At All Costs: The Conrad Costas Chronicles

Grey and Dex travel to LA for a case

**At All Costs: The Conrad Costas Chronicles** is the sixteenth episode of the first season and the 16th overall episode of **Stumptown**.

## Short Summary

Dex and Grey venture to Los Angeles to help a client who believes her Hollywood script has been plagiarized by a former classmate. Reluctantly, Grey leaves Ansel and Tookie in charge of The Bad Alibi, and against his wishes, Tookie hosts a birthday party at the bar. Panic sets in when they discover a valuable is missing.

## Full Summary

A Molotov cocktail flies through the window of house where Dex and Grey are sitting. They start to panic and Grey throws his beer at it before they run out.

Outside, as the firefighters put out the flames, Grey says he was wrong about things not being able to get worse. Dex comments on being able to see the Hollywood sign, but Grey still thinks LA sucks.

**Four Days Earlier**

Tookie tells Grey he's open to any of Grey's ideas about the menu. On the flip side, he wants to make his own suggestions for Bad Alibi. Grey tells him to go ahead, except "event hosting." Tookie is stunned. Grey says events close the place to the public and they need to be open to the public.

Camille Costas shows Dex a manual she wrote. That's how she pays the bills, but she's actually there about a script she wrote, "At All Costs," about the life of Conrad Costas, her uncle. It's filming right now without her consent or payment. It was stolen. She shows Dex printouts which report on the filming of "The Conrad Costas Chronicles." It says "Jim Force" wrote it. Camille knew him in high school as Chuck Drakner. Camille goes on to explain that her uncle was an honest cop in a dirty station house in Cleveland. That's why she adapted his story for the screen. Then she sent it to Jim Force, who slammed it. Now he's pretending he wrote it and it's being made. Camille doesn't have money for a lawyer. She wants Dex to get the script to compare it to hers. Dex doesn't think it'll be too hard, then she learns she'll have to go to LA to do it. She says she can't go to LA. It's complicated. Camille pleads with her, saying if she died tomorrow, she'd disappear. She just wants to take her shot to prove she was here. Dex says she'll think about it and get back to her.

Grey wants Dex to go to LA, because there's a car he wants to buy in LA. Someone's selling the kind of car his father had when he was a kid. He loved the car. He learned to drive in it and almost lost his virginity it. Kammie Lerner. She was something, but she spilled wine in the front seat and that killed the mood for him. Grey says LA's a great town. He lived there for almost a year, following a girl around. Grey offers to show Dex around there. She says she can't just leave and neither can Grey. Tookie tells her the bar is covered and Ansel is covered. Grey asks him if he'd throw a party while they were gone and he denies it. He says he wouldn't. Grey agrees to go, because he really wants the car and asks Dex.

Dex pulls down an old letter and checks the address on the envelope. She then reads the letter, which is from "Miri" and says her parents are safe and offers to be there if she needs anything. Dex remembers being a little girl and running into the arms of a young woman. Ansel interrupts her musing to ask what it is. She says it's nothing. He's home to get cash for a new video game.

Dex and Grey are stuck in traffic in LA. They drove because it's cheaper and she needs to make a profit. He's happy to be in LA, but she isn't. Grey promises she'll love it.

Miles tastes one of Tookie's tacos and loves it. Tookie is ready to take the order, but there's a problem with Miles' venue. He's been calling around to find a replacement. Tookie offers to host at the Bad Alibi. Grey's hesitant because it's his mom's 70th birthday. It's a chance for him to mend fences a little. His dad's out of town, so it's falling on him. Tookie says he can handle it, but Miles is still hesitant and wants to keep calling around.

Grey and Dex have arrived at the place they're staying. They hear yelling through the walls, which Grey knows is just an actor recording an audition. She's ready to go see Jim Force. Before she leaves, he asks if there's anything she wants to talk about. She denies it and leaves.

Jim Force tells Dex he's busy, but knows she has a script she's working on. She says she wants his help polishing it. He says it'll be $1,000/month. It's a lot, but he's in demand. Plus he has a script in production. His phone rings with a production question. Dex looks around and asks him where his script is. He says he can't share it until they wrap, so people won't give away the ending, even though it's based on true events. She tries to cover for her interest, saying most scripts don't get made and it'll give her something to aspire to.

Dex tells Grey the meeting was a bust. Grey has finished reading Camille's script and says it's terrible. Dex asks for Grey for help. He says to get a shooting script, she'll have to get on set. He can get her on set. He asks her again what's wrong with her. She denies it again, but he saw the letter and wants to know what it is. She says it might be a way to find her parents.

