On this episode of The Catch, “The Princess and the I.P.,” the firm is hired to find a missing software developer. Alice closes in on Ben. Margot and Ben make a last-ditch effort to con Princess Zara and get the money they need.
Alice is on to Ben’s new game, and she knows all about Princess Zara. With Qasim gone, the Princess isn’t just stepping out, she’s inviting people in to her inner circle, enjoying her newfound independence. She’s opening herself in a way that will allow Alice to monitor her calls and texts, and she’s decided to partner up with Agent Dao.
The Mark Becomes a Player
Princess Zara’s days in the US are numbered. Qasim never arrived home, and her brothers are coming to get her. But the Princess likes the freedoms that American women enjoy; working, going to school, being able to act on her own accord with a man’s permission. She thinks Qasim may have had the right idea. Take as much money as possible and disappear. She asks Ben to help her do exactly that.
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A Missing VIP
The firm also has a new client, Phillip Thompson. He’s a CEO of a tech company that is now involved in military contracts. Thompson is looking for Gwen Ericsssoon, a genius and beloved member of his corporate family. They don’t want to contact the police due to the nature of the project that Gwen has been working on, THRUsight. THRUsight was designed to help locate disaster victims. It can also detect troops and armaments. It wasn’t meant to be a weapon, but it has the capacity. The only person that has a complete copy of the manufacturing specs is Gwen. Phillip and his protege, Marie, who also helped design the program, fear Gwen may have been taken. Her laptop is also missing, and they believe any competitor, rival nation or terrorist group could have gotten to her.
Marie pulls Alice aside and informs her that Gwen has a history of disappearing. When she can’t figure something out, she’ll take a hike or head to the beach. Marie feels guilty for not speaking up sooner, especially now that Gwen has been missing for four days.
Michael Thorne Meets Paige Baker
Margot is putting pressure on Ben, Princess Zara’s new financial advisor, to start skimming off the Princess’ mass fortune. He’s trying to earn her trust, but Margot wants him to make a move. Their payment is past due When someone arrives to collect payment, they must deliver or die. Enter a beautiful collector named Felicity. She wants the million Margot and Ben do have and will give them 48 hours to come up with the rest.
Ben and Margot decide to appeal to Princess Zara’s philanthropic side. Ben tells her she’ll be establishing a foundation in her family’s name. One that supports education and equal rights for women all over the world. Zara argues her family doesn’t believe in such causes, and Ben says even though Zara’s family may disown her, she’ll be a symbol and granted asylum; she’ll have the freedom she longs for.
Princess Zara is excited about this new endeavor, and she thinks she’s found the right organization to throw her ample funds at, the Worldwide Woman’s Fund. She calls Ben to meet the head of the group, and he’s surprised to see it’s Alice, posing as a woman named Paige Baker.
Alice makes it known she’s met Michael Thorne before. They collaborated on a special event, but he dropped out unexpectedly. Alice says it won’t affect them working together, because Michael is the best at what he does. Alice remarks that Michael/Ben and Zara make quite the power couple, but Zara makes it clear they are strictly business associates, Micheal is in love with another woman. He has been confiding in Zara about his failed relationship with Alice, leaving out all of the pertinent details.
Zara gets a phone call, giving Alice and Ben a moment to chat. He warns her she has to leave, but she reminds him she has all the power. She can either expose him to the Princess or have him arrested. Ben says she got her and her clients’ money back, and she’s got nothing on him. Alice is wearing a wire, and Dao lets her know that Ben is right. They need a confession. The two agree to chat later.
A Dead End
The firm gets a lead on Gwen. They track her car to some hiking trails. Sophie and Danny go to check it out, and head of security Shawn Sullivan tags along. Danny has some resentment towards Shawn because it seems Shawn has a personal interest in Sophie. It makes for an awkward field trip. They find Gwen’s car, but there’s no sign of the woman or her laptop. They hit some hiking trails and make a grisly discovery, Gwen’s body.
Alice has to put Ben on the back burner. The firm is waiting for the coroner’s report about Gwen, but they can’t wait. They have to proceed as if what happened to Gwen was murder, and whoever is responsible has the laptop. They are most likely getting ready to use it or sell it. Val informs Alice the laptop came back online an hour ago. Sophie has installed a stealth program that’s sending snapshots of local wireless activities. Sophie narrowed it’s location to a single block.
They arrive at a house in a suburban neighborhood. The place is empty, but they break inside and find the laptop. Sophie says it’s just over 60 percent of a massive upload. Sophie figures it’s the THRUsight software, and Alice unplugs the machine. They take the computer, but as they are leaving, their car is sideswiped. Alice, Sophie, Shawn and Danny are okay, and they catch the person trying to get the computer back, and it’s Gwen.
