Fifteen years ago, a beardless Aaron was in prison. Tracy visits him and swears that he’s going to get paroled. He promises to make it up to her, but as he’s leaving the visiting room, a cop starts talking about what a slutty girl fifteen year old Tracy is. Aaron, as you might imagine, slugs him (and rightfully so!). He gets a beat down from the guards for his trouble. (Note to the producers: Aaron’s a lot better looking without the beard. Just saying.)
Present day, Aaron finds Tracy at a bar drinking. She tells him to leave her alone, and he agrees if she’ll only answer one question: if she’s terrified of Jericho and her father was able to find her by walking into the nearest bar, how smart is she actually being?
Dem tells Zoey that Mark’s going to shoot him on March 15. She’s convinced he’s the prime suspect, but Dem swears he’s not the guy. She keeps flashing back to that memorial service on the beach and finally tells him about it. He says it doesn’t matter. He filed the papers to destroy the gun, and it’s locked in the evidence room. Zoey should just trust him. She doesn’t, however, and the next morning she shows up at Mark’s house working through hypothetical situations. Mark wonders aloud if Dem’s the mole. He thinks they’re playing “outrageous accusations;” Zoey thinks he should go to hell.
Two years ago, Aaron got the news that Tracy was killed by enemy fire. He slams the door on the Marine. In the present, Aaron asks Tracy if she’s familiar with James Irskin. He’s the head of Jericho and based out of Santa Monica. He also tells her that Mark ran background checks on her commanding officer and Irskin. The CO was killed in a helicopter crash two days after Tracy’s “death.” It’s probably not a coincidence. Tracy thinks that she should never have listened to Kamir. She explains that Kamir thought that her leaving the village was a sign that Tracy was supposed to go back to Afghanistan and take Aaron with her. She was down with the plan until she came home and found her father. Now, she doesn’t know if she can take him back with her. Aaron says that she should just trust him.
Lloyd and Mark are in a conference room talking about their future phone call. Mark’s pretty sure Lloyd has a couple of things to say about D. Gibbons because based on the call, Lloyd knows him. Lloyd denies this, so Mark takes him for a walk.
Zoey shows up at the FBI with lunch for Dem and a subpoena for the Mosaic files. She wants to see what they’ve got to keep Dem safe. At first, he wants to go in front of a judge, but after Zoey points out that public really doesn’t seem to work for them, he decides that Dem will make the files available for her to review. Dem’s not thrilled that she’s interfering At All.
Mike shows up for work. He’s so involved with Jericho, it’s not even funny. Aaron makes nice with him and even tells him that Tracy’s at the house. Again, it’s a total trap. We know this, can Aaron really be that dense????? (sheer conjecture on my part, but HELLO!?!)
Mark takes Lloyd to Mark’s house and walks him through the details of his FF. The details are a little uncomfortable, but they basically surmise that “the QED” refers to a formula. It’s quite possibly the one that Lloyd’s getting pieces of from Simon and writing out on Liv’s mirror in lipstick.
Janis is at a fertility clinic. She’s taken prenatal vitamins that morning and is flipping through the baby book. The specialist claims that it’s probably too soon for her to get pregnant, but Janis points out that in her FF, she’s in her second trimester. That means she has to get pregnant NOW, and she can’t stop thinking about it. That baby thing, it needs to happen because she wants the baby from her FF.
Dem brings Zoey a box of files, slams them on the desk, and tells her to drop it. He knows she’s trying to help, but serving Stan with papers and trying to smear his partner is way over the line.
Tracy is at the house making dinner when a team from Jericho jabs her with a needle, stuffs her in a box and and walks out with her like she’s an old refrigerator. They don’t turn the stove off which means that Aaron will come home to no daughter and a pan he won’t be able to use again.
Two years ago, Aaron celebrated Tracy’s life by getting drunk and smashing up the house like that chick from the old meth commercials. In the present day, he comes home to find that pan I mentioned on fire. He thinks she’s drunk, but when he can’t find her, it suddenly hits him that he opened his big fat mouth to the wrong person.
Lloyd and Mark are still going through the flashforward flashback. Mark wants to know why he was so adamant when he told him about D. Gibbons. Mark tricks him into admitting that he knows him now.
