Outside of LA, Jack is driving to clear his head. A thumping comes from the trunk and Jack turns the radio up. The thumping continues and Jack finally pulls over and opens the trunk. Elwood kicks him back and attacks him, and Jack easily knocks him down. Elwood gets up and asks what Jack is up to, and Jack asks who the gunman is who threatened him. Jack admits that he was watching Elwood and Riley at dinner, and asks who wants him dead. Elwood claims that it could be anyone, and Jack says that Elwood will stay with him in "protective custody". He expects Elwood to show him that he's changed, and Elwood agrees and gets in the car. Jack insists that he ride in the trunk and Elwood reluctantly gets in.
Jack takes Elwood to his apartment and Elwood says that the gunman is Dougie Luccano, from the Bronx and lives up north. Elwood says that Dougie is a small-time crook and the two of them pulled off a few cons together. A year ago they ripped off a signed Reggie Jackson baseball from a sports collector, and on the way back Elwood tosses the ball into the Hudson and went to his first AA meeting. Now Elwood owes Dougie $75,000. Someone knocks at the door and Jack orders Elwood in the back. It's Mac, and Elwood is waiting holding Jack's sword. Jack does the introductions and Jack suggests that he and Mac talk outside.
Outside, Mac tells Jack about the footage and Matty on it. Jack warns that if Matty is lying then Mac won't know about it. He figures that Mac might be jumping at shadows, and says that he's a lone wolf. Mac isn't convinced, and gets a call from Matty summoning him back to Phoenix. Jack asks Mac not to tell Riley that jack abducted her father.
Wilt wakes up in bed next to Leanna, and they confirm that they're still dressed. They're handcuffed together, and someone shoots through the door. An armed man busts in, and Wilt and Leanna duck into the bathroom and climb out the window.
At Phoenix, Sam tells Mac that the R.V. Bancroft, a college research station, had an accident and is stranded in the Arctic Circle with 32 people. Riley has tasked a satellite to communicate with grad student Zoe Kimura, Matty tells her who Mac is, and explains that a Coast Guard rescue vessel is twelve hours away. It's too cold for airplanes and helicopters, and Mac has Zoe use the camera on Zoe's laptop to check the backup generator. He has her make a list of all the supplies that she can find.
Riley, Sam, and Jill get duplicates of everything that Zoe can find. Mac has Zoe make a peristatic pump to feed fuel to the generator. Sam points out that Mac is overwhelming with her information and Mac apologizes. Mac asks the others to leave the office and asks Zoe how she's doing. She admits that she's having trouble focusing, and Mac sympathizes. Mac tells her that they'll take a break and asks what she teachers. Zoe explains that she's a glaciologist and Mac says that he snuck into a MIT lab to look at a core sample. She says that she has a desire for ice cream. When Mac asks her why, she changes the subject to getting the pump repaired.
Sam, Riley, and Mac watch from outside, and Matty says that she doesn't trust anyone more than Mac save the students.
Wilt and Leanna run into the forest, and figure that they were drugged. They try to figure out where they are so they can get back to the school, and realize that they're in Virginia. Dogs bark and Wil figures that they're being used to track them, and run.
Jack and Elwood sit in a car, and Elwood points out that Jack used to work as a bathroom salesman. He says that he's glad Riley has Jack in her life, and knew from the day that they met that Jack would be Riley's father figure. Jack tells Elwood that he made it clear to Riley that she's not the most important thing in her life. Dougie comes out of a store and Jack goes to confront him. Dougie offers Jack a hundred dollars to bring Elwood to him, and jack tells Dougie to back off. Five thugs come out of the store, and Dougie says that after a year, Elwood owes him the full $150,000 or the ball. If he doesn't get both then he'll try to get the money from Riley. When Jack and Elwood go after Dougie, Dougie's thugs draw their guns and Dougie tells Elwood that he has 24 hours to deliver.
Mac has Zoe improvise a peristaltic pump and she gets it working. The start up the generator , bringing up the lights and heats. A fire alarm goes off and a man reports that there are fires in three compartments. The rooms are above the propulsion room where the explosion happened, and Mac figures that turning on the power shorted out the wires damaged in the explosion. Zoe reports that their fire suppression system didn't come on. Mac warns that they have to put the fires out before the whole ship burns.
Zoe takes the laptop camera to show Mac the fire, and he directs her to an airtight compartment door. She closes it to put the fire out, and coughs. Mac warns Matty that everyone is still in danger from smoke inhalation, and works out a filter system from cardboard foxes, box fans, and carbon filters. He sends Zoe to the cargo room, which is below the propulsion room. The corridor is blocked from the explosion, and Mac starts building a model of the ship.
Back at Jack's apartment, mac buys baseballs and has Elwood pick out one that's the right size so that they can make a fake. Jack then suggests that they google conning people. Riley arrives at Jack's door and Jack has Elwood hide in the bedroom. She says that she ducked out to check on Elwood because she keeps calling him and he doesn't pick up. Riley asks Jack if he knows where Elwood is, and jack claims that he doesn't. as riley goes, she points out that Elwood's phone is in the apartment. Elwood comes out and Riley explains that she tracked Elwood's cellphone and demands an explanation. Her father explains that he stole a rare baseball and has to give it or $150,000 back, and he doesn't have either one. Riley asks how she can help.
