Description[]
When new evidence of a murder case from 1979 is found, Det. Jeffries, who worked on the case as a rookie cop, sets out to find the killer, fulfilling the promise he made to the victim's daughter 27 years ago.
Meanwhile, Scotty and his brother have a final confrontation about the sexual abuse Mike suffered at hands of their old boxing coach.
Synopsis[]
1979 - Libby and her husband Carl attend a neighborhood party. She discusses Betty Friedan's book with a friend, Allison, and is then surprised to find that she is at a key party, aka a swinger's party. Knowing that if she picks a key, she will sleep with its owner, Libby grabs a key on impulse because she is angry at her husband when he refuses to leave the party.
A young Will Jeffries comforts the victim's heartbroken teenage daughter, Helen, at the crime scene where Libby Bradley's body lies. She was stabbed and found dead in the woods.
Present - The woods where Libby was found has become regarded as haunted so a bunch of "ghost hunters" went exploring there. They found no ghosts but they did find Libby's jacket, which Helen identifies as her mother's "bumblebee jacket." In the pocket was a smiley face key chain.
The keys belong to a Cadillac. Detectives talk to Carl, Libby's widower. He tells them of the key party in 1979 and that the keys belonged to a man named Bill. The detectives interview Bill. He says Libby had his keys because they had an affair.
Flashback - Libby and Bill go into a bedroom together. They talk about their disappointing relationships with their spouses and make love.
Present - Bill and Allison have been divorced for 25 years. She drove the car more than he did. It was her keychain. Allison is interviewed. She states that she wasn't the one driving that car. Her son, Jed, was.
Flashback - Three couples discuss open marriages. Teens Jed and Helen are at the dinner and hear the entire conversation. Libby wants to leave but has been drinking so Jed picks up the keys when asked to drive her home. Allison never saw the keys again after that night.
Present - Jed states he was happy to be involved because he was able to make friends with Libby, who had been his fifth grade teacher years before.
Flashback - Jed and Libby discuss an upcoming eclipse. She will help him make a pinhole camera to see it and he will teach her to drive. Jed gives Libby the smiley face keychain. He tells her he knows she is involved with his father.
Present - Once a week, Jed took Libby driving. Joe Livingston was sometimes waiting for her when he dropped her off. Lilly talks to Joe. He and Julie were on a plane when Libby died. Libby had turned him down.
Flashback - Helen's Sweet 16 party was the night before Libby's death. Libby is jealous of Bill dancing with someone else. Bill breaks up with her. He did not want to fall in love with her, or have another wife. Libby is hurt so she dances suggestively with teenaged Jed, shocking and horrifying everyone. She falls down, embarrassing herself and her family and they storm out together.
Present - The detectives interview Carl.
Flashback - Libby and Carl talk. She wants a divorce, no longer scared to be alone. They hear a noise. Helen appears to have cut herself in an apparent suicide attempt. Helen yells at Libby and threatens her with an icepick after the stunt at her birthday.
Present - The detectives suspect Helen and interview her.
Flashback - Libby apologizes to Helen the next day, explaining how her affair made her realize how much she missed out on in her youth. She promises to focus on Helen now and not on men or sex. Libby picks up the materials needed to make a homemade pinhole camera as she leaves the room. An icepick could be used to make a hole in the camera.
Present - Interrogation of Jed determines that he was out in the woods that day. Libby met Jed in the woods to watch the eclipse. He thought she wanted more.
Flashback - Libby loans Jed her jacket and starts to work on the camera. She gives Jed the key ring and states that their driving lessons are over because she wants to focus on Helen. Jed wants more; the dancing and the driving lessons have given him the wrong idea. When Libby rejects Jed, he instinctively stabs her with the ice pick.
Present - Jed is arrested for Libby's murder. Allison works as a yoga instructor. Bill finds an old fondue pot in his garage and tosses it in the garbage. Joe walks through town with a new young woman. Carl, Helen and Jeffries bring flowers to the spot where Libby died. Helen sees a vision of her mother before they leave.
Scotty talks to his brother Mike about witnessing Coach Fitz molesting Mike as a child. Mike agrees to testify against the coach.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Kathryn Morris as Lilly Rush
- Danny Pino as Scotty Valens
- John Finn as John Stillman
- Jeremy Ratchford as Nick Vera
- Thom Barry as Will Jeffries
- Tracie Thoms as Kat Miller
Guest Cast[]
- Nestor Carbonell as Mike Valens
- Annie Wersching as Libby Bradley (1979)
- Tay Blessey as Helen Bradley (1979)
- Ben Bode as Jed Huxley (2006)
- Allison Dunbar as Alison Huxley (1979)
- Matthew Glave as Carl Bradley (1979)
- Jay Huguley as Joe Livingston (1979)
- Ele Keats as Helen Bradley (2006)
- George Newbern as Bill Huxley (1979)
- Robert Pine as Carl Bradley (2006)
- Bonnie Root as ADA Alexandra Thomas
- Mark L. Young as Jed Huxley (1979)
- Diane Cary as Alison Huxley (2006)
- Eugene Robert Glazer as Joe Livingston (2006)
- J. Patrick McCormack as Bill Huxley (2006)
Co-Starring[]
- Darwin Harris as Will Jeffries (1979)
- Angela Little as Julie Livingston
- James Henrie as Young Mike Valens (1983)
- Allen Alvarado as Young Scotty Valens (1983)
Notes[]
- This episode uses some elements from the 1997 film The Ice Storm.
- Steve Jablonski's case box is visible when the detectives are examining Libby Bradley's case box in the case room.
- Actress Tay Blessey and actor George Newbern later starred on the tv show, Criminal Minds, episode The Soul Mates, together.
Music[]
Opening Song[]
Alongside Songs[]
Closing Song[]
| Season 4 Episodes |
| Rampage | The War at Home | Sandhogs | Baby Blues | Saving Sammy | Static | The Key | Fireflies | Lonely Hearts | Forever Blue | The Red and the Blue | Knuckle Up | Blackout | 8:03 AM | Blood on the Tracks | The Good-Bye Room | Shuffle, Ball Change | A Dollar, A Dream | Offender | Stand Up and Holler | Torn | Cargo | The Good Death | Stalker |
