Mac and his date Cindy search an escape room at Professor Intrigue's and try to find the clue they need. He finds a symbol on the wall but needs a black light to read it, and they search for a black light. When Mac suggests that he build one, Cindy doesn't believe it. He makes one out of floppy disks and a smart phone's LED. There are symbols of the Tarot cards of the Fool and the Lovers. Mac finally gives up and kisses Cindy, and she complains that he's going to ruin her perfect record. However, she figures that records were made to be broken and kisses him back.
Later back at the house, Mac comes in and Wilt wonders why he's back early. Wilt is setting up the place for dinner, and explains that he wanted to set up the mood if Mac brought Cindy back. Mac says that he was doing fine, and Wilt explains that his boss offered him a promotion to manager so he quit. He didn't want a career so took a leap of faith to focus on moviemaking.
Mac goes to Phoenix and meets with Riley and Jack. They ask how his date was, and assures Mac that everyone knows. He refuses to discuss it, and Patricia says that they have a situation. There have been a series of high-profile assassinations carried out by a hitman known only as Suspect 218. He likes to contacts his targets just before he kills them, sending them text riddles. The CIA received intel that S-218 was hired for a job in the U.S., but have reached out to Phoenix. All they know is that Rajan Patel landed at LAX sixteen hours ago, and has a pouch under diplomatic seal containing a dossier on S-218's next target. The CIA wants Phoenix to tail Patel to his next meet because they have suspected moles.
The team goes to a party at an art loft just before Patel does. They follow him to see if he makes contact with S-218, and he leaves his jacket behind. Riley spots someone else wearing it and they go after the guy as he runs out the back. The team follows him down the stairs and Mac yanks the electrical wire out of a light and electrifies the railing as their target parkours down. The shock knocks him loose and he falls to the bottom of the stairwell. By the time Mac and Jack get there, S-218 is gone. He dropped a photo of his target: Mac.
Back at Phoenix, Jack and Patricia interrogate Patel. He says that he was hired anonymously and the pouch was sent to him anonymously. Mac figures that Nikki ordered the hit because Nikki took the photo and had the only copy. He figures that Nikki wanted Mac to know she ordered the hit. Patricia tells Mac to stay there while the others search the city for S-218, and refuses to use Mac as bait despite his objections.
Patricia takes Mac to a safe room that they've stripped so he can't use anything to escape. She takes his Swiss army knife and points out the magnetic locks, then leaves. Mac promptly looks for a way out and climbs up into the suspended ceiling using the doorknob as a footstep. He pulls out a wire and opens an outlet using the zip on his clothing, and then pulls out the flat-cable ribbon leading to the magnetic lock. Since he already knows the code, Mac punches it in and leaves... and finds Jack waiting for him in the parking garage. He says that he's there to drive Mac, just as Mac gets a texted riddle. Mac realizes that S-218 is telling them where he is.
Wilt answers the door and S-218--claiming to be a friend of Mac's from work--asks if Mac is there.
On the freeway, Mac tries to phone wilt but gets his voice mail.
S-218 looks around the house and claims that he and Mac have been working together for a few months. Wilt asks if he knew Nikki, and S-218 puts on a pair of gloves and says that he's more of a hatchet man. When Wilt tells him to make himself at home and walks out, S-218 notices Mac calling on Wilt's phone and pockets it.
Wilt calls Mac on the land line and says that he's getting a weird vibe from his visitor. M-218 holds up a gun and tells wilt to put the phone does, and he does, cutting off Mac. The killer then takes Wilt back to the living room and notices a mask of George Washington that Wilt has made. He realizes that Wilt doesn't know what Mac really does, and figures that it's going to be fun.
Mac and Jack pull up to the house and S-218 hears them. He tells wilt to stay there and walks out of the room. Mac runs in and S-218 steps out behind him, wearing the mask. He fires and Mac grabs Wilt and they take cover. Jack comes in shooting and S-218 runs out, and Wilt wonders why he has a gun. S-218 jumps back in through a window and Jack takes cover next to Mac and Wilt. Jack warns that he's running out of ammo, and mac grabs wine bottles and makes a bottle rocket. As he works, the agents explain that Nikki is alive and hired S-218, Jack runs out of ammo and S-218 moves in, and Mac fires the bottle rocket. He misses with the first shot, but hits S-218 with the second shot and knocks him over the balcony. By the time Jack and Mac run over, S-218 is gone. Wilt asks Mac who the hell he is.
