The Business Trip

Lucy, the station’s digital manager, decides to reach out to Stephanie with an inside joke referring to their mutual crush, actor Mark Ruffalo. She texts Stephanie jokingly, asking if she wants to reschedule their upcoming meeting with “Mark R.” When Stephanie responds, confirming that she wants to reschedule the meeting, Lucy is confused by her formality. She sends two joking follow-up texts and receives another formal response. Lucy grows worried that something is seriously wrong with Stephanie.

Bruce begins to enjoy having full control of the newsroom in Stephanie’s absence, though he worries about getting in trouble with Dave now that gossip is spreading about Stephanie. When Lucy reveals her strange text conversation with Stephanie about Mark R., Bruce dismisses her concerns that someone other than Stephanie has control over her phone. He points to the voice memo and texts about real newsroom issues as evidence that Stephanie has her phone. Lucy insists that she wants to look into it further.

Glenn is absent from the bar on Monday night, and rumors begin to swirl among the bar staff that his trailer was robbed and that Glenn was badly beaten. Anna learns that Glenn has been hospitalized with several broken bones and feels relieved that he will no longer be bothering her. She receives a text from Jasmine saying that Trent has a troubling temper. Anna tells Jasmine that Glenn has been hospitalized, but Jasmine doesn’t seem concerned. She promises to repay the money that Anna lent her.

Disturbed by Stephanie’s formal texts, Lucy asks another colleague, Nora, to help her find out whether Stephanie truly has control of her phone. Nora suggests that they ask about a meeting with non-existent clients, Susan and Frank, to see what Stephanie says. When they receive a reply urging them to tell Susan and Frank that she’s out of town, Lucy feels confident that someone is texting them from Stephanie’s phone. Despite Bruce’s concern that Dave will be angry about newsroom gossip, Lucy insists that they tell him what they’ve learned.

When Stephanie continues to ignore Dave’s calls, he begins to wonder if he should contact the station’s Human Resources department. Bruce, Nora, and Lucy burst into his office and explain the trap texts that Lucy has sent. Dave criticizes Bruce for allowing news of Stephanie’s absence to spread across the newsroom but secretly wonders if the man Robert mentioned is controlling Stephanie. When Stephanie sends a text referring to a non-existent brother, Dave becomes confident that something is wrong.

Robert receives a message from Stephanie’s phone saying that Trent yelled at her and that she plans to come home. When Robert presses for more information, Stephanie reveals that Trent hit her and that she fears he will kill her. Panicking, Robert calls 911 and gives the dispatcher the address that Stephanie sent him over the weekend. He tries to call Stephanie, but she doesn’t answer.

Dave calls and reveals that he believes someone is controlling Stephanie’s phone and asks Robert to come to the news station.

Lucy spends the morning researching kidnapping and murder cases involving stolen phones. Dave calls her, Bruce, and Nora into his office, where they meet Stephanie’s neighbor Robert. Robert explains all that he has learned and his decision to call 911, and the news team shares their concerns that Stephanie is not in control of her phone. Although the police searched Trent’s apartment and found nothing, Robert says that he plans to fly to Atlanta and stake out the apartment himself.

While waiting for his flight to Atlanta, Robert is joined by Lucy, who was inspired by his take-charge attitude. She reveals that Dave contacted Stephanie’s son, Evan, who used the Find-My feature to confirm that Stephanie’s phone is in Atlanta at Trent’s address. On the flight, Robert and Lucy make a timeline of Stephanie’s texts and known whereabouts. Robert remembers Stephanie joking that she would endure a kidnapping if it meant that her son would reach out to her, and she wonders if they’re being tricked.

When Lucy and Robert arrive in Atlanta, they hear rumors that an Atlanta news director is suspected of murdering another news director. Their fears are heightened when they arrive at Trent’s address and find the building surrounded by police cars. Robert and Lucy walk to a nearby coffee shop to watch a news conference where the police confirm that news director Trent McCarthy has been taken into custody on suspicion of two separate homicides. Although no names are given, Robert and Lucy feel confident that Stephanie is dead.

Bruce and the rest of the news team struggle to complete their work after learning that Trent has been arrested. They cannot avoid the story, as it has made national news, and they are obligated to report on it. As the six o’clock news starts, the police in Atlanta hold another press conference revealing the names of the victims. Jasmine Veronica Littleton is a confirmed victim, and Stephanie Monroe is the suspected second victim. The news devastates the team.

Anna receives an envelope containing the $500 she loaned Jasmine to escape Glenn. Later that day, she is shocked to learn that the Atlanta police have confirmed that Jasmine was one of two victims killed by Trent. She considers sharing Jasmine’s texts with the Madison police but worries that doing so will uncover her involvement in the robbery and assault at Glenn’s house. She determines to honor Jasmine’s memory in another way and wonders how her friend got caught up in a double murder.

Trent McCarthy, a recently divorced news director from Atlanta, arrives in San Diego excited for a weekend of doing whatever he wants. Cocky and obsessed with his appearance, Trent is confident that he is the best-looking man at the conference and can seduce any woman he wants. When he is grouped with a good-looking news director named Stephanie Monroe, he becomes obsessed with the idea of having sex with her and decides to ignore everyone else he meets.

Trent spends lunch with Stephanie and becomes convinced that she should be his conference fling. When she doesn’t return to the conference after lunch, Trent decides to skip the afternoon session on mental health. Trent finds a maintenance man offering to replace the refrigerator in Stephanie’s room, which happens to be two doors down from his. From behind the closed door, Stephanie insists that she didn’t call for a new refrigerator. When the maintenance man leaves, Trent convinces Stephanie to open the door a crack and flirtatiously offers her a key to his room. To his surprise, she accepts it, promising to see him later.

When Stephanie doesn’t come over that afternoon, Trent masturbates into a towel and spends the evening drinking and dancing with a group of conference-goers whom he dubs the “Power Players.” He flirts with another woman but secretly hopes that Stephanie will reappear the following morning. He spends the next day watching for Stephanie, but she doesn’t attend the conference at all. Trent decides to give up on Stephanie and devotes himself fully to the other woman.

When Trent arrives in Atlanta on Saturday night, he goes straight to a bar, where he meets a woman named Jasmine. Confident that she’ll go home with him, Trent takes a Viagra in the bathroom. However, Jasmine leaves after getting his number. Trent is sick for the rest of the weekend and through Monday, sleeping for long stretches. While at work on Tuesday, Trent receives an alert that someone has entered his home. He returns home and is shocked to find the police searching the apartment. The police say that someone called in a tip regarding him and a woman, but they find nothing.