The Dex Files

Dex and Grey talk about Benny.

**The Dex Files** is the seventeenth episode of the first season and the 18th overall episode of **Stumptown**.

## Short Summary

Dex's former client Jeremy introduces her to Major Elders who has intel on Benny's death. Dex, suspicious of the information and looking for answers, investigates a potential cover up involving Benny's unit in Afghanistan. Elsewhere, Hoffman and his partner, Lee, work closely on a sting operation which shockingly involves a familiar face. Meanwhile, Grey's newfound relationship with his father is tested.

## Full Summary

Dex talks to a bouncer, who won't let her into a club with her fake ID. He confiscates it as she tries to insist that she needs to see the show. She she moves backward, she trips and falls to the ground. After a beat, a man is standing above her. He helps her up and says he's seen her around campus. She tells him she really wanted to see the show.

The man has taken her up to the roof. He tells her to stand near a vent. He opens the vent to reveal that they can hear the concert as if they were by the stage. He introduces himself as Benjamin Blackbird.

Dex enters the bar and Jeremy introduces her to DeVar Elders. He has some information about the IED that killed Benny. He tells her that the bomb that killed Benny didn't come from the Taliban, but the Haqqanis. Dex is confused because they have no connection to Kabul. She asks to see the file, but Elders refuses. They try to placate Dex, but she says it doesn't make any sense. She wants to know what really happened.

Kara sits at the bar in a swingers club. A couple approaches her and starts to flirt. They then tell her to come find them when she's ready to play. After they're gone, Miles approaches her. They're looking for a unicorn who has been stealing from people at the club. Miles wonders why people come to clubs like that. Kara says she's a one guy kind of girl and Miles agrees. Miles goes to leave, but Kara recognizes a man nearby from another club. He and a woman start embracing. Miles turns away when he recognizes the woman as Laura Alvarez.

Dex tells Grey she just wants the truth about what happened to Benny. He asks if that'll bring her peace and she tells him she's not sure she knows what peace feels like. Grey knows Dex is planning to go on a trip because she's not day-drinking. She explains that she's going to see Thomas "TJ" Junes, a man from Benny's unit. He reached out to her after she was kicked out of Benny's funeral and she's hoping he can shed some light on the situation. Dex then knows Grey has something on his mind. Grey says his dad messaged him. His other son has a baseball tournament in Seattle, so he wants to see Grey on the way there. Grey's not sure what his father's intentions are, but he thinks it's weird. Dex goes to leave.

Dex pulls up outside TJ's place and he's glad to see her.

TJ and Dex share a drink and agree the story doesn't make sense. TJ says he tries not to think about his time in the military, but when he does, he misses Benny. Dex agrees. She sees a knife on a table, which he claims to have found at a bush market. She thinks he really found it in a bombed-out building about to be bulldozed. Dex thinks he's hiding something, but he denies it. He tells her she can't bring Benny back, so she needs to stop asking questions she won't get answers to. Then he tells her he's done talking about the war.

Dex returns to her car and sees TJ watching her from his window.

Dex tells Benny to be quiet as she leads him into her parents' house. He thanks her because the machines at his dorm are always broken. He tells her he's not afraid to meet her parents and she says they'd probably like him more than her. He also wants to meet Dex's brother, whom Dex says is excited to meet him. Benny puts in his laundry, including the shirt off his back, then Dex pours in way too much soap. He tells her he loves her and that he's not taking it back.

Grey tells Dex he called his father, who said he'd be at the bar tonight at nine. Then he asks how it went with TJ in Hood River. She thinks she has something to go on. Miles comes to the bar and Dex explains the situation, including that TJ bought an $800,000 house with cash after three tours of duty. Dad was a construction worker and mom was a third-grade teacher, so it wasn't family money. His wife is a non-profit lawyer. Dex wants Miles to look into TJ's financials and put some pressure on him, but Miles says that's not his area. She then explains that she's trying to get her hands on a DOD file, which he says is way over his head. As she leaves, Miles sees Tookie walk in.

