McMillan Man

**McMillan Man** is the third episode of Season 1 of *Patriot*. It aired on February 24th, 2017.

## Synopsis

Homicide Detective Agathe Albans arrives in Milwaukee to interview Dennis. John must make a desperate last minute push to remain on the travel team.

## Plot

On Thanksgiving evening of 2002 in Chicago, Leslie Claret attacks his son when he criticizes his addiction to cocaine. Later at his CEO job of his own piping firm, he is approached by the FBI. Now at a support group, he describes the joy of being on cocaine, but admits that his abuse of it led him to embezzle funds from his own company that he has run for decades, for which he is now standing trial, as well as the loss of his family's love and contact. He recalls sitting in a park that morning that he used to spend time with his son at, where he watched a child build an exceptional sand castle before stomping it back into grains. He wonders why humans do this to themselves, then sighs "I'm Leslie Claret, and I can't stop doing something that's harming me." At the end of his speech, he is first shown having smashed through a glass door while trying to run from the FBI, then being searched in prison, having lost his trial. Now 2004, he explains his recovery process to Lawrence Lacroix as he interviews for a job at McMillan, Lawrence impressed by his background prior to his arrest and his mother-in-law speaking highly of Leslie, but warning him that he will never go past a divisional management level so as to uphold the company's reputation. Leslie accepts this and is later shown sleeping in his car. In 2012, he drives to work and sees that John Tavner has parked in his spot for the first time.

Following the ending of "C-19", Agathe Albans apologizes to John after accidentally stepping in front of his car, neither of them knowing who the other is. He parks in Leslie's spot again as Leslie snarkily remarks to Peter Icabod how John seems drawn to the spot, only for John to realize where he is and hastily drive over the bumpers to the spot across from it, leaving Leslie disappointed but remembering that John still needs to complete the presentation with Denon. John watches Agathe walk away. In the elevator up to the office, Stephen Tchoo introduces himself to a stranger as "Eugene Chow" and is reprimanded by Ally O'Dhonaill. John hurries ahead of them and quickly erases "Eugene Chow" off Stephen's reminder notepad and changing it back to "Stephen Tchoo", revealing that he is actively trying to sabotage Stephen's recovery. He notices someone has etched the word "LIAR" into his desk, and he covers it with his hand just as Leslie tells him the meeting with Denon is at two. As he and Leslie agree to try and start their professional relationship over, John notices Agathe being led into the building by Lawrence and meeting Dennis McClaren. The two make eye contact for a second.

In a flashback to twenty-one hours earlier, Carlson Sohns drops dead from a fatal heart attack immediately after finishing his racquetball game with Tom Tavner. Thirty-five hours prior to that, Agathe instructs her team to search the Hotel Gerald's trash and find something that connects Dennis and Edgar Barros. After a brief disagreement over who takes the more disgusting trash is settled by a game of rock paper scissors, (during which Agathe wins all three rounds with paper each time) Sophie finds the piece of paper John wrote Barros' address on, giving Agathe valid cause to go to America. She stops in Chicago to collect her last piece of official documentation, where the INTERPOL agent escorting her admits that she is being purposely delayed. They play rock paper scissors for whether or not Agathe takes the document, which she again wins. Now back in the present, she makes eye contact with John at his desk. As Tom watches a press statement about the dangers of a nuclear Iran from Barack Obama, he gets a message through the mobile game *Words with Friends* from John informing him that Agathe has arrived. In a flashforward to 2017, Tom admits that despite trying to stop Iran, he almost ended up single-handedly arming them. About to leave for Luxembourg, Mahtma El-Mashad is warned not to break any of her religious and cultural restrictions.

Wanting to try an experimental procedure to test Stephen's recovery, Ally has a large piano installed to reference Stephen's favorite movie, *Big*, in hopes that him recreating the "Heart and Soul" sequence will help his mental state. Leslie agrees to help him and plays the first part, only for Stephen to play several incorrect notes and wander away. As Agathe leaves the building, she and John again make eye contact. Dennis tells John that Agathe has requested him for interview tomorrow, meaning that he will miss the duck hunt that McMillan does regularly. He encourages John to go, seeing as it may improve his standing with Leslie, despite John not wanting to shoot any birds. Leslie approaches him and reminds him that they have the Denon meeting in ten minutes. Alice Tavner examines the McMillan pen she took from Tom's office, deep in thought.

The Denon representatives are in awe of Leslie, aware of his reputation prior to his arrest, and John begins his presentation. He leads with the "patch handlers," only for the Denon team to reveal they do not use those, something John was not aware of. Now unprepared, he asks an infuriated Leslie to take over, who does but tells John he will not be on the next trip to Luxembourg. Tom updates Edward Tavner on the situation in Luxembourg and tells him his objective is to help John. Edward notes that Alice asked him what her husband really does for work, and points out that he himself doesn't really know. Tom reminds him of his pledged loyalty and tells him not to ask questions. Mashad arrives at the Alexandria airport.

