R.J. DECKER - “Pilot” (Disney/Dana Hawley) SCOTT SPEEDMAN
RJ Decker Premiere Recap
RJ Decker opens with RJ and his neighbor Chester talking about Chester’s dog Tom Petty and another neighbor. RJ has a package for Chester, but Chester refuses to come into his trailer because it is in a sinkhole.
Later on, RJ goes into a bar where the bartender is talking to a guy who claims he chewed through his handcuffs. The bartender happens to be an old cellmate of his from their jail days.
They watch some news coverage about a missing woman named Rhoda found dead and think it may be connected to another case, which involves a man named Clay Gregory. However, when RJ talks to the cops he knows, they think there is no way he could have done it since he was out of town. However, there is speculation that he was connected to the first woman, who happened to be his wife.
RJ gets a call from a potential client that night but loses it due to a bad connection. He watches the news coverage of the murders and sees an interview with Clay….all while his trailer falls deeper into a sinkhole.
The next day, RJ visits his ex-wife Catherine. She lets him stay in the pool house, even though her new wife Mel (who is another person working on the case) is not happy about it. She refuses to talk to him about the case as they snark to one another.
RJ visits Clay to talk about the cases, with Clay denying any involvement in either murder.
The woman calls RJ back and wants to meet over a drink. They agree to meet at 7. After they hang up, RJ questions more people in the case. A woman named Inez talks about a man she saw the night of the murder wearing an angry penis hat. RJ googles the hat and it is actually a shrimp, not a penis and a logo for a restaurant. When he goes there, he questions a guy who Inez claims she saw….but it is actually a kid. Darius, the kid in question, says he left the trunk open so someone could see the victim and get arrested. He was also the second one to take the car and thinks the first one to do so is the killer.
RJ takes this to Mel, which leads to him talking about Maya’s murder, which happened to be when he was still working at the Herald. He explains what went on during that time, including finding Maya’s body and tailing Clay…leading to him being robbed. Mel sees that he takes this seriously, but is still haunted by the ugly stuff.
RJ meets the woman at the bar, who asks him about a candy bar. She is connected a guy who got him sent to prison, causing them to argue. She admits there is no job and she just wanted to apologize. RJ is not happy since he got pulled away from the other case and storms off.
That night, Catherine calls RJ, who is looking at more pictures at the trailer. She tells him about how his pictures led to more leads and she and Mel are following them. After they hang up, a man named Tebow shoots at him….with Tom Petty the dog saving RJ and biting the shooter.
Mel looks into the case. RJ thinks it is the car thief and Rhoda’s killer who is after him.
Catherine goes to talk to RJ’s cell mate, who talks about how RJ proved he was innocent of the crime he was accused of that got him locked up. This helps Catherine see a different side of RJ.
Mel and RJ meet up while picking up RJ’s niece from school. RJ shows her the pictures he found and connects him to another man. He thinks he is tailing him, so RJ pants the guy and runs away. Mel says the suspect, who was bitten by Tom Petty the dog, is in custody for robbing a vet clinic.
RJ and Mel continue to investigate and question another suspect named Wade Ennis, who pretends to act crazy and claims he does not know Clay Gregory. However, he is headed to prison for another crime.
That night, the woman who tried to apologize to RJ comes with some evidence that may help RJ. They have a bonding moment as they realize Wade bought a wheelchair days before the murder. Further investigator shows he was also on meds, so they go back to Wade’s to see if there is a name of the doctor on the bottles…..which leads them back to Clay.
It turns out Clay hired Wade to kill the women in exchange for….calf implants. The doctor who gave Wade meds for an infection he got from the surgery was Clay’s cousin.
Mel, Clay and RJ toast to the closed cases with beer. RJ then meets with the lady (who still has no name) and after a sweet moment, she gives him the candy bar she owed him.
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