Lie to Me Episode 2.21 Darkness and Light

Cal and Gillian -- pretending to be married -- ask porn producer Olson if they can star in their own movie to celebrate their anniversary. Sure. But when they want a three-way with a girl from his previous production, "School Girl Romp," Olson says she left the business.

At the office, Emily reminds Cal that he agreed to let her shadow him for a journalism project. Cal says not this case, but Emily already knows that Coach Dawkins' 18-year-old daughter, Molly, has been missing for months because the coach's younger daughter, Amy, told Emily that Molly was abducted and that their dad hired Cal to find her. Cal reluctantly agrees to Emily's request to observe.

When Cal tells Dawkins that porn producer Olson doesn't know where Molly is -- and he believes him -- Dawkins wonders what his dead wife would think about their daughter doing porn. Cal then hands Ria and Eli a stack of porn DVDs, adding that whichever one finds anything useful will be promoted; Ria and Eli agree not to stab each other in the back during the investigation.

Cal questions porn star Lacey, who met "Cassidy" (aka Molly) on a shoot and later roomed with her, but Lacey says Molly left the business months ago, adding that Molly never talked about her childhood because it was obviously too painful.

Cal asks Dawkins if Molly ran away because she was being molested; Dawkins denies it, and Cal believes him but knows he's hiding something.

Ben finds a medical invoice for "Cassidy" billed to a different address than her cancelled cellphone. When Cal, Gillian, and Ben knock, there's no answer, but Ben goes around the side and captures a man who was running away because it's a site for unlicensed porn shoots. Inside, they find Molly, who refuses to return home but agrees to stay with Gillian.

Molly explains that her parents argued constantly. One night, when she was five, she heard a scream, a crash, then saw her mom lying at the foot of the stairs, while her dad ran around without checking her. She thinks he killed her. Last year, a fight with a boyfriend triggered this repressed memory, and she's never told anyone.

While Ben and Cal question Dawkins, who claims his wife's death was accidental, Molly wonders who'll love an ex-porn slut. Gillian says Molly is hiding something and asks Emily to be her confidante. Emily reluctantly agrees.

Meanwhile, Eli and Ria discuss their competition. Believing that Cal is playing with them, they decide to do what he least expects, which is work together. While plotting over after-work drinks, they decide to get to know each other better by playing the "two lies and a truth" game. When Ria says Eli's "I'd like to kiss you" statement is true, they lock lips.

Molly eventually tells Gillian that she's HIV-positive, adding that she never shot up and only had sex on camera. Emily, observing, looks stricken.

Cal tells Dawkins that Molly is HIV-positive and asks about Molly's memory of her mother's death. Dawkins admits that he and his wife fought while Molly watched cartoons where a monkey left things out for people to slip on -- then she copied the monkey. When his wife slipped and fell to her death, Dawkins didn't want Molly to live her entire life with her mother's blood on her hands, so he covered it up.

Cal tells Dawkins and Amy that learning the truth isn't going to help Molly now, but he wants to see the family reunited -- and Amy thinks she can make that happen.

At the office, Eli asks Ria if their previous evening's intimacy was more important than the promotion. Ria says if Eli turns down the job, she'll take it.

When Cal and Gillian question Olson, noting that four actresses in his films tested HIV-positive this year, he suggests their off-camera activities are to blame, but he gives up their contact info.

Ben interrogates a man named Lee Fentris who worked with all four actresses. He claims to have been checked before every shoot and produces a card showing his blood was tested just last week, which Ben pockets.

When Cal visits the doctor who did the tests, he denies falsifying them -- until Ben shows up, threatening to charge him with accessory to murder because knowingly infecting someone is a crime. Ben then arrests Fentris for murder. Cal lets Dawkins confront Fentris about all this, and Dawkins has to be restrained from punching Fentris. Emily watches, wide-eyed.

Cal persuades Molly to speak with Amy, who claims to be responsible for their mother's death -- a secret she also kept from her father because she was trying to protect him. Cal says her father needs to hear this, and the girls agree. Cal, Gillian, and Emily leave the family to exchange hugs.

Meanwhile, Eli tells Ria that he got the promotion and wants to take her for a celebratory drink. Ria refuses.

At home, working on her story, Emily asks Cal if he's worried about the lie Amy told. "Off the record?" replies Cal,"telling a lie is never a really good thing -- even if it saves a family or a life," adding that he hopes he got this one right.

When Emily asks if Cal would lie to protect her, he says she'd never put him in that position. She replies he's deflecting. Cal admits he'd lie for her. Emily says, "Me too," and deletes her story. She'll say the dog ate it.