A man jogs down the street and a young man walks up to him and shoots him in the face he runs off. After a moment, the jogger collapses, poisoned.
Cameron meets with Jonathan, who says that Cameron's pitch will never work. He points out that it sounds insane, but Cameron insists that it will work. Jonathan tells him that he's relying on him, not the FBI, and his brother insists that they'll prove that Jonathan is innocent. He realizes that Cameron is nervous and says that he's better when he's nervous, and tells Cameron to run it again.
Later, Cameron makes his pitch to Kay, Mike, and Deakins. The smoke machine goes off too heavily, and they shut down the presentation to get fresh air. Kay tells Deakins that maybe the illusionist who helped Felix could be working for other criminal organizations. Deakins figures that it's about Jonathan, and Cameron comes over and says that his "Deception Team" is ready to help. A case hits and he agents leave, and Cameron's team tell him to go get it. He goes over to Kay, who says that Joseph Kline was murdered that morning. Kline was a defense for criminal organizations, but told the FBI that he wanted. The DOJ was supervising the pitch. Mike and Kay tell Cameron that Deakins wants proof not magic. They leave for the crime scene, and Cameron tells his team that they're going to solve a murder.
The FBI agents go to the crime scene and meet with the local NYPD. The detective in charge explains what happened and that the lab team has never seen a poison like it. They pulled footage from a nearby bank camera and have photos of the murder. Cameron walks up and says that the killer was performing, and he stood so that the audience could see him. The illusion says that if the angle is wrong then it ruins the trick. Cameron sees the corpse and walks away, shocked. Kay comes over and says that the worst body is always the wrong, and tells him that her first body was an OD. Cameron insists that he has to do it, and Kay figures that someone else was watching. He analyzes the angle and figures that the audience was on a nearby street corner. They go over and discover that there are no surveillance cameras. A kid up in the window throws paper planes out at the people, and a driver says that he does it every morning.
Cameron and Kay go up to the apartment and ask to speak to the boy, Max. His mother says that he's home sick, and Cameron entertains the boy with a magic trick. Max says that there was a blue van with a movie crew in it, and describes the logo. Kay draws it and the boy confirms what it looked like. Afterward, Kay and Cameron drive off and she says that the logo was spotted near Cooper Square. Jonathan calls and asks how it went, and Cameron tells him that the pitch went amazing.
Mike meets Kay and Cameron there and they spot the young man. He takes out a gun and approaches a woman with a stroller, and Kay and Mike order him to stop. He wonders if he loses and asks if they're still shooting, and Cameron figures that the "killer" thinks that it's a TV show. Cameron tells him that he can lower his gun and collect his prize, and an FBI agent tackles the man.
At the FBI office, Kay questions the young man, Noah Hawthorne. He says that he thought it was a prank for a game show, You're Dead. The contestant shoots other prizes before they shot him, and the "winner" gets money and prizes. They showed Noah a picture of the jogger, and Kay explains that he's dead. Cameron, Mike, and Deakins are watching through the one-way mirror, and Mike tells Deakins that Cameron helped them find Noah. Deakins says that unless they find the person who tricked Noah and he confesses, Noah is their killer. Meanwhile, Noah says that the producer Steven showed him the gun and recruited him at Times Square.
Dina tells Jordan and Gunter that they need to become murder experts. Jordan has downloaded stats, but Dina says that murder is more than numbers. Gunter has three ideas for how to kill someone, and Dina explains that they're solving murders, not killing them.
Kay and Mike talk to the woman with the stroller, Bridget Olovsky. They wonder why someone wants to kill her and her baby, and Olovsky finally says that she worked with Joseph and they were romantically involved. The baby is Joseph's child, and she says that she never met the man Joseph represented. Soon, Deakins says that the man is Sasha Sokolov, the head of the Russian Syndicate. Joseph and Bridget both wanted out, which means Sasha ordered their deaths personally. No one has ever been able to identify Sasha, and is notorious for having his own people killed when they fail him. Cameron points out that Noah is a victim and they forced his perspective, and insists that Noah is innocent. Deakins warns that they're not about personal missions and solve cases based on emotion.
Kay starts in Times Square and talks to potential witnesses. They didn't see anything, and Cameron figures that the way to control someone is to put them on TV. He demonstrates by borrowing a sword from a nearby knight actor and offering to perform a decapitation illusion. People volunteer even though Cameron warns that it's dangerous. The man in the armor spot, Willy Shoemaker, complains that people are trying to push him out, including a reality prank spot. He tells Kay that the reality show people came through the other day and figures that they were Russian.
Kay gets a shot of the "producer", Steven, who went by the name Kos. They take Willy to the office and show him a photo of Mikhail Stefanovich Koslov, a captain in the Syndicate. When Cameron says that it wasn't a bad first day for his team, Deakins walks away. They go in to show Noah the photo of Mikhail and discover that he's dying from the same poison he unwittingly used on Joseph.
Later back at his studio, Cameron tells his team what happened. Gunther figures that Noah got a drop of the poisoned water on his hand when he sprayed Joseph, and he's going to die slow. Cameron explains that the poison is custom and they can't arrest Sasha and get the antidote until they have Noah's positive ID. Mikhail is part owner of a club, Molotov, and Cameron suggests that they go there and approach him.
That night, the team goes to the club and talks their way in past the bouncer.
At the hospital, Kay sits with the dying Noah. He wakes up and she shows him a photo of Mikhail. He confirms that it is and Kay calls Deakins and tells her that they have a positive ID on Mikhail.
