down with his lunch. He puts the hard drive in the paper bag from his sandwich. A group of school children approach, one of whom is carrying Mr. X's briefcase. Patrick takes the briefcase and notices the paper bag with the hard drive is gone.

Mr. X takes the hard drive and puts it in his coat as he's walking off. Alice, meanwhile, notices that they missed the drop as Patrick is already carrying a briefcase. Mr. X has taken off his shirt and drops it in a garbage can, and puts on sunglasses and a hat. Danny rushes off to arrest Patrick, while Mr. X passes by Alice just as she turns around, thus missing him. Alice realizes they lost him.

Alice comes home and walks up to the bathroom. She tells the man in the shower that Mr. X got away, despite all their steps. The man gets out of the shower. It's Mr. X. He tells Alice he's sure she's closer than she thinks.

Alice is on the phone with her fiancé, "Christopher Hall", as she pulls in a parking space at his company. She tells him the museum called her to thank her and to offer her to host her wedding. They hang up as they're approaching each other. They kiss .

He takes her into his office and she writes him a cheque for $1.4 million for their house. He offers to buy them this house himself, but she doesn't want to be dependent. They're partners in this marriage. She leaves as it's time for his meeting.

Margot enters Ben's office. He gives her the hard drive, but she says that's no good anymore thanks to Alice's interference. She's good at her job, which is why they targeted her in the first place. Margot says she's outlived her usefulness, so he has to break it off today. In 2 days time, they are disappearing. He knew this day was coming, and Margot wants him back after the year he's spent with Alice. They kiss. Margot reminds him she only wanted him to get information from her, the whole marriage thing was his idea. He says Alice will be suspicious if he leaves now. Margot says she'll be heartbroken, which will leave her firm destabilized. That's what she wants. She's asked Reggie to help him.

Out on a golf court, Reggie explains to Ben that Ben is so method that he always becomes his alias during a con. Ben is not Christopher, so he can't marry Alice. Ben is not just playing with his life, so Reggie will make every trace of Ben disappear from Alice's house. Christopher Hall never existed.

Valerie joins Alice in her office, where her wedding dress is hanging. Valerie asks her to try it on, but Alice declines. Valerie points out Alice doesn't seem excited about her wedding. Alice confesses she's not. She's excited about being married, but she hates wedding. And she can't sleep with inappropriate people at her own wedding. Valerie says she never would have bought herself that dress if she really hated weddings.

Back at home, Alice is watching herself in the dress. She hides behind a door as "Christopher" comes home. She tells him not to look as it's bad luck, but he asks her to see it anyway. She steps out from behind the door. He looks at her and suggests she take it back. They proceed to have sex.

The next morning, Ben is watching her as she wakes up. She asks what's wrong. He says he has something to tell her. He wants to run away after getting married at city hall. They can go wherever she wants to go. He wants her and he doesn't need the rest of it. They have to leave today. She objects, but he says they can do this. She says okay. The minute she catches this guy, she's all his. She tells him she loves him. They kiss. She says she'll see him tonight, but he simple tells her "bye".

Alice's mind is drifting away to the Swiss Alps while Danny is repeating everything they know about Mr. X. If they can figure out the rules to his game, they might be able to catch him. Alice tells her colleagues Christopher proposed to elope. Valerie tells her she should just go.

Alice is on her way home as she leaves Christopher a message, telling him she's going home to pack. Meanwhile, Ben is getting ready to hop in a shower.

Alice enters her house while Ben's getting dressed. Alice finds the dressing room completely empty while Ben paces in his hotel room.

Alice is trying to reach Christopher Hall, but she keeps hitting voice mail and eventually is notified that the number is disconnected. She calls Valerie and tells her that Christopher is gone while she arrives at his office, which has been emptied.

