The Firm Episode 1.11 Chapter Eleven

The unknown intruder casing the house breaks in and follows the trail of Mitch's bloody footprints. As the intruder closes in on Ray's position, Mitch flips on the stereo, startling the intruder and allowing Ray to take a well-aimed swing.

Two weeks earlier, Mitch, Abby, Ray and Tammy strategize the next steps in the Sarah Holt case. Ray is investigating Sarah Holt's military background and attempting to connect with her ex-husband, while Tammy has been tracking down the dead Noble clients' families. Abby decides to take an indefinite break from teaching, so she and Tammy equally divide the Moxon numbers to contact the families. Tammy receives a phone call from an unknown number and, hoping for a return call from a Noble client family, answers with high expectations. The call takes an unanticipated turn, as Tammy learns her estranged aunt passed away and left her a house in Maryland. However, Tammy's homeownership sparks a fight between her and Ray, as moving to a house with a white picket fence doesn't factor into his future.

A tearful Susan Thorne sits with Mitch at his office, begging him to take her brother's case. Her brother Jim is scheduled for execution in three days. While he's ready to face the consequences of his actions, Jim wants to face death on his own terms. Mitch meets with his new potential client, trying to decipher what a guaranteed dead man could possibly want with a lawyer. With his impending execution plastered across the news, Jim read a magazine article about his victim's family. The 16-year-old daughter is dying of heart disease and in desperate need of a heart transplant. "It just so happens, I won't be needing mine for much longer," Jim says. Will Mitch help him convince the widow and daughter of the man he murdered to take his donated heart?

At the Bauer's home, Mitch reasons with the victim's widow, Ellen, to use Jim's heart to save her daughter Christina. Another heart won't be offered in time to spare Christina's life: Jim is their only hope. For her daughter's sake, Ellen accepts Mitch's offer, though it sickens her "to even consider being party to anything that makes that monster feel better about himself." Having heard the conversation, Christina bursts in to exclaim she won't allow the heart of her father's killer to beat inside of her every day. Mitch points out that she only needs a blood pump, which is all a physical heart is. Ellen demands they meet Jim before they finalize their decision.

Jim, Ellen and Christina anxiously confront each other, as both parties have much to lose. "Why are you doing this?" Ellen asks amidst tears. Jim can only explain his belief there might be a dark part of him, a blackness he didn't place in his heart. Maybe if Christina had his heart, she could wipe that darkness out. Through tears, Christina nods her consent: she'll accept the heart.

With the decision moved to court, the defense argues Jim's donation is a cruel joke to a desperate family in order to bargain for a few more days of life. In rebuttal, Mitch claims they only want a blood test to see if the heart is compatible. The decision would save an innocent teenager's life and give Jim a small amount of redemption in his death. The judge rules for the blood test, as Christina has suffered enough.

The first family member of the Noble Insurance/Moxon numbers arrives at the house, unsure of why she's been called. Abby explains they're investigating nonpayment claims regarding Noble Insurance, where patients may not have received proper treatment and died as a result. The widow is adamant her husband died suddenly of liver cancer, which made any treatment impossible. He had two to three years left to live, but the cancer had other plans. Similarly, another of the Noble Insurance family members, a son, relates that his mother was terminally ill and died only a couple of weeks after diagnosis. The four contacted families share similar stories of untimely deaths: this can't be a coincidence.

Back in court, the judge announces Jim's heart is compatible with Christina. However, Virginia's three-drug method of execution will render Jim's heart useless after execution. An angry Mitch argues the method must be appealed in this case, but the judge can only push the decision to authorities higher than himself. Later, Mitch stands before the U.S. Court of Appeals, requesting a ruling on this serious constitutional question 18 hours before Jim's scheduled execution. The three judges argue stripping a death row inmate of a vital organ may open pathways for payoffs between family members and inmates further down the line. Determined, Mitch appeals to their emotions, as a death will save a life. A 48-hour extension of Jim's execution is granted in order to decide on the correct proceedings. Mitch celebrates silently, then turns a corner to see Christina being rushed away on a stretcher, after a sudden collapse.

