John Weir

**Johnathan "John" Weir** is a character on the Paramount+ series *Rabbit Hole*. He is portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland and also by Graham Harvey in flashbacks of the character as a child and Landon Freeman when he was even younger. He is divorced from his wife, Olivia "Liv" "Bonen and has a son, Sam.

John Weir is a brilliant tactician in the world of private espionage. Manipulating people and markets for the benefit of his clients is not just business, it's personal. Weir has made it his life's work to exploit the system that he blames for his father’s suicide. But being adept at gaming scenarios and distrusting everyone’s motives has left him with a very lonely existence. When a job goes awry and he becomes the target of mysterious forces beyond his control, Weir will stop at nothing to uncover the truth.

## Personality and traits

John Weir is an exceptional individual who is incredibly smart. He is also very secretive, not wanting anyone to know anything about him if possible. He is very well-suited to his job and his brain works in a different way from other people. He witnessed the suicide of his father at a young age and this has shaped him into the man he is. He has never been able to have a stable relationship and has trust issues. He has a tic of rapidly tapping a finger, which he describes as "body-focused self-soothing." When something does not make sense to John, he will start envisioning every possibility in great detail, what he calls the "rabbit hole."

## History

### Early childhood

As a young boy, John witnessed the suicide of his father, Ben. The incident left him greatly disturbed. He began getting into fights at school and kept sneaking back home even though his mother, Claire had moved them away. Eventually, feeling she had no other recourse, his mother sent him to a boarding school.

At boarding school, John met a fellow student named Miles Valence who was very good at math. The two became friends and John asked Miles for his help in cracking a safe inside the old family home, one he believed to contain secrets held by his father. The two eventually crack it and discover a set of documents, including a treatise by Ben called *The Algorithms of Control*. They eventually use the materials to form a company which specializes in helping businesses get a leg-up on their competitors by using psychological manipulation. At some point, John's mother drinks herself to death.

### The plan

John's childhood leaves him a wreck, unable to properly trust anyone or have lasting relationships. He does briefly marry and father a son, but the marriage ends in divorce. One day, following work, John comes home to find that someone has unexpectedly entered his flat. The man claims to be his own father. John is horrified and doubting, but the man tells him that he had no choice but to fake his suicide, given the people that were after him. John witnessing the apparent suicide was not part of the plan, but by the time he realized what had happened, it was already too late to go back on it. He tells John that he needs his help, that he's the only person that he can turn to, but he just shouts at him to get out.

John goes to Valence. The two of them agree that there's no way that the man's claims can be true. Besides John having witnessed his father's suicide, the claims made by the man, such as a man named Crowley having plans for a new world order, are absurd. Nevertheless, they are are forced to accept his words as being true when his prediction regarding a terrorist attack staged by the Russians comes true.

In order to bring down Crowley, John, Valence and Ben create an elaborate plan that involves splitting John and Valence's company into two companies and them seemingly going their separate ways, with Valence becoming the head of the new, larger company, Arda Analytics. The idea is get Crowley to target the new company, while John remains in the shadows.

### The Hailey question

Crowley orchestrates an op to kill Edward Homm, a high-ranking official in the U.S. Treasury Department. John secretly modifies the op to kidnap Homm instead, but Crowley nevertheless frames him for Homm's supposed death. His intern plant, Kyle, also kills the members of John's team, but John believes them to secretly still be alive and having secretly faked their deaths. Piling on to this, John has a one-night stand with a woman named Hailey Winton, believing her to be a plant of the FBI agent Josephine Madi, who is constantly investigating his operations. However, things become confusing when Hailey reveals that she discovered his profile on a dating app, something which he doesn't understand, as he does not use dating apps. Before they can continue to the conversation, however, a headline appears on an overhead monitor, revealing John as being a suspect in the murder of Edward Homm. Hailey punches him in the neck, getting away. She shouts for the cops, but he manages to evade pursuit.