Jack comes in and finds Mac building a model of the blocked corridor and trying to device a long-range clamp. When Jack says that he has to help Elwood get out of trouble, Mac tells him that he doesn't have the time to deal with. Jack jokingly points out that there was a similar scene in The Empire Strikes Back, and Mac tells Zoe that they'll use the force of gravity to get what they need.
Wilt and Leanna find an empty house and use a burner to cut through the handcuffs. Leanna says that she's disappointed that Wilt plans to leave spy school, and admits that she doesn't want to lose a good friend. Wilt asks if they are good friends, and goes to find a first aid kit. The man barges in and grabs Leanna, attacking her. they fight and Wilt comes up and knocks the man out from behind with a telephone. The man gets a text saying that five teams have been neutralized and three are in play.
Mac has Zoe and the students move everything loos to the stern, so that the filters will fall off the shelf and roll to the blockage. Once they get the filters, Mac has Zoe start building an air filter.
Jack and Riley take the ball to the lab, and Jill uses a UV laser to "age" the ball to the proper appearance. Riley has aggregated 684 Jackie Robinson signatures to make the one to put on the ball. She programs the robot to sign the aggregated signature, and thanks Jack for helping Elwood. Jack says that he's not doing it for him, and Riley wonders why she's helping Elwood when he hasn't done anything for her. Jack tells her that she's a badass even if Elwood doesn't see it.
Zoe builds and activates the air purifier. She thanks Mac for keeping her company, and Mac tells her the rescue ship is only three hours away. as they wait, Mac plays with paper clips to keep his hands busy. Zoe admits that she didn't expect a cute science geek, and asks what Phoenix is all about. Mac suggests that she'd fit right in, and invites her to stop buy when she returns to the state the ship groans and water starts flowing in. The watertight door won't close, and Mac realizes that the gasket is broken. He assures Zoe that it will be all right.
Wilt and Leanna steal a truck and Leanna thanks Wilt for coming back for her. She points out that he was really angry Before Wilt can respond, motorcycle riders start pursuing them. Wilt figures that they might die and says that he was hurt by what she did. He tells Leanna that he thinks that she's amazing. He drives the truck through the school gates and stops, and the men stop and tell them to get out. Leanna kisses Wilt and says that he's amazing, too. Leanna comes out and announces that they passed their final training exercise.
Jack has Zoe create putty to seal the door. Riley determines that once the room floods, the ship will sink even if they seal it off. The students have about an hour before they freeze to death, and the rescue ship will be there in 59 minutes with margin of error. Mac shows Zoe how to build g a detonator, and she triggers it to use the heat to expand the putty. Nothing happens, and Mac has her try the connections. The hole gets builder and Mc mutes the volume to tell his teammates that there's no way to stop the flooding. Mac looks for something to trigger the reaction, and Zoe tells him that she can seal the door form the inside.
Elwood and Jack take the fake ball to Dougie, and Elwood says that he decided to get sober rather than sell the ball. Dougie is apparently convinced, but demands $10,000 in "interest". Elwood says that he doesn't have it, and tells Jack that he'll handle his own problems. He asks if he can pay it the other way, and Dougie warns that a $10,000 beating could take a while. When Jack objects, the men shove him back. Elwood asks Dougie if they're done, and Dougie and his men start beating him.
Zoe enters the compartment, refusing to endanger the lives of her kids by leaving the ship early, When Mac says that there has to be another way, Zoe tells him that she has to do it and save the other students. She figures that Mac would do the same thing if he was there, and asks if they can do it together. Mac and Zoe light a match and she triggers the resin. As the water rises up to Zoe's head, Matty steps out rather than watch. Zoe tells Mac that he did everything he could, and he says that she's the one who did it. She says that she wishes that they could have met in person, and Mac tells her that he would, too. He asks her what her favorite flavor of ice cream is, and they discover that they like the same flavor. The water completely fills the compartment, killing her.
Cassandra meets with her class and tells them that the ones who are there passed and they are now official spies. She tells them to say goodbye to their classmates because they'll never see them again due to security.
Jack takes the beaten Elwood to his apartment, and Elwood says that he's going to leave so Riley doesn't. He wants Jack to tell riley that he'll be back. Jack agrees and tells him that Elwood did the right thing but not the easy thing, and he'll make sure that Riley knows that.
Wilt and Leanna have sex, and afterward Leanna says that in two minutes they won't be allowed to see each other again. He's been considering ways around it because his instincts are telling him that he can't let her go. Leanna agrees but warns that if they're caught they'll lose their jobs. Wilt tells her that it'll be worth it and they kiss.
At home, Mac looks out over the city. Matty joins him and says that the Coast guard rescued the students. He tells her that he doesn't want to talk about it right now, and Matty agrees and stands with him.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 9, 2017