The Listener Episode 1.02 Emotional Rescue

Helicopter blades whip overhead as Toby and Oz find a car flipped on its side with an unconscious woman behind the wheel. Toby climbs through the passenger window to ascertain that the woman has massive head trauma. Oz smushes his way through the window, only to realize they have a new problem: they're stuck. Supervisor Ryder rolls his eyes as we learn that it's all part of an evaluation to renew certification. If they don't pass, Toby and Oz could be downgraded to low priority transport.

Hot firefighter Tom Crawford uses the jaws of life to cut Toby and Oz out of the car. Oz retires to the ambulance to make sure everything is in order; they can't afford to fail inspection. Toby is thrown back against the ambulance with a flash of violent images, including an apartment building on fire, a box of streamers and a timer behind a heating grate.

Oz turns to find Toby, but he's already gone, having spotted the apartment building from his vision. He is standing in the middle of the street when an apartment explodes, knocking him off his feet. Within moments, Toby is in the back of the ambulance, cutting the T-shirt off rocker Vince, the guy whose apartment blew up. When Vince complains, Toby promises to get him a new T-shirt.

At the hospital, Toby and Oz turn Vince over to the care of Dr. Johar. When Olivia notices that Toby is bleeding from his chest, she begins to undo his shirt, asking why he was so close to the building when the apartment exploded. Toby claims he smelled smoke, and Oz scoffs. Olivia scolds Oz: he should know by now not to ask Toby questions, because he'll never get a straight answer. When another ambulance arrives, Olivia runs off, telling Toby she'll be back. Claiming that the air is too heavy with innuendo, Oz tells Toby that if he's really through with Olivia, it's time to move on -- why not try to get something going with Charlie?

Olivia stitches up Tom, who flirts hard, obviously smitten. When Toby interrupts, Olivia finishes up quickly, then redirects her attention to Toby, who always waits too long to attend to his own wounds, thus they don't heal correctly. Charlie checks in with Kyle Ellis from Victims Services, who has already heard the story of Oz and Toby getting stuck in the car. Charlie questions Toby about the fire, which the cops think started when Vince's meth lab blew up.

Thinking he knows Vince from his childhood in the system, Toby stops by his room to ask about the fire. After reminiscing about old times, Vince swears he doesn't cook meth anymore, although he did have some supplies hanging around. Still, he's convinced that the cops will pin the fire on him. That night, Toby sneaks into Vince's apartment to find a melted timer hidden behind a heating grate, as in his vision. Toby takes a photo with his cell phone and heads for the police department.

Toby tells Charlie that the fire was set; Vince saw flames before he heard an explosion. Charlie is skeptical, so Toby shows her the photo of the melted timer, but that only helps piss Charlie off more. Toby went to the crime scene!? And why should she take the word of a meth-cooking tweaker? Elsewhere, two hands work on a timer like the one in Toby's photo, using a box cutter to open a carton of streamers. Vince's name is crossed off a list that shows two additional names, Ryan Halpenny and Jim Murrin.

Oz stops by Toby's loft with coffee, surprised to learn that he's been up all night thinking about Vince. There have been five apartment fires localized in one downtown area in the last three weeks. Oz volunteers that arsonists are usually repeat offenders, and they have to register. Oz knows where to find a list of potential suspects, and promises to do so later in the day. First, they have to get to the certification trials and not blow today's test.

Toby is surprised to run into Tom at the hospital. Tom claims that he tore some of his stitches while working out and has come to get Olivia to sew him up again. Toby asks if Tom has noticed more fires downtown than usual, and Tom admits that some of his co-workers have mentioned it. But investigating isn't Tom's thing -- he just fights the fires. Back at the evaluations, Oz waits nervously for the driving test. He's taken the rig to his uncle's garage for a power washing, in an effort to get some kind of edge.

While awaiting their turn, Oz and Toby watch as Tom flirts with Olivia, and successfully gets her phone number. Ryder appears to tell the guys it's their turn -- they better not blow it like yesterday. Oz sticks the key in the ignition but the rig won't start. It appears that Oz's uncle power washed the engine, too. Later, Toby keeps an eye out for Ryder as Oz hacks into the arson registry. Before long, he has a hit. Arsonist Wade Richter was recently released from prison and lives within ten blocks of the recent spate of fires.