John goes to his own office, only to be greeted by a massive explosion. He then goes to the offices of Arda Analytics, asking his friend Miles Valence just what is going. Miles tells him that he shouldn't be there, but John tells him that everything is messed up. Miles tells him that the plan is still on track, that nothing is changed. He then gets a call and steps out onto a balcony. John then spots a message on Miles's computer - "Do it now." He watches in horror as Miles climbs a stairway and seemingly jumps to his death. He then returns to childhood home, where Edward Homm is strapped to a chair.

Later, John sits in his car, listening to a news report about now being wanted in connection with two deaths. He watches the woman from before, Hailey Winton, checking out of her workplace. He takes a call from his ex-wife, Liv, telling him that their son, Sam, is scared about what he's seeing on the news reports. He tells her that nobody was supposed to die and he's trying to put things together. He then watches as Hailey leaves the building, accompanied by a man and a woman It becomes clear that the two are attempting to take Hailey away somewhere, despite apparently not being police. John then stages a public scene, declaring to a gathering crowd that the men are arresting Hailey despite her having done nothing wrong. He asks Hailey if she's ready, then shouts that there's a gun and Hailey attacks the two and they get away. Hailey asks who the two were, but John tells her to drop the act, asking just who she is and who she is with. He calls it suspicious that a "social justice warrior" like her knows martial arts, but she tells him that she's the shady one, that he murders people. He replies that he hasn't murdered anyone and suggests that she could be thankful to him for saving her life.

Hailey thanks John, but tells him that what he did was a little racist, by using people's assumptions about black people and the police to manipulate the crowd. Pushed to his limit, he asks her "Blindfold or trunk?" holding up a blindfold and telling her that he can't have her seeing where he's going. The two eventually pull up in front of an old house, John's family home. He goes to the trunk and opens it, revealing a blindfolded Hailey. She curses at him and he tells her that he gave her two choices, but that she wouldn't choose, so he went with both. She asks where they are and he tells her that it doesn't matter, that they'll be leaving soon enough. He takes a hammer to a wall and extracts something from it.

John tells Hailey that the camera in their hotel room tells him one of two things: that she's either making things up or that someone is watching her. She dismisses this as being proof, pointing out that somebody could have just wanted to see their naked bodies. He tells her that this doesn't explain the fact that he doesn't use dating apps, so there never should have been a profile of him for her to find to begin with. She points out that if he didn't make the account, then somebody else must have. They then discover that the account was made by one of John's co-workers, which doesn't make sense to him at all. She suggests that he just ask him why he made the account, but John tells her he can't. She says that it's because he's lonely, that it's the one thing she's more likely to believe than him being a psycho murderer. He tells her he's not some psychotic killer and, just then, the door before them opens, revealing a tied-up, blindfolded Edward Homm. Hailey asks John if this isn't the guy he killed and he tells her he actually saved his life, not that he believes him.

John once again blindfolds Hailey and places her in the trunk. He drives for a while and tells her that a mile and half up, there's a mini-mart with, surprisingly, a pay phone. He tells her that he's letting her go, that this has obviously all been a big mistake. He says that coincidence is the only explanation that makes sense, so he's letting her go on the condition that she never saw him. He tells her that he has all of her info and can find her anytime she wants. Hailey starts to walk off, but then stops. She tells him that the answer is no, that she's not going anywhere with somebody out there trying to kill her. He tells her not to get back in the car, but she replies that it's not safe for her to leave and that if he abandons her, she's going to tell the cops everything about him and the man in his basement, that he brought this onto her and is responsible. He finally gives in.

### Comms

Rather than immediately returning to the house, however, John tracks a man from Miles Valence's company, Arda Analytics, to a cafe. Leaving Hailey zip-tied in his car, he confronts the man, Xander Arnaz, demanding to know why he is the target. He asks him why his entire team is dead and he's all over the news, but he claims not to know anything about it. John then demands to know how to access Miles Valences's comms data, but Xander tells him that he has to put distance between them, that "he" is everywhere. John tells him that there's nobody else there, but Xander insists that "He's everywhere." John insists that he tell him how to access the comms data and he says that only Miles could, that it requires a keyfob authenticator and a password, with five wrong tries getting you locked out, the server bleaching itself. John asks where the authenticator is and he tells him that it was in Miles's pocket when he died. John then tells him to forget that he ever saw him.

