A blood-covered Frank drives down the road in his truck, and spots someone following him in the rearview mirror. A girl, Amy Bendix, is sitting in the passenger seat, also covered in blood. The pursuing car follows them and Frank swings around a corner. Another car pulls out and Frank brakes just in time. Three people get out of the front car and order Frank out at gunpoint. He fires a machine gun at them and then backs into the pursuing car.
Earlier
A band performs at Lola's Roadhouse, and Frank stands at the bar listening to the band. Amy steps to the bar and the bartender calls to Ringo, who looks at Amy and shrugs. The bartender Beth Quinn prepares Amy's drink, and Frank glances at Amy. Amy asks who he's looking at, calling him "Rough Road", and she stares at him. Frank asks if she's okay, and Amy insists that she is and walks away. Beth goes about her rounds, and Amy sits by herself scanning the crowd.
Frank goes to the restroom and comes back past Amy, and a man, Johnny, hits on Beth and invites her to have a drink with him. Beth isn't interested but Johnny grabs her arm. Frank tells Johnny to let her go, and he does so and calls Beth a skank. Frank calls him "classy", and Johnny comes over and jabs Frank in the chest with his finger. Frank finally grabs his finger, and Johnny breaks a bottle and swings it at Frank. Ringo knocks Johnny out from behind and tells Frank to leave, and Beth tells him that Frank was just trying to help.
After Ringo takes Johnny out, Frank tells Beth that she shouldn't have to deal with assholes and asks for another beer. She gives it to him on her and introduces herself, and then goes back to work.
Amy goes to a payphone and makes a call.
In a dark space, a bloody man named Sergi Konchevsky sits in on a chair. A well-dressed man, John Pilgrim, stands over him and asks who sent the prisoner from NYC. A phone rings and Pilgrim picks up a cell phone and turns it on. Amy asks for Konchevsky and says that she worked for Fiona and someone killed them all and Amy is the only one left. She says that whatever it is, someone killed them all for it. Konchevsky tells Amy to bring the photos to her and he'll keep her safe, and Amy says that she wants the photos and will hand over the photos and then they're done. She tells Konchevsky that she's in Michigan and tells him to be there the next night at Lola's and hangs up.
Pilgrim puts the phone on the floor and talks about Providence. He says that he didn't know about Amy and then she was brought to him, and Konchevsky asks Pilgrim to let him go like he promised. Pilgrim strangles him until he's dead, a pale imprint of a cross on his throat.
Beth talks to Frank, who says that he's staying a nearby hotel and came to check out the music. She flirts with him and Frank finishes his drink and starts to leave. Beth invites him to have another drink with her, and Frank says that he'd like that. After the roadhouse closes, Frank and Beth go over to her pickup truck. She asks Frank to promise that he's not an asshole, and he says that they can call it a night with no hard feelings. Beth tells him to get in her truck and they drive off. Amy goes to the motel and knocks at the door of a room. When there's no response, Amy picks the door lock and goes inside. She sits down on one of the beds and stares at the windows.
At Beth's place, Frank notices Beth's collection of guitars. She pours drinks and they share a toast, and then Beth picks up some toys on the floor. Frank asks if she has a son, and Beth admits that she has a child Rex and Beth's mother has him while she works at the bar. He tells her that her having a son doesn't bother him, and Beth says that Rex is the best thing that ever happened to her and his father isn't in the picture. Beth tells him that she doesn't make a habit of bringing men home and Frank says the same.
They end up in Beth's bedroom, kiss, undress, and have sex. Afterward, Beth notices Frank's scars and he says that he's had a rough road. They have sex again and the wedding ring on a chain around Frank's necklace swings between them. Once they're done, Beth asks about the ring and Frank says that he had a wife and kids, and someone killed them. They have sex a third time and snuggle afterward, and Beth tells Frank that she's not lonely with him. Frank confirms that he isn't either and they have sex again.
Later, Beth tells Frank that she's glad he came to the bar. Frank gives his real name instead of his alias, and admits that he did some stuff that could embarrass some powerful people so he's using a fake name. Beth wonders why he told him, and Frank says that he wants it to be honest. Frank says that he didn't have to tell her any of it and promises that her that his issues won't come to her. She looks at him and lies back down with him. Frank remembers his family and how he later fought Billy and beat him.
The next morning, Frank gets dressed and watches Beth sleep. He then leaves and Beth wakes up and hears him go. Rex is playing in the living room and Frank tells him that Beth is upstairs and he's her friend. Beth comes down and Rex asks her why Frank is there, and Beth said that Frank could stay with them. Frank speaks up, saying that he understands that it's Rex's house and he's protective. Rex complains that there's no cereal or orange juice, and Frank offers to take all three of them to breakfast. Beth objects but Frank overrides her and Rex tells him the local diner.
At the diner, the three of them eat and Beth says that she teaches music during the week. Rex says that Frank should stay over more often and wonders if they're getting married. They assure him that they're not, and Rex asks if they had sex. Frank talks about how his son liked to play hockey, and tells Rex that he doesn't get to see him the way he wants to. Rex talks about how his father doesn't really know him.