Toby stops by Wade's home. Wade's mother informs him that her son isn't around, but points Toby to an old warehouse where Wade creates metal sculptures. Toby sneaks into the warehouse to spy Wade welding a sculpture of a naked man rising from flames. When Toby makes a noise alerting Wade to his presence, he runs for it, and bumps into Charlie, who has followed him. She had the fire investigator revisit Vince's apartment, where he found the timer right where Toby said it would be. Why?

Charlie accuses Toby of having a hero complex. Is he setting the fires and then getting his kicks out of coming to the rescue? And why is he trespassing on private property once again? Toby claims that he's just doing Charlie's job for her, since she refuses to take Vince's word. He takes her upstairs to check out Wade's sculpture. Claiming that Toby has contaminated evidence by being in the building, Charlie promises to check out Wade, but only if Toby stays away from the case.

Toby stops by the hospital with a new T-shirt for Vince, who has refused to allow Victims Services to help him by contacting family and friends. Vince claims he's solo, although there was a great girl named Heather... Anyway, he cut her loose because he didn't want to drag her into his screwed-up life. Toby runs into Kyle in the hall, and asks if he can track down Heather. Kyle doesn't want to waste his time looking for a woman who might not exist. Besides, Vince is going to get what he deserves.

Charlie interrogates Wade, who claims that his sculpture is merely therapy. Nevertheless, all the evidence points to Wade, who always used timers and streamers when he set his fires. The streamers allow fire to spread rapidly so it can't be traced. Wade claims he's been set up, and offers to prove it. The timer in question can only be set 12 hours in advance, and on the day of Vince's apartment fire, Wade was working a double shift.

Toby and Oz report to another apartment house fire. Toby spots Tom in some sort of trance, looking at the building. When Toby tries to question Tom, he runs into the building. Later, Toby reviews an article about the fire, which singles out Tom as a hero. Toby wonders if Tom might be the one with the hero complex. That night, Toby drags Oz to a bar where he knows Tom and Olivia are meeting for a date. Oz wanders off in pursuit of a woman, and Toby inserts himself between Tom and Olivia to see if he can get a flash off Tom.

Charlie's boss Becker stops by to asks why she's still holding Wade. Charlie explains that she wanted to review the case before releasing him. Becker accuses her of not liking to be wrong and orders Wade's release. Back at the bar, Toby tries to draw Tom out. When Olivia wants to leave, Tom claims he has to stop by the fire house and calls her a cab. Toby follows Tom to the scene of the fire, and is grabbed from behind and thrown against a wall.

Tom demands to know why Toby is following him. When Toby accuses him of starting the fires, Tom admits that he's disturbed by something else. During the fire, he spied a girl trapped by flames, but froze in his tracks, unable to rescue her. He's afraid he'll do it again, and warns Toby not to tell anyone. The next day, Toby stops by the hospital to apologize to Olivia. Toby is surprised to spy Vince visiting with Heather. When Toby figures that Kyle must have found Heather, Olivia admits that she was the one who did.

There's one more test to go, and Oz gets nervous when Toby shows up late for work in his street clothes. When Ray stops by, Toby questions him -- what makes an arsonist? When Ray explains that an arsonist is typically single, under appreciated, and thinking they are making things better, Toby flashes back to Kyle. Telling Oz he'll be back in an hour in time for the test, Toby runs out. Meanwhile, Charlie is still reviewing the case, and runs into evidence that points to Kyle.

Toby sneaks into Kyle's apartment to find him setting a timer, just like the ones used in the previous fires. Toby claims it's over, but Kyle wants to be heard. He's seen hundreds of victims screwed over by the system, so he's taking justice into his own hands. Toby gets a flash, realizing that Kyle means to strike again, with another fire set to go off any minute now. Kyle runs at Toby with a box cutter, then turns and hops off the balcony to his death.

Toby runs downstairs to behold Kyle's corpse just as Charlie shows up. Claiming that Kyle has timed another explosion in a building around the corner, Toby rushes to the building to set off the fire alarm, with Charlie on his heels. They race to warn the residents, but Toby is quickly overcome by smoke, and has to be rescued by Tom.

Toby stops by the hospital to check on Vince, who is being released to Heather's care. Charlie is waiting by the rig to inform him that Kyle has been implicated with five other fires. How did Toby know there was going to be another one? Toby claims he smelled smoke when he walked by. He watches Charlie walk away, unaware that Olivia is watching their interaction...