The Nine

[ramonaq]

Sobe, I'd be interested in episode 13 spoilers, if you don't mind.

[chiquita]

Me, too! Thanks for posting those.

[berrybearie]

Yes, please sobe! I read a short summary on TWoP that said that Ed moves to Chicago, Kathryn and Nick kiss, and Malcolm was in on the robbery!!!

[sobe]

This recap isn't as succinct as the other ones, but I figured it was ok since it's the series finale.

Ep 13: Confessions

>>The episode begins with a flashback. Lucas and Randall's mother phones them inside the bank. She's sweet to Lucas, but rails at Randall for getting Lucas into this.

Nick and Kathryn work on another case together. Nick seems to smell Ed's blood in the water, because he's pretty clearly going after Kathryn (but in a friendly way). He insists that she join him for blintzes after they wrap up their case conference. Kathryn's busy preparing for a fundraising event that night at Jeremy's parents' home (Egan's organizing), but she agrees to go.

At lunch, Nick asks Kathryn about the wedding planning. It isn't really going anywhere because of work, the campaign, and because Ed just interviewed with a Chicago-based firm, for a job at its L.A. branch. After the blintzes, Nick tries to convince Kathryn come with him to the driving range. She begs off so she can work on the fundraiser.

Lucas calls Lizzie and asks her to visit him in jail. He wants her to testify for him at trial, to say that he was protective of the hostages inside the bank. Lizzie needs to think about it.

Malcolm and Naomi consult with Felicia's psychiatrist. The psychiatrist thought that once Malcolm took her through the most traumatic moments, the repression would stop. The longer she represses the memory, the more damage to her psyche.

Malcolm picks Felicia up after school and tells her they need to talk. In the last episode, Malcolm told Felicia that he had been arguing with Lucas in the vault, trying to convince him to get Randall to end the standoff. Malcolm confesses to Felicia that he knew about the robbery and helped plan it. Felicia flashes back to the bank vault. We see Malcolm and Lucas arguing. Malcolm asks how Lucas could have brought a maniac like Randall into the bank, and yells that they need to take Randall down and end the standoff. Felicia then has flashes of the rest of the bank trauma (including a scene of Randall pulling at Katheryn's shoes and clothes).

Back at campaign headquarters, Kathryn gets a phone call from Nick. He teases her about missing out on the sunshine and golf course, but she eventually figures out that he's at his desk at the station playing computer golf. Kathryn cuts the call short when Ed shows up. He got an offer from the law firm, but for the Chicago branch. He's flying to Chicago right away to try to convince them to give him L.A. instead.

Jeremy joins Lizzie at her sonogram. Afterwards, Jeremy tells Lizzie that he wants to be worthy of being someone's father. Lizzie assures him that they're past all of that. Jeremy confesses that he tried to kill Randall, but that he never would have taken the chance if he knew Lizzie was pregnant.

Malcolm tries to explain things to Felicia. Once he became successful and started supporting his family, people never stopped needing things. He wanted to give everyone things he didn't have when he was growing up. But he made bad investments, his mother's house was being foreclosed. He made the payments, but never told his wife, and things kept getting worse and worse. Malcolm started embezzling money from the bank until he was in way over his head. He met Lucas, who said he knew someone reliable and that it would be pretty simple. Malcolm was hoping that the money Lucas took would cover up the money he had embezzled from the bank. Finally, Malcolm tells Felicia that he's going to confess to his wife and turn himself in to the police the next morning.

Malcolm visits Lucas in jail to tell him that he's giving himself up. He wants Lucas use their secret to make a deal so Lucas can get his sentence reduced. Lucas tries to talk him out of it because Malcolm's freedom allows him to live with himself. Malcolm replies, "But how will I live with myself?"

The fundraiser at the Kates' is a success; a lot of people showed up at the black-tie event. Frannie gets left alone to chat with Jeremy's parents. Frannie explains to them that she dropped out of UCSB after two years to "find herself," and Jeremy's mother tries to relate by saying that she did the same thing, except they called it "semester abroad."