Alice is back at her office and tells her colleagues she gave him her entire life savings. Danny says this guy was good. His entire online history is gone. He has no idea how to begin looking for him. Alice says she has photos, but soon notices that Christopher either looks away from the camera or covers his face on every photo. Sophie comes in with booze. Alice wants to find this guy now. That is what they do. She wants to start writing what they know about Christopher Hall, but realizes they know nothing about him. Sophie asks how they met. Valerie says he came in as a client, after Seth Hamilton recommended them.

Flashback. Alice and Valerie are in a meeting with Christopher, explaining they are private investigators who also provide personal and corporate security for their clients.

Flashback. Valerie informs Alice and Danny that Christopher decided to go with another firm.

Flashback. Alice joins Christopher at a restaurant. She admits she made some calls to find out where he was dining. She suggests he rethink his decision about not hiring them. The waiter asks if she'll be joining. She decides yes. After dinner, he insists on paying because he's still decided to go with the other firm. There's a conflict of interest, because he's interested in seeing one of the partners outside of the office. Unless she thinks they're not a good fit.

Alice says it was a text book con. She approached him. The con artists always creates a situation where the mark wants something from him, and she wanted his firm. Because they ended up dating, he never became a client and they never really vetted him.

Flashback. Christopher walks into Alice's office with takeaway food as she's preparing for the museum con. She shows him a picture of the painting. He agrees it's amazing. He jokes about getting it for her as a wedding present. He knows exactly how the guy in the painting feels. He sits down on her couch.

Alice explains a con man only gives to establish trust and make the mark dependent on him so the mark keeps coming back.

Flashback. Alice climbs on top of Christopher on her couch.

Sophie can't believe Christopher never asked her for anything during all the time they were together. Valerie says he asked her to marry him.

Flashback. While eating ice cream, Alice and Christopher walk across a church where a couple's getting married. He asks if she ever wants to get married. She does in theory, but she's never met the right guy. She's not talking about him. He asks if she'd marry him if he were the right guy. She doesn't give a clear answer. She asks if he would marry her. He points out she just asked him to marry her, and says he'll think about it.

Alice tells Valerie she proposed herself. Sophie wonders why a con artist would go after a private investigator, the one person most likely to bring him down. Alice asks Danny to check their security protocols. She thinks Christopher was after their clients, not her. He knew everything about them, which is how he managed to stay one step ahead of them. Christopher is Mr. X. Danny says they have been hacked.

While Ben's busy hacking, Margot is on the phone, telling the other person they'll definitely make this month's payment schedule. Ben assures her he took everything.

Alice and Valerie realize Christopher took everything to drain their clients's accounts. Sophie says he hasn't touched the account, and Danny has re-encrypted their data so the codes he stole won't do him any good. Valerie thinks they should call all their clients, but Alice says they'll all fire them if they do. If they continue to monitor the accounts, they'll be there when Christopher makes his move. They know who he is now.

Ben's lying awake next to a sleeping Margot.

Alice is lying in bed by herself, and takes off her engagement ring.

The next morning, Robin informs Alice and Valerie that there's a Jules Dao here to see them. He's from the FBI. They panick that the FBI knows, which means they look like conspirators. They walk over to Jules.

Danny wonders what account he has. Sophie says French and African. He's from Burkina Faso. She's read his lips.

In the conference room, Jules tells Alice and Valerie that he came for their assistance in his search for the man on the photo. It's a blurry photo of Christopher. Jules says they have no clear photo, nor a name. Jules has tracked him across Europe for two years, and now he's here. He believes Valerie and Alice are tracking this man, too, so he was hoping they could work together. Alice says they can't disclose client information without consulting them first. Jules gives her his card, and says the sooner they talk, the better. He leaves. Valerie says he could've helped them, but Alice refuses to tell a room full of smug FBI agents what happened to her. She promises to find something by the end of the day.

Alice is frantically looking for any trace of Christopher at her house, to no avail. She grabs her keys and leaves.

She pulls over in the parking lot at his company, where his car is still parked. She breaks one of the windows. The car alarm goes off, and she sees Jules Dao standing nearby as she turns around. He asks if she's ready to talk now.

