This episode opens with Bill in the bathroom, clearly under some sort of stress. He pops some pills in his mouth and his wife knocks on the door. Jillian wants him to call in sick because she is concerned with his health. She tells him that the medication is not working anymore, but Bill simply says, "I got this." It was nice to see the return of Jillian, but I would like to know when they are going to pick up the baby storyline.
At Gary's, his mother calls him for breakfast and then we hear a bloodcurdling scream from upstairs. Sandra calls Rosen, who tells her that the scream is a way of releasing stress. Sandra believes that with everything that Gary has been through that he went back to work too early, but of course Rosen counters saying that Gary needs to work and that he will pick him up. Scenes like this really make me despise Rosen, because even when he is told that Gary is screaming everyday, and needs to talk to someone, he does not really pause to think about what Gary really needs.
At the office, Rachel is complaining to Rosen about her parents and he suggests that she get her own apartment. When Rosen gets a call from Clay, he walks off without even bothering to acknowledge that he was in a conversation with Rachel. Rachel then stops in her tracks when she picks up a smell. Gary immediately denies that it's him and Rachel says its like an overdose of cologne and follows the smell into Bill's office, where she meets John Bennet the new lead tactical. Rachel is not impressed, though he has a great smile and tells him that his body spray is way to distracting. Before she can finish, Rosen enters saying that Clay called to say that Jack Duffy -- a building 7 escapee -- who could generate electricity with his bare hands is dead.
At the morgue, Rachel picks up the smell hydrochloric acid on Duffy and claims that someone spit it on him. Gary says, "that's cool; it's poison spit, like a cobra." Bill notices that there is skin under the nails and surmises that he put up a fight. When Bill notices something on his hand, Rachel reads out a phone number. Rosen asks him to take point on this because he needs to keep looking for Stanton Parish.
Gary, Rachel and Cameron show up at the address connected to the number. Bill and Cameron decide to investigate, but Rachel wants to accompany them, Bill says that it's not safe. John grabs her arm and says that she needs to stay with him and when Rachel turns to Bill, he says that John is lead tactical now and therefore Rachel needs to stay with him.
When they enter the address Bill and Cameron find a sort of Alpha fight club. When Bill says Olivia, they assume that he's a fighter. In the van, Rachel starts to cough and when John asks her what's wrong, she tells him that he stinks and that it's like a spice rack exploded in her face. Rachel opens the door, as John grabs her hand saying that she can't go out there. Rachel tells him not to tell her how to do her job and hops out. I was glad to see this because I didn't like the fact that John put his hand on her in an attempt to restrain her and the casting of Rachel as this delicate flower.
Rachel moves towards the fight club, as she gets on the walkie talkie to tell Hicks that she can smell the hydrochloric acid. As she enters, she sees a sort of green mist and then to her left, an aging man appears. She notices an acid burn on his face. When Rachel asks about the burn she is told that he was spit at when it became clear that another alpha named Bazevich was going to lose the fight. The man is still walking forward, causing Rachel to back up. He reaches for her hair and tells Rachel that she is pretty cute. John shows up asking if everything is okay and when it is clear that the tension is pretty strong, Rachel reminds the man about Bazevich. Rachel thanks John for not staying in the van and they walk away. Why is it then when a female character asserts her independence and desire not to be protected that a man is always sent in anyway to play the role of conquering hero?
In the fight club, Bill learns that he has to fight because he is a first timer. Bill enters the ring while outside a woman tells Cameron that Bill is going to get his ass kicked. She tells him that the man Bill is fighting is an alpha, like all of the fighters there tonight, and he can make people see double and triple with their eyes. Clearly feeling disoriented, Bill is getting his butt kicked.
At the office, Gary and Rosen are looking for connections between Jacob Dunham and Stanton Parish. Rosen takes the time to ask Gary how he is doing, which is rather late considering that he has been working all day. Gary says that he has been at it all day and had found zilch. Rosen reminds him that he found out that the picture they have Stanton Parish is of a Major Jacob Dunham and was treated by a doctor who worked at New York hospital. Rosen suggests that if he had continued to treat the Major that his notes might still be in the hospital records. Okay, this picture is from the civil war, which means that naturally both the doctor and Parish should be dead. Why would any hospital still have records on file dating back that far and furthermore, why the hell would they bother to digitize them?
Rosen segues into Gary's morning routine of screaming. Gary says he screams for ten seconds and then he goes to have his breakfast. Rosen suggests that it might help if they discuss it, but Gary responds that he screams so they don't have to discuss it. Rosen says that he has every reason to be angry because the government took him away from his home and put a chip in his neck, but Gary is more concerned about the fact that the government killed Anna. He says, "they shot her in the head. She was my friend." Rosen tells him that it is a healthy thing to express himself and hopes that he can find a way to do it without terrifying his mother.