John decides to stage an op in order to get Miles's keyfob. By orchestrating a few social cues, he is able to walk into to the police station where Miles's personal effects were taken. He succeeds in bypassing security and making his way to evidence. There, he succeeds in conning his way into having the box with Miles's personal effects, including the keyfob, transferred to him. He heads back outside, only to be accosted by Kyle, his intern, who kicks him in the balls and tries to take the keyfob. He is saved thanks to a timely intervention from Hailey, who manages to drive the car straight towards Kyle despite the zipties. The two of them then return to the house, where a man comes to John, telling him that Edward Homm still isn't talking, so he's going to start cutting his fingers off. He tells him that he's really messing things up. "Nice to see you too, Dad," comments John, and the man, Ben Wilson, asks him just who Hailey is.

As the group sits down to eat, Ben argues with John over his liking of turkey bacon. He calls the product's existence a conspiracy on the part of Big Ag, but John tells him that there is no conspiracy, that he just happens to like turkey bacon. He also tells John that they need to kill Hailey, calling her a "wild card," but John insists that they're not killing anyone. Ben tells Hailey that they had a plan and that John ignored it because he couldn't face up to the fact his friend flipped on him and then killed himself. John shouts at Ben to quit trying to psychoanalyze him and tells him that the next time he wants to fake his own suicide to not fake it. Hearing all of this, Hailey says that it's no wonder that John is so messed up, though John replies that he thinks he's turned out pretty well, considering the circumstances. Meanwhile, Ben keeps trying to get Hailey to eat the eggs they have served her, only for her to reveal that she's vegan. John initially suggests that she visit a nearby gas station, but then notes that they locally won't have a good vegan section and instead directs her to an apple tree in the yard.

Meanwhile, using the keyfob, John sets up a VPN to try to hack into Miles's communications. He starts trying passwords, based on what he knows about Miles, but keeps coming up empty. As he does so, Xander at Arda Analytics sets up a trace. As they close down, he comes down to his last attempt before the server would be wiped. Ben comes in, warning him that he's violating his own rule about not using the Internet for longer than 15 minutes without resetting the VPN, but John insists that it's okay. He tries 191652025 and receives a message telling him to enter the code from the keyfob. He does so and is in. The numbers are revealed to be a cipher for the word "SAFETY," as Miles had always been an advocate of the phrase "safety in numbers." He downloads Miles's comms data and then clears out along with the others. At Arda Analytics, Xander is sent plummeting to his death.

### Into the open

At the new safe house, John reports to Ben that he discovered from Miles's communications that he was purchasing NFTs. He tells him that this doesn't make any sense, as Miles was conservative and didn't like art. Ben replies that people hide their true selves, but John tells him that he doesn't buy it, that there has to be a reason. Ben tells him he's showing signs of PTSD, that Miles's death hit him hard. John, though, tells him that he's not having a delusion, that he himself had said "If you want to understand people, study their patterns and the breaks in those patterns." He tells him that it's out of character for Miles and worth looking into. Just then, Edward Homm shouts from the other room "It's how he was getting paid!" They go to Edward, who reveals that through the thin walls of the safe house, he can hear everything that they're saying so long as they don't mumble. John asks him just what he knows about Miles's NFT transactions, but he replies that he wants to talk to his wife. They tell him that it's not going to happen, but he says that she must be suffering and that he's not saying anything until he talks to her. John tells him that it's too risky, that he has some very serious people who want him dead and if they find out that he's alive, they will finish the job, then kill his wife. They end up working out a compromise: using a security camera in the house, Edward is able to watch his wife on a computer, just to see that she is alive and well.