Miles goes to Tookie and asks for advice for a friend looking to interject some freshness into his marriage. Tookie says he has that, but it's scandalous. He and his wife go skinny dipping at Horsetail Falls ever half-anniversary. But they haven't gone in a few years, so he thinks that might be what they need. He jokingly invites Miles to go along.

Dex goes to Jeremy and asks to buy him a drink. Once they have drinks, she apologizes to him for how she acted. She wants to apologize to Elders as well and asks for his number.

Dex uses the number to track Elders to The Riverside Hotel.

Miles and Kara watch Laura on the security footage. He's not sure how Tookie didn't know, after twenty years. Kara says she knew after 20 days. Miles didn't know she was married, but she was to Julian Chang, a man she met in dental school. They were married for two years. She had everything her mother wanted for her, including three cats, but she wasn't living the life she wanted. Miles says his father never misses the opportunity to tell him he chose the wrong path. Kara says at least he didn't get married to appease them, but Miles says he did. he was nine months in when he realized it was a mistake. He actually knew during the wedding planning. They look back at the footage when they see a woman hand off cash to a man at the bar and get drugs. The woman was also in the Pleasure & Posh footage from a few nights before. They see her go into a room with a man who had a watch and watch him come out behind her without it.

Dex watches Elders leave his hotel room. Then she fakes a phone call to steal a housekeeper's badge, which she uses to get in. Once she's in the room, she gets on his computer and looks for the file. It's password-protected and housekeeping knocks. So she quickly drops a few of his things on the floor and leaves, telling the housekeeper she doesn't want housekeeping on the way out. As she leaves, she has to hide her face from Elders, who has returned.

Elders returns to his room and sees the disruption.

Dex races out to her car.

Elders sees the things Dex searched for.

Dex pulls out her computer.

Elders checks to make sure his laptop wasn't breached, unaware that Dex bugged the desk underneath him. She jots down information as he says it, then sighs in relief.

Miles tells Kara the man they're looking for is Levi and the woman with him was probably Kayla. They talk more about swapping. Then the spot Levi and pretend they're looking for drugs. Levi tells them the bartender sells weed tax free. They tell him they're looking for something even more fun and he tells them to find him in half an hour. Kara and Miles note Laura sitting nearby after he leaves.

Grey sees decorations around the bar and tells Tookie and Ansel to get rid of them because he doesn't like them. After he's gone, Ansel tells Tookie that Grey is nervous about his dad. Tookie goes to talk to him, but Ansel warns him against it, so he starts to look for the receipt instead.

Kara says Kayla got drugs from Levi, while Miles watches her with a man who looks like a perfect mark. They watch her drug the man and then take him back to a room. They barge into their scenario. They arrest Kayla and find the man's watch and the drugs. The man then passes out on the bed before they leave the room.

Miles calls for an ambulance because he believes the drugs were Special K. Miles then sees Laura crying as she's arrested.

Dex goes into the back room and explains to Grey what she learned. The classification means a crime may have taken place. The unit could have been dirty and was under investigation. Dex insists that Benny wasn't dirty. Grey's not so sure, but Dex says he didn't know Benny and she did.

Dex remmers Benny carrying Ansel to the car after his first game. Another father is angry because the team lost the game and he believes that's because of Ansel. Dex is about to attack him when Benny steps in and says it'll be a blip on his kid's radar, but it meant the world to Ansel, who was playing on the team for the very first time. The man tells Ansel he has a nice game.

Grey checks the message from his father as he waits at a table. He asks Ansel to bring him a drink. Grey wonders aloud where his father is.

One of the men under arrest begs Miles not to let his wife know. Miles tells him it'll be a court appearance and a fine. He says his name is Franco Lopez and he only did this because his wife is always going on booze cruises with her friends and ... Alejandro. He says he can pay his bail in cash if he can get to an ATM. Miles is surprised his wife wouldn't notice that amount of money missing and he says he's IT for the Department of Defense.

Ansel checks on Grey, who asks for another drink. Ansel asks if his dad is coming and Grey doesn't think so, so Ansel consoles him.

