Milwaukee, America

**Milwaukee, America** is the first episode of Season 1 of *Patriot*. It aired on November 3rd, 2015.

## Synopsis

After a helicopter crash changes the stakes of a foreign election, a former intelligence officer for the U.S. State Department has to choose between returning to the line of duty in order to dismantle a dangerous political movement in a war torn country as a matter of national security or his personal obligations as the head of a young family.

## Plot

An opening title defines a N.O.C. (non-official cover) as "intelligence work conducted under the assumed identity of private-sector employment (oil companies, construction firms, etc.) with limited governmental protection."

In Milwaukee, 2012, a man named John sprints across a warehouse to an interview for a process engineering job at McMillan, a piping firm. He arrives late and improvises his answers to the questioning of higher-ups Leslie Claret, Peter Icabod, and CEO Lawrence Lacroix, his lack of knowledge apparent to them, and he overhears them favoring his competitor, Stephen Tchoo, as he leaves the interview. He follows Stephen to a parking lot and asks how his interview went. The friendly and affable Stephen encourages John not to worry about any mistakes he may have made and says he will likely take the job if accepted, assuring John that "tomorrow's another day." John follows him to the curb and shoves him in the path of an oncoming van.

Nine days prior, popular Iranian presidential candidate Fashid Harmed dies in a helicopter crash, leaving his two less popular opponents the only ones running. U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tom Tavner watches a report on one of Harmed's opponents, Cantar Walley, declaring his faith-based platform. Tom calls his congressman son Edward and tells him they need to meet. He later meets with coworker Wilma Waters, wanting to send someone to tamper with the election, specifically his experienced but troubled intelligence officer son John who writes and performs folk songs about his top-secret work as a form of therapy. Waters asks how close Iran is to nuclear capability, and Tom notes that they will be ready by the end of the year if they try. Through song, John explains the recent events of his life: in 2011, he was sent to Iran to assassinate a nuclear physicist whose knowledge could arm the Iranians with weapons capable of destroying Israel, but bad intelligence lead him to instead kill a hotel maid. His evacuation team parked on the wrong street and he was captured by SAVAK, who exposed him to a prolonged period of psychological white torture. After being released, he was told to wait so the U.S. government could clear him to go back to America and was stationed in Amsterdam, where he now spends his time smoking weed and writing music. Sitting on a park bench, he finishes his song just as he is approached by a cop and told to move.

Edward is forced to cancel his camping trip with his foster (and illegitimate biological) son Efram and leaves him with his grandmother, while Tom approaches John's wife Alice and tells her that John is coming home for a couple of days before leaving again. He apologizes for putting inadvertent strain on their marriage because of John's assignment. Alice sighs that they "just need to go for a drive or something," then asks "could it really be that simple?" Tom says it can be, "but it's not going to happen for a while." She tells Tom to take care of his son, and he responds "I plan to." John bikes through Amsterdam, smoking and looking at birds, until he falls over on his bike.

Tom watches an old home video of a young John riding a bull while Edward films, the bull resisting and smashing the camera. The brothers agree to blame it on Tom's mother, and Tom smiles wistfully while he watches. He later meets with Edward and gives him John's location, asking him to bring him home and "take care of him if you need to." Before Edward can leave, he asks after his old video camera and if his elderly mother was really responsible, Edward sticking to the story and claiming she was. He arrives in Amsterdam and asks John if he wants to go for a walk, and John smiles.

Efram's grandmother reads him *Mary Poppins*, inspiring him to grab an umbrella while she is asleep and jump off her building's roof in an attempt to fly, breaking both his feet. His enraged mother, Carol, calls Edward and berates him for leaving his son alone. He reminds John that their father wants him back by tonight and all he has to do is bring a bag of money somewhere, but John brushes him off, as he is competing in mechanical bull riding competitions, having been saving his winnings so he can go on a bike trip through Spain with Alice. Edward reminds him that Tom specifically asked for him, and John somewhat gives in, remembering that tonight is the finals and deciding he will come back if he loses. During the final, after a moment of reflection, John intentionally lets go of the bull.