With this out of the way, he is finally ready to get down to business. He verifies his suspicion with John that the NFT e-mails of Miles's were from a man named Elliot Gao. He explains that Elliot Gao is notorious in the circles he moves in, that people go to him when they need the services of a high-end money launderer, a billionaire who launders money for bigger billionaires. He essentially acts as a middleman for people who wish to move money anonymously. John tells Ben that this is how they can get to Crowley. He says that if they mess with his money pipeline, he'll be forced to come out into the open and act and this is how they get him. Ben asks John just what he has in mind. He tells him that they need to get Gao to think that he's attracting the wrong kind of attention, that if he does, he'll be forced to warn Crowley. He suggests making use of Josephine "Jo" Madi, an FBI agent who's been hounding him, by sending her anonymous tip. He tells him that Hailey will have to help with part of the plan. He asks why her and he explains that she's really the one they can use, that one of them is all over the news and Crowley thinks the other is dead. Ben points out that Hailey doesn't know how to do what they do, but John tells him he can train her for this. Ben asks what makes him think she would even want to. From the other room, Hailey shouts that she is so in and Ben quips that they have got to find a better safe house.

John then provides Hailey with a crash course in the art of deception. He explains to her that people are suckers for confidence, telling her not to hesitate when telling a story, that it helps to project confidence. He then takes her to a corner store, giving her the objective of stealing a puzzle book called *Magic Squares*. Things get dicey when a cop unexpectedly enters the store, but Hailey passes the test with flying colors, even managing to charm the cop. She tells him that she's ready and he agrees that she is.

The two begin the operation. At first, all seems to go well. Hailey succeeds in infiltrating Elliot Gao's party and convincing him that she is actually the FBI agent Jo Madi. She follows up on John's directions to ask him about his NFT transactions with Miles Valence. John is impressed in spite of himself when Hailey uses a piece of his own previous advice on Gao, telling him that she knows that he's lying because of his hesitation in answering her questions. Gao says that he's going to get his lawyer and she tells him that there's no need. Suddenly, however, to John's alarm, she excuses herself.

John listens over his earpiece as she explains that she has just spotted someone from her past - her old boss at the financial services company where she used to work. She tells him that the company was corrupt, that they were evicting poor people illegally and tried to get her to cover up for them. She explains that before leaving, she stole some cryptocurrency from the company slush fund. It wasn't worth much at the time, but now is worth around $26 million as of the past Friday. He asks her if her boss saw her and she tells him she doesn't think so. He replies that they'll figure something out, but she needs to get downstairs fast. Not long after, however, he tells her scratch that, explaining that the people who tried to kidnap her before are there have arrived and are after the money. He advises her to stay out of sight. He then radios for Edward Homm, calling in his help. The two of them pose as building inspectors to gain access to the building. They manage to con their way by claiming to be conducting an elevator inspection, but are stymied when one of the guards on the elevator itself does not buy this explanation, leading Edward to clobber him over the head with a clipboard.

John continues to listen to the comm traffic from Hailey as she is taken inside a room. She continues to try to play the role of Jo Madi, but is confused when John's father, Ben, enters the room, pretending to be Crowley. Although they manage to get a couple of choice tidbits - the names "Intaverse" and "Ledger," their cover is blown when the real Crowley puts in a call to Elliot Gao and forces him to reveal the person who impersonating him, thus allowing him to learn to that Ben is still alive. Crowley then orders Elliot and his men to kill both Hailey and Ben, so John comms Hailey, telling to remember where everyone is, then shorts out the power. Their escape is successful, but as they head back to their hideout, Ben tells John that Crowley is way ahead of them and they need to change the plan. John agrees, saying that they need to bring his team back in. "The ones who blew up?" asks Hailey, incredulous. "Yeah," he agrees and she asks if this is fun for them.

### Coming undone

In the aftermath of the latest op, John starts calling numbers off a list, a record of every call that Miles received in the days leading up to his death. When questioned about this by Hailey, he tells her that he's doing everything he can to figure out why Crowley is three steps ahead of them. She tells him that he doesn't have to sell her on it. They discuss the idea of trust, him telling her that he doesn't understand how poeple can do that when they only have someone else's word. She suggests that he trust her 90% more and he eventually agrees to 80%. The two of them to go see Edward Homm and learn from him that Intaverse, one of the names they got, is a company that has made donations to 141 different candidates on all ends of the political spectrum. He tells them that if Intaverse is secretly supporting any one candidate, it's going to be very difficult to figure out. Hearing this, John says that this is why they need more people, but Ben insists that they need to stick to the plan, that they can't risk more exposure. He says it's not worth putting John's friends on the radar, but ignoring this, John makes a call and leaves a message for Cara Spader, saying she's perfect for political things like things.