She tells Grey the letter's from her aunt Maribel, her mom's older sister. She came home from Afghanistan and they were gone. The first person she went to was Maribel, but Maribel was gone as well. She assumed they'd run away together. Then five years ago, she got the letter. She wasn't ready to deal with it then. Now she might be ready to look her up. Grey thinks she should do it. Grey's taking her to a casting agency that does extra. They can get Dex on any set in town. Once she's on set, she has to find the script supervisor, who will have a whole production draft. She just has to steal that.

Miles has called Tookie to book Bad Alibi for the party. Ansel reminds him that Grey said no, but Tookie thinks it'll be all right.

"Conrad Costas" is accusing another cop when he calls for a line. The actor then asks to back it up. A lightbulb bursts and someone calls for a cut. Dex sees the script supervisor leave her seat and goes to look at her script. She turns away when she sees Jim Force walking through the set. After he's gone, she goes again, but Freddie calls her to him. He asks her to run lines with him. He's a bit rusty. He was in a movie Dex knows of nine years ago. In the meantime, he's been using cocaine and been in rehab. He apologizes for snapping at her and says he's just trying to make his comeback. She starts to run lines with him.

Grey looks at a picture of himself and his father in front of the car as the car pulls up.

Grey looks over the car as the owner talks about it. He got it off the original owner about ten years ago. Grey sees a stain on the front seat, which he says was there when he got it. Grey learns that the car is his father's exact car.

Freddie is still struggling with his lines. He calls for another break and they cut. The second AD tips Dex off that there are buffalo wings at crafty, which she then tells to the script supervisor to get her away from her script. Once she's gone, Dex picks up her script and walks away with it.

Randy Huffernan pokes his head into the office and asks if this is Events by Tookie. He's the entertainment and needs a place to change.

Outside at the bar, Miles disagrees with his cousin, Kenny, on how much his mother will enjoy the entertainment. He's not amused that Kenny got a wino-gram that might be an actual wino. Kenny admits he might have haggled too far. After he's gone, Tookie approaches. Then his wife, Laura Alvarez, drops off some supplies he request. Tookie introduces her to Miles. Laura then goes to leave. Tookie notices that she's pretty dressed up for a book club. She says it was the only thing clean and says she'll be home late. After she's gone, a glass shatters. Tookie mentions the cost of that. Miles wants to talk about the invoice, but Tookie says everything's standard pricing. Miles asks his mom how her birthday is and she says she's having a wonderful time. They notice Randy up on a table, ready to perform. He goes to start, but has technical difficulties. Then he falls off the table.

Dex tells Camille her script is identical to the shooting script. He ripped her off. Camille asks how to get them to comply, but Dex says she doesn't know. Camille's excited about the possibility. They hang up as Grey comes in. He starts packing and explains to Dex that it was his father's car. He's upset that his father is in LA. He wants to go back to Portland. He and Dex argue about talking to their individual family members. She says it's his chance to get closure with his father. Grey makes a deal for him to go see his dad if she goes to see Maribel. Dex says he has to go first because she has a deal to negotiate.

Dex is negotiating with Jim Force and Jared Mendleton, the producer of the film. Dex lays out the terms to avoid having the set shut down. They have 24 hours or she'll shut them down. Jim says she can't take it away from him when he's so close, but she reminds him that he stole it.

Grey pulls up outside his father's house. He goes to the door and a little kid answers. He learns that that kid is his father's other son. His father then comes to the door and is surprised to see him.

Mike asks Grey how he is. Grey's surprised to see him doing so well, as he expected him to live in a dump. Grey's mother has also remarried and living in Kansas City. Grey tells him about the bar. Mike says he stopped drinking. Grey says he did everything Mike taught him and by the time he realized it was crap, he was in jail. Mike knows he was a bad father. Grey's upset that Mike never reached out. Mike's new wife and son come into the room and Mike introduces them. They are happy to meet him, but have to leave for Mikey's baseball practice. Grey looks around at all the photos and doesn't see any of him, like he never existed. Mike says he doesn't have any. Grey takes the one out of his pocket and says now he does. He puts it on the mantle. Mike grabs it and says he remembers that day. It was a great day. He apologizes to Grey for everything. Grey says he's sorry, too, and leaves.

Tookie tells Ansel they made five times normal receipts. Grey will be thrilled. Ansel then comes in and says Grey's gun is gone.

In the office, Tookie reads the plaque where the gun normally rests. It's his great-great-grandfather, Jacob McConnell's, gun, from the Civil War. It was appraised for $22,000.