Jeremy confronts Dex for breaking into Elders' hotel room. She defends her actions, saying there's more to the story and she'll figure it out. He says he can't help her and he leaves.

Grey tells Ansel he can head home and Grey will finish up. Grey gets a text from his dad apologizing for him not coming.

Miles tells Dex he might have a guy who can help, someone who has access to the Department of Defense.

Tookie thanks Dex for coming to the police station with him. He knows she never liked Laura, but she never saw this coming. Dex sees Franco on the steps and knows that's her guy. She offers Tookie the first swing at him, but he declines, so she approaches him and blackmails him into helping her.

Miles directs Tookie to where he can find Laura. Tookie realizes that Miles knew before, when he pretended to ask for advice. Tookie realizes Miles didn't treat him like a friend and tell him ahead of time.

Franco tries to brush Dex off. She agrees to him him some time to get access.

Tookie and Laura sit together on a bench silently. She begs him to say something and apologizes. She says she got lonely and he's been obsessing about the truck and the bar. All he does is cook. She can't remember the last time he came to bed with her. She says Franco came onto her and it felt nice to be wanted again, but it meant nothing to her and it's over. She swears it'll never happen again. She begs him for forgiveness. He gets up and walks out without her.

Kara brings Miles his watch, which he left on his desk. It was a gift from his dad, a wedding gift. He offers Kara a drink and she comes into his apartment. They talk about the difficulty of cops being with cops. It's definitely not worth it. She thanks him for the drink and he thanks her for bringing his watch. Then she kisses him.

Dex is driving when she remembers her last time talking to Benny. He Skyped her and begged her to let him tell her something in person, but she hung up on him, saying she didn't want to break up his marriage.

Grey finds Tookie packing up his truck. He says he has things to figure out. He's afraid he's going to lose everything. Grey tries to stop him from leaving. He tells Tookie to sit down and breathe. He says he was never good enough for Laura, which Grey says is how they get away with it. If you feel responsible, they don't have to take responsibility. Tookie says even after everything, he still loves her. Grey says that makes him human. Tookie says it hurts and Grey understands. Grey says he might have lost Laura, but he still has them. They head inside to get a drink together.

Ansel comes home to find Dex pacing. She had a rough day and Ansel knows it's because of Benny. Ansel says Benny wouldn't do anything bad. He was good. Ansel goes up to bed. Dex gets an email from Franco, which shows a classified transcript of the call between her and Benny, the call where she hung up on him.

Dex has figured out that Benny was the whistleblower. That's what he was going to tell her. Miles tells her to bring in the file and he'll help. She hangs up on him instead. Miles lies and tells Kara it was a wrong number.

Dex breaks into TJ's house. She finds him presumably dead on the floor and then gets grabbed from behind and knocked out.

## Cast

* Dex Parios
* Grey McConnell
* Ansel Parios
* Tookie Alvarez
* Miles Hoffman
* Jeremy Stevens
* Thomas Junes
* DeVar Elders
* Laura Alvarez
* Kara Lee
* Benjamin Blackbird
* Franco Lopez
* Levi
* Kayla
* Robert
* Walter
* Young Ansel Parios
* Toupee Man
* Woman
* Bouncer
* Maid
* Man Bun Man
1/22
### 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

* Robert Adamson as Staff Sergeant Jeremy Stevens
* Eric Ladin as Thomas Junes
* Michael Beach as Major DeVar Elders
* Patricia De Leon as Laura Alvarez
* Fiona Rene as Detective Kara Lee
* Sam Marra as Benjamin Blackbird
* Ithamar Enriquez as Franco Lopez

### Co-Starring

* Adam Foster Ballard as Levi
* Nicole Pacent as Kayla
* Harry Zinn as Robert
* James Curreri as Walter
* Casen Lyon as Young Ansel
* Timothy E. Goodwin as Toupee Man
* Emily Kosloski as Woman
* Sean James as Bouncer
* Blanca Araceli as Maid
* William Jeon as Man Bun Man

## Notes and Trivia

* This episode scored 2.68 million viewers.