Connect the Dots (Rubicon)

"Connect the Dots"
Rubicon episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 5
Directed by	Nick Gomez
Written by	Nicole Beattie
Original air date	August 22, 2010 (2010-08-22)
Running time	45 min.
List of Rubicon episodes

"Connect the Dots" is the fifth episode of Rubicon. It was broadcast on AMC on August 22, 2010.

Plot

Ed Bankcroft stops Will Travers as he walks to work, and asks him about the seven names he has discovered. Will replies, with some concern, that the only name that concerns them is Donald Bloom (Michael Gaston), who came from Houston and may be in New York. Ed suggests that Will check the 'White Papers' at API, now that Will is a team leader and has access to them. Will finds a White Paper written by David Hadas on Houston, but the document is no longer in the archives. Later, it is revealed that Spangler took the document and shreds it.

Kale Ingram, tipped off by Maggie Young, warns Will that Tanya MacGaffin may have a drinking problem. Will presses a hung-over Tanya at a team meeting, and asks her to make a case to Spangler that their current research target, a Russian gangster, should be disregarded in favor of a suspected terrorist financier. Her first presentation to the team is unconvincing, but Will encourages her to use her fear to do better. She makes an excellent case to Spangler, who agrees and orders a shift of resources to the new target. After the meeting, Tanya has a drink in her office. Later, Kale gives Will a photo showing that Tanya was right, and indeed they have discovered a new terrorist network.

Ed calls all of the hotels in the city, and discovers that Donald Bloom is staying at the Waldorf under his own name. Will follows Bloom, who attempts to lose him in a Louis Vuitton store before meeting Kale Ingram at a restaurant for lunch. During their conversation, it is revealed that Kale is gay and that he and Bloom had an affair while conducting a CIA assassination operation in Beirut. Will attempts to confront Maggie about what she knows about Kale, but backs off before telling her anything.

Spangler's wife Miriam holds an annual charity fundraiser and, as a team leader, Will is 'encouraged' to attend and donate. There, he finds Spangler, James Wheeler, and R.C. Gilbert sharing a drink. A fourth man joins the trio after Will has left, and the fourth man tells the trio that "The squalls have been shipped." Katharine Rhumor is also there; she was encouraged by her investment adviser earlier to sell a company her husband had willed to her days before his suicide. She goes to the business, finding it a run-down clothing manufacturer and sewing shop, but discovers her husband's locked filing cabinet. Opening the combination lock with their anniversary date, she finds a newspaper article detailing a City College of New York professor's suicide, the circumstances of which somewhat mirrors the suicide of Katharine's husband. Notably, the letter was between two folders; the first labeled 'Periscope' and the second badly scripted 'Pirtex'. Reading the article reveals that the man's name was Gerald Bradley, a tenured Professor of English at CCNY. His family, friends and colleagues could not believe that he committed suicide because of his love for life. His wife's name is Alice. At the end, it is noted that he served on the board at a company named Atlas MacDowell, which we will hear more about later.

Will goes to Ed's house and discovers that he has cleared away most of his furniture and has covered his walls in newspaper clippings and notes. Will lies to Ed, telling him that Donald Bloom is not connected to the CIA, and that their research into the conspiracy is over. Their conversation is taped by one of the agents (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) tailing Will, who plays the message for Spangler and Bloom later. But Will is building his own collection of notes and newspaper clippings in his apartment, trying to connect the various individuals in the conspiracy.

References

• Strachan, Alex (August 22, 2010). "Rubicon -- spies for thinkers". Times-Colonist. http://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Rubicon+spies+thinkers/3429068/story.html. Retrieved August 26, 2010. 
• Greenwald, Andy (August 23, 2010). "Rubicon Recap: Tumbleweed Connection". New York. http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/08/rubicon_recap_tumbleweed_conne.html. Retrieved August 26, 2010. 
• VanDerWerff, Todd (August 23, 2010). "Rubicon: Connect the Dots". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/connect-the-dots,44191/. Retrieved August 26, 2010. 
• Scott, Kelly (August 23, 2010). "Rubicon: That's a lot of dots to connect". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/08/rubicon-episode-5.html. Retrieved August 26, 2010. 

External links

• "Connect the Dots" official episode guide at amctv.com
• "Connect the Dots" at the Internet Movie Database