When Bill and Cameron leave the fight club, Bill is clearly the worse for wear. Bill tells them that Rachel got a name - Ivan Bazevich, who did a stretch upstate, but with no known address. When people start leaving the club, he asks when the next fight is, only to be told that he isn't cut out for this and therefore will never have another fight. The woman Cameron was talking to earlier says that Bill's got moves, "he just doesn't know how to use them." She walks over and writes her phone number on Bill's hand and introduces herself as Kat. When Bill asks why she is helping, Kat says that she plans to bet on him and cash in.
Gary comes downstairs with this bags packed and announces to his mother that since Rosen told him that he should try to find away of screaming without terrifying her that he is moving out. When Sandra confronts Rosen, he tells her that he did not recommend Gary leave home. This upsets Gary who wants to know why this is the solution for Rachel and not for him. Sandra cuts Gary off and says that he is not going anywhere and is not going to work today either. Gary responds, "mom of course I am going to work. I go to work everyday, they need me." Sandra says that she needs him here and Gary starts to walk towards the car. Rosen tells Gary that it's quite alright if he doesn't go to work today and will call him if they need him. He follows that up by saying that they should all sit down and discuss his future, so Gary returns to the house.
Back at the office, Rachel says that they are still focused on Bazevich as their killer and that they finally got his records from DOD. Apparently, they are no closer to finding him, so Hicks suggests that the fights are their best bet. Rosen makes it clear that he wants it to be a stake out and no more fighting, to which Hicks points out that he wasn't the one fighting. With a smirk on his face, Cameron suggests that it will be difficult to keep Bill away and furthermore, Bill is currently in training for his next fight.
Kat is busy watching a video about what happens to the body and brain when humans fight. She takes Bill into the room and does a tumble across the floor and then kicks the body bag. When Bill asks if she kick boxes as well, she says that she never has and is a quick study. Bill figures out that Kat is an Alpha.
At the office, John enters Rachel's office with a bag filled with different soaps and says, "I figured that while we're on stake out that you should have some say in how I smell." Yeah, I get his point but that was creepy. Why couldn't he just buy the non scented soap and be done with it? He says that he thought about unscented, but that there probably wasn't a thing as unscented really. Rachel goes through the boxes and picks one for him and thanks him. Clearly, there is a little bit of chemistry going on between the two.
Bill is punching the bag and Kat asked him if that is it and he says that he is not going to amp up just for practice because it is not healthy for him. Kat responds that using his ability is not his problem and that he is holding back because he has all of this pressure building up all the time that is making him cranky. She suggests that he needs to relax, listen and trust her, because there's no reason to struggle and that there's nothing to control. Bill sees a bright flashing light and when he comes to, the gym is a wreck. Kat simply says, "I told you."
Rosen goes to the hospital and discovers that the doctor's files are still there in the archives. Uh huh, they better find a way to explain this that makes a modicum of sense. Bill find a picture of Stanton Parish and then opens up the doctor's journal, which leads to a flashback scene of the civil war. Apparently, Parish was shot in the head and the doctor declared him beyond hope and had moved onto another patient, when Parish suddenly sat up and took a deep breath. Rosen is then interrupted by Hicks, who is surprised to see all of the civil war documents displayed across Rosen's office. Rosen tells him that he is reading the records of a doctor Zachery Harris and the flash backs begin again.
Parish asks Dr. Harris if he has mentioned his name in the notes that he is taking and Harris says that his descriptions remain anonymous, as he finishes the drawing he is making of Parish. Zachery hands Parish a scalpel and he cuts himself, then they watch as the wound quickly heals. Zachery remarks that he is getting stronger. Hicks asks about this, and Rosen answers that he used his alpha abilities and is sure that Dunham is Stanton Parish (did anyone else say no shit Sherlock after this line?) Cameron is shocked and wants to know if Rosen really believes that Parish has been around for two centuries and so Rosen does agree that it's hard to fathom but very likely. Why oh why is this a talking point, considering what they have seen Alphas do? Rosen goes on to say that learning about Stanton's formative years, might help them understand what drives him and goes on to misquote Sun Tzu "know your enemy like yourself and you may win a hundred battles," which should have been, "It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." Yeah, so much for making Rosen look smart and deep.
Rosen asks Cameron if there is something he wants to talk about. Cameron tells him that he respects him and that he is in a relationship with Dani. Rosen responds that he knows because Nina took it upon herself to make sure that he knew, but adds that he already knew already from seeing the two of them together. Rosen tells Cameron that as long as he makes Dani happy, he can keep his job there. Clearly this is not an off hand comment. Just out of curiosity, is anyone else wondering why this is the first mention of Nina? What's the deal with her character? Also this conversation reveals yet another conflict of interest for Rosen.
