Episode two of ‘The Catch’: Mystery assassins and life-changing sushi

“What we do when we do things for money”… is a quote we heard somewhere that we probably just bungled, but serves well as a thesis for episode two of the #TGIT rom-com rom-con, “The Catch.”

After a revamp from a mild first season, the Season 2 premiere managed to generate some buzz with its new, lighter approach towards con-man capery.

In “Hammer” (Mar. 16) Alice (Mirielle Enos) and Valerie (Rose Rollins), freshly reinstated as a PI firm again minus the cash, clients, and personnel, agree to take on the case that dropped into their laps at the end of the last episode: Margot Bishop (Sonya Walger). “What?” “Why?” “How could we?” — everyone balks when they hear the news. But when a million dollars (in non-counterfeited money, thank you) is on the table, swallowing your pride gets a little easier.

“Besides,” Alice smirks. “I won’t feel safe unless I know where Margot is and what she’s doing at all times, day or night.”

Related: ‘The Catch’ is now a rom-com, and we’re actually OK with that

After putting Margot up in a safe house/hotel room, the AVI team make quick work of uncovering who’s trying to kill her: Someone named The Hammer, a freelance hit man with a reputation. The problem? He’s untraceable. So Alice quickly devises a very “Thomas Crown” solution to draw the shooter out into the open: They’ll all walk through an open plaza near Margot’s hotel dressed the same and holding umbrellas to cover their face, which’ll cause the shooter to reveal himself as he picks them off, trying to determine the real Margot.

Tommy (T.R. Knight), meanwhile, still has his eyes on that mysterious three million dollars sitting in his locked bank account. After helping Danny (Jay Hayden) and Sophie (Elvy Yost) crack the case of who the Parkers really were, beyond being a nice couple that Tommy walked dogs for, it’s revealed the money really belongs to a South American drug cartel. Whoever took care of the Parkers, are probably coming after Tommy next.

Or are they? It turns out there might be more to Tommy then meets the eye — apparently Alice Vaughn’s dopey younger brother knows a thing or two about computer hacking, and slipped a tracker onto the firms computers so he could access his account after Alice locked him out. Going behind everyone’s back, Tommy seeks Rhys’ (John Simm) council on how to effectively steal the money he now has access to. Does he know that a drug cartel is after him? He’s clearly not the dunce that Alice sees him as, so can we assume he knew more about the Parkers then he was letting on?

Speaking of Rhys, he and his partner-in-comedic relief Ben (Peter Krause) are working their first con as FBI informants. Their mission: Run surveillance on a famous sushi chef who’s believed to be smuggling contraband items into the country. After shirking the FBI’s initial plan to go undercover as exterminators, Ben takes on the persona of a famed and secretive food critic to curry the chef in question’s trust and favor, while Rhys “pretends” to be Chef groupie, eating up as much of the life-changing sushi as he can.

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And since Ben is such a teddy bear, he immediately builds a rapport with Chef — who quickly confides that he’s been under the thumb of some shady people who are, indeed, using his restaurant as a front for their smuggling ring. The poor guy even feels comfortable enough to take Ben back into his walk-in freezer and dramatically illustrate his point by cutting open a giant fish, releasing an avalanche of small diamonds from its belly.

Obviously, the guy has Ben’s sympathy — and obviously, the FBI don’t care. His handler Agent Diaz (Gina Torres) reminds him that Chef has 24 hours to name names before they go in and arrest him. The wrinkle? Chef has suddenly hightailed it back to Japan to lead a simpler life, leaving Ben with nothing but a dinner invitation should he ever find himself in Osaka. Will this new smuggling ring case be occupying Ben and Rhys all season?

Now, back to Margot’s mystery assassin. Alice’s plan works, and the shooter is cornered up on a rooftop as he picks off all the non-Margots down in the plaza. Alice races up to his location and, after a brief shootout, manages to wrestle him to the ground and take him into custody back in Margot’s hotel room. Having done their job, Valerie is eager to be out of Margot’s presence, and so she and Alice take their leave — with Alice eye-smirking advice that Margot shouldn’t kill anyone.

“What are you going to do to me?” The Hammer inquires. “Torture me?”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” Margot coos over a double scotch. “I’m going to hire you.” Twist! 

What is Margot going to have the Hammer do? Who will she kill? What is Tommy up to, and does he realize the danger he’s in? And how will Rhys get his delicious hamachi, now that poor Chef is AWOL?

“The Catch” airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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