Musa Qala

Season 1, Episode 3

## Image Gallery

**Musa Qala** is the third episode of the first season of USA Network's *Shooter*. It aired on November 29, 2016, at 10/9c.

## Summary

Bob Lee reaches out to Nadine as he evades his pursuers, putting her on to the cop who took credit for his capture. Isaac juggles his double life as he tries to find Bob Lee.

## Plot

Bob Lee enters a convenience store and puts on a hat from a rack as he gathers supplies. The owner asks to scan his hat as he goes to the counter, and becomes suspicious when she sees his face. She hands him the hat and goes into the back room to call the police, but he follows her and prevents the call. Her husband, Leo, rounds a corner with a shotgun and threatens to shoot, but Bob Lee talks him down long enough to take his gun and exit the store.

Isaac receives a phone call from Bob Lee as he walks to his car. Bob Lee watches through his rifle's scope from a distance as they talk, and Isaac compliments his escape. He refuses to answer Bob Lee's question of who he works for, and is told that he's only alive because Bob Lee's family is safe. Isaac tells him it won't end well, and Bob Lee shoots the phone out of his hand.

At the FBI, Utey introduces Isaac to his task force and says his past experiences with Bob Lee give him unique qualifications. He lets Isaac speak, who gives a different account of the phone call he received from Bob Lee, saying that he exhibited extreme paranoia. Isaac tells them that his real kill count is close to 390, much more than the official number of 210. Bob Lee sneaks into his shed and gathers weapons, then goes into the forest to train. In a garage, Isaac briefs a small group on the situation, including Payne. He tells them that Bob Lee's weakness is his family, and that they will use them as bait if the chase continues for much longer.

Julie comforts Mary, who is in a bad mood because of her father's absence. On her way to the store to pick up food, she receives a call from Bob Lee, which is picked up by the FBI and Isaac. They are unable to track the call, and two FBI agents follow Julie around inside the store. Someone bumps into her, causing her to spill coffee on herself, and she goes to the restroom, where Bob Lee waits for her. They embrace excitedly, and Bob Lee tells her not to mention Isaac's name to anyone in order to keep her and Mary safe. Isaac and the FBI attempt to find the location from which the call was made as they talk, and they find that the call was made from inside the store. Julie tells him that she trusts Nadine, and he tells her to tell Nadine that Timmons was never at the scene of the shooting as he was reported to be. He tells her to tell Mary to remember Musa Qala before exiting the store in time to avoid the FBI. Outside, he steals a gun and radio from an officer after cuffing him to a pipe, then leaves on his motorcycle.

Julie is interrogated by Isaac, who asks where Bob Lee went after leaving the store. She refuses to answer, and is released. Nadine catches up to her in an elevator, which has cameras that do not record audio. Julie tells Nadine that Timmons is "no hero" before leaving the elevator. Elsewhere, Bob Lee makes a phone call, and a Russian woman answers the phone. He asks to speak to Kasper, says that Rosovich gave him the number, and introduces himself. The woman reveals herself to be Kasper, and he asks what it would take for her to move his family out of the country. She asks for $100,000.

Nadine enters Utey's office and tells him that she believes Bob Lee just sent her a message via Julie, and says that they should look into Timmons. He gives her the green light, but tells her that no matter what she finds, she is to tell Julie that she needs to meet with Bob Lee personally. He compliments her on the idea to get Julie to trust her. Payne enters Isaac's car after leaving a meeting with Meachum, and tells him that the Russians are worried about a missing piece of evidence thought to have been held by Voydian. He tells Payne that all he had were Ordenko's newspaper articles. Payne says that though he missed the chance to kill Bob Lee twice, Meachum is beginning to see it as Isaac's fault for picking Bob Lee in the first place.

In a bar, Timmons is bragging to others about his heroic discovery of Bob Lee when he is approached by Nadine, who hides the fact that she's an agent of the FBI by pretending to be interested in him. She asks him questions in order to hear his lies, and reveals herself as an agent after calling him out. He tries to dismiss her, but she says she can help if he's being used. He tells her what she did was stupid, then leaves.

A disguised Bob Lee enters a VA hospital, seeking a friend. He enters the office of "Big" Ron Perkins, who does not greet him warmly. He claims that war messes people up and asks if Bob Lee knows how many veterans commit suicide every day because of how messed up society views them as. Bob Lee asks for something from Perkins, who declines and gives him a five-minute head start before he calls the police. Bob Lee tells him the number of vets who commit suicide every day: 22. As Bob Lee exits, an officer takes suspicion of him and two others rush to the entrance. Outside, Perkins approaches him with a package, which contains an unknown item with a serial number matching Bob Lee's VA record. After the police block entry and exit from the hospital, he attempts to divert suspicion from himself by entering the property on his motorcycle and being turned away.