Frank and Beth drive to Frank's motel room and he tells her that Rex is a good kid. He says that he'll look her up if he comes back that way and they awkwardly hug as Rex watches from the cab. Beth suggests that Frank come to the bar again that night, tells him to take care, and drives off. Frank goes to his motel room and Amy wakes up as he slams his door. Amy is in the room down the walk, and she quickly leaves as the maid comes in. She bumps into Frank and asks if he's following her, and walks away. Frank gets into his van and gets in.
That night at the bar, the band is playing to a packed house. Beth is behind the bar again, and Amy comes in and grabs the same seat as the night before so she can watch the front entrance.
Frank pulls up to a red light and doesn't move it when it turns green. After a moment he turns back the way he came and drives to the roadhouse. He goes over to Beth at the bar and claims that he came back for the music. Frank finally says that he got two hours down the road and then came back, and Beth gives him a beer.
Amy chews her nails and waits. Several pairs of new arrivals come in, and a woman catches Frank's eye as she checks faces. Beth asks Frank if he's okay, and he says that he is. The woman claps along with the rest of the audience and looks around, and Amy tries to leave when she spots her and bumps into a man. The man hits on her, and Amy tries to knock him away, catching the newcomers' attention. Amy goes into the restroom and ducks into a stall, and then climbs out the window to the alley outside. She gets stuck, and the woman grabs her and drags her back, punching while another female newcomer looks on.
Frank pretends to be drunk and staggers up to the women's restroom. One of the newcomers, Eddie, is on guard and tells Frank to go home. Inside, Amy draws a knife on the two women. When she screams, Frank head-butts the guard and barges in. Eddie recovers and draws a gun, and one woman reminds him to take no shots. He and the woman draw knives, and Frank pulls his belt off and wraps it around his arm. They fight and the second woman comes at him. Frank finally knocks Eddie out, and the two women come at him. He takes down one and stabs the other one in the shoulder with her own knife. When the first woman recovers and comes at Frank, Amy knocks her out from behind. Frank tells Amy to stay and explain, and she feigns ignorance. He warns that there's more of them out there, and asks her again who the newcomers are. Amy asks if he's going to leave her for the newcomers.
In the main room, the band finishes performing. Frank takes Amy out and spots one newcomer operator checking the gun under his jacket. When Frank leaves Amy on her own, one of the operator grabs her and Frank attacks the guy. A bystander tries to get involved, and Frank knocks him back and fights the operator. When another operator comes at Frank from behind, Ringo grabs him and drives him back. A third operator grabs Frank from behind, and a female operator stabs Ringo in the side. Another operator grabs Amy, who fights back, and Ringo knocks out his attacker. Frank takes out his opponent and attacks Amy's, while Beth grabs a sawed-off shotgun.
One of the operators shoots at Frank but hits a bystander, and Ringo breaks the shooter's neck. Frank kills his man, while another operator shoots Ringo repeatedly. She aims at Frank but shoots at Beth when Beth draws a bead on her with the shotgun. They both shoot and Beth falls down behind the bar, and the last two operators shoot at Frank. Frank takes them down with Beth's shotgun, but they clip him as they go down. Once he's the last person standing, Frank finds Amy at the bar and Beth on the floor, bleeding out.
Frank gets Amy and Beth out of the bar and drives through town. A pursuing car follows them and Frank swings around a corner. Another car pulls out and Frank brakes just in time. Three people get out of the front car and order Frank out at gunpoint. He fires a machine gun at them and then backs into the pursuing car. Amy tries to sneak away but Frank grabs her and throws her back into the van, and he drives off to the hospital. Frank arrives at the ER and tells the EMTs to help Beth. One of them tells Frank not to leave the scene and takes her inside. Amy asks what now, and Frank gets back into the van.
Pilgrim finds Frank's ring necklace on the floor and studies the inscription inside with Frank and Maria's names. Lieutenant Ferrara comes in and complains that it isn't what he signed up for, and Pilgrim tells him to find Amy and whoever is protecting her, and it will lead them to who they're looking for. Ferrara says that it's gotten too messy, and Pilgrim tells him to dismiss it as a turf war and orders him to go. One of the operators, Marlena Olin, finds Amy's backpack that she dropped trying to escape. There's a laptop inside, and Pilgrim just walks away. They find Pilgrim's tech, who brings up the roadhouse's surveillance footage. It shows Frank taking down Pilgrim's men, and Marlena says that he's as good as any she's seen. Pilgrim figures that Frank is good enough that he'll be easy to find.
The next morning, Dinah checks Billy, who is in a hospital bed wearing a skull mask to cover his face and is in a straitjacket. The guards let Dinah out, and inside the room Billy wakes up and stares off into space.
Frank drives through the night and realizes that his necklace is missing. Amy asks if there will be more of them, and Frank says that he hopes so as they continue on.
Written by Gadfly on Jan 20, 2019