Schiller brings Tamera Smith to a late-night meeting with Bill Moyers at the Hotel Utah. Moyers says he wants to question Schiller about the financial side of the case. Schiller negotiates access to Gary Gilmore interview transcripts with strict conditions on how the tape can be used and how Schiller will be filmed. Moyers explains that CBS has decided to build a CBS Reports program around Gary to air the night of the execution, after an internal debate driven by anticipated ratings. The next morning, Moyers asks to rely heavily on Schiller’s tapes. Schiller refuses but offers a montage of prison stills (that will remain under his control), triggering friction with Moyers’s producer.

While CBS films Schiller working at a Deseret News desk, Tamera shows him a wire report that ABC has abandoned its Gary Gilmore entertainment project, leaving Schiller exposed. Schiller quietly calls ABC contacts, but Moyers does not challenge him on camera. Schiller later hears the withdrawal followed pressure from an ABC executive’s family, accusations that Schiller is “exploiting history,” and worries about regulatory backlash.

Meanwhile, injured and hiding, Gibbs sells his story to the New York Post for $7,500 and arranges to stay in Colorado under an alias.

Brenda’s health worsens, and her doctor insists she enter the hospital immediately. Johnny confirms the arrangements, and Brenda goes in while worrying she might miss the execution, though she still wants to attend. Gary seeks a final visit for her through Campbell, but Warden Smith refuses because of a disciplinary write-up. Gary angrily throws coffee before apologizing and cleaning up.

As the date nears, Gary rages about ACLU lawyer V. Jinks Dabney and other opponents, denies reports that he is nervous, and complains about constantly being watched. Prison officials Smith and Dorius finalize plans to execute him inside the prison and to use non-prison peace officers as the firing squad, keeping names secret. The ACLU, overwhelmed by media attention, debates options and considers indirect suits or contacting Nicole. Schiller builds up his Utah office, hires typists, plans covert recordings, and faces escalating media pressure and the need to hire costly security services.

Farrell works through Gary’s interviews and letters, sorting Gary’s statements into many recurring poses, including racist, poetic, artistic, macho, self-destructive, and celebrity-driven versions of himself. He finds some passages funny and commercially usable, but he also grows uneasy about how the attention surrounding the case helps trap Gary in a public role that makes an appeal less likely.

Campbell tells Farrell that the interviews give Gary a final chance to speak. Farrell hears Gary attempt to justify his actions through ideas about honor, karma, and relative harm, while resisting public displays of remorse. Farrell becomes increasingly frustrated with Moody and Stanger’s “endlessly irritating” interviewing habits, which he thinks waste opportunities and fail to press Gary on violent incidents and on Nicole’s situation. Meanwhile, Schiller criticizes Farrell for writing questions from fixed conclusions, and the two clash over Farrell’s reliance on typed transcripts rather than immediate impressions from the tape.

After the Supreme Court “turned them down” (839), Anthony Amsterdam tells Mikal that the legal argument can be filed in a lower federal court, but Mikal says Gary has asked Bessie not to proceed and that any action would have to come from him.

On January 11th, Richard Giauque meets Mikal in Salt Lake City and takes him to the prison for a visit. Mikal expects a restricted, private meeting, but Vern and Ida Damico appear and talk with Gary about a novelty T-shirt and possible publicity. Afterward, Mikal consults Giauque, who argues that Gary is “being used” by political forces to manipulate public sentiment. Mikal then meets Schiller late at night and questions him while taking notes.

The next day, Mikal visits Gary. He warns he may seek a stay, and they argue about lawyers and motives. Gary says he has nothing left, then asks Mikal to return. Mikal writes a letter admitting that he is scared, but also that he loves his brother and wishes for him to live. Gary begins to cry and agrees to meet Bill Moyers “off the record” (847).

Nicole writes from the hospital on January 13th, mixing French phrases with a report that doctors may recommend her release on January 22nd. She struggles with being unable to see Gary as the execution date approaches, feeling as though she is behind a “psychic wall.” Schiller and Farrell decide their interviews need sharper, confrontational questions to break through Gary’s rehearsed self-presentation. They instruct Moody and Stanger to have Gary read each question aloud before answering. Gary dismisses suggestions that he is calculating. He resists probing about his mother and childhood cruelty, then shuts down when the questions press for emotional motives.

