C-19

**C-19** is the second episode of Season 1 of *Patriot*. It aired on February 24th, 2017.

## Synopsis

With the situation mounting in Iran, getting back to Luxembourg looks grim as John struggles to adjust to life and work in Milwaukee, while a driven homicide detective begins to build her case.

## Plot

In Amsterdam, a man calls his ex-wife from his car to apologize for missing several alimony payments while a dozen CDs featuring himself and John Tavner on the cover, labeled "Thymens & Saperstein: Circles of Resonance" sit in the passenger seat. He reminisces about how they would go kayaking with their children, an old pink kayak shown strapped to the roof of the car, and begins to warn her about her unpaid phone bill, only for her voicemail to disconnect because of the unpaid account. He tries to start his car, only for it to stall and die, forcing him to carry the kayak across town. He tries to sell it to a man, but fails when he unsuccessfully tries to cover up a large crack in the side. Back in his dingy apartment, he watches a tutorial on YouTube about how to tie a noose while he ties one himself. The music on the radio he is listening to changes to a song featuring himself and John, and the man stops what he is doing and murmurs "John."

Tom Tavner visits his son in his temporary Milwaukee apartment, where they swap audio recorders, Tom noting how barren the apartment is and promising to get John a chair when he asks for one. Tom starts to say something, but John interrupts and correctly guesses that Tom was going to assure him not to worry about Agathe Albans, and instead to focus on getting back on the McMillan travel team and getting to Luxembourg before the Iranian physicist. Tom corrects him that the physicist's wife, Mahtma El-Mashad, will be the one retrieving it, and that John should take the time in between McMillan's next trip to cool off. Tom muses about Cantar Walley's disturbing prowess as an opponent, as he is a ruthlessly intelligent man that spent time in the U.S. in 1983, winning the Battleship World Championship in Cincinnati against adults, where he is shown beating a Spanish opponent in flashback. Tom asks what John needs to do to get back on the travel team, and he says he needs to prove his piping skills and stop irking Leslie Claret. In a McMillan restroom, Dennis McClaren approaches John and warns him that Agathe called and requested to interview him, John telling him to talk after work as Leslie enters and Dennis leaves. He informs John that, despite divisional parking having been moved to a new lot, John still parked in his spot, C-19. He warns him that he will fire him if he parks there again. Annoyed, he asks "are you a McMillan man?" and leaves, visibly dissatisfied, when John responds that he is. Jack Birdbath approaches him next, telling him to meet at the bar after work.

Ally O'Dhonaill addresses the division, informing that Stephen Tchoo is recovering from his "accident" and that he can perform logical tasks well, but will need assistance with minor physical functions and has a lower social awareness. She encourages everyone to be patient with him and Leslie wishes him luck, only for Ally to request that he address Stephen directly while looking right at him, which he does after an awkward moment. Stephen begins touching Leslie's chest, and Ally moves his hand away. Leslie informs John that he and Stephen will be working on the same tasks right next to each other so he can determine who is better at them, and Stephen moves a small desk next to John's and sets his laptop down, only to stare blankly, unable to figure out how to open it. In Luxembourg, homicide detective Sophie follows Edgar Barros to his address, while Agathe passes by a disheveled Asian woman with junk strapped to her back on the street. Tom plays racquetball with Carlson Sohns, a government friend of his, who informs him that he is delaying Agathe's paperwork to come to America and interview Dennis, as per Tom's request.

Agathe is confounded as to why she is not given permission to go overseas, having filled out all the proper requirements to be authorized. She goes back to rooting through Hotel Gerald trash with her all-female team while the male detectives watch and laugh amongst themselves. She tells one of them to stop leaving his things in their room as storage. Ally notices John has not opened Stephen's laptop and admonishes him, Stephen beginning to type efficiently as soon as she does. John closes it again when she leaves, revealing he has not started his own computer when he gets up and exits. John listens to Leslie giving a long, nonsensical example of how to pitch to Denon and is approached by HR worker Gregory Gordon, who informs him that he has ten digits in his registered social security number instead of nine. He walks past Ally and Stephen standing at the spot where Stephen was hit, trying to recover some memory. She asks if he remembers anything, and reminds him "don't say no, say not yet" when he says he does not. John sits down inside a pipe overlooking railroad tracks and begins muttering Leslie's talking points to himself. Walley is again shown in flashback, this time beating a Finnish opponent.

In Alexandria, Egypt, Al-Mashad is told to lift her *niqab* for a passport photo, having never flown before, and she does. The man from the opening kayaks through Antwerp, Belgium, his destination being Luxembourg. In Luxembourg, the Barros brothers go for a jog, while Agathe pulls an empty packet of Twizzlers out of the hotel trash. John listens to the recorder Tom gave him, revealing it to be from Alice Tavner, who tells John that she is working on an app that analyzes whether or not someone in traffic will thank the user for letting them pass. Leslie approaches him, annoyed that he has left work fifteen minutes early, and tells John that "I think maybe something else is wrong around here" when John blames his watch. Dennis approaches him next, asking to deal with the interview now. Alice visits Edward Tavner and asks what exactly her husband does for work, having never gotten a call from him on the job before. He changes the subject and asks if she knows why he is wearing his *Licensed to Ill* tracksuit, explaining that it is to honor the recent death of Adam Yauch and that John and Tom have always been able to play music, but he has always been the Tavner man who was only able to enjoy it. He reminisces about his father taking him to a Beastie Boys tour concert when Edward was eleven despite disliking their music, and the Beastie Boys ended up poking Tom with their giant inflatable penis replica throughout their set, Tom keeping his cool the entire time. He concludes that "even though we may be different from each other, I am a Tavner. And I'm not gonna talk about what John does." Alice asks if Edward would tell her if John wasn't okay, and Edward surrenders that John's work is extremely important, and that he is currently in a "normal, safe place."

