Episode description[edit | edit source]
CD-BAR, Bluff City - ★★★ (3 Stars)
Reviewed by Luciana P.
Sit at Table 6 and make sure that the party at Table 14 can see you. Make sure it’s Wednesday. Make sure one of you is wearing something purple and make sure one of them is wearing something green. Using the tablet on the table, select “gift a friend” and send Table 14 two orders of shrimp. They will send you an order of mozzarella sticks.
If the weather outside is overcast, make a signal with your right arm. If the weather outside is clear, stretch your left leg out from the table a little.
Did you bring the ticket? Use the tablet on the table to call for a waiter, and ask to return the mozzarella sticks. When doing so, hand the waiter the ticket, and they will return shortly with a leaflet that will contain further instructions.
This week on Bluff City 06: There Is No Greater Love Pt. 2
Mike van R, Owner of CD-BAR, Bluff City Responded:
i have no idea what you’re saying and i don’t like it
Contents[edit | edit source]
Opening[edit | edit source]
“
I took your advice, doc. The boardwalk? The beach? I went there. Took a trip last night. [PAUSE] What? It’s Blake, doc. Blake Blossom? The actor? The dream, remember the dream? I had it again last night, the same one—the radioman’s voice, the town on fire, the parties, the do-gooders, the same thing. So I went there.
When I woke up, I just got right out of bed. And I put on my sandals and those long shorts they sell in the gift shops here, walked out of my room, got in the elevator, and I strolled down to the shore, middle of the night. Big steps. Determined. “Envision your path.” That's what you always say, right, doc? ”Walk in the direction you want to go.” Well, I did it. I thought real hard about my dream—with each step, I brought it more into focus. A murder in a restaurant. The radio man, I think, some sort of conspiracy theorist, but also a sort of neighborhood good guy—people liked him, missed him, so they set the whole place ablaze. There was a corrupt mayor, I think? Some sort of weird corporation? I keep thinking about crabs.
And this crew investigating his death—his nephew, a private eye with delusions of grandeur; a former cop who worked with him a couple of times; a big-name fan, you know, someone who called in? And a crook, a source he kept around for tips. I brought it all into focus. And you know what, doc? Nothing. No feeling of deja vu, no transportation back to the old days, no memory of my parents. No holiday bliss, no feelings of nausea, no epiphany, no radio host. No crab-men, nothing. Just sand in water, some shells, and the neon glow of the casino lights. Just me in my shorts and my sandals—just me, alone, again, or something like it. And doc, I was at my wit’s end. I thought about—and I'm serious here, doc, I really considered—just walking into the sea and letting it take me wherever it takes people on nights like that. I took off my sandals. I wanted to be barefoot when I walked in, feel that cold water hit my nerves directly. So I started walking. “Envision your path,” right? “Walk in the direction you want to go.”
But just as my feet hit the surf, I heard a voice—authoritative, attentive, real. Not like yours. “Wait just a minute there,” he said, so I stopped. And I turned around and there he was, peacoat and all. He made me feel like a little boy. He asked me if I’d ever been to the real Bluff City. And I hadn't. Now I know I hadn't. But I'm there now, and I'm just calling to let you know I won't be needing your services anymore. I'm home now.”
Plot[edit | edit source]
The episode opens on Tyler, Patty, and Chris at the CD-BAR. They make contact with Vinchenzo DiMartino, asking him about “the weenie roast” (the fire at Show Dogs). After some confusion, Vinchenzo expresses discomfort that Tyler has brought two other people to their meeting, but does confirm he has information about the fire.
Patty asks if he has information without metaphor, to Chris’s relief. Vinchenzo says he has heard some rumors but wants to be paid first. They sort out the payment easily, but unfortunately Vinchenzo’s answer is in a deep code that they find it difficult to translate. They discover a connection with Jennifer Jetta of the Bluff City Current, who broke the story of Hector’s death and the Show Dogs arson case (“she’s been a little too first”).
Meanwhile, the national guard is called to the Outskirts as the people involved in Omega Love begin rioting. They are easily defeated by the protestors, who take over their helicopters and begin broadcasting Hector Hu’s old broadcasts from the air.
With Chris's help, Florence tracks down Captain Leslie Strada. She searches a phone book for his number and although she finds it, the number is disconnected. When she visits his address, his house is on fire. An old car bursts through the on-fire garage, speeding away from them.
As Chris and Florence chase after him, Florence tells Chris that she saw Hector. Chris, shocked, brakes suddenly, tipping the coffee she has in her car onto Florence's lap. Chris restarts the car, and Florence explains what she saw, believing it to be a vision rather than something she actually saw. Chris asks what she thinks it means. Florence says that she doesn’t know, but that she felt compelled to tell Chris because Hector meant a lot to her, and had been hoping that Chris had also seen him.
