The Truth about the Devlins

Believing he might be going back to prison, TJ decides to go to Carrie’s house. She is surprised to see him and still angry about what he did. He apologizes, acknowledging his guilt, and explains that he just wants to talk so they can move on. Carrie tells him that after he went to prison, she went to therapy and Al-Anon meetings and has a better understanding of what happened. They are finally able to reconnect and admit that they never stopped loving each other. They have sex, but afterward, Carrie tells him it was a mistake—she is engaged to be married. She asks him to leave.

TJ realizes that he had somehow believed that he would get Carrie back, but that is no longer a possibility. He cries as he drives home, thinking about everything wrong with his life. Without even noticing it, he parks at one of his old regular bars. He goes inside. The bar is now a little restaurant, deserted except for one table of women. He orders a beer and drinks it, hating himself. He remembers a drinking buddy, Jesse, with whom he’d made big plans. He cut Jesse out of his life when he went into recovery, and Jesse died while TJ was in prison.

The next morning, TJ wakes up in a cemetery. He is on Jesse’s grave, surrounded by beer cans. He has a vague memory of walking there and is relieved that he left his car at the restaurant. TJ is back to day one of his recovery. Then he remembers Mango’s insulin shot.

TJ orders an Uber and goes home. On the way, he searches online and discovers that Mango could die just from missing one shot. When he gets home, he asks the Uber to wait and goes inside to find Mango unconscious under the couch. At the emergency vet, TJ waits to find out if they can save Mango. He realizes that he hadn’t taken care of Mango because he wasn’t taking care of himself.

The vet tells him that Mango will live, but they will keep her for observation. TJ recommits to his recovery. He also realizes that there is someone he hasn’t talked to who may be able to offer insight into John.

TJ drives to see Nancy, John’s wife, who is staying with her parents on the Jersey Shore. He finds her and Connor on the beach. Nancy is surprised to see him but welcoming. As he asks her questions, he realizes she doesn’t know anything about what’s been going on. She admits that she and John are getting a divorce, and she and Connor have been living with her parents for the past six months. No one in the family knows because she comes to family events for appearance’s sake.

Nancy tells him that over the years John became withdrawn and obsessed with work. When she asked him for a divorce, he told her that if she didn’t continue the pretense that they were married, he’d seek full custody of Connor. He’s taken all their money, cut off the credit cards, and refused to pay child support. TJ is shocked.

TJ tells Nancy that the Devlins are “falling apart.” He tells her that his family must change and asks if he can share the truth about her marriage with them; she says he can. After Nancy and Connor go home, TJ stays on the beach. He thinks about all he has learned, and about starting his recovery over again. He strips down and dives into the ocean and comes out feeling reborn. He is going to save the family from themselves.

TJ returns to Philadelphia and calls Marie. He tells her to gather the family at the firm’s offices. Then he drives to a friend’s garage and asks him to sell the Maserati and lend him a low-key car. TJ feels safer in a car that no one, including the police, will recognize.

He gathers the family and the other staff of Devlin & Devlin in the conference room. TJ tells Paul, Marie, Gabby, Martin, and the law firm staff about his visit to Nancy. He offers two theories about what is going on with John: One is that John has gotten in trouble with the wrong people and needs their help; the other is that John is “up to no good” (271). Either way, they have to investigate. He divvies up the tasks. Paul will look over John’s Runstan files. Marie and the firm’s IT guy, Andre, will investigate John’s billing, past and present. Gabby and Martin will investigate the Elliott Thompson/Ryan Martell fake driver’s license. Sabrina, the office’s receptionist, will look through John’s calendar. Just as they are wrapping up the meeting, the police detectives that TJ met with earlier arrive.

The detectives tell the family that TJ’s car was found in front of a restaurant this morning, the door open and keys in the ignition. TJ is surprised when his father jumps in to defend him. When the police continue to press him about it, Marie says she did it. After the detectives leave, TJ confesses that he drank the night before, but is recommitted to his recovery. At this news, Marie is stern but forgiving, but Paul ignores him and leaves the room.

Over the next few hours, everyone attends to their assigned duties. When Marie reports the amounts that John has been billing Runstan, Paul notices that it is much more than Paul ever billed them. When they compare John’s billings to Runstan with Paul’s from previous years, they realize that John’s time was listed at nearly double what Paul billed Runstan for. At this point, they excuse Andre and Sabrina from the meeting.

Paul says what everyone is thinking: John was overcharging Runstan by “two-thirds, across the board” (287). John may be committing fraud, which makes the firm civilly liable as well. Paul also notes that if this has been happening, the former Runstan accountant, who died just before Neil was hired, would have seen it, meaning he was likely complicit in the fraud. It looks like John was overcharging Runstan and giving the accountant a kickback. Further, if John is doing this with one client, he is most likely doing it with others. If this is the case, John will go to prison, something Marie and Paul vehemently do not want.

Paul decides that the firm needs a separate lawyer, and they shouldn’t speak to John from now on. He plans to pay back the affected clients and tell them it was an “accounting error.” Marie agrees, and they decide that it can all remain a secret. Gabby protests, but Paul points out that it would mean the end of the firm, and her job as well. TJ decides he should go to John’s house and talk to him, as he isn’t officially a member of the firm anymore.

TJ arrives at John’s house to find the front door broken open. John is on the kitchen floor, badly beaten. He won’t let TJ call the police. After John has showered and been bandaged, he tells TJ that he was beaten up by bookies he owes money to. John tells TJ he owes the bookies $1 million, and TJ realizes his brother has a gambling addiction. John denies it, but TJ recognizes the signs and tells John what the family has learned. However, John is still convinced that if Paul retires as planned and the Runstan acquisition goes through, everything will work out.

TJ realizes that John is in “magical-thinking territory.” He asks John what he said in his statement to the police. John told them that TJ and Neil were embezzling from Runstan, and that TJ hit Neil with a rock, and thought he killed him. If the police are investigating TJ for murder, no one will pay attention to Runstan’s finances, and the acquisition will go through. TJ realizes John isn’t just gambling on sports, he’s gambling with his job and his life.

Even with all this new information, however, they still can’t figure out who killed Neil. John really did meet with him, but because Neil didn’t want to do the kickback scheme. John hit him with a rock and was scared he killed him. TJ realizes that even that night, John was already thinking about framing him, and that’s why he asked for TJ’s help.

The day after John hit Neil, Neil called John. They arranged to meet at the park where Neil’s body was later found. When John went to meet Neil, someone followed him. The driver shot at John and John drove away, but Neil couldn’t get his car started. TJ theorizes that John’s bookies hired the shooter, and it wasn’t related to Runstan at all. John points out that if a bookie wanted money, he wouldn’t kill him.

TJ and John leave the house, but before they can get in the car, several FBI vehicles pull up and surround them.