Hanging out in Dennis' garage while Dennis himself exercises, John admits that he failed the Denon presentation and Dennis again suggests he goes on the duck hunt to try and get on Leslie's good side. John coaches Dennis on how to appear truthful in his upcoming interview and asks what stresses him, Dennis admitting that he is afraid of twins, only for his twin daughters to come down and inform him that dinner will be ready soon. Dennis convinces John to go by pointing out that he is terrible at piping, and hunting is the only way he can keep his standing at McMillan. When John asks if Leslie will be the one to fire him, Dennis states that Leslie has Lawrence step in to do the firings. John asks once more if Dennis has his cover story straight, and Dennis insists he does, because he knows it is important to John. At his apartment, John improvises the start of a song about not wanting to shoot ducks.

The next day at the hunt, John tries to partner up with Leslie, only to find that he is already with Icabod. He asks Icabod what his last name is, under the assumption that it is a nickname due to his gaunt appearance, only to find that "Icabod" is in fact his actual last name. Starting the interview back at McMillan, Dennis begins to succumb to numerous mannerisms that John instructed him to avoid. Out on the marsh, John has partnered with Gregory Gordon, who again asks him to get his paperwork fixed and offers him a beer. Agathe asks Dennis if he enjoyed Luxembourg, asking "you enjoyed being stabbed in the thigh?" when he says that he did. John offers Leslie a beer and tries to compliment his leadership skills, but is ignored. Dennis describes encountering and accidentally provoking a hooded figure that stabbed him. John overhears Leslie asking Lawrence to fire him, Lawrence assuring him that he will "give him the big talk in the little boat." When Agathe asks where Dennis was walking when he was stabbed, he claims he was out walking with John. Lawrence invites John to go hunting with him at the end of the hunt, and he reluctantly accepts.

Agathe asks where John was going, Dennis claiming he left to go prepare for a meeting before the stabbing. Agathe asks if he made any phone calls to anyone, Dennis stating he called his wife, whose name he momentarily forgets. For her last question, she has Dennis write Barros' address down and checks his handwriting against her sample, finding it not a match. Agathe explains that she came to America because of the murder, which she points out that Dennis should know about when he claims not to because of his recent subscription to the local newspaper. Dennis nervously bluffs it off and she thanks him for his cooperation, watching him fist pump as he walks away. Out on a boat, Lawrence explains to John that he is Canadian and married into his McMillan position, preferring to take a more passive approach and let people run their divisions as they see fit. He admits that he is attracted to McMillan worker Lori and is jealous of her mocking boyfriend Tim Spaniel, thinking that he could impress her if he came back with ducks, which he has never done before. He informs John that he brought him out to figure out why his time at McMillan did not work out, implying that he is about to be fired, and John grabs his gun and easily shoots down two ducks for Lawrence to claim as his own. He shows them off to Spaniel and Lori, who seem not to notice, and proclaims John a "McMillan Man", affirming that he is going to Luxembourg with them. On the ride back, John notices one of his ducks is still alive, which quietly distresses him.

Edward informs Efram that he will have to miss another one of their planned outings for his work and promises Carol he will call her, which she seems dismissive about. Ron visits John to give him the items he needs to get the money back—$170,000, several rolls of duct tape, and the upcoming broadcast times in Luxembourg for soccer games for featuring English team Jaywick Sands—and inflates his air mattress for him. Ron smugly asks if he was right about the Barroses knowing jiu-jitsu, incredibly satisfied with himself when he learns that he was. Charlie the therapy dog trots by as Ron watches him, mildly confused. Dennis meets John and Charlie at the bar and shows John the sample of his handwriting. John tells him he did a good job, and that he needs him to smuggle the $170,000 into Luxembourg the next day. After Dennis leaves, a waitress notes that Charlie is a HALT dog, or a dog trained to help victims of post-traumatic stress. She notes that whoever owns the dog truly needs him. Later at his apartment, John lays on his mattress and pets Charlie, deep in thought, and ultimately drives him back to Glenn Purdue's house.

Agathe is shown returning to Luxembourg.

## Cast

* Michael Dorman - John Tavner
* Kurtwood Smith - Leslie Claret
* Michael Chernus - Edward Tavner
* Kathleen Munroe - Alice Tavner
* Aliette Opheim - Agathe Albans
* Chris Conrad - Dennis McClaren
* Terry O'Quinn - Tom Tavner
* Gil Bellows - Lawrence Lacroix
* Marcus Toji - Stephen Tchoo
* Julian Richings - Peter Icabod
* Antoine McKay - Gregory Gordon
* Chastity Dotson - Carol
* Marika Engelhardt - Gayle
* Charlotte Arnold - Ally O'Dhonaill
* Lyon Daniels - Efram
* Mike O'Connell - Ron
* Zoe Schwartz - Sophie
* Sabina Zeynalova - Sandrine Gernsback
* Sylvie Sadarnac - Lucie Prum-Waltzing
* Jaclyn Hennell - Lori
* Jared Fernley - Tim Spaniel
* Karen Woditsch - Officer Childs
* Sadieh Rifai - Mahtma El-Mashad
* John Lister - Carlson Sohns
* Ty Olwin - First Young Denon Executive
* Wesley Daniel - Second Young Denon Executive
* Janice Hasegawa - Dolores
* Rammel Chan - Leslie's Son
* Lauren Delfs - Leslie's Daughter
* Preston Tate Jr. - Fourth Guy
* Hugh Callaly - Hugh
* Daniel Strauss - Counselor
* Brad Armacost - Man in Circle
* Kaylee Murdick - Dennis' Daughter #1
* Mackenzie Murdick - Dennis' Daughter #2