Mac is in Northern California at the burned-down cabin where his dad was last seen. Jack calls but Mac ignores it, and hears something hollow give beneath his feet. Investigating, he finds a case beneath the floorboards and a can inside of it. Inside the can is a strip of damaged film.
Jack is playing skeeball when Riley comes over. He says that he has to enjoy it before the hammer drops, and checks his phone. Riley asks what he's talking about, and Jack points out that she invited him to Pizza Paradise. He figures that Riley is buttering him up for bad news, and she finally tells him that Elwood is back. Jack points out that Elwood has asked for second chances before, and asks what she wants to do. Riley says that she's spent some time with Elwood and he seems different than the other times, and wants to give him a second chance. Jack tells her that it's awesome and assures her that he's there for her if she needs someone. Riley tells him to stay out of it, and Jack claims that he will.
Later, Jack goes to Elwood's apartment and Elwood thanks him for kicking his as the last time he saw him He admits that he was a bad guy and Jack got through to him. Jack doesn't believe him and warns that if Elwood hurts him again then he'll be back.
At Phoenix, Mac asks Jill to restore it. She says that she'll see what she can do, and Matty yells at Mac to get into her office. The others are waiting, and Matty explains that fifty canisters of VX nerve gas were found in a bunker in Bulgaria. They were shipped back to the U.S., but one went missing. Dr. Ian Carson, the technician tasked with destroying the VX, stole the canister and put it up on the black market for sale. They've tracked the canister to Carson's lab, and the team is supposed to go there and get it. Jack wonders why they're being sent on such an easy mission, and Matty insists that it's important.
At training school, Wilt is practicing interrogation on Leanna to get her to tell him a word. Cassandra comes in and tells Leanna that she went 24 hours without giving up her word, and Wilt says that she's impressed. The teacher gives her three hours to recover and then she gets to start on Wilt. Once she leaves, Cassandra tells Wilt that if gives up the word then his career is up, and whispers the word "guillotine" to him. Men come in and handcuff Wilt to a table, and Cassandra wishes him luck.
At Carson's lab in Philadelphia, Mac runs a code breaker on the freezer vault and warns Jack that it'll take a while. They can't shoot the lock off because it might set off the gas. Riley loses satellite feed to their location, and Sam spots a van parking up outside. Mercs get out and Sam sends pictures of them to Phoenix. Mac gets the freezer open just before jack has to shoot it, and Riley identifies the merc leader as Dev Singh who now works for Annisa Chandra, an Indonesian extremist. Matty tells Mac to put the canister back and let Singh take it so that they can follow it back to Chandra.
Mac and Jack head back to the freezer and put the canister back, and then hide as the mercs come in. They blast the freezer open and take the nerve gas, and Matty tells Mac and Jack to give them plenty of space. She has Sam follow the Macs, and Mac and Jack to find a car. Matty warns that the mercs killed the satellites so they have to go dead, and Riley suggests that they can use standard phones because the cell network is too big to monitor.
Jack bumps into a businessman, and Mac gets an imprint of the man's electronic car key. They steal his car and track Sam's phone signal.
At the training academy, Leanna interrogates Wilt and points out that he's getting woozy. She offers him a burger from the place he likes, but Wilt refuses to give up the word. Leanna then starts flirting with him, suggesting that they go grab a burger together once it's over. Wilt wonders if it's part of the procedure, and Leanna says that everyone has given up their code word so he'll get second place behind her. He doesn't fall for it, points out that it's in their training, and tells her to raise her game. She's glad to oblige and walks out.
As they drive, Mac asks about Elwood. He figures that Jack accosted Elwood, and Jack says that Elwood told him he was glad that Jack beat him up. Mac figures that Riley doesn't know and asks if Elwood has changed. Jack doesn't believe it.
At Phoenix, Elwood meets with Elwood and says that he wanted to check out the think tank where she works. He gives her a photo album with photos of when she was kid, and assures her that she always meant the world to him. Elwood asks to take her out later, and Riley tells him that she has a lot of work to do. However, she says if things settle down then she'll text him.
Sam follows the mercs' van, to a warehouse, and realizes that it's a trap just as they cut her off.
Riley goes back to Matty's office, and Matty knows that Elwood was there. They lose Sam's signature and figure her phone is off, and Matty tells Jack and Mac to find Sam. They pull up and find her abandoned car, and her phone is lying on the concrete nearby. Riley finds a hardwired security camera across the street and brings up footage of the merc abducting her from ten minutes ago. When they know which direction the mercs left by, Jack and Mac head off.
