STUMPTOWN: FORGET IT, DEX, IT'S STUMPTOWN {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this dramatic action series about a troublemaking war veteran who becomes a private investigator in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. In this episode, Dex Parios shocks her two would-be kidnappers when she escapes the trunk of their car, leading to a dramatic crash. Three days earlier, at the Whispering Winds Casino, Dex fends off a stranger's lame come-on and gets herself further into debt at the craps table. Casino owner Sue Lynn Blackbird – and Dex's former almost-mother-in-law – then requests Dex's help in finding her missing 17-year-old granddaughter, Nina, though Dex refuses, reminding Sue Lynn that she considered her "not good enough" for son Benny. Dex heads home to her young brother Ansel, who has Down syndrome and works part-time for their mutual friend, bartender Grey McConnell, and Dex soon reconsiders Sue Lynn's request. Using her interrogation tricks from the military, Dex easily tricks Nina's pal Lucy Tang into revealing that Nina ran off with a boy, Michael, and she finds the pair at a nearby motel.
Dex whisks Nina away, reminding Michael that eloping over state lines with a minor is in fact illegal, though Nina bitterly points out her hypocrisy in interfering with their romance. Dex's car is suddenly rear-ended, and when she gets out to investigate, two thugs attack her and make off with a terrified Nina. Badly shaken, Dex shrugs off her traumatic war flashbacks and updates the police – who then arrest her for her many unpaid parking tickets. Detective Miles Hoffman and Lieutenant Cosgrove, suspicious of her tenuous connection to the teen, criticize her "amateur mistakes," and Grey soon bails her out, urging her to let the cops take over Nina's kidnapping. Dex, however, questions Michael, who admits that Sue Lynn recently antagonized local drug dealer Baxter Hall, possibly prompting him to seek revenge. Sue Lynn receives a ransom note demanding $2 million and, revealing that Benny died in the war, reminds Hoffman and Cosgrove that they are "guests" on the reservation.
Dex tracks down Baxter and demands to see "her," but realizes her error when he attempts to sell her a fancy car instead. She then learns from Hoffman that Nina has been returned unharmed, and Sue Lynn coldly blames Dex for the near-tragedy and rejects her again. Distraught, Dex seeks out a meaningless one-night stand with Hoffman, who figures out just why Dex blames herself for Benny's demise, and when he offers some conflicting details, she begins to doubt that Nina has really been returned. Grey, pointing out that she has not dealt with her obvious PTSD, urges her to "move on," but when Dex visits Michael and gives her Benny's engagement ring to give to Nina, she realizes too late that he was in on the scheme along with the two crooks, Dill and Whale. A shocked Ansel tells Grey about Dex's kidnapping and Grey informs Hoffman, and Sue Lynn, having lied about Nina's return at the kidnappers' behest, gathers the money and demands her granddaughter back. Dex makes her dramatic escape from Dill and Whale and rushes off to save Nina, and she, Hoffman and the other cops arrive just in time to prevent Michael from taking the money and killing Sue Lynn and possible Nina as well. The Blackbirds thank Dex for her help, and Hoffman returns the ring, suggesting that Dex should consider a career in private investigation, handling those "problems the police can't help with." Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: N/A
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 137873
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/private detective; Comedy; Veterans; Action/Adventure; Kidnapping
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2019-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Ruben Fleischer … Executive Producer
- Dave Bernad … Executive Producer
- James Griffiths … Executive Producer, Director
- Jason Richman … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Justin Greenwood … Executive Producer, Based on the graphic novels by
- Greg Rucka … Executive Producer, Based on the graphic novels by
- Matthew Southworth … Executive Producer, Based on the graphic novels by
- Cobie Smulders … Co-Executive Producer
- Vail Romeyn … Producer
- Marshall Boone … Co-Producer
- Elias Gertler … Co-Producer
- Tyler Bates … Music by
- Cobie Smulders … Cast, Dex Parios
- Jake Johnson … Cast, Grey McConnell
- Tantoo Cardinal … Cast, Sue Lynn Blackbird
- Cole Sibus … Cast, Ansel Parios
- Adrian Martinez … Cast, Tookie
- Camryn Manheim … Cast, Lieutenant Cosgrove
- Michael Ealy … Cast, Detective Miles Hoffman
- Joe Pingue … Cast, Whale
- Jon Bass … Cast, Baxter Hall
- Blu Hunt … Cast, Nina Blackbird
- Gregory Zaragoza … Cast, Hollis Green
- Dusty Sorg … Cast, Dill
- Dylan Colton … Cast, Michael Morgan
- Toby Levins … Cast, Rob
- Mika Bantog … Cast, Lucy Tang
- Natalie Gibson … Cast, Other Woman
- Everick Golding … Cast, Dealer
- Thomas Hum … Cast, CSI Tech
- Clayton Chitty … Cast, Bouncer