A bit later, however, Edward comes through with a breakthrough. He explains that he was focused on corporate donations, but realized that he would do better to look at individual employee donations, specifically of those at the executive-level. He found that almost all of these went exclusively to a single PAC: the America SOS Committee, which only ever contributed to one politician on a regular basis: Senator Nora Evers of New Jersey. He says that based on the size of the donations, she most certainly will be running for President. Before they can really discuss the significance of this, however, the safe house comes under attack, a flashbomb canister flying through the window. Although the group succeeds in escaping the attack, thanks mostly to John and Ben's skills, the attack leaves John deeply rattled. He begins spinning a series of scenarios in his head, but says that he doesn't understand what he could have missed. Hailey tells him that there's no way he can see everything, but he tells her he gamed every version out. He asks what he missed and Ben tells him that he's missing the obvous, that Miles sold them out. John refuses to believe this, but Ben says he's missing the thread and may be losing his mind. John, however, continues to dial the numbers on his list, eventually getting a hit. Hearing a ringing phone nearby, he races outside and to another room to find Ben. He is shocked to discover that Ben is last person that Miles talked to. Ben pleads with him to let him explain, but before any headway can be made, they are forced to again flee for their lives.

As they arrive at the latest safehouse, Ben tells John that ewas trying to contact Miles to fix things, that he wanted to warn him. "About what?" John asks and Ben tells him it's about Kyle, the intern. John had wanted to let him go, but he didn't want to, this being contrary to everything he had been taught: "When in doubt, take 'em out." He reveals that he tracked Kyle, trying to get the jump on him, but instead, Kyle stabbed him in the gut. He then admits what he has been unable to up until now: John's entire team is dead. He didn't know how to tell him, that he was trying to make it right and called Miles to warn him. He says that he knew he should have told him before, but that it would cause him to start spinning theories and that he still looks at him and sees his little boy. Just then, Edward tells them that he sees someone outside. "How do they keep finding us?" wonders Hailey, but this time, something clicks for John and he finally figures it out. When Crowley's agents enter this time, they find only a bottle of whiskey. It turns out that they've been tracked this entire time because Hailey stole a $100,000 bottle of whiskey in their escape from Elliot Gao's.

Having solved the problem of how their being tracked, John and the others turn their attention back to trying to take down Crowley. Based on Edward's information, they target Nora Evers, the U.S. Senator who is now running an increasingly popular campaign for president, despite the unpopularity of the Shared Data Act, a piece of legislation that she has been championing. They succeed in inserting John into her motorcade. Stunned, she asks who he is, and he tells her that they only want to talk and to not be afraid. She denies being afraid and he tells her that someone has been illegally feeding millions to her campaign and that they can prove it. She, however, tell shim that they don't have enough to do more than take her down for one cycle. She tells him that she was kidnapped, blindfolded and taken by a man to a safety deposit box. Inside it were compromising materials, ones so much so that if they ever got out, anyone with her last name would change it. She tells him there's no way she can help and he asks if she would if they got her case back. She tells him that she only knows the number of the box, but with careful questioning, John and Edward are able to identify as a private depository called 1550 Girard.

John and Ben get into an argument about Evers forcing them allow her campaign manager, Lanneman, to accompany them, but John protests that he didn't have a choice. Furthrmore, when Ben asks what his part is in the plan, John tells him "nothing," saying that he doesn't want anyone getting hurt. When Ben asks if he's cutting him out, John replies that he'd love to call in his team, but that somebody got them killed. Meanwhile, he outlines the plan for Hailey, who is stunned to learn that her part in it involves putting up the $20 million she stole in cryptocurrency from her previous employer as a desosit in escrow for the duration of their visit. Nevertheless, she agrees to the plan. Meanwhile, she discovers that John is attempting to contact Miles Valence through a back-channel chat in an app, "Magic Squares," despite Miles being dead. She takes the phone to Ben, saying that trying to contact a dead friend is a level beyond exhaustion even for someone who hasn't slept for a few days. Ben, however, tells her that John gets like this sometimes, not thinking clearly, that he calls it "going down the hole." He pleads with her to tell him the plan if John told it to her, that she doesn't have the experience to see if there's a flaw in it, but she just wishes him a good night.

