Awake Episode 1.09 Game Day

All of LA seems to be abuzz about the big football game between Seattle and Los Angeles. It's the game of the year, and Captain Harper is making sure the PD is prepared. Come game day, rowdy fans are picking fights with each other in the stands and others are placing big bets they can't back if the wrong team wins. Britten doesn't share the enthusiasm and is particularly surprised to learn that both his therapists will be watching the big game. He tells Dr. Evans that it all seems so arbitrary. One team may win in Rex's world, while the same team loses in Hannah's - why do some people get so wrapped up in sports? Case in point, a bettor, dry cleaner owner John Koh, is crestfallen after his pick loses in Hannah's world, while an exuberant fan, Rob Jones, is found beaten to death and lying in a ditch in Rex's.

Bird and Britten investigate the death of Seattle fan Rob Jones. His brother Kenneth admits Rob was always getting into fights and spent as much time yelling at other fans as he did yelling at the field. Kenneth lost his brother in the parking lot, then called security. Eventually security found Rob just outside the stadium parking lot with his head bashed in and his Seattle cap lying next to him. Britten notices green paint on Rob's ear, the type which a rabid Los Angeles fan might use to paint his face. When Bird matches a DUI driver with green face paint found near the murder scene and season tickets in the same section Rob was sitting in, the detectives believe they've found their man.

Vega and Britten investigate arson at a dry cleaners in Koreatown. An employee who lived in the back of the building died during the blaze. Britten puts Vega on point, in hopes of teaching him the ropes before his move to Portland. Britten finds the owners betting ledger untouched by the fire. There are several marks in red indicating the owner has been losing a lot lately, including a $100,000 bet on the big game. Vega remarks that if the owner had bet on LA, none of this would've happened, and they could all be sitting at home. Britten, who knows Seattle won in the Rex's world where the fan died, understands that no matter who won, they'd still be investigating a case.

Vega and Britten proceed to John Koh's home. Does the cast on his arm mean he had been hurt as a result of reneging on previous gambling debts? Koh's insured on the building for a million dollars. Vega surmises from the betting ledger that John currently owes $487,000 after his loss on the big game. Asking Koh's wife to leave the room, Britten cuts to the chase, believing John torched his own place for the insurance money - his employee's death was an unforeseen accident, which makes this a case of felony murder. John offers to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. Given this defiance, the detectives turn their attention to John's bookie.

Koh's bookie, Solomon Kang, runs a gambling ring in Koreatown through his garage specializing in souped-up "tuner" cars. Knowing traces of nitro were found as an accelerant in the fire, Kang seems a very likely suspect. Though Kang claims arson isn't his style, Britten notes that breaking an arm is. The detectives hold Kang for illegal gambling while they try to find more concrete evidence connecting him to the arson. Searching security footage for cars passing by the cleaners around the time of the fire, Britten spots a decked-out tuner car, which looks exactly like the cars at Kang's garage.

Britten finds Rex in bed, listening to depressing music. Britten doesn't have to be a detective to know that something bad must have happened between Rex and his girlfriend Emma. Rex isn't interested in talking about it, so Britten tells him to hang in there. The next morning, Rex wakes up Britten, finally ready to talk. Not only did Emma break up with him, but she's lying to him about her reason why. Rather than give into his kneejerk to give Emma a lie detector test, Rex wants to know how Britten can tell when other people are lying. Excited, Rex heads out, promising that rather than interrogate Emma, he's only hoping to discover the truth behind the breakup.

Bird and Britten bring Rob's suspected killer, super fan and investment banker George O'Dell, into the interrogation room. Rob's brother Kenneth can't positively identify George, so the detectives turn to grilling the green-faced fan. George admits he got into it with some Seattle fans in the stands, maintaining it was no big deal. Britten points out that George has bruises on his knuckles, blood on his shirt and a blood alcohol level three times the legal driving limit. This seems like a big deal. George insists he honestly can't remember what happened. Even though he was hammered and blacked-out drunk, George believes he would never kill someone just because LA lost.

Vega and Britten are able to trace the souped-up car to a Koreatown resident, minor Jinsung Do, one of Kan's runners. As soon as the detectives knock on his grandmother's door, Jinsung makes a run for it. Vega and Britten pursue him, yet Jinsung is able to get to his car. Shaken by the chase, Jinsung doesn't get far before careening into a parked car. Once they arrest Jinsung, Britten notices a small Seattle cap attached to Jinsung's keychain. This feels like a clue to Britten. At the hospital, Jinsung confesses when confronted with all of the evidence. He did start the fire, but Kang didn't hire him.

Returning to the Koh house, Vega and Britten inform Koh and his wife Sandra they have a suspect in custody who has admitted to the crime. John can't believe his ears when Britten reveals it wasn't Kang who hired Jinsung... it was his wife Sandra. She promised Jinsung $25,000 of the insurance money. John can't understand why Sandra would have done this. She reveals that she begged John to stop gambling. Even after his arm got broken, he wouldn't listen. Sandra felt she had to do something - what other choice did she have? Now John truly has lost everything due to his gambling addiction.

Britten calls Bird down to the morgue. Something about the Seattle cap on Jinsung's key chain has been bugging Britten, and he's finally figured out what it is. The fitted cap found near Rob's corpse is too small for his head. So if it wasn't Rob's hat... The detectives call Kenneth in for questioning. Britten recalls witnesses at the stadium talking about how abusive Rob was with Kenneth. How he kept calling Kenneth weak. They ask Kenneth to try on the cap they found at the scene of the crime and it fits perfectly. Kenneth explains he didn't mean to kill Rob. Rob pinned Kenneth to the ground following the game, calling him a girl for not backing Rob up during fights. Kenneth found a brick next to him on the ground and used it to defend himself...

Rex surprises Britten at the office, with news that he found out why Emma has been acting so weird. She was pregnant and lost the baby. Rex feels terrible: he's been behaving like an idiot while Emma was having to deal with all of this on her own. Rex blames himself. Emma was always careful about protection, though there was one time, early on, when Rex said it would be okay. Stunned, Britten advises Rex to assure Emma that when and if she ever needs anything, he'll be there for her.

Suddenly, Britten remembers Sandra Koh's voice, lamenting the outcome of the football game: "Just that one little thing, one tiny little thing, and this could all be different." Curious, Britten asks Rex to pinpoint specifically the time he didn't use protection. It turns out, it was right before the accident, and Emma found out she was pregnant right after Hannah's funeral. After waking up in Hannah's world on the day the movers are arriving, Britten rushes off to Rex's school. He surprises Emma on her way to class and excuses himself for asking a question that might be entirely inappropriate. Emma can't understand how Britten knows her secret. She's embarrassed for not calling, but she didn't know what to say. Britten comforts Emma, telling her everything's going to be okay. Britten returns home to ask the movers to give him a minute alone with his wife. There's something they need to talk about...