Aaron shows up at Mike’s house and learns that he’s moving on . His dad got him a job closer to home, and there’s nothing more important than family. He offers to buy Mike a burger before he moves. Mike, incredibly, gets in the car. Aaron tells him about his prison days (2.5 years for a bar fight). It changed him and made him capable of doing some animalistic things. For example, beating the crap out of Mike. Unfortunately, Aaron gets caught monologuing, and Mike manages to pull a knife on him. As they beat on each other, Aaron demands to know where Jericho took Tracy. Mike thinks they’re going both going to get killed. Aaron invites him to go first. Then, he breaks his arm.
Dem’s at Janis’ house telling her about how out of control work was while she was out. Stan isn’t talking to him over this Zoey thing, and Janis thinks that’s probably a sign that she loves him. He asks where she was, and she explains about the clinic and how she begged them to take her on as a client. They agreed though, and Janis anticipates getting pregnant next week. She’s scared, but she wants more of a life than just being an FBI agent. She fought for the future she wanted, Dem should too…he should get rid of the gun.
Lloyd tells Mark that “D. Gibbons” is really Dyson Frost. Lloyd knows him from a lecture Frost gave at Oxford. Frost stole Lloyd’s work, but since Lloyd wasn’t published there was no way to prove it. Lloyd assumed that he was dead, but clearly he isn’t. Mark brings up that inconsistency with Charlie, but Lloyd claims that he didn’t tell her anything about Gibbons in his vision. Mark’s tried to ask her, but she shuts down every time the FF comes up. Mark then switches tactics and asks about the kidnapping. Mark deduces that Lloyd isn’t talking because they threatened Dylan. Mark knows that he needs Lloyd’s help to prevent another blackout – especially since the kidnapping combined with their mutual vision suggests that one is definitely coming.
At work the next morning, Mark’s going over what he learned with Stan and Vogel. Frost research suggests that he might have been involved with the Somalia crow murder of 1991. Mark needs to go there, but Stan doesn’t know how he’s going to sell that to Washington. Vogel suggests that they merely ask for forgiveness later.
James Irskin is giving a birthday party for his daughter when the lights go out. It’s Aaron’s doing…he goes to Irskin’s house to take a look at the “surges” affecting the area. Irskin allows him to come in, and Aaron confronts him about Tracy. The problem, though, is that Irskin claims to not know who Tracy is. Luckily, Aaron’s put a trace on the phone.
Zoey interviews Alda about her interrogation. She’s convinced that Alda knows something more than what she told Dem and Mark after the blackout. Zoey wants to know what that is. Now. Zoey thinks that she can help Alda by representing her. Alda’s not so sure about that, but she’s convinced when Zoey points out that in her flash forward, she wasn’t in prison.
Vogel decides that someone’s going to Somalia, but it’s not going to be Mark. If Janis and Dem don’t make it back, it’s a tragedy, but if Mark doesn’t make it back it’s a catastrophe. Apparently, Vogel’s really in charge of this thing now.
Aaron’s listening on his trace and overhears a conversation between Irskin and someone else claiming that “the father” was just there. Aaron learns that Tracy’s being held at Kandahar and that the father should be offed. Aaron then hears another phone ring. Picking it up (but not answering), he walks to the back of the truck, uncovers his kidnapped Mike and announces that they’re calling Mike to kill Aaron. It’s a shame he has other places to be.
Vogel briefs Dem and Janis on their mission to Somalia. Only one of the five towers remains standing. Their mission, should they choose to accept it, is to get into the tower and figure out what role it had in the blackout in ’91. Dem asks if they’re using the “Red Panda” plan. Not exactly…Mark wanted to work with Red Panda, but instead they’re going AS Red Panda. Janis is pretty sure that violates a dozen treaties, but Vogel accepts responsibility for any trouble they’re about to get in regarding that. Simon wants to know when they leave. Vogel claims that he’s not going, but Simon insists that they won’t be able to make sense of the tower without him. Vogel tosses him the dossier and tells him to get his shots.
Zoey shows up to take Dem home. She wants to get frisky, but Dem doesn’t want any part of it. Zoey also announces that she’s representing Alda. He’s not thrilled, but she’s willing to represent terrorists if that means Dem will be safe. She loves him. Dem takes her up to the evidence locker. He’s going to retrieve the gun and destroy it, but guest star Timbaland tells him that someone has already taken it on a “carry out.”
Aaron calls Mark to tell him that things have escalated. He’s okay, but he’s going off the grid for awhile. As he talks, the action cuts to Mike. He’s hanging, shirtless and upside down, outside of Irskin’s home wearing a party hat with “Happy Birthday” written on his chest. The little girl screams, but thankfully, Mike’s alive.
