Gone Girl

Nick, Go, and Tanner search Bill Dunne’s house for Amy’s “treasure,” but do not find it. Tanner wants to get ahead of the story by going to the police with what is in the woodshed, but he hesitates to do so without knowing what Amy has hidden in the house. He tells Nick that they will have to tell the police about Andie, too. Nick is upset because Tanner doesn’t think they have enough evidence to show the police that Amy is framing him.

Later that day, as the media swarm outside his house, the Elliotts arrive. Marybeth and Rand don’t believe in him anymore. Nick is upset that he has lost their support. He decides to call Tommy O’Hara back—Tommy has called the tip line several times. Tommy is the man Amy accused of date rape.

Tommy tells Nick a chilling story. He and Amy met and dated for several months. Soon, Tommy noticed that Amy had changed completely and she didn’t seem to like him anymore. When he made excuses to avoid seeing her, she reverted back to her former happy, fun self. She came over and they watched a movie together and had sex. Everything seemed fine.

The next thing that Tommy knows the police are there: Amy has accused him of raping her. Amy has injuries consistent with forced sex, which she didn’t have when she left his apartment. She also planted ligatures between his mattress and the wall. A few days later, she drops the charges. When Tommy saw what Amy was doing to Nick, he knew that he had to tell Nick what she had done to him.

Greta, Jeff, and Amy hang out, playing miniature golf. Jeff and Greta are becoming a couple. Greta catches sight of Amy’s money belt and teases her about it. Amy is running out of money faster than she thought, so she mentions being broke to see if Dorothy will let her stay for free: no way.

Amy realizes too late that she underestimated Jeff and Greta. She believes that they know who she is. Jeff asks her to help him steal catfish from a local pond that night for $50. She helps him. When they are swimming afterwards, to get the fish guts off, Amy only narrowly manages to out-swim Jeff and reach her money belt first.

After he hangs up with Tommy, Nick calls Hilary Handy—Amy’s high school stalker. Hilary agrees to talk to Nick. She was the new girl at Amy’s private school, and Amy befriended her. At first everything was fine, but then Hilary outshone Amy—getting better grades and making friends with some of the more popular girls.

Amy convinced Hilary to prank her mother, telling her that she was the new Amy. Amy also talked Hilary into dyeing her hair the same color as Amy’s and buying clothes identical to Amy’s. As the insecure new girl, Hilary went along with this. Suddenly, Amy dropped her. One day, Amy fell down the steps and hurt herself; she claimed that Hilary pushed her. Amy’s story was that Hilary was obsessed with her. Everyone believed Amy and turned on Hilary.

As Nick wonders whether Amy is really pregnant or not, Nick reveals that he used to dream about having a child with Amy, usually imagining a boy. As painful as it is to admit that he married someone who is psychologically disturbed, he still mourns the loss of his dream child with Amy.

Tanner tells Nick that their only real chance of exonerating him is to find Amy. He isn’t impressed with Nick’s stories about Tommy O’Hara and Hilary Handy.

Nick leaves the reporters at his house and walks to a bar for a drink. At the bar a young woman reporter approaches him and, after several drinks, Nick decides to go on the offensive with Amy. He allows the reporter to film him and plays the part of a repentant husband, apologizing and begging for Amy to come home, so that he can make things up to her. 

Amy wakes up feeling nervous about Greta and Jeff. She decides to move the investigation along by calling the tip line with hints. She then prepares to leave by thoroughly removing all signs of herself, particularly fingerprints and hair, from her cabin.

Amy goes to the library to use the internet and sees the viral video of Nick’s “confession.” She is immediately impressed and softens towards Nick. As she is preparing to leave the cabin, Jeff and Greta push their way in. They rob her, leaving her with 35 cents.

Nick wakes to find that public opinion is in his favor after his video confession.

Tanner Bolt gets Nick an interview with a serious television journalist, Sharon Schieber. Tanner’s wife arrives to help Nick prepare for the interview. Nick has to confess to the affair and beg Amy to come back; he has to win the forgiveness and affection of the American public too. Just before the interview airs, Tanner plans to tell the police about the goods in the woodshed and the theory that Amy is framing Nick.