Afterward, prison officials revisit contingency plans for a last-minute change of mind and the use of a hood, but Gary refuses to discuss stopping the execution. He continues projecting a detached “cool.” Gibbs sells letters to the New York Post, gets drunk, fights, and is arrested. Schiller faces intense bidding for an exclusive account of the execution. He decides he will not sell it, choosing instead to release any eyewitness account publicly to “all the media at once” (859).

Mikal visits Gary on Friday morning. Gary complains that Schiller is trying to block Mikal’s “friend” from seeing him because it threatens Schiller’s exclusivity. Gary suggests he could revoke Schiller’s execution invitation, then asks Mikal to stay longer and admits uncertainty about how he will feel on Monday. Mikal meets Richard Giauque and confirms he will not intervene legally. Amsterdam accepts that the decision is final.

With less than 72 hours left, Earl Dorius anticipates last-minute litigation and arranges weekend contact procedures with the Tenth Circuit and the US Supreme Court, including a code phrase to verify any claimed stay. On Friday afternoon, two suits arrive: Gil Athay seeks relief for a death row client, and the ACLU files a taxpayers’ suit. The Attorney General’s office defeats both for lack of standing and argues that delay would worsen the public spectacle.

Meanwhile, Phil Hansen drinks with Judge Ritter and considers an emergency citizen suit as a last resort, while press coverage highlights Ritter’s “violently anti-Mormon” reputation and political efforts to limit his authority.

Gary’s final visit with Mikal includes gifts and logistical talk. Gary gives Mikal a drawing of an old prison shoe as a “self portrait.” Mikal listens while Warden Smith discusses when the hood must be placed. Mikal asks for a last handshake; Smith agrees only after a strip search and strict limits. Guards bring Gary in, make Mikal roll up his sleeve, and allow only a handshake, but Gary crushes Mikal’s hand, kisses him on the mouth, and promises to “see [Mikal] in the darkness” (866). Mikal leaves crying, carrying a Johnny Cash book for Bessie and a drawing of Nicole.

Schiller reviews a tape of Gary joking with Moody and Stanger, then clashes with Stanger, who resents the confrontational questions Schiller and Farrell want to be asked. Despite Stanger’s reluctance, Moody records another session. Gary complains about the deathwatch noise and says he has finished reading and drawing, but agrees to answer questions and defends Mikal’s request that he meet Moyers. He denies prior killings beyond Jensen and Bushnell, admits a beaten prisoner lived but was “kind of altered” (870), and ridicules a question about violence.

Father Meersman prepares Gary for procedures. Legal efforts continue as Gil Athay loses again before Judge Lewis and plans to reach the Supreme Court. Anti-death penalty groups meet and hold vigils while prison rules force the press to wait on the grounds overnight. Schiller speaks at BYU, hires more media coverage, and argues with his girlfriend, who refuses to be in Utah for the execution.

Meersman conducts a late-night Mass with guards present. Gary takes communion and jokes afterward. Gary writes to Nicole about belongings left with Vern and says he will be dead within about 30 hours. In Provo, Bessie remains sleepless, watched over by Doug Hiblar, and thinks about her “mountain” and signs of death in the family.

Gary writes to Nicole on Sunday morning, describing exercise under guard scrutiny and listing the five people he has named to witness the shooting. He adds that he will “reserve” a place for her. He promises Nicole that they will remain connected after death. He claims ownership over her if she lives and suggests that she must choose between joining him or waiting.

At the motel, Lucinda cries while transcribing the tapes. Vern tells Schiller that offers are arriving for Gary’s clothes. They decide nothing will be sold and focus on protecting the clothing and the body after organ removal, assigning Jerry Scott to watch transfers. In a taped exchange, Gary rages about not getting a call from Nicole, then answers Moody’s questions about death, insisting it will feel familiar and that fear is negative. Moody cries, and they plan to return for an overnight visit.

Vern visits Gary, and they sing and joke. Gary notes that Bessie is too sick to come. Athay’s final Supreme Court bid is denied. Schiller receives official word that he can witness the execution at 6 am, then scrambles to smuggle liquor in for Gary. Using Time credentials, he enters before the 6 pm press lock-in. When he is recognized, he is forced to stay and becomes exposed to the press as the prison seals everyone in overnight.