| The Pretender episode | |
| Every Picture Tells A Story | |
| Season 1 | |
| Episode # | 1.02 |
| Airdate | September 28, 1996 |
| Writer(s) | Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle |
| Director(s) | Michael Zinberg |
| Last name (s) | Spitts, Campbell |
| Location (s) | San Diego, California |
| Previous episode |
Pilot |
| Next episode |
Flyer |
| All The Pretender episodes | |
Every Picture Tells A Story is the second episode of the first season of The Pretender series which first aired in September 28, 1996 on NBC in the United States.
It features a first appearance of Jon Gries as Broots.
Recap[]
Episode begins with yet another red notebook that Jarod has left for Sydney and Miss Parker to find. Jarod, whose last pretend was as an atomic engineer by the name of Spitz, had prevented a nuclear disaster. Parker and Sydney interrogate the man in the room, who does not know anything about where he is now, only that Jarod spent days at the pool, where he took swimming lessons and drifted in the water. In Jarod’s bathroom, they found a bathtub full of water and toys.
Simultaneously, we are shown how Jarod jumps out of a helicopter and tries to save a woman from a boat that is about to explode. He succeeds. Jarod’s current pretend is as a lieutenant in the San Diego (CA) Coast Guard and he goes by the name of Jarod Campbell.
Miss Parker gets a note from Jarod (delivered by Sam the Sweeper), where it stands: “Sorry I missed you at the “Y”... Things aren’t always the way they seem. 4/13/70 Jarod”. She interrupts Sydney's work with twin girls that show amazing
talent with mental math. Miss Parker and Sydney speak and Sydney offers Miss Parker the option to skip an elevator ride three floors up, which she refuses, after which it is revealed that Miss Parker’s mother killed herself in the same elevator.
Jarod gets acquainted with some of his colleagues, amongst them are Martha Poole, a helicopter pilot, and Paul Billon. Billon introduces him on the boat to Javi Padillo. All three of them drive off to sea, where they find a boat, Billon asks Jarod to enter the boat where a man with a gun awaits. The man is later revealed to be a somewhat friendly loner, by the name of Roy Abbot, who has lived for a quite some time in the boat without coming to dry land. They inform him that he is obliged to do so in the coming week.
Jarod phones to Sydney and asks him if Jarod is his real name. According to Sydney it is. Miss Parker has the phone tapped by Broots, and she is listening as well. They speak of the taken DSAs and Sydney asks about the aim of Jarod’s wish to help the “little man” while Jarod is painting a portrait.
The next day, it seems to be Jarod’s day off, he is on the pier, very interested in novelty gags e.g. fake dog poop, trying to figure out their meaning, that is, until the two people that he is interested in, appear. They are the wife and small daughter of a drowned fisherman, Tom King, who are the objects of Jarod’s compassion and help.
Parker and Sydney trace Jarod’s call back to the building where Jarod had stayed in, storm into the room, only to find a man trying to escape via window. He turns out to be a Seattle musician who Jarod pays money to transfer his telephone calls.
Jarod meets again with Roy bringing him supplies, they speak and Jarod gets to know him better. Roy listens to Wagner’s “Dutchman” and Jarod suggests Mozart’s “Magic Flute” instead. After, Jarod asks Martha to help him find out what happened to Tom King without directly saying those words. While speaking with her, he tells Martha, to her amazement, she is 9 weeks pregnant, and reveals that he worked once as a midwife. He finds out that Martha has been rejected for promotion several times, because she is a woman. At the same time Parker demands Broots, to track down Jarod asap, using the lines in Seattle that he used to make his calls untraceable.
Jarod speaks with the deceased man’s daughter, who teaches him to eat Oreos “the right way”, by twisting them in halves and eating the filling. They speak some more and Jarod finds out that she gave her father a small figurine of St. Brendan to protect him.
At home Jarod watches a DSA, dated 7/13/70 where he is in a bubble, trying to bring back a crew safely, as he is trying to figure out how Tom King was killed. He figures it out and in the video, he sees little Miss Parker. In the middle of the night, 3:46 he calls Parker, and the main theme of their conversation is that things aren’t the way they seem.
Jarod attends a BBQ night, and speaks of the death of Tom King with Billon, who says that it was just an accident. The next day Jarod goes to church and he sees Javi there. Jarod confronts Javi, and finds out that Billon was smuggling drugs along with Javi, and in a foggy night they crashed King's boat, and when Javi tried to help King, Billon held him at gunpoint to prevent him and they left King. They mislead the search-and-rescue mission, although the ocean currents data could have accurately predicted King's location, directing them to the wrong area and as a result left King to die. Javi has significant guilt over the death of King. Jarod, using the correct data, dives and finds the wreck with the St. Brendan figurine.
Parker reminiscences about her mother. At The Centre, Broots has traced Jarod back to the same building they started at, in the room next door. They go there and meet with the same guy again, as well as get the lead that Jarod works in coast guard and go there to catch him.
Jarod has thought out an elaborate scheme to teach the killer a lesson. Javi calls in sick at the day of the drug pickup so Jarod could fill in. As Jarod says that he does not feel so good, Billon is relieved and lets him stay away, or so he thinks. Jarod follows Billon and crashes his boat, frightens him, gets the confession and leaves, calling him in, but ensures the rescuers take their time. In the same time Comm. Powell receives information about the murder of Tom King.
Jarod escapes from Parker and Sydney by jumping into ocean and swimming into dry land. In Jarod’s boat there’s another note to Miss Parker. She watches the attached DSA in the evening at her place while drinking something that appears to be vodka. She remembers the day her mother died, opens a package from Jarod and finds a painting of her as a little girl inside. She takes a phone and dials a number, saying only – I want to know the truth about my mother’s death.
In the end, Jarod meets with Roy again, this time in dry land. When Roy asks what Jarod plans to do next, he replies - some driving - after which Jarod is shown in an F1 car, as a driver in a race that is about to begin.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
Guest Stars[]
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Pretend[]
- Atomic Engineer - Jarod Spitz[1]
- This alias was used while Jarod learned to swim at the YMCA. Mark Spitz is a 9-time Olympic champion swimmer.
- Coast Guard Lieutenant - Jarod Campbell
Jarod's Discoveries[]
- Oreo cookies
- Fake dog poop
- The YMCA
Quotes[]
Kimberly King: Didn't you ever eat cookies as a kid?
Jarod: They didn't have cookies where I grew up.
Kimberly King: Where'd you grow up? Mars?
Jarod: Sort of.
Trivia[]
- Jarod revealed to be a midwife once.
- Jarod hates sushi.
- First appearance of Jon Gries as Broots