Smoke and Mirrors Wiki
Register
Advertisement

The Trial is the third episode of season one and 3rd overall episode of The Catch.

Short Summary[]

Anderson Vaughan Investigations takes on a case that hits close to home when Valerie's estranged husband, Gordon, comes to them for help after his sister suffers horrible side effects in a Multiple Sclerosis clinical trial by a big pharmaceutical company. Meanwhile, Alice is following her biggest lead yet in tracking down Ben, as he's in the midst of luring their next victim, Princess Zara Al-Salim, into a multimillion dollar fraudulent real estate investment.

Full Summary[]

Over drinks, Ben tells Zara that he lied about who he was to the woman he loves. She says they all do that in the beginning, but he says they were together for a year. She asks if she never saw the real him in all that time. He's an idiot for sitting here with her when he's got a woman he loves so much. She'd do anything to have someone like that. He asks what's stopping her. She says her life is not her own. She feels like a prisoner. He doesn't have that excuse. He says she'd be surprised. She orders another drink. Qasim interrupts. He thinks Zara should go to bed. Ben asks who works for whom here. Qasim says his job is to protect the princess against people who want to take advantage. Zara says Michael has his own fortune. He says this round's on him. He throws his credit card onto the table. Zara dismisses Qasim. Zara gives Ben her phone to call this woman. She'd love to meet her. She guarantees Ben that this woman's also thinking about him.

Sophie's on the phone with Alice to inform her that Christopher has opened new credit cards. The minute he uses them, they know where he is.

Back at the hotel, Zara refuses to let Ben pay since he's a guest of the royal family.

Alice tells Sophie to get some sleep, because they're gonna catch Michael Thorne tomorrow.

Jules Dao is listening in from his car. He makes a call and asks for all bank and credit card activity of Michael Thorne.

Danny informs Alice of the situation. Gordon's at the reception and Valerie told him to have agent Shawn remove him from the premises. Alice wants to walk to Valerie, but she shakes her head and closes the curtains of her office. Alice walks up to Gordon and hugs him. He promises this isn't divorce-related.

Alice informs Valerie that Gordon is here for a class-action lawsuit against big pharma. Valerie doesn't buy it. Alice sees that Gordon's client is his sister. This gets Valerie's attention.

Valerie leaves her office and approaches Gordon and his sister. She wants them to know that this won't work. She thinks  the cane Susan's holding is laying it on a little too thick, though. Susan says she has MS. Valerie is surprised.

Alice and Valerie are in the conference room with Gordon and his sister. She says she got diagnosed right after she got the new job, but she didn't tell anyone. Things start to get personal between Valerie and Gordon, but Alice reminds them to stay on the lawsuit. Gordon explains MS and its effects on the body. Susan's type doesn't respond to meds, but three months ago, MedGenix announced a trial for people like Susan. That resulted in her and 16 other people being taken to the ICU. She was paralysed and blind for a week. MedGenix refuses to accept any responsibility. Susan signed a waiver, but they lied. They said there were no adverse reactions in the previous trial. They need to find proof that they lied. Susan understands if it wouldn't be the best time given the divorce, but Valerie says she's her sister. They'll do this.

Reggie poses as Albert Carlson, a real estate photographer. He meets with Sasha Nolan, who works for Brandeis Properties. He wants to take pictures of the Runyon Towers. He notices that she's checking out his body. As she's talking about the towers, he starts taking pictures of her. He calls her a model. He shows her the pictures. They end up making out and he swipes her badge in the process.

Reggie returns to Margot and Ben and says the three towers are $150 million each, with a $5 million holding fee. Ben thinks Reggie should know all the details about the towers, but Reggie is confident because the towers sell themselves. Margot reminds them she's running point on this con. Ben comments she's confident for someone who's $10 million in the hole. Margot says they'll be coming after all three of them if they miss this payment. Ben warns Reggie that Qasim was part of the Kuroqi National Guard, so Reggie can't afford to be cocky. Reggie is confident he can handle Qasim.

Ben finds his hotel room being searched by Qasim and his men. Qasim can't find any record about Michael Thorne anywhere. They take his wallet, and Qasim finds that only the credit cards bear the name Michael Thorne. Qasim promises he'll find out who Michael really is and that he'll make him disappear to guarantee the princess' safety. The men leave.

Valerie's saying goodbye to Susan while Alice asks Gordon how he's been doing. He says he's fine. He's got no one to blame but himself. He asks about Christopher.