The plan proceeds, and everything seems to go well. However, as the campaign assistant, Lanneman, feigns having a panic attack, he shouts about his entire unit having been killed in Iraq. This triggers John, resulting in him having a vision of Kyle killing his team. He radios Hailey that they have to get out, that he scdrewed up and left a key in Crowley's box, that they need to get out before they discover it. Hailey, however, manages to cover for him. Outside, however, they are betrayed by Lanneman, who forces them to give the briefcase they received to a man named Pete. Afterwards, however, John reveals that the briefcase in question was just a decoy. They head back inside and retrieve the real briefcase. Back at the safe house, John compliments Hailey on her trust and for keeping her cool despite his mistake. He kisses her. He then contacts Senator Evers, revealing that her betrayal didn't work. He tells her that the deal remains the same: that if she gives them what they need to find Crowley, she gets her case back. They agree to a 3 P.M. meeting, only for her to call him back, saying that her people added a stump speech. He advises against and she tells him to be dramatic, but even as she's saying this, a shot rings out, and she falls to the ground, dead. In the aftermath, John and the others realize that it was Crowley's plan all along - that by having Evers killed, he has turned her into a martyr, ensuring that the Shared Data Act will pass. The Shared Data Act will cause the U.S. federal government to share citizens' personal data with three major corprations, one of these being Arda Analytics, the company founded by Miles Valence. Just then, John receives a message on his phone, a ping from the Magic Squares app. The message reads "I'M SORRY, JOHN, BUT I HAD TO MAKE IT LOOK REAL."

John is convinced that the message he has received is from Miles and it sends him into a freefall, even as developments happen rapidly in the outside world, with the Shared Data Act, now renamed the Nora Evers American Protection Act, passed swiftly in the wake of Nora Ever's assassination. He once again retreats into his head, spinning a scenario in which it turns out his father Ben has been working directly in league with Crowley to pass the Shared Data Act. Continuing to communicate with his contact through the Magic Squares app, he receives a message stating that the chat is burned and that he should move to the encrypted app. He then pays a visit to an electronics store, where his contact sends him a message reading "BEN USED US," followed by a lengthy cipher. He gets a call from Hailey, who manages to glean his location from the background noise around him. However, when she meets up with him, he manages to burn her, luring her to a bus and then hopping off as it pulls away.

John goes to a church and meets with a priest. There, he tells the man that he feels lost and needs help, that he can no longer tell the difference between what is real and what is not. He tells him that he has only his friend to know that his father has been lying to him, yet he knows in his heart that his friend is dead. He then gets a phone call from Liv, telling him that a package came for him from Miles. He returns home and gets the package, which turns out to be some sort of stone tablet. Liv wonders how Miles can be sending him stuff, but he has no good answer. Late at night, he is outside, walking with the tablet, when he is intercepted by Kyle, the intern, who tells him to come with him, warning him that "he" said he could kill him if he tries any tricks. When John asks who "he" is, he tells him "Let's find out."

John is brought before a man who claims to be Crowley. He addresses John as "Mr. Wilson," telling him he knows all about his father and his sophisticated games. He tells him that it was Ben who wanted the Shared Data Act passed in the first place, saying that Nora Evers's assassination was "pure Ben." When John just stares, he suggests they walk things back a little further, pointing out that the whole idea of spinning off Arda Analytics from John's company was Ben's. He tells him that Ben is using him. John shouts that he's a liar. He decks the man in the face and punches him to the ground, only to discover an earpiece in his ear. He places the earpiece in his own ear. "Hello, John," comes the voice of the real Crowley. He apologizes for not meeting him in person, saying that the reason should be obvious from the man on the ground. He tells him that he almost had Ben, and that Miles Valence figured it out. He tells him that Ben was the one who somehow blew up the AeroDelhi flight. He then tells him that at the time of the crash, Ben had been living just three blocks away from him as Dr. Benjamin Wolff, psychologist, and had been for a decade.