Florence explains to Chris how to do a PIT maneuver to stop Captain Strada from getting away. As she is coaching Chris through it, they are T-boned by another car. A woman gets out of it and stands in front of them, waiting for them to exit the car. Florence, shaken up, momentarily believes that she is in her old police cruiser and opens the glove box for a weapon, but the only thing in Chris’s glovebox is coffee.
Florence checks on Chris and then kicks her way out of the car, holding the coffee pot as a weapon. The woman reveals herself to be Captain Strada, telling Florence that she can investigate Hector’s death without revealing other things that she shouldn’t. On Captain Strada’s urging, she drops the coffee pot, which bounces away.
Captain Strada tells Florence to patch herself up and finish investigating Hector’s death (“and nothing else”). Florence attempts to perform a citizen’s arrest on Captain Strada by putting her off balance and handcuffing her, then pushing her into the back of Chris’s car. As they’re driving, Captain Strada makes eye contact with Florence, and then leans forwards and whispers something to Chris (“she doesn’t even know she’s one of us”). As they drive, Florence, who has been awake for over 24 hours, falls asleep. Captain Strada directs Chris to drop her off and Chris immediately does as she says, then carries on to drop Florence off at a hotel for some rest.
It begins to snow in Bluff City. Chris tracks down a BCPD Gala at a mall so that she and Tyler can find out more about what Captain Strada meant by Florence being “one of us”. Tyler is also trying to use this opportunity to get clients, and is handing out business cards. Chris doesn’t mind this, as she uses his networking as a distraction while she looks for clues.
She sees the Gala’s map of attendees, and tries to get a better look at it from the employee-only area that they have made in an unused Starbucks. She speaks to “Magnolia” James, who is acting as a bouncer for the employee-only area. Chris claims to be a staff member. James does not believe her as she arrived with Tyler and refuses her entry. Chris continues to claim that she is working as security, even going so far as to pull up a Craigslist post that she fabricated. Unfortunately, she has typed the wrong number for the mall, causing James to further disbelieve her.
Chris begins to cry, saying that she needed this security job to buy Christmas gifts for her family, and then admits that she was lying and asks if she can get some coffee. James weakens slightly, saying that he will go to the bathroom and that he doesn’t want to see her when she gets back. Chris enters, quickly studying the map of attendees.
James offers her another deal - if Chris gives him her Elementary login, he will let her stay as long as she likes. Although she knows that this will expose Omega Love’s organising discussions to the BCPD, Chris agrees. Studying the documents, she realises that the corkboard from Hector’s office lines up perfectly to the gala attendee map, marking certain people as being members of the Concern, including both Hector and Captain Strada.
Chris also remembers that Hector used colour codes on the radio to indicate major crimes, and sees that Captain Strada is connected by a “code burgundy” line to Hector, meaning that she is his killer.
Meanwhile, the snow has turned into a blizzard, Winter Storm Florence. Due to the riots, the streets cannot be cleared, covering the majority of Bluff City in two feet of snow. Ollie Fraser is shot with a gun at close range, dying under mysterious circumstances. Chris sees the report on Fraser's death while at the gala.
Patty goes to City Hall to investigate. Florence has also arrived at City Hall, still slightly concussed from the car accident and having had a dream about the mayor’s death. They both head to the mayor’s office through the empty City Hall, and find police tape up but no police present.
The power goes out in City Hall, plunging Florence and Patty into darkness. From the light coming in through the window, they spot the body. Patty uses her phone as a flashlight to look around. Patty and Florence argue over whether the body is a fake or not. Florence believes that the body is real. Patty eventually agrees, and begins searching the body.
Patty discovers that Hector had already been killed months ago, with his newer broadcasts being audio-mixed from his previous ones. The mayor was paying for the cover-up, as he believed it would help his chances for re-election via subliminal messaging (he did not know that Hector had been killed).
The more destructive aspects of the gala culture begin to fall apart, improving the relationship between those who were involved in Omega Love and the residents of the Shore.
The coast guard is told to aim smaller, shrinking the amount of money that they have to fund their operations.
A new mayor is elected from the local community, bringing in an era of slightly less corruption to Bluff City.
Cast[edit | edit source]
- Austin Walker as the GM
- Ali Acampora (Christine Andrews)
- Art Martinez-Tebbel (Tyler Taylor Pierce)
- Jack de Quidt (Florence Slowly)
- Keith J Carberry (Patty Fink)
Other Characters[edit | edit source]
- Blake Blossom (opening)
- Vinchenzo DiMartino
- Jennifer Jetta
- Leslie Strada
- “Magnolia” James
- Ollie Fraser
Gallery[edit | edit source]
Poster for the "There Is No Greater Love" arc by Lily Pfaff.