Flashback. At a dinner party, Ben tells Susan that he met Alice as a client. Valerie met Gordon in court when she was working for opposing council, and she totally crushed him. He couldn't afford to go up against her again, so he had to hire him. He didn't dare to ask her out because she's way out of his league. Susan says she's clearly in the wrong business. Ben asks about her work. She was a VP at Nationside and she's got an interview at Edgewick Capital next week. Ben says he knows Larry Sauls and offers to call him and tell him to hire her.

Gordon wants to have dinner with them sometime sometime soon, because he misses them.

The team is looking into MedGenix. They're losing patent on a drug next year, which is why they're looking into Celinex. That drug was developed by Dr. Richard Watkins, whose wife has the same of MS as Susan. Celinex wasn't supposed to go into trial until next year. The published data don't include adverse reactions in the first trial, so they don't know if the drug is poisonous. They need to get their hands on the raw data. Sophie has a way to get it.

Sophie and Danny are at a lecture given by Dr. Watkins. Sophie has hacked into Richard's laptop and she's copying files to her laptop. She asks about Gordon. Danny says he cheated once and told Valerie about it. He thinks Valerie's overreacting, but Sophie disagrees. Another audience member hushes them. Danny says if you can't love people at their worst, you don't really love. He doesn't believe in relationships, so he's not in one. He asks if she is. Richard is about to end the lecture, but not all the files have been copied. Danny stalls by asking how remyelination mediates neuro protection. Richard finds that an excellent question and starts answering.

Qasim finds Princess Zara waiting outside the hotel. He wants to call for her car, but she says that's not necessary because "Michael" hired a car. Ben comes over and Zara says he's also a possible investor in the Runyon Towers. Qasim is surprised that she's going to review the property herself. Zara replies that Michael has encouraged her to take on a more active role in her family's finances. Zara's determined to go there with Michael since he invited her. They get in the car and drive off.

Meanwhile, Reggie and Margot are setting everything up for the con.

Ben and Zara arrive, surprising Reggie. He was expecting Qasim. Reggie introduces them to Margot, who's using the alias Stella Winters. Zara says she and Qasim are making the investment decisions together now. Reggie offers Zara a private tour. The two take off and Margot asks Ben what he's doing. Ben says Qasim threatened to kill him. Qasim and his men arrive and Margot notices he's very insecure. She plans to use that to their advantage.

Reggie is giving a presentation about the Towers. Ben asks questions about some details. Margot quietly tells Qasim she'd like to keep that idiot out of this deal. She then loudly announces she'll take the south Tower. While Ben fakes hesitation, Qasim announces the royal family will cap off the investment. The other two towers are theirs. Zara tells Ben he can always come visit.

Alice is looking at the raw data. It's the same as the published data, meaning there were no adverse reactions in the first trial. That means someone has sabotaged the second trial. Alice tells Ben to look into Pharmador, MedGenix's biggest competition. Sophie has news for Alice. She tells Alice that Michael Thorne used his credit card to get to a certain address. Alice asks Sophie to cover for her and takes off.

Agent Dao is waiting at the elevators to talk to Alice, but she says now is not a good time. He gets a notification about Michael Thorne's credit card activity. He says it's time he told her the whole truth about Christopher Hall and the woman he murdered. This draws Alice's attention and she stops the elevator.

Dao is telling Alice about Nathalie Duchamps, who was shot in the back on her way home from work. She asks what makes him think that it was Christopher. Dao says Nathalie wanted to help him to catch Christopher, who was posing as Simon Bell at the time. He was a regular at Nathalie's flower shop. Alice asks if Dao's sure that Nathalie wasn't involved with Christopher's activities. Dao says she wasn't. He knew her very well, implying they were together. He says his reasons for wanting to find Christopher are as personal as hers. Alice asks if the FBI knows about Dao's connection to the case. He says no. He wanted to tell Alice because it's not safe to go after him by herself. Valerie enters Alice's office and Dao says he's leaving. He gets out. Valerie asks Alice if she's going to help Dao. Alice says she's the only lead Dao has. Valerie says that's not true. Christopher fooled all of them.

Flashback. Susan shows up at Alice's place and announces she got the job. They all congratulate her. Ben made the phone call. Valerie and Gordon thank him. Gordon tells Alice she's lucky with this guy. They move to celebrate Susan's news with a bottle of wine.

Later that night, Ben asks Alice how long Gordon and Valerie have been married. She replies 10 years. He says he'll happily take that. She asks if he's agreeing to marry her. He thinks so. She cheers and hugs him.

Valerie tells Alice that Christopher took everything from them. Alice can't give him one more second of her life.

