Tell Me a Story – Favorite Son

By: Ujjyani Banerjee

Maddie (Odette Annable) learns from Olivia (Danielle Campbell) about Tucker (Paul Wesley) sedating his victims and kidnapping them and that Olivia herself was one of them. Hearing him bang the floor, Maddie threatens Olivia with a kitchen knife to take her to him. Tucker begs her to stop as Olivia will hurt her. He was indeed right as Olivia trips Maddie on the stairs, hits her and makes her lose consciousness. She drags her body inside and then drugs Tucker. Beau (Eka Darville) hasn’t suffered any major injuries and needs to go home and rest, but he’s preoccupied with the investigation. Gwen (Felisha Terrell) feels that the hit-and-run, the bombing and the ominous packages delivered to Ashley (Natalie Alyn Lind) are all interconnected and that Beau needs to remain alert. She asks him to persuade Ashley to cancel the performance or at least have a strong security plan ready. Jackson (Matt Lauria) and Donna (Karina Logue) have become really good friends thanks to AA. While returning from a meeting, Donna reveals that she was Robbie Pruitt’s backup singer and wanted to befriend Pruitt Jr. so that she could return Robbie’s favor. She wants to be Jackson’s sponsor. They exchange numbers and soon find police cars rushing towards Clay Callaway’s firm. Jackson learns that Clay is dead and he worriedly gives a call to Simone (Ashley Madekwe). She lets it go to voicemail while hiding out in a café. Maddie wakes up, scared and trembling. Tucker swears to never hurt her, but she’s too shaken to believe his word. Olivia reveals to Maddie that she texted Rebecca (Carrie-Anne Moss) about her saying that she and Tucker need some time alone. She now starts with her interrogation, starting with Brendan’s whereabouts. Tucker reveals that Olivia killed him. Maddie is in shock. When forced to tell the truth, Tucker challenges Olivia to come near her and risk getting killed by his unchained hand.

Gwen, along with an NPD officer, arrive at the Garland mansion to question Veronica (Garcelle Beauvais) and her sons regarding Clay’s death. Simone simultaneously texts Derek (Christopher Meyer) to come meet her. Gwen finds the closely-timed deaths of Clay, Cora and Frank disturbing and Veronica might quite possibly have tried to get rid of these variables in her quest to single-handedly head the Garland business. Veronica and Ron (Caleb Castille) are positive that Simone has shown them under bad light when she herself could be the murderer. Gwen was hoping to meet Simone at the mansion, but Veronica promises to discuss things with them when she gets home. Derek texts Simone that the situation is worsening. It’s Ashley Rose’s press day. She talks about yearning to get back to the stage, how the upcoming show will showcase a new side of her which has dealt with the horrors of the past few months and how it’s even affected the new material that she’s been working on. Ashley confesses that it’s been tough but rewarding. When asked whether she is worried about her safety, Ashley calls it a risk of being in the public eye. She then glances at Beau, who just entered the house, and boasts about the best security team being at her service. Meanwhile, Taylor (Audrey Corsa) is at her neighbor’s garage where she’s parked the car with which she hit Beau. She scatters bombing material all over the place and on her way out complains about the neighbor being suspicious.

Simone and Derek meet outside. Simone reveals how she simply asked Clay to submit the original trust to her and left while the person following her  pushed Clay off the building and tried framing her for the murder. She’s confident that Veronica got Ron to get his hands dirty last night. Derek adds that Ron wasn’t home the night Cora died. Simone decides to collect evidence against Ron and submit it to the police. She needs Derek’s support and he’s willing to help her. Meanwhile, Ron is panicking after the NPD’s visit. Veronica directly asks him if he killed Clay. Ron denies her accusation. Both swear to oust each other in case the police came after them. Jackson apologizes for his behavior to Rebecca. She calls him her favorite as he was her first born and says that it kills her to see him ruin himself. Jackson reveals how he’s been attending AA meetings and that he’s secured a sponsor. Just then Donna gives him a call. Maddie learns how abducting random women and substituting Anna with them helped Tucker sleep. He assures that he’ll protect her. Olivia, meanwhile, finds Tucker’s gun. Beau is at the CCTV monitors watching Ashley practice outside. He is exhausted and feeling unwell. He dozes off and hallucinates about Ashley being abducted. Gwen wakes him up with a phone call and shares the good news of making an arrest, thanks to Taylor. The alleged criminal has an Ashley Rose-obsession as well as a history of battery, aggravated assault and mental illness. Beau shares the news with Ashley and Rebecca who couldn’t feel more relieved.

Jackson is at Donna’s going through her old photo albums. Donna reminisces about the olden days when she used to sing backup for Robbie. Soon she got sick of being a mere backup and ended up spiraling down. However, Robbie saved her. Being a single-mom changed Donna for the better as she wanted to give a better environment for her child to grow. Jackson gets overwhelmed as this is the first time someone didn’t speak badly about his late father in front of him. He departs and leaves a voice message for Simone on his way out. Meanwhile, Simone is at the mansion hoping to collect evidence against Ron. Derek ensures that no one else is at home and helps her collect the evidence in peace. Simone finds Cora’s harddrive and jewelry in Ron’s suspicious-looking air vent. Just then Ron returns home as he forgot to carry his phone. Derek alerts Simone by texting her and stalls Ron by talking about how he’s worried about his mom, especially after the slew of murders. Ron asks him to not be a kissass, at least in their mom’s absence, and goes straight into his room. Luckily, Simone gets enough time to hide on the balcony while Ron collects his phone and leaves.

Maddie and Tucker are struggling to get free. Olivia comes in and shows them the gun that she found. Beau and Ashley share a drink.  Despite the alleged bomber being nabbed, Ashley still doesn’t feel safe. Beau embraces her.  He is excited about rejoining the police force and Ashley is happy for him. She’s thrilled when he reveals his wish of taking her out on a proper date – a lovely stroll followed by a home-cooked meal prepared by him. Ron returns home wasted. He’s scared how his mom might be pinning all the murders on him. He was only told to change the trust and that’s it. Ron wants to team up with Derek and oust Veronica to the police before her doing the same. Having had enough, Derek points a gun at Ron and hints how he was the one to kill Frank. Apparently, Frank not caring about Veronica and keeping her out of his trust didn’t sit well for Derek so he killed him. Similarly, Ron not caring about his mom isn’t sitting well either, so Derek wants to eliminate him too. Ron doesn’t buy it, but within that very minute he’s shot dead by his own twin brother.

As part of Brendan’s investigation Detective Chapman (Jeff Benninghofen) arrives at Tucker’s cabin. Olivia is in the basement interrogating Maddie and Tucker at gunpoint. She wants to know why Maddie fell for him and why Tucker never abducted her. Tucker remembers how their first meeting was enough for him to realize that Maddie was his soulmate. He loved how optimistic she was and wanted to develop that quality of hers. Olivia guesses how his controlling and dominating nature threw it all out the window. She calls him just like her – selfish and cruel. Detective Chapman knocks at the door. Olivia receives him and introduces herself as Rachel, Tucker’s friend. When asked for an ID, she pretends to be searching for it in her handbag. However, before the detective can realize she brings out the gun and shoots him dead. Meanwhile, as a last resort to break free, Tucker asks Maddie to break his thumb and get the handcuffs out. Maddie follows his orders and frees Tucker. He then finds a pin to free Maddie.

Donna is at home going through her old photo albums. Taylor, her daughter, irritatingly asks if she managed to get her backstage access by befriending Jackson at AA. Donna assures her that she’s working on it.