Eileen (Hilary Swank) is back at her therapist’s office lost in her own thoughts. She mentions that she is thinking of Bob (Matt Malloy) and how his wife is sick and that her illness is progressing quickly. What is bothering Eileen is that the other day she asked Bob how he was, and he told her the truth. Eileen doesn’t get personal with her colleagues. She is wondering why she has started now.
Eileen and Roz (Grace Dove) are meeting with Toby (Brandon Alexis) in jail and discussing what they heard when they listened to Gloria’s message on the night she died. Knowing that Gloria called from another number, they ask Toby about the mysterious number and learn that Gloria had a pay as you go phone which she hid from her mother. Toby is despondent, because he won’t be able to get a plea deal unless he admits to raping and murdering Gloria. The fact that he didn’t commit the crime and then having to admit to a heinous act is troubling.
In the newsroom, Bob is asking Claire (Meredith Holzman) about a previous story because he thinks it might help with a gardening problem at home. Austin and Yuna (Craig Frank and Ami Park) offer their ideas on what to do, but neither helps Bob. Gabriel (Pablo Castelblanco) joins the group and joyfully informs them that the copier is fixed but that he used the last toner cartridge.
Eileen and Roz meet to try and figure out what their next move is, and who were the voices in the background of Gloria’s message. Meanwhile, Austin is in the middle of custody negotiations with his ex-wife Anna, who wants to move with their son to Chicago. Roz leads Eileen to a pot salesman, who is also a tech guy, in hopes they can determine who is in the background of Gloria Nanmac’s message. They learn that it’s a kid’s voice they hear. Ezra Fisher (Theo Stockman) said that he left to get his kid that night and never went back. Roz concludes that if that is Ezra Fisher’s child, he loses his alibi and becomes a prime suspect.
Learning that Ezra is back in town, Roz has a lead. At the paper, Gabriel and his group continue to build a working database of all missing and murdered indigenous women in the state. Roz and Eileen learn that Ezra has been all over the state working in a variety of villages installing high speed internet cable. He was in Meade when Gloria was killed, and the two reporters wonder if there are other women who have been assaulted in connection to Ezra’s movements.
Eileen is pushing everyone in the newsroom, from Austin to Bob, to help with the case. Austin and Yuna share a private moment in the archive room, where they kiss. Roz confronts Ezra Fisher on his jobsite. She plays the voicemail that apparently has his kids' voice in the background. Pressing him to tell the truth, Ezra refuses to answer her questions, and leaves.
Austin finds all the villages that Ezra’s company installed broadband internet in, and while Eileen is hopeful that they will be able to call each village police department to see if there were ever complaints against Fisher, she quickly learns that there are few if any police in the villages. Both Roz and Eileen spend their time calling each VPO (Village Police Officer) which is an underfunded, underqualified local to see if there were any complaints. In the middle of the search, Eileen gets a phone call from an editor at The New York Times. Offered a job, she is told that she belongs in New York. Though Eileen turns the job down because she wants to see things through in Alaska, the editor plans to send her a financial offer and to reconsider. When Eileen returns, Roz has turned up a lead.
Bob invites Claire into his office to ask for help. He wonders if he is too kind and needs to be more morally flexible like Eileen. Knowing that he could get the information Eileen needs, Bob is concerned about breaking out of his nice guy persona.
Roz and Eileen get a free flight to their lead, courtesy of Jamie (Joe Tippett). While the three are joking around, Eileen asks Jamie how hard it is to fly. He tells them that whenever he is stuck in his life, he comes up to fly and get away. Landing, the two reporters meet the Village Police Officer, and get introduced to village life.
Bob seeks out his friend about the phone records and while his friend Gary is unwilling to budge and asks Bob to leave. The reporter isn’t going. Threatening to put out an article derailing the cell phone company, Bob goes for the jugular to get the phone number.
When they meet with Ezra Fisher’s victim, Eileen and Roz get details about the violence that he inflicted on her. The VPO restrained Ezra and the State Troopers took him away to the courthouse 60 miles away but then the charges were dropped. Eileen and Roz learn that Ezra Fisher had been charged with felony assault but the reason why his charges were never seen is because a law was passed that prohibited the publication of these charges, if they were dropped by the district attorney.
Austin informs Roz and Eileen that he has found two more charges against Ezra Fisher that were dropped or dismissed in two other small villages. Before the conversation continues, Austin must meet with his ex-wife Anna. Trying to apologize for her actions, she tells Austin that he could also move to Chicago and be a journalist there. He’s not taking the invite and informs her that he won’t leave. The two will see each other in court.
Roz approaches Ezra Fisher’s ex wife Taylor and informs her that Ezra has multiple charges against him in a variety of villages. Hoping the new knowledge will convince Taylor to let Roz speak to her son Jackson, it works, and Taylor introduces Jackson to the reporter. (I love the quiet synergy with Jackson wearing a Spider Man shirt.)
Jackson admits to going to a party with his dad in Meade, and positively identifies Gloria Nanmac. The boy also tells them that his dad drove Gloria home, but he left Jackson at the party while he did this. (This guy is GUILTY!)
Back at the courthouse, Roz and Eileen approach the District Attorney and inform him of the multiple arrests that Ezra Fisher has for felony domestic assault. Trying to assert that Toby Crenshaw is innocent, the District Attorney is unwilling to budge.
Meeting with Stanley (Jeff Perry) Roz and Eileen update their editor about what is happening. Though they feel despondent about what is happening, Stanley encourages them to write their story, because Alaskan’s are listening to them. As both commiserate over what to do next, Roz asks Eileen if she is going to take the job at The New York Times. Telling her colleague she hasn’t decided, Eileen asks if Roz is going to take the job she was offered at The Washington Post. Both are conflicted about what to do.
Gabriel interrupts them and calls the newsroom together to show the database his team has compiled about missing and murdered indigenous women in Alaska. The statistics are devastating. When Bob hands them the records on Gloria’s phone, he describes how he channeled his inner Eileen. Roz and Eileen learn that Gloria was alive for two days after being dumped by Ezra. She even called 911 for help while she froze to death on the tundra. If she made a call, then there is bound to be a recording, and Roz and Eileen have a new target to search for.
Bill’s Final Thoughts:
The endgame has begun, and the push of the articles has unearthed some awful statistics. Eileen and Roz are an excellent team. Grace Dove and Hilary Swank are sure to be nominated for awards and would be just in walking away with Emmy’s.
While the focus of the show has been on the Gloria Nanmac case, I love how we get side bits of each journalist’s life. I could do without the custody fight Austin is going to go through, and more of the love story he has with Yuna.
Jeff Perry only needs one scene, and he makes his mark. Stanley Cornik is the best newspaper editor.
I do enjoy the growth in Eileen’s character. I like the fact that she turned down The New York Times because she wants to see her story through, and out of loyalty to Stanley who gave her a job when no one else would. Eileen is great because Hilary Swank is excellent in this role.