Dex asks Grey if he's glad he did it. Grey says maybe someday, but now he just feels robbed. Mike's not the same guy anymore. The more he hates him, the more he sees himself in Mike. Dex starts to talk about how she takes more after her mom. She was a tough woman, but she couldn't watch movies where animals or robots were being mistreated. Neither can Dex. She gets angry when she thinks about them leave. Grey says he doesn't think things could get much worse. Then the Molotov cocktail comes in through the window. They briefly try to put it out, before fleeing the building.

Dex gave the police the names of Jim Force and Jared Mendleton and they said they'd look into it. Grey says he's done with LA now. He wants to go home, but Dex can't because she didn't get Camille's deal. She has an idea to flush out the suspects, but she needs Grey's help.

Grey enters the film lot and starts spreading information about what happened to Dex, making it seem like she has video of the bomber. When he goes into hair and makeup, he stops the artist from shaving his beard and says he quits.

Tookie reports the missing gun to Miles. Miles is upset that Tookie thinks someone in Miles' family took it. He's trying to heal a wound in his family and can't accuse someone of theft. Tookie says he just needs Miles' help. Miles says he'll look into it.

Dex is at The Roosevelt for the sting. Grey is at the bar nearby. Suddenly, Freddie walks in and walks toward Dex. He's surprised to see that it's her. He wants the footage she has. He threatens her with a gun.

At the bar, Grey calls the police.

Dex tries to talk Freddie down. Freddie says she doesn't know what it's like to be loved like that and then forgotten. Dex says it must hurt. Freddie just wants people to see him. He then realizes he can't salvage it. He apologizes to her. He hands her the gun, saying it's just a prop. She says she won't tell the police about it. Grey sends the police over to the booth.

Freddie is arrested and taken out to a cop car as paparazzi photograph him. Dex says she feels sorry for him. He just didn't want to be forgotten. Grey says no one does.

Tookie calls Grey and admits to the gun being missing. Grey says he put it in a safe in his loft. He knew Tookie would have a party and didn't want it stolen. He says they'll talk about it when he gets home. Tookie hangs up the phone and tells Miles that's crazy.

Dex has made a deal. The movie's already been recast. The last thing is the title. Camille wants her title back. Jim says the can find a compromise. They shake hands and Dex is ready to go back to Portland. Grey says not quite.

Grey pulls out outside Maribel's place. He offers to go in with her, but she declines.

Dex finds Maribel sitting on the front porch. She quickly realizes Maribel thinks she's her mother. She doesn't have any information about where Dex's parents went, but Dex says she'll sit a while with her.

As she and Grey sit on the beach, Dex gets final news on the compromised title for the movie. They talk about the things they learned on the trip. Dex says it would have been nice to get the Hollywood ending, but Grey says that doesn't exist.

The camera pans out to reveal that Grey bought the car.

## Cast

* Dex Parios
* Grey McConnell
* Ansel Parios
* Tookie Alvarez
* Miles Hoffman
* Michael McConnell
* Chuck Drakner/Jim Force
* Camille Costas
* Jared Mendleton
* Maribel
* Freddie
* Laura Alvarez
* Octavia Hoffman
* Kenny
* Randy Huffernan
* Todd
* Makeup Artist
* Darlene McConnell
* Young Maribel
* Michael McConnell, Jr.
* Second AD
1/21
### Main Cast

* Cobie Smulders as Dex Parios
* Jake Johnson as Grey McConnell
* Tantoo Cardinal as Sue Lynn Blackbird (credit only)
* Cole Sibus as Ansel Parios
* Adrian Martinez as Tookie Alvarez
* Camryn Manheim as Lieutenant Bobby Cosgrove (credit only)
* Michael Ealy as Detective Miles Hoffman

### Guest Stars

* Matt Craven as Michael McConnell
* Curtis Armstrong as Chuck Drakner/Jim Force
* Mary Passeri as Camille Costas
* Jon Abrahams as Jared Mendleton
* Judy Jean Berns as Maribel
* Alex Carter as Freddie
* Patricia De Leon as Laura Alvarez
* Denise Dowse as Octavia Hoffman

### Co-Starring

* Herve Ambwa as Kenny
* Nathan Barnatt as Randy Huffernan
* Mercer Boffey as Todd
* Billy Bungeroth as Makeup Artist
* Josie Davis as Darlene McConnell
* Beth Fraser as Young Maribel
* Callum Joyce as Mikey Junior
* Kelly Tittle as Second AD

## Notes and Trivia

* This episode scored 2.23 million viewers.