Alice asks if he's been following her. He asks if that was his car. He asks who he is to her. Jules promises he can help her. Alice says he can't help her. She gets in her car and drives off.

Everyone at AVI is going over what could be Christopher's plan. He had to have known they would change all the data. He got everything, including their clients's names, but Valerie says he already knew their clients as he got to them through Seth Hamilton. Alice then realizes he actually may be after Seth Hamilton and used them to get to him. She says Seth Hamilton is announcing a new technology tonight that will generate billions of dollars, and Christopher's going to steal it. She knows how he'll do it.

Meanwhile, Christopher is getting ready, which includes applying colored contacts.

Alice says they vetted everyone invited to the announcement, and Christopher's going to use that information to become one of those people, giving him direct access to one of their biggest clients.

Ben arrives at the party and introduces himself to Seth as Andrew Merrick. Seth thought he couldn't make it. Ben replies his trip to Stockholm got postponed. Seth is thrilled to show him the technology. Seth takes off his shoes.

On the beach, Seth says he wasn't looking for investors at first, but without them, producing a scalable version of the technology would take years. With the drought, they don't have years. He applies the technology, which looks like a membrane, on the opening of a wine glass, and explains it removes all the salt and dirt from the seawater. He demonstrates it, and Ben affirms it tastes great. Seth takes a USB drive with the specs, but someone arrives to inform him they're ready for him. Ben assists Seth as he puts his shoes back on, and steals the drive in the process.

Seth is giving his speech while Ben gives the USB drive to Reggie, who's posing as a waiter. He tells Ben he'll meet him out front. Alice, Danny, and a couple of security guards arrive at the party. Ben raises his glass as he looks Alice in the eye, after which Reggie turns off all the lights. When they're put back on, Ben and Reggie have disappeared.

While driving off, Reggie tells Ben he almost got them caught. He needs to stop looking at Alice. If Margot finds out, she'll kill them both. Ben says she'll have Reggie do it.

Alice and Danny arrive back at AVI, where Sophie, who's also a hacker, has managed to get into Christopher's computer. They built a back-up plan into the USB drive they gave Seth.

Margot is startled to see that the money is drained from all their off-shore accounts. She doesn't understand what's happening. Ben says they just got conned. They're left with nothing and their benefactor is expecting payment. Margot tells Ben to fix this.

Ben enters the museum and looks at the painting Alice prevented from being stolen. He smiles.

Alice comes home and notices the lights in her bedroom are on. She goes to check and finds the painting hanging on her bedroom wall. She decides to play with Christopher, which he obviously wants.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Cons and Cases[]

Singer Museum[]

Anderson/Vaughan Investigations took a case involving an art thief, Mario Visconti. At a gallery opening at Singer Museum, Alice, posing as Natasha Kendall, wooed Mario and took him into the back room to show him a secret second painting. After they left, he stole her ID badge to get back into the room and steal the painting. However, on his way out, he was trapped by Alice's team, who restrained him so the cops could arrest him. The museum later told them there was no damage to the painting.

Patrick's Company[]

Ben started working with Patrick Lewis to get him to copy confidential files from his company to give to Ben in exchange for a briefcase full of cash. The day of the exchange, Ben used distractions to call the PIs attention elsewhere while Ben grabbed the flash drive and used a group of school children to give Patrick the briefcase. They were able to catch Patrick so he could be arrested, but Ben left undetected.

Alice Vaughan[]

Ben, under the alias Christopher Hall, had been conning Alice for months. When she handed over her life savings to him in order to purchase a house for them to share, Margot ordered him to end the con and break it off with Alice, but he didn't want to.