Utey asks Nadine if Bob Lee was captured at the hospital, but she confirms his escape before she receives a phone call from him. He asks if she talked to Timmons, and when she tells him that she needs more or for him to come in, he hangs up. Utey tells her to continue working with him and forget about Timmons.

Payne has Timmons constrained by a brace and asks him what he told Nadine, and he says he didn't tell her anything. The brace is revealed to be a machine rigged to stage a suicide, with Timmons holding a gun to his head against his will. Payne tells him that he's suspected by Nadine because of his constant bragging about the incident, and that they have no choice but to kill him now. Timmons says nobody will believe that he killed himself, but Payne says that his history of being an drunken, abusive cop with a history of depression proves otherwise. A man in a plastic poncho pulls a cord, causing Timmons to pull the trigger, putting his brains on the wall beside him.

Nadine enters her house while talking on the phone, and ends the call before finding Bob Lee in her living room. He asks for her help and tells her that Timmons was murdered, and that he found the body. She tells him that he should come in for protection, but he is adamant about finding the shooter. He reveals that he knows of Ordenko, who has not been heard of since the day of the assassination, and says that the Ukrainian president was killed as a result of a joint effort by Russia and members of the U.S. government. She dismisses his claims as non-credible, but he tells her that he's living proof before putting one of her hidden guns down and leaving.

In the woods, Bob Lee kills a deer. He then cuts his hair and begins construction of an explosive device. He looks at the package from Perkins. Nadine approaches Isaac regarding Ordenko and attempts to get contact information, but he provides none. Utey asks for updates on Bob Lee, but she has none. Bob Lee enters a convenience store, is recognized when he buys a drink, and rides away. Utey is alerted to his location on Mt. Baker and prepares a squad to move out and intercept him. Isaac says he has a better way, and calls for Payne to take care of it. He sits in a church, holding a flash drive, and asks if Isaac has ever been to a church before requesting coordinates and hiding the drive on the underside of a pew.

Isaac enters Anna's house without permission, and Julie tells him to leave. He claims that he's trying to save Bob Lee's life, but she tells him they both know the truth and he threatens to arrest her and have Mary taken away if she doesn't tell him where Bob Lee can be found on Mt. Baker. She says that Bob Lee had a friend a long time ago who told him he could use his cabin whenever he needed.

Payne arrives at the cabin, leaves, and calls Isaac to tell him that Bob Lee is in the woods around it. Isaac and an FBI convoy arrive at the cabin. Agents infiltrate the cabin and clear the way for Isaac, Nadine, and Utey. Once they're inside, Bob Lee shoots around them to get them on the ground. Isaac grabs a rifle from the wall and attempts to cover them. He shoots at Bob Lee, and his bullet causes a large explosion. They go to the site of the explosion to find his belongings and scattered viscera surrounding it, Bob Lee seemingly dead. Isaac is handed a bag containing a titanium hip, as well as hair and skull fragments. Utey congratulates him.

Julie watches a news broadcast while in bed with Mary, which says that Bob Lee has been killed during the shootout. Mary asks if he is dead, and Julie tells her that they have to continue believing in him, then asks if she remembers the story about Musa Qala. Mary says that's the mission where he saved Isaac's life. Julie says Bob Lee wanted her to remember that story, and she tells Julie, "Saving Isaac wasn't the best part; Daddy had to be a ghost."

Isaac orders everything from the cabin to be bagged, and Nadine finds a board full of newspaper articles and notes regarding Bob Lee, two of the notes mentioning Karlyna Ordenko and many of the articles having been written by her. Isaac watches as she reads, then goes outside and looks into the woods. While alone inside, Nadine receives a phone call from Bob Lee, telling her that he's trusting her with her life and that she can either tell everyone he's alive or she can trust her gut and let him figure everything out. She tells him that trusting her gut got someone killed, and he tells her that the good news is that he's already dead.

## Trivia

* The episode's title is the name of a city in Afghanistan, where a mission took place in which Bob Lee saved Isaac's life.

 **Season 3** | "Backroads" • "Red Meat" • "Sins of the Father" • "The Importance of Service" • "A Call to Arms" • "Lines Crossed" • "Swing Vote" •"The Red Badge" • "Alpha Dog" • "Orientation Day" • "Family Fire" • "Patron Saint" • "Red Light"