Jillian shows up at Bill's office and he is surprised to see her. Bill tells Jillian that he has never felt better and without the pills. She brought him some dinner and asks if he is hungry. Bill closes his office door and proceeds to make the moves on her.
Rosen, Gary and Sandra sit down for a meeting where she tells Gary that he cannot live in his office and needs to be practical. Gary asserts that he is being practical and she won't have to hear him scream everyday. Sandra says it's not safe, but Gary counters saying that it's safer because he won't have to drive to work anymore and people die in car crashes all of the time. Sandra turns to Rosen, "don't you tell me that you support him in this." In his ever so paternalistic fashion, Rosen responds, "I think we both need to support Gary in whatever steps he needs to take towards his independence." Sandra is concerned that this is too big a step, causing Rosen to ask, "for him, or for you?" Really? Considering how he used Gary's relationship with Anna last season to manipulate Sandra, he really has nerve questioning anyone's motives. Rosen reaches over and squeezes Sandra's hand.
Bill stops on a street corner and orders a turkey dog and Kat decides to order one two. When she gets her dog, Bill starts putting ingredients on it. I don't know about you but that would piss me off. How does he even know that she likes peppers. Bill asks again about Bazevich, causing Kat to ask if he has a man crush on him or something. "How should I know if he's coming," Kat asks. Bill wants to know how he got involved with him, and Kat says that she has a thing where she can't remember anything more than a month ago. Her brain is wired to make room for all the new stuff. Bill asks about her family and says that her home is the fights for now. She warns him not to go papa bear on her and suggests that she can take care of herself.
At the library, Gary is not impressed to see Bill going through microfilm just as Rosen comes across an article about a local doctor being killed. We get a flashback of the doctor leaving his home and being confronted by Parish. Parish asks him to cancel the presentation and honour is promises to never speak of what he can do. The doctor says that he cannot and so Parish stabs him.
At the fight club, Bill asks Cameron to keep an eye on Kat because she forgets things. Bill volunteers to fight and with one punch knocks out his opponent. Outside Rachel and John are talking about his past and she asks about the pressure to make certain choices about his life. Suddenly Rachel smells something and surmises that Bazevich is not inside right now but close by.
Bill's next fight is with Kat and he is surprised. Kat leans in and says, "I never said that I wasn't a fighter." Bill responds that this isn't a good idea but she tells him that it's not personal. As she is fighting Bill she remembers everything that she saw in the video and quickly takes Bill out for the count. As soon as the fight is over, Kat is pulled aside because people want to talk to her about a job. Outside, Rachel and John notices that Kat is getting into a van, and so Rachel encourages Bill and Hicks to hurry up. When they get in the car, John asks Bill if he is okay, and Hicks interrupts and suggests that he ask Bill who did it instead. Bill promises to kill Hicks. Rachel turns and says that Kat is in the same car with Bazevich.
The team pulls up in front of a building where Rachel smell Bazevich. She hears multiple heavy boots, heart beats and Kat screaming as some kind of mask is forced over her mouth. Apparently they are prepping her for something so Bill hops out of the car saying, we can't wait. Bill pushes as soda machine in front of him to absorb the bullets as John and Cameron race behind him. They unhook Kat who turns to Bill and says, "I beat you." Outside the police are in full alert and they discover that Bazevich is dead and was a prisoner too. Kat tells him that she could have gotten out of here herself. Rosen tells her to take it easy and she says, "give me a couple weeks and I will forgive." Kat wants to know who everyone is and Rosen says that they are consultants. She figures that they are Alpha secret agents and suggests that they want her on her team.
Rachel gives John a gift bag filled with soap saying that it will blend really well with his natural scent which is really good anyway. After stumbling for a bit, Rachel asks him if he likes Italian and he says that if they are going to be working together, but before he can finish, Rachel says, "forget I mentioned it."
Stanton and Rosen meet up. Rosen thanks him for providing the doctor's research. Stanton says that the doctor wanted to use him. Parish says that he re-enlisted after the doctors death and helped save the nation. He says he was shot again and again but Rosen cuts him off saying it was an impressive resume. Stanton says that ordinary men react with fear and violence to anything that is new and different and that is why a war is coming. Suddenly Parish gets up and leaves.
At the office Sandra is making up Gary's bed for him. When she leaves, he tells her that he will call in the morning after he screams but before he has his breakfast. Bil returns to the fight club and says that he is there to fight.