Kathryn sneaks out of the fundraiser so she can call Ed, but gets voicemail. She says it's late and he never called her with an update, and she's not sure how to take that. As she sits with her feet in the pool, Nick asks if she can join her. She fills him in on Ed's job situation, but tells Nick she's not sure how hard she wants Ed to fight for that L.A. job. Kathryn and Nick make out a little, but are interrupted by her mother, who wants her into say goodnight to some donors.

Lizzie and Jeremy have a talk in his bedroom. She still thinks he's worthy "of a lot of things."

Frannie finds the sonogram on displayin the Kates' kitchen. It's a girl. Frannie asks Jeremy what they're doing together. They decide to break up.

Malcolm comes to the event swearing slacks and a cardigan and he seems pretty out of it. The hostages are the last ones at the party and they've gathered in the foyer. Malcolm is struggling with his words. Everyone assumes he's just drunk and Frannie takes him home.

Lizzie visits Lucas again. She tells him that she can't testify for him because it would hurt the others too much. She doesn't want to risk losing them.

The next day, Lucas is attacked in the jailyard. An inmate tries to stab him with a shiv. The attacker lets him know, "This is from your brother." Lucas fights him off until the guards break it up.

Malcolm is getting dressed at home, preparing to turn himself in to the cops. Felicia runs in and begs him not to do it. Felicia tells him she'll never forgive him if he takes her father from her. Naomi comes in and asks them what's going on.

Flashback to the bank. The sun is rising on the hostages after their first night in the bank. It's all very pretty and dramatic with lingering shots of each character in the glow of the sunrise. The show ends with a hopeful Eva saying, "We made it." <<

The end. Screw you ABC!

I hope that the producers take some pity on fans of this show, and give us a written summary of the story arcs. Like what happened to Katheryn's hair (we find out in episode 11 or 12 that even poor Ed doesn't know what happened there), how Eva was killed, what Nick and Katheryn's plan was, and why Nick punched the FBI negotiator. The odds are that we won't get even that, but you never know.

P.S. Sorry that was so long.

[ramonaq]

It was Malcolm? Nope, sorry show writers, don't buy it. Even with that new back story, it doesn't fit the person we know.

[sobe]

I read spoilers before I saw the episodes and I wasn't sure what to make of the information. But after seeing the shows, I thought it was really well done. I was totally surprised, but it started to make sense after looking back at >> all of the things Malcolm did and said in the episodes leading up to "Confessions". Chi McBride sold it pretty well.

It's also entirely possible that I drank the T9 Kool Aid a while ago and it's clouding my judgment. Still, I enjoyed it while it lasted.

If anyone's interested, I can dig up the link to the episode downloads for 11-13. If you don't mind Swedish subtitles. <<

[berrybearie]

Thanks, sobe! I can buy the plotline about Malcolm being in on the job because I could buy him being burdened and making a bad decision -- the pastor, man of the year, who gives into temptation, takes the easy way out and then suffers the consequences.Too bad it will never air. At least most of the actors have landed on their feet. I know Tim Daly, Chi McBride, Kim Raver, and Jessica Collins all have new TV roles, and I think Camille Guaty's going to be back on Prison Break. Not sure about Dr. Dimples, Egan, and Felicia (ETA: just saw that she, like Jessica Collins will be joining Heroes and Scott Wolf is doing a sitcom pilot about lawyers).

[grumpygirl]

Wow, I'm surprised by that ending. It pisses me off that they start these episodic shows then don't finish them, like Kidnapped, Threshold, Surface, Invasion, etc. Give people a chance to get hooked before you decide to pull the plug you idiot network weasels! Or start a website that explains what happened to everyone in the show and why the mystery was happening!

[sobe]

Camille Guaty's got a role on Las Vegas this season. Lourdes Benedicto will be in Cashmere Mafia, and I don't think Scott Wolf's sitcom was picked up for 07-08, but he just signed a talent or holding deal with ABC to develop a new project. So, yeah, the majority of the cast (well, the hostages anyway) have picked up regular series work for next season. It really was a great group of actors.

[canuckcutie]

Thanks for the spoilers - that helps a little but there is still so much we will never know.

Chi Mcbride is on the new show Pushing Daisies. I found episode 1 on the internet. I loved it - very quirky and beautifully shot so I'm sure Chi's going to be 2 for 2 with cancelled sitcoms.