Patricia, Riley, and a team of Phoenix CSIs soon arrive, and Mac gets a text message from S-218 saying that it was fun. Riley finds Wilt and he realizes that she works with Mac. He's not happy that Mac has been lying to him for years, and points out that he almost died because Mac didn't trust him. Riley tells him that Mac is still Mac, but Wilt warns that it isn't simple. She says that they need his help because he's the only one who saw S-218's face, and Wilt tells her that she looks stunning and then goes out.
At Phoenix, Wilt works with a sketch artist while Riley discovers that S-218 is using an anonymous account to send his text messages. Wilt finally sketches out S-218's face and they feed it into facial recognition. It comes up with at least eight matches, and Mac figures that they can line him up with the jobs that he's pulled. S-218 rented a car at LAX three days ago and riley can track it via Lojack to a junkyard in Sun Valley. Patricia tells Mac to stay there, and Jack asks the others to leave when Mac balks. Once they're alone, Jack says that S-218 may be better than him and he's going to have to leave Mac behind. He insists that he can't do his job if Mac is with him, and he won't have his death on his conscience.
Jack, Riley, and Patricia go to the junkyard and spot the car.
At Patricia's office, Mac tells Wilt that he didn't tell him anything because of protocol. He says that Wilt knows him better than anyone and helped make him who he is after his father leave.
The team finds a phone in the car and Riley traces it. Jack finds a diplomatic phone in the back, and the phone rings. S-218 tells them all to put their guns down. When Jack refuses, laser sites target the team. The team spots the three remote sniper rifles and repeats hi order, and they drop their guns. S-218 talks to Mac, who is listening in via the comms, and admits that he's made things interesting. He offers to trade all the other contracts on the team for the chance to take on Mac. S-218 explains that he was hired to take on all four of them, and he just takes the jobs to avoid being bored. If Mac goes to the junkyard then S-218 will let the rest of them live... and Mac has 15 minutes to get there.
Mac drives to the junkyard and gets out, and S-218 steps out. He confirms that Mac doesn't have any weapons, and S-218 says that it's been a real pleasure. The killer says that he'll let them go when it's dead, and Mac tosses his Swiss army knife into the hydraulic line of a forklift. The steam gives him cover to run off, and S-218 starts searching for him. He wonders what Mac is going to do next, and shoots at him as he runs from car to car, and gets into the cab of a truck.
S-218 takes out the remote and has one sniper rifle shoot Patricia in the shoulder. Mac takes out a CB from the truck and runs, and S-218 hears him and fires. He misses, and Mac takes cover again and finds a junction box. Mac then powers up the CB, creating a jammer to block S-218's remote. Jack grabs his gun and Patricia tells him to find S-218. Riley insists on going with him.
The assassin finds the jammer and shoots it. He then corners Mac and moves in… unaware that the sniper rifles are now targeting him. Mac tells him to check his monitor, and Riley steps out with her laptop. Jack puts his gun to S-218's head, and Mac says that he doesn't want anyone to die. S-218 admits that no one has ever caught him before, or even survived him before, and tells Mac that he can call him Murdoc. As Jack leads him off, Murdoc says that he hopes they get to see each other soon.
Later at Phoenix, Mac meets Wilt and apologizes. He explains that he was lost after Nikki betrayed him, and what she did to him, he did to Wilt. Wilt says that he's glad he's alive and they hug.
That night, Mac goes to a diner and Nikki sits down across from him. She has a gun trained on him under the table, and Mac realizes that the customers there work for her. Nikki says that she doesn't want Mac dead. She tells him that he'll soon need the key she sent him in Lisbon, and it will answer every question he has. Mac asks her why, and Nikki wonders if he asked himself what happened to Burkoff. Patricia told him that Burkoff was shut down in Syria during exfil, and Nikki suggests that he might not be on the right side. She says that she's not there to hurt him or defend what she did, but to warn him that he'll never be safe.
Mac puts a phone on the table and it has a picture of a house on it. He says that if she stays away from his family then he'll stay away from hours. Nikki says that it isn't him, and Mac tells her that she's the one who taught him that they have other sides. He suggests that she go back to her people and tell them to stand down. Nikki pays her bill and leaves with her people.
Written by Gadfly on Nov 12, 2016