Singh questions Sam, beating her, and she says that he just told her his plan by pointing out the nearby bag of subway targets for Grand central station. She claims that the canister they stole is a fake, and Singh brings it over. Sam says that her boss wants Chandra, so they sole the real gas and replaced it with a fake. She invites Singh to open the canister, or wait and find out it's a fake at Grand Central. When Singh wonders why she's telling her everything, she says that she wishes to change employers.
En route, Mac gets a text from Jill that she's having issues with the film. He reluctantly tells Jack what he found, and Jack figures that someone burned down the cabin to destroy the film. However, Jack says that they have to focus on finding Sam first.
Sam pressures Singh to let her go so she brings him the gas. Singh doesn't believe her but Sam points out that if she doesn't then Chandra will kill both of them.
Riley hacks into someone else's satellite and tells Jack and Mac that the mercs are up ahead. They come to Sam lying on the road, and she explains that she convinced Singh that the canister is a fake. They have 30 minutes until Singh sends coordinates for the meet, and Matty tells Mac to rig up a fake canister.
Leanna returns to the interrogation room and wilt points out that she's been gone for a while. She says that it's time to change tact and shows wilt a photo of a boy. Wilt tells her not to do it, but still refuses to give up the word. Leanna plays a 911 recording of the boy calling for help, and then leaves to give wilt some time to decide. Wilt looks at the photo and cries.
The trio goes back to Carson's lab and Mac makes tear gas and puts it in the fake canister. She tells Sam to signal her when she gets the real gas, and he and jack will sweep in. Mac assures her that he's got her back.
Leanna returns and asks if wilt has made a decision. He refuses to give her the word, and Leanna plays the recording of the boy saying that his little brother is hurt and needs help. Wilt says that it's his little brother's birthday and he was playing when their mother went to get the cake. His brother Josh shot himself with their father's gun. He describes how his brother chased him with it pretending to be a policeman, and then he tripped and shot himself. Wilt congratulates Leanna on getting him to talk about Josh's death, and tells her that no matter what else happens, he won't give her the code word. The 24 hours run out and Casandra comes in and congratulates Wilt on passing. He walks out without a word.
The trio goes to the coordinates once Singh sends them, and Jack and Mac watch. The van pulls up and drives off, and Jack and Mac follow her. Singh takes her to a water treatment plant, and a SWAT team Jack recruited up sniper positions. Sam hands over the canister and Singh says that Chandra has picked a new plan. Meanwhile, Mac realizes that the treatment plant supplies all of the water to New York City, and the mercs are going to distribute it there.
Singh says that they're going to drop both canister into the water, and Sam gives the code word to attack. Mac triggers the nerve gas, and the SWAT team opens fire. Mac runs in as Jack runs in and grabs the canister. A stray shot hits the canister, and Mac runs into a nearby office and seals the door. Jack and Sam run over, and Mac yells that he's already exposed. Sam assures Jack that Mac will think of something, and Mac injects himself with adrenaline to slow the effects of the gas. He then makes a gas hood tied into the sewer lines to dispose of the gas. He gets a piece of file from a hoagie in the refrigerator and a CD to create a fan, sucking the gas into the sewer gas line. The sewer line burns off the gas safely, and Mac staggers out. He explains that it takes 18 hours for the gas to kill someone and they have to get him to a hospital.
Later, Mac wakes up in the hospital and finds Sam at his bedside. Sam explains that they flipped the merc and Phoenix agents are rounding up Chandra and her men. A text comes in and Sam steps out to take it, Mac finds a present: the restored film from Jill.
Riley meets \Elwood for dinner, and Jack watches from his car. A man gets into the car and holds Jack at gunpoint, and asks why Jack is following Elwood. Jack refuses to tell him, sand the man says that if Jack wants Elwood dead then he'll have to get in line.
Wilt is packing when Leanna comes in. he says that she was within her rights to do what it took to get him to crack, but he's not going to play the game. Leanna points out that he didn't break and asks him to stay, saying that she doesn't want him to go.
When he gets home, Mac rigs up a projector and plays the film. It shows Mac as a child with his father, Matty is in the film as well, much to Mac's surprise. The film burns up in the improvised projector before Mac can study it for more details.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 2, 2017