Police investigating reports of a suspicious car find Sol Bregman carrying millions of dollars in cash. Sol says the money is a ransom for his son Jason, who has been kidnapped. A couple of days later, the kidnappers call again and give Sol instructions on delivering the ransom. He hands over the money but Jason isn't returned. Briscoe and Logan trace the calls to a public phone, and a witness gives them the licence plate of a car she saw parked there. The car's owner, Shep Watson, is arrested. Schiff is determined to secure a conviction because he's an old friend of Sol.
Police find Jason hidden in an abandoned building. He has been shot and is sent to hospital. Watson and his girlfriend Helena Navarro are charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. When the detectives find proof that Watson and Navarro used aliases to hire vehicles that were used in the kidnapping, their lawyer asks for a plea. They now claim that Jason staged the kidnapping because his father wanted to force him to get a job. They hand over tapes of Jason rehearsing what he'd say in the ransom calls to his father. Jason maintains he was really kidnapped and was forced to record the tapes.
The DAs will need Jason to help them make a case against Watson and Navarro, but he refuses. Sol does not want to believe his son did anything wrong. Eventually Stone tells Watson and Navarro that the tapes aren't enough to prove Jason was in on the kidnapping - so they produce evidence that this isn't their first criminal venture with Jason. He bought a painting by Watson, had it insured, and then tried to make a false insurance claim. The insurer became suspicious so Sol, who is one of their best customers, got them to drop the investigation.
Sol admits that he covered for Jason in that instance but says he just wanted to help Jason. He believes Jason could build a career and make something of himself if he'd just work at it. Sol tries to convince Jason to tell the DAs the truth but Jason angrily yells that he'd have got away with the kidnapping if his father hadn't involved police. He accepts a plea for three years for larceny, while Watson and Navarro are found guilty of larceny but not attempted murder. Jason flees before he can be sentenced. Sol admits to helping him and, on Schiff's orders, is arrested for hindering prosecution.
Tropes present:
- Dumb Crooks: Stone has this to say to Jason, who staged his own kidnapping and was recorded by his accomplices:Stone: Mr. Bregman, in all my years as a prosecutor, you are possibly the stupidest criminal I have ever met.
- Good Old Boy: Watson's lawyer fits this trope.
- Idle Rich: Jason is a rich dilettante who doesn't really do any work.
- Never My Fault: Jason refuses to accept responsibility for anything, which is explicitly pointed out in court by Watson and Navarro's lawyer.
- No Ending: The episode abruptly finishes with Schiff issuing a warrant for Sol's arrest and doesn't reveal whether Jason was ever caught.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Based on the Samuel Bronfman II 1975 kidnapping hoax.
- Shout-Out: In a dark basement, Logan wonders out loud, "So when does the guy with the metal fingernails come out?"
- Starving Artist: Logan references the trope regarding Watson and Navarro.