At the bar, John assures Dennis that he won't need to interview and asks what a "McMillan man" is, Dennis explaining that involves piping, drinking beer, and being married. He assures John that he will help him with Leslie and leaves. Gregory approaches and asks if John has made any progress on his paperwork, which John has not. Birdbath approaches him and tells him "I need you to steal some shit from some Vietnam veterans later, and then some other stuff, two other things that are connected to that." John tells Birdbath to leave him alone, annoyed that he is interfering with his main concern, and Birdbath simply tells him "the pool at the Y in twenty minutes. And don't get all sentimental." John sneaks into a water aerobics class for the disabled and steals all the prosthetic legs there while their users are underwater. In a flashforward to February 3rd, 2017, Tom is taking a recorded deposition in D.C. about the events of May, 2012. He admits that he instigated almost accidentally paying for Iran to become nuclearly active.

John continues to mutter Leslie's talking points to himself as he drives to Birdbath's, snapping off a thick tree branch to attack him with and breaking into his house. Birdbath is waiting for him, armed with a baseball bat, warning him that he never sleeps and that he heard him faking his urine test with Dennis. He tells him to complete his other two tasks, or he will inform McMillan of John's deception. Birdbath instructs him on stealing Charlie, a therapy dog, from his police officer owner. Birdbath gives him a box to put in the evidence file related to his shooting, as he stands trial for it in two weeks. He further explains that the evidence room is guarded by ineffective cops, namely Glenn Purdue, a cop with post-traumatic stress disorder, (whose dog John stole) Jeff, a cop with a missing leg, (whose prosthetic John stole) and Bruce Cherish, a cop with dwarfism. John breaks into the station, forces a flashback on Purdue with an airhorn, shoves Cherish into a locker, and easily outruns Jeff after slipping the box into the file. Having finished his task, John rides through the Milwaukee streets on his bike, swerving through traffic and narrowly avoiding an accident several times. While he rides, he sings a song expressing regret over injuring Stephen and pity at how he may never laugh at something again, concluding that no one can properly love someone "if you don't get the joke." As he finishes the song, he is shown laying on his air mattress and staring at the ceiling, the mattress beginning to deflate as he starts to murmur Leslie's talking points again.

Sitting with Alice, Edward and Carol, Tom retells the Beastie Boys concert story, replacing "penis" with "pickle" because Efram is nearby. As he tells the story, Alice notices a McMillan pen on the coffee table and examines it. Tom notices a news report on Walley playing on the TV and asks for a moment alone, turning up the volume and learning that Walley has gained a surge of support from Iran's Assembly of Experts voicing their allegiance to him, making his total support double that of his opponent. Tom smashes his glass on the floor in anger. In 1983, Walley beats the Chinese finalist and enjoys the applause of the crowd. The Barros brothers continue their jog, while the man in the kayak passes through Brussels and Al-Mashad packs her suitcase.

The next day, Leslie waits in the parking lot with Peter Icabod for John to arrive, excited to fire him if he parks in C-19 again. Alice walks down the street listening to John's recording, his voice indistinct, and turns around with a shocked look on her face, walking in the opposite direction. Driving to work, John continues to mutter Leslie's points, then distracts himself by playing more of Alice's recording, where she has recorded herself snoring for him. He begins to smile as he arrives at the parking lot, only to slam on the brakes when Agathe walks in the path of his car.

## 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
* Tony Fitzpatrick - Jack Birdbath
* Mark Boone Jr. - Rob Saperstein
* Marcus Toji - Stephen Tchoo
* Julian Richings - Peter Icabod
* Antoine McKay - Gregory Gordon
* Hana Mae Lee - Numi Haruno
* Chastity Dotson - Carol
* Marika Englehardt - Gayle
* Charlotte Arnold - Ally O'Dhonaill
* Lyon Daniels - Efram
* John Lister - Carlson Sohns
* Ed Kross - Glen Purdue
* Zoe Schwartz - Sophie
* Sylvie Sadarnac - Lucie Prum-Waltzing
* Sabina Zeynalova - Sandrine Gernsback
* Matthew Lunt - Male Cop
* Karim Oyarzabal - Second Male Cop
* Jake Szczepaniak - Prospective Buyer
* Tayven Potdar - Young Cantar Walley
* Wai Yim - Chinese Opponent
* Ryan Czerwonko - Finnish Opponent
* Arturo Montemayor - Spanish Opponent
* Jaclyn Hennell - Lori
* Richard Evans - Policeman
* Sadieh Rifai - Mahtma El-Mashad
* Kim Wade - Water Aerobics Instructor
* Andre Luiz Leite - Plio Barros
* Salvador Gavina - Bruce Cherish