Still at the fake presentation, Zara tells Ben that investing in the towers won't impress his woman. It's him she wants. She thinks Ben should call her. She figures he owes her because she saved him $8 million, which Qasim told her was the holding fee.

Back in their hotel room, Ben has told the others that Qasim pocketed $3 millon for each tower. Reggie hates that Qasim made $6 million off his con. Ben says they can't let Qasim get away with this. If they get him out of the way, they can get a bigger taste of the Kuroqi fortune and clear their debt in full. They'd finally be free. Margot says the news will have to come from a disinterested third party, like Stella Winters.

Danny has discovered that nurse Cathy Green worked for the competition during the first trial, but she worked on Susan's trial. They think she tampered with the drug. Valerie wonders how they can get proof. Sophie hacked into the security cameras, but there's nothing to see. Alice says they need to get in there to get a sample and have it tested. Danny says there's no getting into that place. He tried the delivery boy routine and the receptionist laughed at him. Alice asks Sophie if she can hack into something else.

At DataMed, MedGenix's research center, nurse Cathy gives Alice, posing as Mrs. McDell, some informed consent documents to sign.

Richard and Cathy are taking a group of volunteers to the treatment room. He says that afterwards, they might feel lightheaded, so they'll get some juice. Cathy leaves to get the infusions. Alice follows her.

From inside the van, Valerie is following Cathy's movements through the security cameras. She tells Alice when it's clear to follow and warns her to be careful.

Ben and Zara overhear Margot having a conversation on her phone. She's clearly upset, so Zara asks if she's okay. Stella says no. That was her attorney, calling her to inform her that their realtor doesn't exist. He's cashed their holding fees and disappeared. No one at Brandeis Properties has ever heard of a Joseph Reilly. That means they're both out $5 million. She walks off to answer another phone call while Ben says he thought the holding fee was $8 million. Zara says that's what Qasim told her. She says trusting Qasim was a mistake.

Cathy enters the drug storage room. Alice hides in a linnen closet next to it. Danny warns her she'll only have a 1.5 seconds before the drug storage room door closes. That's plenty of time. Cathy leaves the room and Danny tells Alice to move. She quickly gets out of the linnen closet and manages to hold the door. She starts looking for the Celinex, but all the cabinets are locked. Danny and Valerie warn her that Cathy's on her way back. Alice manages to hide inside a cabinet, but Cathy leaves with all of the drug.

Qasim meets with Zara and Ben in the hotel bar. Zara gives him the bank statements to show that he always withdrew more money than what was required for their investments. Qasim says he can explain this. Zara says he can explain it to her brothers, who'll be waiting for him tomorrow at the airport back home. Qasim says this is all Michael's doing, but Zara tells him he's relieved of his position. Qasim gets up to be escorted back to her room. Ben tells Zara that was badass.

While Valerie's asking Alice to get out of there, Sophie sends her a text that Michael Thorne is at the Faith and Flower Restaurant.

Alice is in the treatment room, about to get infused with the drug. She sees Sophie's text and asks Cathy to wait, but Cathy has already put in the IV.

Alice reaches behind her chair and twists the tube so the drug won't continue to be administered. As soon as Cathy leaves, Alice packs her stuff and leaves the room with the bag of Celinex. Suddenly, Richard says that he can't let her leave until they get her blood sugar levels back up. She takes a cup of juice.

Outside on the street, Alice gives Valerie and Danny the Celinex and asks them to let her know when they get the results. They ask where she's going. She says she's going home because nurse Green got her.

While stuck in traffic, Dao gets another message about Michael's credit card activity.

Over dinner, Zara tells Ben she should have seen it. Ben says she couldn't have since she trusted Qasim.

Alice is at the restaurant, but she becomes very dizzy as she sees Ben and Zara. She takes her phone and snaps a quick photo, but she drops it. After she's picked it up, Ben has disappeared from his table. She starts wandering around, looking for him.

In the restroom, Ben is splashing some cold water in his face. He then finds himself at gunpoint. Qasim tells him he's a thief. He's taken everything from him, so Qasim thinks it's time he tell Zara who he really is. They get in a struggle and Ben manages to knock the gun out of Qasim's hand, but Qasim overpowers him. Seconds later, Qasim is shot by Margot with his own gun. Margot says Qasim was going to expose them. Reggie comes in. While he and Margot deal with the body, Ben leaves to get Zara out of here.