He returns home to Washington, D.C. and reunites with Alice, and they attempt to have sex but are waylaid by an ice cream truck parked right outside their house playing its music loudly. Tom interrupts them and pulls John aside, playing catch with him on the lawn and cleaning the pool while explaining the plan: they are going to buy the election for Walley's opponent to keep Iran's nuclear weapons dormant, and John is to apply for a job at McMillan and get on their travel team so he can go to Luxembourg and give their contact the funds to do so. He finishes explaining the plan at nighttime while they sit on the porch with their guitars, noting that they need to pay off the physicist John was supposed to kill before Walley does. He and John begin to play Townes Van Zandt's "If I Needed You" together while Alice and Edward sit down to listen. Back in the present, John walks away after shoving Stephen in front of the van.

Now the only candidate left for the job, John (applying under the last name "Lakeman") fills out several forms while a McMillan receptionist points out a security guard, Jack Birdbath, a disgraced ex-cop who shot a Puerto Rican child in the back. John is also made to take a drug test, which he realizes he will not pass. He goes to the bathroom and encounters the dim-witted Dennis McClaren, a travel team employee using a urinal. He explains his real identity and mission to Dennis to convince him to give him his clean urine, only for Birdbath to emerge from the bathroom stall while John washes his hands, revealing he heard everything. Tom gets Edward a job interview with a friend for an attaché job, in hopes of him being able to follow John internationally and provide assistance if needed. Edward does well during his interview, although he insists on making a custom badge for his new job.

An intelligence officer gives John a red garment bag full of money, assuring him that McMillan flies out of a private terminal and there will be no risk of his bag getting checked or having to go through security. Using the restroom with the rest of the travel team, John overhears from Leslie that Stephen survived being hit by the van, although he has suffered temporary brain damage, and that the team is flying United, as they only fly private when more than one leg of McMillan is traveling. Against his will, John checks the money bag and arrives in Luxembourg, waiting for it at the baggage claim. Airport employee Edgar Barros checks the bag as it comes down the line, and, amazed at the amount of money inside, decides to take it for himself. Realizing why his bag is taking so long, John breaks into the employees only area just as Barros rides past on his motorcycle, the bag hanging off the bag. John quickly memorizes his license plate and attacks a terminal worker with a pallet, stealing an employee register to track Barros with. At the Hotel Gerald, he gets Barros' address from his contact Ron and is warned Barros is Brazilian has five brothers, any number of them possibly living with him and most Brazilians knowing jiu-jitsu. Dennis comes in uninvited, wanting to help John do "some cool shit" and trying to prove he can be useful by taking off his shirt and showing his buff physique.

John walks to Barros' address, passing by Lawrence ordering two Japanese prostitutes. Dennis follows him, insisting that his married life is boring and he wants to do recon, and after several warnings, John stabs him in the thigh to deter him and tells him not to go to the hospital. He finds Barros watching soccer in his apartment alone with the bag next to him and sneaks in, taking the bag from Barros and warning him not to move. All five of his muscular brothers emerge from various rooms and grapple John with jiu-jitsu moves into submission, starting to choke him out until he stabs one in the throat, grabs the bag, and flees. He calls Ron and asks for a distraction, then calls Alice and asks if she is turning the alarm on in their house at night. He asks her to start doing so for her own safety as the police arrive nearby, then hangs up. Before they can find him, Edward arrives, claiming he has been mugged and sending the police in the opposite direction, then runs to John and gives him a clean shirt, his current one stained with blood. Having forgotten a dinner with Leslie and an executive from the Denon corporation, John arrives late to find the Denon man gone, much to Leslie's chagrin. He bluntly informs John that "you're off to a shitty start here" and "that's not the McMillan way." A nearby Dennis signals to John that he has blood on his neck, which he wipes off.

Later, John goes to an open mic night with Edward and plays an improvised song about Brazilians in Luxembourg, and how he would not blame one for stealing a bag of money considering their impoverished standings. As he begins to sing about stabbing the Barros brother and almost reveals his true reason for being in Luxembourg, Edward makes it up to the stage and stops him. Outside, Edward shows John his custom attaché badge, and John laments how he got bad intel again as to where to go for the interview and nearly lost the job. Edward tells him "I know you're not doing okay" but "I'm always gonna be here." John smiles and gives him his badge back.