A Good Idea Gone Bad
The gang is trying to figure out Gwen’s motive for faking her own death. After some digging, they believe she was trying to leave the country with THRUsight. Gwen tells them they cannot give THRUsight back to Thompson. She says he plans on selling it to terrorists. Alice questions how Gwen knows that for sure. One of the conditions of Marie and Gwen selling Thompson the program was that he would tells them every client he sold it to. As they got closer to the launch, Gwen trolled black market sites for anything that looked like THRUsight. She found a listing on a TOR site dedicated to illicit weapon sales. Val questions why Gwen didn’t go to the authorities, and Gwen says a weapon is a weapon. It’s hard to trust handing it over to anyone. The only option was to disappear and take the software with her. Gwen swears Marie knows nothing. Gwen wanted to protect her.
Strange Bedfellows
Margot is trying to deal with her and Ben’s looming deadline, and she ends up in bed with the sexy Felicity. But just because they had a rendezvous, doesn’t mean the debt is forgiven. The brunette questions how long until Margot gets the payment together. Margot tries to change the subject, and Felicity asks why Margot left the family. Apparently, she was next in line to run things. Margot argues she was never next in line because she’s a woman. Felicity says times have changed; the benefactor has changed. Margot questions if he’s no longer insane, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. These payments Margot is making are to guarantee her freedom.
While Margot is tangled up in the sheets, Ben tries to deal with Alice. He calls and offers to answer all of Alice’s question in return for her staying away. She thinks it’s because he wants to do the Princess what he did to her, but Ben claims it’s to keep Alice safe. They agree to meet, and Dao is listening, only Alice doesn’t know. He waits for her to call him, and she does, giving him the details of her and Ben’s impending meeting.
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A Sting Here, A Sting There
Bad news awaits Ben the next morning. Zara’s brother Bashir has arrived. Bashir may not be interested in giving Paige Baker $15 million dollars, but Zara isn’t giving up so easily. She plans to do some creative accounting of her own.
Back at the firm, Sophie finds the TOR listings Gwen told them about. The I.P. address is cloaked, but she traced it to an encrypted data server which leads back to Phillip Thompson. Realizing they’ve been hired by the bad guys, Val and Alice need to come up with a plan. They decide to give Phillip Thompson back the laptop and see what he does with it.
Sophie poses as an international bidder. They make Thompson an offer he can’t refuse and set up a face-to-face meeting for the exchange. Since Phillip knows every key player at the firm, they’re going to use Agent Dao. Nobody trusts him, but Alice wants to keep him close.
The exchange goes down, but it’s Marie who shows up, not Phillip. Gwen is devastated to find out her friend and partner betrayed her. Dao makes the arrest.
Gwen feels like a sucker, but Alice assures her it was all business to Marie and Phillip. Gwen doesn’t know what to do with the program now. Phillip’s company has the software. But Gwen admits the version they have isn’t exactly fully functional. Val points out they still have Gwen under contract, and if she runs, they’ll come looking. As will other interested parties. Gwen comments she was better off dead, and Alice says her firm might be able to help her out with that.
Val and Alice give Gwen a new identity as a Peace Corps volunteer. They promise her that if at any point she wants to come back from the dead, they specialize in that as well.
The whole Gwen and Marie situation has Alice feeling a little bit guilty about not coming clean with Val about her continuing pursuit of Christopher/Michael Thorne. Not guilty enough to divulge any information though.
Ben arrives at Zara’s hotel suite to find she has auctioned the bulk of her belongings online to raise the $15 million for her foundation. She credits Ben for making her a better person.
The Princess returns home, and she gives Ben a gift. A valuable necklace of her own that she wants him to give to the woman of his dreams. The con didn’t quite pan out-or so Margot thinks. Zara gave Ben a check, but her brother froze the account.
Alice arrives for her meeting with Ben at a crowded, noisy, city park. She’s wired, and Dao’s men are on standby. She questions why he chose her, but Ben insists it wasn’t personal. It wasn’t about her, it was about her firm. Alice thinks he got greedy, but Ben actually fell in love. He wanted to tell Alice, but she refused his offer to disappear. He reinforces that what they had was real, and he still loves her. Ben also hands over the Princess’ check for $15 million. He starts to say more, but she stops him and shows him the wire nestled snugly in her bra. She even mouths that she’s sorry.
Ben switches course, accusing Alice of being pathetic. Dao figures something is up and springs into action. He gets there too late and questions why Alice let Ben go. She says Dao jumped the gun before she could get any information.
The big question is where do Alice and Ben go from here?
The Catch airs Thursdays at 10pm on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