As he leaves the restroom, Ben sees Alice holding onto a wall because of her dizziness. He calls Alice and tells her to leave the restaurant because it's too dangerous. She runs towards the hallway that leads to back rooms and the restrooms, but Ben has already disappeared. As she enters the back rooms, she slips over some blood. She goes on until she's outside, just in time to see Margot and Reggie put the body in the trunk of their car. They drive off.

Alice returns to the restaurant, just in time to see Ben and Zara be driven off. She then collapses, but Dao is just in time to catch her.

Dao gives Alice a drink. She thanks him. Dao says the FBI believes that Christopher Hall is now Michael Thorne. His credt card led Dao to the hotel, as he believes it did Alice. He asks what Michael did to her. He's not who she believes he is. He's a killer and she'll never catch him on her own. Alice says it might be time to compare notes indeed.

Back at the hotel, Margot tells Reggie that he'll be traveling as Qasim. That way, Zara's family will think that he fled to Mexico with all their money. Reggie knows the drill, but what he doesn't know is how his con ended with him burying the body of his mark in the middle of the night. Ben says he'll make enough off the Princess to cover everything, including a nice bonus for Reggie. Reggie tells Ben to be smart. He won't be around to protect Ben, so he has to leave Alice alone.

Alice returns to the office. She's a bit shaky but otherwise fine. She asks if they heard back from the lab. Valerie says the IV bag tested clean. Alice says that can't be, since she had a reaction. She then remembers the juice she drank and tells the others it was the juice.

Alice tells Gordon and Susan that they went back to get a sample from the juice. They discovered it was laced with belladonna, a natural toxin that can mimick the symptoms of MS. Susan wonders why Watkins would tank his own trial. Alice says his wife didn't respond to the drug. So, he tanked the trial so he could start over and get it right. The good news is that Susan has a case now. Gordon's happy, but Valerie still ignores him.

Gordon tells Alice he thinks it's best if he assigns one of his associates to their firm, because Valerie won't talk to him. Alice says he stood her up in mediation. Gordon says he did that because he doesn't want this divorce. Alice wonders why he cheated then. Gordon says it had nothing to do with Valerie. It was fear. He's getting older by the second and he wanted to feel not that. The thought of lying to Valerie afterwards was worse, because he tells her everything. He's so stupid. He hates to put Alice in the middle, but he asks her to give Valerie the divorce papers. He's signed them.

Valerie watches as Gordon leaves the office.

Valerie can't believe that Gordon's actually giving her a divorce. Alice asks if she really wants this. Valerie wonders how Alice can still ask her that after what Christopher did to her. Alice needs to know that love is possible, especially after what Christopher did to her.

Alice is looking through all the photos she has of Christopher.

Ben's doing the exact same thing. Since Margot's in the shower, he decides to call Alice.

She answers. He asks if she's okay. She says he has no right to ask her that. She asks him who he is. He says she knows who he is. She says she's gonna hang up, but he asks her not to. She asks if his date at the restaurant is his latest victim. He says he can't answer that for her own safety. She says she might end up dead in the trunk of a car otherwise. She then asks if he killed Nathalie Duchamps. He asks if Dao told her that. He didn't do it. He says she cannot trust Dao. She asks how he got Susan that job if it was all a con. He asks if Susan still has it. She says yes. He says that that's all that matters. Ben says that he knows she's angry at him, but he needs her to promise him that she won't come looking for him. For her own safety. She says fine and hangs up.

Margot gets out of the bathroom and asks if he was on the phone with the Princess. He says yes.

Alice tells herself she won't come looking for him, because she's already found. She has discovered the girl at the restaurant is Zara Al-Salim and she has found an article about her visit to Los Angeles.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Cons and Cases[]

Zara Al-Salim[]

Ben, as Michael Thorne, continued to get to know Zara, sharing details of his relationship with Alice with her. In order to convince her he wasn't taking advantage of her, he offered to pay for their drinks. However, she insisted and also tried to get him to call Alice, saying she wanted to meet the woman he was talking about, but he said Alice didn't want to hear from him. Ben continued to spend time with Zara and encouraged her to take more of a central role in her family's finances. After they set up a pitch for a fake investment for Runyon Towers, she decided to visit the pitch herself along with Michael. Qasim also attended and after a hint from Margot, he retained two of the three towers for the royal family. Ben later learned that Qasim lied to Zara about how much the holding fee for the tower was, pocketing the additional $3 million for himself. When they used "Stella Winters" (really Margot), another investor, to inform Zara of this, she fired Qasim. Reggie then assumed Qasim's identity and went to Mexico to make it look like he'd fled there after he was killed by Margot.