At the club, Dina asks Cameron if it's about Noah or Jonathan. Cameron admits that it's some of both, and Dina stages a fake fall into a guard while Cameron slips by and goes to Mikhail's private club. Cameron tells the bartender that he's supposed to meet Mikhail there, and the bartender tells Cameron to go dance with the children because he doesn't want to meet Mikhail. The illusionist looks around the club and hears someone talking behind a door, and slips in. There is a garage with the van Noah described. Kay calls and says that they have a warrant for Mikhail's arrest, and are heading there. Cameron tells her that the blue van is there, just as Mikhail comes in with his men.
The Russians grab Cameron and Cameron says that he's a magician. He claims that he was in the club and got turned around, and offers to show them a card trick to prove that he's a magician. Mikhail hates card tricks and Cameron offers to do a trick with his cell phone.
The team waits for Cameron, and Gunter figures that nothing bad ever happens to Cameron.
Mikhail hands over his cell phone and Cameron break sit in half. Irritated, Nicolas takes out a gun and Cameron restores it. He returns the phone to Mikhail's pocket and starts to leave, but Mikhail points out that it doesn't explain why he's there.
When Kay and Mike arrive, Dina tells them that Cameron is in back and the Russians have gun. Gunter takes out a knife, and says that he'll get rid of them.
Cameron takes the sheet off of the van, tosses it into the air, and "disappears".
Gunter uses the knife to cut the fuses. The agents go in the back and ask the bartender where Cameron went. He shrugs, and they go into the garage. Mikhail and his men open fire, and the agents shoot back. Mikhail drives off, and Cameron emerges from hiding. He tells Kay that he got Mikhail's phone.
The next morning at the FBI office, Deakins complains that Cameron went in without a warrant. She figures that Sasha will have Mikhail killed first, and says that bringing in Cameron was a mistake. Kay complains that Cameron didn't tell her and says that Cameron is taking it personal. He asks her how she took it when she saw her first body, and Kay says that she wasn't an FBI agent at the time. Cameron wonders what he's going to tell Jonathan, and Kay advises him to tell the truth.
Cameron meets with Jonathan and insists that Kay is a cop. He notices that Jonathan is injured, and Jonathan says that someone tried to steal their father's coin. Cameron insists that he had to help Noah and went too far, and admits that he's got nothing. Jonathan tells him that giving up is not a good look on them, and asks what their plan is. Cameron figure that they need Mikhail to confess to the murder and give up the antidote, and the brothers go to work on setting up a room switch.
Cameron's team puts together a fake room, including a strap vice that ends up splintering a test watermelon.
Deakins calls Kay to the restaurant across the street from where Mikhail's girlfriend lives. The landlord has said that she's getting ready for a trip to Europe, and they figure she's going with him. As they wait, Cameron pops in and says that he has a plan to get the antidote from Mikhail. He shows them the plan and apologizes to Kay, admitting that he screwed up.
Mikhail arrives at the apartment and Cameron says that his team is ready to work. Deakins asks Kay what she says, and Cameron begs her not to arrest Mikhail. Soon, the FBI agents arrest Mikhail as a disappointed Cameron looks on. As the agents drive away with Mikhail, another car slams into theirs. One of Mikhail's men, Nicholas, gets out and sprays Mikhail with the poison. When Cameron arrives, Nicholas sprays him as well and runs off. Kay calls for an ambulance as Cameron passes out.
At the hospital, the doctor tells Mikhail that they're going to take care of him. On the next gurney, Cameron dies of the poison despite their attempts to revive him. They cover over the "dead" Cameron with a sheet, and he slips away. Gunter is disguised as Nicholas, and Cameron joins him outside the hospital set. They tighten the straps on Mikhail and turn up the heat, and Cameron tells Kay that they set the whole thing up. There are speakers in the head rest to generate a ringing noise in Mikhail's head.
Dina, posing as the doctor, tells Mikhail that he has to tell them where the antidote is. Gunter loosens the straps and Mikhail tells them that there the poison is a combo. Once Dina has the information, she gives it to Cameron and he calls the hospital so they can give the treatment to Noah. Meanwhile, Mikhail realizes that he's on a set and grabs Dina, holding her hostage. Cameron assures him that he's fine, and explains that it's a forced perspective. Mike sneaks up behind Mikhail and pistol-whips, and Mikhail says that they can arrest him but he won't say anything. Kay says that she's going to let him go and Sasha will have him killed.
The FBI agents go to Molotov and arrest the bartender--Sasha.
Later, the team celebrates with Kay and Mike. Kay confirms that Noah will pull through, and the prosecutor has said that with Mikhail's confession, Noah is off the hook. They share a toast and Cameron tells Kay that it used to be the same way with Jonathan. The two of them talk privately and Kay tells Cameron that Deakins has okayed the Deception Team. Cameron admits that he's naïve and wonders why the FBI has made Jonathan a priority. Kay says that the OD victim she saw was her sister, who gotten addicted to cocaine and other things. She knows what it's like to lose the person closest to her, and will help him get Jonathan out of jail and find the Sorceress. Cameron smiles and asks when they start.
Kay takes Cameron to her office, which has a white board with photos of the Sorceress and all of the information she's obtained from Interpol. They agree to work together to find the Sorceress.
In London, the Sorceress looks at the files that she's put together on Cameron and everyone around him.
Written by Gadfly on Mar 19, 2018