John returns to the hideout, only to discover that Ben hasn't returned yet. "Of course he hasn't," he comments to Hailey. He hands Hailey the package, explaining that it's a tablet from the story *Gilgamesh*, that it's how they communicated. He goes to Ben's bedroom and discovers a gun under the mattress. Ben arrives back and John points the gun at him, asking if he's been running an op on him. In his head, he imagines shooting and killing him. He does not, however, and Ben pleads with him to put down the gun. He tells him that he never stopped loving him. John tells him that he's been saying that the only way to deal with a threat is to kill it and that he thinks he might be right. Just then, however, Hailey calls him. The tablet turns out to contain a chip, a recording from Miles Valence. In it, Miles explains that Crowley outplayed him. He had tried to convince him that he was on his side without actually being on his side, but then Crowley ordered him to assassinate John. He wasn't going to do this, so he committed suicide to buy them some time, making this recording and surreptitiously having sent the package. John realizes that the messages he received were from Crowley, that Crowley would, of course, have access, having infiltrated the company. He tells Ben that he's ready to whatever it takes to take Crowley down.

### The final gambit

With the U.S. President having signed off on the Shared Data Act, the news reports that three federal judges have been killed in seemingly random incidents. John and his team know, however, that these incidents are far from random, that Crowley has begun implementing his plan to takeover. John and Ben therefore reveal their own ace in the hole. They have secretly been feeding the narrative that Edward Homm is still alive and now they are ready to go on national television to reveal this.

As part of the plan, John goes to the FBI and Jo Madi, the woman who has been investigating him. He gets Jo's help in blowing the lid on the whole conspiracy. With Hailey's help, they bring Edward Homm to the news station that broadcasts a show known as *The Pulse of the Nation*. There, they prepare to not only reveal Edward is alive, but also to have him reveal the extent of what he knows about Crowley's national conspiracy, thanks to the documents from Nora Evers's briefcase.

Crowley and his team attempt to throw to wrenches into the plan. The first is that he kidnaps Ben Wilson, as well as John's wife, Olivia. Meanwhile, he sends a group supposedly from the Department of Justice to try to shut down the broadcast. This group, however, is secretly a front in and of itself to insert Kyle, the intern. While the FBI and Jo Madi's team shut down the group from the Department of Justice, Kyle co-opts a security guard at the news station and forces him to open a line to Crowley. The guard then takes his phone to John, and Crowley threatens to kill both Ben and Olivia if the broadcast is not shut down. It is then that John reveals his greatest secret: Olivia is not actually his wife at all, but rather a "badass" he sent in to rescue his real wife after she was kidnapped many years ago. His real wife never forgave him for her being placed in that situation, but ever since, Olivia has posed as his wife and the father of their son, who is actually only her son. She escapes her handcuffs, kills all of Crowley's guards, and leaves him for Ben. Back at the studio, the broadcast goes forward. In the aftermath, Jo Madi agrees to leave John alone for the time being, having bigger fish to fry. He and Hailey are left to contemplate future possibilities.

## Trivia

* In some initial publicity materials for the series, the character's name was instead given as "James Weir."
* According to Kiefer Sutherland, his character has a fantastic sense of humor and plays well off of Meta Golding's Hailey Winton character. He also states that he is simply an interesting character and this is something that is exciting to play.
* While an unusual spelling, closed-captioning, when his full first name is stated out loud, provides it consistently as "Johnathan."

## Gallery

### Videos

Rabbit Hole - Hailey & Weir's Trust Issue - Paramount+Rabbit Hole - The John & Ben Dynamic - Paramount+
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rabbit Hole - Inside The Series. Paramount+. Retrieved on March 25, 2023.
2. ↑ Fleming, Ryan (March 15, 2023). Kiefer Sutherland Says New Thriller Series ‘Rabbit Hole’ “Couldn’t Be More Different” Than ’24’ – SXSW Studio. Deadline. Retrieved on March 17, 2023.