Seth Hamilton[]

Alice deduced that Ben had a plan to steal a technology that Seth Hamilton developed that would make billions of dollars. Ben posed as one of the party guests and went to Seth's release party, where Seth showed him how the technology worked, purifying water to make it drinkable. When Seth was called away, Ben quickly used sleight of hand to steal the flash drive with the specs of the technology. When Alice's team showed up at the party to bust him, Reggie turned out the lights and they quickly escaped under cover of darkness. But Sophie had put a back up plan into the flash drive and they used that to hack into it and when Margot tried to get the money, they found they'd been conned and their money was drained.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Man Like That" Gin Wigmore
  • Mario Visconti tries to con Alice and strikes up a conversation about paintings.
  • She shows him the painting.
  • He goes back after swiping her badge and steals the painting.
  • Alice and her team get him arrested.
"Fireball" Pitbull (feat. John Ryan)
  • AVI try to intercept the drop, but they miss it.
  • Ben manages to pass Alice without being recognized.
  • AVI realize they missed Mr. X.
"Don't Wake Me Up" Lianne La Havas
  • Alice tries on her dress.
  • She shows it to "Christopher".
  • They end up having sex.
  • Ben watches Alice wake up.
"Killing Me To Love You" Vancouver Sleep Clinic
  • Alice explains how it was all a classic con.
  • In a flashback, Alice joins "Christopher" at a restaurant. They have dinner together while talking business and flirting.
  • In another flashback, he brings her dinner and they watch an image of the painting. He likes it, too. They have sex on her couch.
"Tearing Me Up" Bob Moses
  • AVI arrive at the Sea Clarity event.
  • Ben manages to escape with Reggie, who warns him to end things with Alice.
  • Sophie hacks into Margot's computer and gets their money back, leaving Margot with nothing.
  • Ben goes to the museum.
  • Alice comes home to find the painting in her bedroom.

Notes and Trivia[]

The_Catch_(ABC)_Trailer_HD

The Catch (ABC) Trailer HD

  • This episode scored 5.85 million viewers.
  • The pilot was reshot, many changes were made such as:
    • All the character names. The name Alice stayed, but her surname was changed.
    • Damon Dayoub and Bethany Joy Lenz were cast as Kieran Lynch and Zoe Taylor but were replaced by Peter Krause and Sonya Walger and the characters' names were changed to Benjamin Jones and Margot Bishop.
    • Jennifer Schuur left as showrunner due to creative differences, and Allan Heinberg took over.
  • The first version of the pilot was shot in March 2015 and it got picked up. The "rebooted" pilot was shot about half a year later.
  • While Valerie threatened to pick the carrot cake if Alice didn't make a choice, Mireille Enos revealed in a Shondaland: Revealed podcast that she actually liked the carrot cake best.
  • Goofs: Margot orders Christopher to fold up the con immediately after receiving Alice's money. However, this tips off Alice to the con and ends up costing them their much more lucrative shot at the prototype device.

Gallery[]

Promotional Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

Danny: She conducted a museum tour in three different languages. She was showing off, calling attention to herself. She could have blown the whole sting.
Sophie: She's open to constructive criticism and is sitting right here.
Danny: No, offense, okay, but the last thing we need around here is a lawyer.
Sophie: None taken, but that attitude's gonna land you in jail. That and the fact that you have a history of tampering with evidence before the police arrive on the scene.

Sophie: You're getting married. I had no idea. Why didn't you say anything?
Alice: At this point in my life, I think marriage is best done quietly, with dignity and with less cake.

Alice: All right, Christopher. You want to play? Let's play.

Alice: I never know what to do at a weddings except drink too much and sleep with inappropriate people which you're not allowed to do at your own wedding.
Valerie: Who did you sleep with at my wedding?
Alice: No one. Bartender. Which is proof that I am terrible at weddings.

Ben: Let's go away. We'll go to City Hall, and we'll get married. Then we'll get on a plane, and we will just go. We'll go wherever you want to go. You want to go to the Riviera? We'll go to the Riviera. You want to go to the Serengeti, the Swiss Alps... You name it. Okay? We'll go where no one can find us.

See Also[]

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

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