An on-screen title details the recent number of homicides in Luxembourg by year: in 2009 through 2011, there were zero, but in 2012, there were three. Homicide detective Agathe Albans leaves her daughters with her sister and goes to scene of the Barros murder, where she asks her coworker to track all new subscriptions to the local papers. The next morning, John receives a note from the Barroses warning him to give them the money back or they will kill him/go to the police.

Agathe explains to her older daughter Myna what she does at work, explaining the concept of homicide as though it were stealing. She further explains that she is going to go to Milwaukee to further investigate the recent murder. Instead of giving the bag to the Barroses, John goes to the designated meeting place and gives it to the man who addresses him by name. The man takes it back to his hotel, where he calls someone and reveals he is working for Walley and that he will be giving the money to the physicist soon. Tom confirms Edward's loyalty to him and later, Edward camps outside with Efram, who is now using a wheelchair to get around. Under the guise of a "bedtime story," he explains to Efram that he is his actual father, and that his job as a Texas congressman could be in jeopardy if anyone knew he had children outside of wedlock, referring to himself in this story as "Cool Rick." He promises that "Cool Rick loves you" and Efram nods. Tom receives the news that they may have given the bag over to Walley.

Over drinks in Milwaukee, Dennis reveals to John that he went to the hospital and learned about the Barros murder through a local paper he subscribed to, and that he is now set to be questioned by Agathe when she arrives in America. John tells him to talk to him later and leaves, encountering Leslie and promising to make a better impression on Denon, only for Leslie to voice his concerns about John going back to Luxembourg. He encounters Stephen and his accompanying occupational therapist, Ally O'Dhonaill, the former now speaking with a pronounced stutter. Stephen recognizes John and tells him he has been hired by McMillan to work with John and make up for his shoddy performance, his therapist adding on that he will eventually recover his memory in full if he continues working. As he leaves, Birdbath passes him a note that reads "I MAY HAVE A STUPID NAME, BUT I AM NOT STUPID." Tom calls John and informs him of the trickery, warning him that the physicist is going to meet the man they gave the bag to and John needs to intercept him. John promises to be on the next McMillan trip to Luxembourg as he arrives at his car and hangs up, only for Leslie to angrily point out that John is parking in his executive spot. John gets in his car and drives away.

## Cast

* Michael Dorman - John Tavner
* Kurtwood Smith - Leslie Claret
* Michael Chernus - Edward Tavner
* Kathleen Munroe - Alice Tavner
* Aliette Opheim - Agathe Albans
* Terry O'Quinn - Tom Tavner
* Gil Bellows - Lawrence Lacroix
* Chris Conrad - Dennis McClaren
* Marcus Toji - Stephen Tchoo
* Lanette Ware - Wilma Waters
* Tony Fitzpatrick - Jack Birdbath
* Jay Abdo - Cantar Walley
* Julian Richings - Peter Icabod
* Ryan Shears - Efram
* Bill Lake - Timothy Peetnam
* Stuart Fink - Young Intelligence Officer
* Sandi Ross - Efram's Grandmother
* Meghan Heffern - Lori
* Kane Mahon - Mikham Candahar
* Jolie Olympia Choko - Myna Albans
* Hervé Desbois - Maurice Claire
* Griffin Kane - Young John Tavner
* Shane Francis Smith - Young Edward Tavner
* Charlotte Arnold - Ally O'Dhonaill
* Christian Grenier - Luxembourg Beat Cop
* Marie-Claude Hénault - Female Desk Clerk
* Elkahna Talbi - Female Journalist
* Laur Fugère - Announcer
* Yves Crépeau - Cop in the Park
* Pablo Diconca - Airport Worker
* Norm Sousa - Edgar Barros
* Serge Bédrossian - Elderly Male Maid
* Samuel Gagnon-Mackay - Karl Whert
* Zoé Boivin - Agathe's Sister
* Manuel Tadros - Jafar Makhmalbaf