Susan Bailey[]

Susan Bailey had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She enlisted the help of Anderson/Vaughan Investigations in order to sue MedGenix, a company that developed a drug that was supposed to treat people with MS. However, she and the other participants ended up in ICU, unable to walk or see. Their previous MS drug was losing its patent, so they developed a new one. Sophie and Danny went to a presentation Dr. Watkins was giving and Sophie hacked his laptop in order to get access to the trial data. Sophie hacked into their security cameras, but they saw nothing useful. They needed to get into the building, but Danny said he tried the delivery man routine and the receptionist laughed at him, leading Alice to pose as a patient with MS to get access. She went in and got injected, but pinched off the tubing and took the medicine with her and left. However, shortly afterward, she started to experience symptoms of blurred vision and drowsiness. When the IV bag tested clean, Alice figured out the juice was the culprit. It was laced with belladonna, which mimicked the symptoms of MS. Dr. Watkins tried to tank his own trial in order to be able to start over and find a new drug that might help his wife. This gave Susan and the others a case to work with.

Michael Thorne[]

Alice had Sophie continue to track activity under the name Michael Thorne. When Ben used the card, Alice rushed out to meet him at the location. However, she was stopped by Jules Dao, who wanted to tell Alice about the woman he believed Ben had killed, a friend of his. Alice agreed to work with Jules and share information with him.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Like It Or Not" Bob Moses
  • Princess Zara calls Ben an idiot for not being with the woman he loves.
  • They talk about being a prisoner and Zara assures Qasim that she's not being taken advantage of.
  • Sophie informs Alice that Ben's taken on the Michael Thorne identity.
  • Jules listens in as Alice says they're going to catch him tomorrow.
"Straight to Video" Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
  • Reggie gears up and goes to the Runyon Towers, posing as a photographer.
  • He has sex with Sasha and steals her badge.
"On a Cloud" PPP (feat. Karma)
  • Susan, Valerie, Gordon, Ben, and Alice hang out and talk about how they met.
  • Ben offers to help Susan get a job.
"Ya Lookin' Tight" Soopasoul
  • Danny stalls Richard with a question.
  • Zara tells Qasim she's going to the Towers with "Michael", who's also thinking about investing.
  • Margot and Reggie set up for their con.
  • Ben and Zara arrive and Reggie welcomes her.
  • Ben and Margot talk about Qasim.
"Premonitions" Vaults
  • Alice and Valerie tell Gordon and Susan they have a case against Watkins.
  • Gordon tells Alice why he cheated.
  • He asks her to give Valerie the signed divorce papers.
  • Alice needs to believe love is possible.
  • Alice looks through her photos of Ben.
  • Ben is, too, and calls her.

Notes and Trivia[]

The_Catch_1x03_Promo_"The_Trial"_(HD)

The Catch 1x03 Promo "The Trial" (HD)

  • This episode scored 4.89 million viewers.

Gallery[]

Promotional Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

Ben: How long have those two been married?
Alice: Almost 10 years.
Ben: Well, if that's what 10 years of marriage looks like, I'll take it.
Alice: I'm sorry. Did you just agree to marry me?
Ben: I think I did.

Valerie: He's actually giving me a divorce.
Alice: That's what you wanted, right? Val? Is that really what you want?
Valerie: How can you ask me that? I mean, after what Christopher did to you...
Alice: I'm sorry. I just... I want to believe it's possible... That love is possible. Especially after what Christopher did to me.

Gordon: I think it's best if I assign one of my associates to you guys. She won't talk to me. She won't look at me.
Alice: You stood her up at mediation.
Gordon: I don't want this divorce.
Alice: Then why did you do it? I'm sorry. I don't understand. If you love her...
Gordon: It had nothing to do with her. It was me. It was fear, I think, of being older than she is, and getting older by the second and wanting to feel not that. And then the thought of lying to her after all that was worse than the cheating because I tell her everything. She's my best friend. Oh, Allie, I'm so stupid.

Margot: You'll be traveling as Qasim Halabi. That way, Zara's family will think that he ran off to Mexico with all their money. Passport, cash, U.S. and pesos.
Reggie: I know the drill. What I don't know is how my con ended with me burying the body of my mark in the middle of the night while he was having dessert with the Princess.
Ben: Reggie, I promise, I will make enough off the Princess to cover all our debt and then some. And my share of the "then some" will go to you.

Ben: Listen, I know you're angry, and you have every right to be. Just promise me you won't come looking for me.
Alice: For my own safety.
Ben: So you don't end up dead in the trunk of a car.

Alice: I won't come looking for you. Because I've already found you.

See Also[]

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

Advertisement