Livid at the court's stalling methods, Jim rages that the system won't work or help a guy like him. He wants his last breath to be about what he did for the family, not what he did to them. The only comfort Mitch can offer is telling him to believe in the process. "We're not done fighting," Mitch insists as he exits. With desperation painted in his eyes, Jim throws his handcuffs over the security guard and presses a pen into his jugular. "Damn straight we're not done fighting," he growls. With the guard's skin taut by the pen, Jim screams for everyone to stand back or he'll kill. Jim has passed the point of reason and only wants results: he wants death by a single drug, however he can obtain it. Jim barricades the guard and himself in the interrogation room.

Tammy and Ray visit the house she inherited from her aunt. Admiring her new home, Tammy reasons with Ray that owning a house is the next step for them. If they can't move forward, then Tammy doesn't know if there's a future for them. Ray admits he never thought he wanted to get married; Tammy got him there, and he went looking for a ring. Nevertheless, he didn't buy it. With no resolution to the discussion, Tammy decides independently to move into the house.

Sarah Holt's ex-husband Matthew Dawson arrives at the office to meet with Ray. Weaving images of Sarah Holt as a lifesaving and life-transforming medic doesn't add up to the picture Ray has of the Sarah Holt he knows. Matthew insists she was built of tough stuff to become a medic, but seeing massive quantities of bloody bodies changes a person despite their inner strength. Over and over again, Sarah saved soldiers' lives. Often, she regretted saving them because they returned to America to a life vastly different than they had left. Matthew watched Sarah's inner transformation, knowing the innocent woman from Oregon he married was slipping away. She left him one day with no notice, no warning. Matthew passes a file across the desk containing Sarah's military record. Maybe it'll help. A picture of her squad reveals an innocent-looking Sarah Holt.

As Mitch suspected, the governor's office refuses to bargain with a death row inmate, flatly denying Jim's request for a single drug execution. Unsure of Jim's next move, Mitch knocks at the door and enters slowly at Jim's request. The guard lies unconscious on the floor, but Jim is calm and collected when he hears the bad news. The court hasn't made a final decision yet, Mitch reasons, but waiting doesn't factor into Jim's plan. Suddenly, the picture clears for Mitch. "Take me instead," Mitch offers. "I'll be your hostage." Pushing the unconscious guard out of the interrogation room, Mitch and Jim share a knowing look. Creeping out, pen firmly pressed into Mitch's neck, Jim pretends Mitch accidentally gets away, allowing a free shot to his head by the swarming SWAT team. Rushing to his side, Mitch frantically performs CPR to keep Jim's heart pumping.

Finally, Mitch shuffles through the front door, exhausted and emotionally drained from the day's events. Abby pieces the story together, becoming angry to learn Mitch knew Jim was trying to kill himself. Mitch stands by his decision. At the hospital, Ellen informs Mitch that Christina's transplant surgery went smoothly. Her heart even slightly warmed toward Jim. "Maybe even someone who was once a killer can change."

Taking her frustrations with Ray out on the floor, Tammy furiously scrubs the floor tiles of her new home. The door opens unexpectedly and Ray strolls in, lint roller in hand. "You picked my lock to return a lint roller?" she laughs. No, Ray says quietly. She forgot him. He's moving in with her.

As the four unpack the events surrounding Sarah Holt, Mitch receives a phone call informing they won Jim's case for a single-drug execution. Ray shows the photo of Sarah's squad to Mitch, updating him on his talk with Matthew Dawson. Gasping, Mitch realizes the commanding officer standing behind Sarah in the photo is none other than Kevin Stack.

Two weeks later, Kevin Stack watches the raid on Mitch's house on his laptop in a conference room. As Ray knocks out the first intruder, his video feed is lost. Mitch, Abby, Claire and Ray slip quietly out the back door of the house.