WISDOM OF THE CROWD: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this dramatic suspense series, based on the Israeli series of the same name, about a technological innovator who channels his grief for his murdered daughter into an interactive crime-solving website. In this episode, Jeffrey Tanner, the "notoriously driven" head of the successful AllSourcer company holds a press conference to announce that he has given up ownership of the multimillion-dollar company, believing that Carlos Ochoa, the man convicted of murdering his daughter Mia one year earlier, is in fact innocent. He reveal that he has created a new social media platform, "Sophe," a "real-time, crowdsourced crime-solving initiative" through which users can share evidence, and offers a whopping $100,000,000 to anyone who can help find Mia's true killer. Jeffrey's ex-wife Alex tries to change his mind, telling him that the case is "over," while elsewhere Detective Tommy Cavanaugh, who was kicked off the Tanner case for expressing doubt in Ochoa's guilt, is summoned to a rundown lot in Oakland, where Jeffrey explains the theory of "the wisdom of the crowd" and introduces him to Sara Morten, who runs Sophe, and shows him the "hive" where the evidence submissions are vetted and posted.
Tommy is skeptical about the ethics and abilities of Sophe, and Jeffrey surprises him with a phone message from Mia to her friend Lori, in which she tearfully hints at her fear of a certain man. Tommy's partner, Detective Ruiz, tells him that the message was not used at trial because of Lori's insistence that it referenced a "secret boyfriend," not Ochoa. Video footage from the night of Mia's death shows "the other guy" near her apartment, though Jeffrey's lawyer and financial adviser Mike Leigh warns him that obsessing over his daughter's death will "destroy" him. Jeffrey tells an uncertain Tommy that he recruited him because he "thinks for himself," determined to do things "his way" now that the police have failed to catch the real killer. They visit Ochoa in prison, and Jeffrey apologizes for previously believing in his guilt, though an angry Ochoa claims not to know "the other guy." Jeffrey then learns that Sophe has been hacked and that a longer version of the new video has been posted, featuring footage of a car from the ride-sharing service Flipper. When the hacker, Tariq Bakari, arrives at Sophe HQ and brags of his accomplishment, Jeffrey hires him on the spot. The driver of the Flipper car, Aram Maloof, is located and attacked by Sophe users, but he swears that he was merely eating dinner in his car after a fare, Tami Scavuzzo, canceled her ride.
The team finds that another woman, Natalie Kirschner, summoned and then canceled a ride from the same bar before being found dead of a ketamine overdose and a sexual assault. Tami reveals that she blacked out and was likely assaulted as well, presumably by the same man. Sara and Jeffrey are revealed to be in a secret relationship, and though he is upset to find that Tommy and the others have sidelined Mia's case to focus on Natalie's, Sara assures him that solving her murder will prove Sophe's capabilities. Several other women report similar blackouts and assaults, and Sophe proves that the same bartender, Eric Buehner, served all of them. Buehner denies everything, but they recruit a Sophe volunteer, Julie, to "spy" on him with her cell phone, and she records Buehner talking with his accomplice Volkan Ayhan about their scheme and about Natalie's accidental death. Eric is quickly captured by the cops, though Volkan escapes, and Tommy uneasily agrees to post his picture on Sophe. Users soon spot him at a train station, and despite warnings to stay away from the criminal, they surround him and facilitate his arrest for Natalie's death. Everyone is pleased when Tommy officially closes her case, though he regretfully tells Jeffrey that the state has opted not to reopen Mia's investigation – yet. As Jeffrey studies the footage of "the other guy," he is revealed to bear a possible resemblance to none other than Tommy. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: November 30, 1999 8:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:37
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 130902
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense; Drama, police/detective; Technological innovations; Murder; Inventions/Inventors
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 2017
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Peter Traugott … Executive Producer
- Rachel Kaplan … Executive Producer
- Avi Nir … Executive Producer
- Alon Shtruzman … Executive Producer
- Dror Mishani … Executive Producer, Based on the Israeli series created by
- Shira Hadad … Executive Producer, Based on the Israeli series created by
- Adam Davidson … Executive Producer, Director
- Ted Humphrey … Executive Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Jim O'G'rady … Producer
- Jeremy Piven … Producer
- Anne M. Uemura … Co-Producer
- Bob Habros … Visual Effects Executive Producer
- Adele Venables … Visual Effects Supervising Producer
- Paul Haslinger … Music by
- Jeremy Piven … Cast, Jeffrey Tanner
- Richard T. Jones … Cast, Detective Tommy Cavanaugh
- Natalia Tena … Cast, Sara Morten
- Blake Lee … Cast, Josh Novak
- Jake Matthews … Cast, Tariq Bakari
- Monica Potter … Cast, Alex Hale
- Ion Overman … Cast, Detective Ruiz
- Malachi Weir … Cast, Mike Leigh
- Ramses Jimenez … Cast, Carlos Ochoa
- Abigail F. Cowen … Cast, Mia Tanner
- Noel G. (see also: Noel Gugliemi) … Cast, Huero
- Chad Rook … Cast, Eric Buehner
- Michael Reventar … Cast, Flaco
- Anousha Alamian … Cast, Aram Maloof
- Primo Allon … Cast, Volkan Ayhan
- Garvin Cross … Cast, Park Policeman
- Alex Duncan … Cast, Tami Scavuzzo
- Brad Harder … Cast, Brian Rozin
- Elfina Luk … Cast, Susan Li
- Peyton Meyerink … Cast, Mia at 6 Years Old
- Shaun Omaid … Cast, Portly Detective
- Victoria Raskin … Cast, Julie
- Parm Soor … Cast, Cab Driver
- Victor Zinck Jr. … Cast, Mystery Man