Parents Weekend

It’s Friday of parents weekend at Santa Clara University—SCU—where Blane Roosevelt and Mark Wong are freshmen and pledging the same fraternity. Blane’s mother, Cynthia, is visiting. She’s a high-level official with the State Department, so her security team has cleared the dorm and performed background checks on the other four students in Blane’s capstone group, all of whom live in Campisi Hall. A hostile government has a bounty on Cynthia’s head, and her job has put her family in danger in the past: Blane was abducted at the age of 10 and held for four days before a special-ops team rescued him.

Stella joins Blane and Mark in the dining hall and tells them Natasha hasn’t come home yet, and Libby is freaking out. Blane tells her to stick to the story, like they agreed.

Plastic surgeon David Maldonado and his wife, Nina, are flying to California for parents weekend in a private plane along with the owners, a wealthy couple who urge David and Nina to do cocaine with them. David declines, but Nina, acting out because of her anger toward David, partakes and even suggests group sex with the other couple. The Maldonados’ marriage is in trouble after David’s affair with his anesthesiologist. While they wait for their daughter, Stella, on SCU’s campus, they’re shocked to recognize a man who shouldn’t be there.

Alice Goffman is the dean’s administrative assistant. She tells Dean Pratt that Natasha Belov’s parents called again because Natasha still hasn’t turned up. The dean involves the university’s police force, Campus Safety Services (CSS), led by Chief Jay McCray. They begin searching Panther Beach, where Natasha was last seen.

Alice’s son, Felix, is a freshman and a member of the Campisi Hall capstone group. He gets free tuition because of Alice’s job, but they’re not affluent like most of the students’ families. Alice is a single mom and very close to her son. Shortly after Felix visits to bring Alice a candy bar, the Belovs come in, frantic about their missing daughter.

Amy and Ken Akana drive to Santa Clara to visit their daughter, Libby, another student in the capstone group. Libby’s brother, Timmy, died of cancer, ravaging his parents and their marriage. Now they barely talk to each other. Ken is chief judge at the LA Superior Court, where he’s known as No Drama Akana. His last trial, featuring an A-list movie star, dominated the news and made Ken a target of threats from angry fans. After stopping at a Starbucks, the Akanas find three of their tires slashed.

Libby warns her roommate, Deepa, not to ask her dad about the case. Deepa tells Libby that Natasha’s been found dead.

FBI agent Sarah Keller is moving with her husband, Bob, and their twins, nine-year-olds Michael and Heather, from New York to Bob’s hometown in California. Agent Keller gives Bob a first-class seat as an early birthday present. Bob helps calm a baby that’s been crying for the first several hours of the flight. He gives his first-class seat to the overwhelmed young mother to get some rest.

Stella goes with her parents to their hotel—the Ritz—in Half Moon Bay. She knows more than they realize about her father’s affair and is mad at her mother for accepting it. Nina asks Stella if she knows a student named Cody Carpenter, then says he’s just the son of a friend. Stella gets the news that Natasha drowned. Libby texts, demanding they talk. Stella tells her to keep her mouth shut.

Alice is nervous about fitting in with the other, wealthier parents at the capstone dinner. She’s stretched her budget thin paying for Felix to stay in the dorms so he can have “the real college experience” (38). He deserves it after dealing with so much hardship, including an abusive father. Alice thinks about Natasha’s body, found in the sea cave at Panther Beach and ruled an accidental drowning. She decides not to turn in the file she secretly took home, which the dean has been looking for.

Cynthia’s security team reviews background check results on the capstone students and families: Stella’s teenage shoplifting; Judge Akana’s recent trial; and Mark’s father, who spent 10 years in prison for sexual assault but is estranged from Mark and isn’t attending parents weekend.

Blane loves fraternity life so far. Hazing isn’t that bad anymore, and his fraternity doesn’t tolerate racism or sexual misconduct. Heading to the restaurant, he’s so shocked to see his father that he falls off his skateboard.

Ken and Amy are over an hour late to dinner after getting their slashed tires replaced. Even so, when they reach the restaurant, only the parents are present. None of the students in the capstone group has arrived.

David suggests the parents play the part of college kids, since their children are so late. He orders everyone shots at the bar, where he and Cynthia bond over their kids’ lack of communication. Cynthia’s flirtation tempts David. He knows Stella hates him for his infidelity, and he wants to be better, but he’s weak, never satisfied with the life he has.

Alice thinks it’s out of character for Felix to make her worry like this. During dinner, she gets a call from his phone, but he doesn’t say anything. She only hears muffled background noises—as if he butt-dialed her—before the call cuts off.

The Kellers are staying in Bob’s childhood home in San Jose with his father, Pops, who has cancer and less than a year to live. The FBI gave Keller a temporary transfer to the San Jose office. Pops looks so frail that he’s almost unrecognizable. Bob hides his tears, staying strong and positive for the kids. He puts on music, spins them around, and has an air guitar contest with them.

David and Nina argue on the way back to the hotel, so David decides to go for a run on the beach to clear his head, though it’s nearly midnight. In the dark, David can’t make out the identity of the man who suddenly rushes at him, but he has what looks like a knife in his hand, so David turns and flees.

Worried about Felix and the other students, Alice calls Chief McCray. He says the fraternities are all holding “get away from your parents” parties. He suspects that’s where the kids are, but agrees to check Felix’s entry swipes and the dorm’s security cameras. Unable to sleep, Alice decides to do Felix’s laundry for him. Among his clothes, she finds a small pink hoodie with stains that look like blood.

Ken and Amy call Libby’s roommate, but Deepa’s phone also goes straight to voicemail, so they go to the dorm. Deepa tells them Libby borrowed her phone after Stella broke Libby’s phone during an argument that afternoon. The Find My Phone app indicates Deepa’s cell is at Rancho San Antonia County Park, an enormous area with miles of hiking trails. When Ken and Amy arrive at the park, they find Cynthia and campus police already there.

David runs for his life as his assailant chases him along the beach. He tries to ascend the steep bluff, but the ground gives out beneath him, and he falls.

In the hotel room, Nina notices David’s been gone much longer than usual when he goes for a run. She texts him but realizes he left his phone in the room. The hotel manager comes to the door and tells Nina there’s an emergency.