The Judge

Hey. Hey, pal.
[ Brakes screech ] What's going on?
Everything okay?
You all right?
You a little turned around?
If you're headed to Harrisburg, you're going the wrong way.
You hear me?
What do you got there?
Assistant US Attorney?
He hasn't spoken.
The doctor said he experienced severe trauma.
Where did you find him?
On a highway outside of Harrisburg.
We're still piecing it together, but we think he may have been hitchhiking.
Ma'am? Are you okay?
It's just... it's been 12 years.
Mark? Mark?
It's me.
It's Donna.
Where have you been?
It's been 12 years.
What is this? A '78?
You got a picture?
My father loved Cadillacs.
And she's alive?
She's calling herself Jolene Parker.
I'll notify you when I find her.
You don't have all the information.
I have all I need.
No. She's -- Do I tell you how to do your job?
No, I don't.
So don't tell me how to do mine.
If I was able to find you hiding on that sheep farm outside of Dingle, I can find this girl.
Don't you worry how.
I love hats.
But that... honestly, that takes a certain kind of man.
What size are you?
7 1/4?
I'm a 7 1/2.
I'll find the girl.
I don't want you to find her.
I know where she is.
I want you to tell me where she's been.
Cities, safe houses, aliases.
She's already faked her death to elude me.
Now she's back.
I want you to tell me everything you can about where she's been, what she's been up to.
I mean, I thought this was a teacher conference, not a book burning.
Burt: There's nothing wrong with a little editing.
They're children.
Kids shouldn't be reading "Lolita." Why not? I mean, th-the heart goes where it wants to go.
Uh, Mr. Whitney's heart sent him right into an affair with Timmy Logan's mom.
Are you saying that's okay?
No, I just -- I-I-I don't think books are anything to be afraid of.
I mean, I think that people have affairs because they're miserable in their marriages.
And I don't think you should judge them for it, and I certainly don't think you can blame a book.
What do you think, Tom?
I think Mr. Whitney should thank his lucky stars because Timmy Logan's mom is way out of his league.
Call me provincial, but I for one think it's inappropriate.
I mean, how old is he, anyway?
Lizzy.
Have you seen the paper?
What about it?
Mark Hastings, US Attorney from Maryland -- 12 years ago, he indicted the head of the Reynoso cartel.
A week later, he went missing.
I remember. The Bureau assumed it was a retribution killing.
Yeah, well, two days ago, he was found wandering on a road in Pennsylvania.
Nobody knows where he's been.
Was he in hiding?
I believe he was held captive, but not by the Reynoso cartel.
It's all quite a mystery.
They say he's too traumatized to speak.
But if what I believe about Hastings is true, if he has been held captive all these years, then it would confirm that the myth is true -- The Judge is real.
The Judge?
Every culture has a justice myth, an avenging angel who exacts retribution for the weak and innocent.
Golem for the Jews, Tu Po for the Chinese.
The Ancient Greeks had Adrestia, the Goddess of Revenge.
And we have The Judge.
Think of him as a prisoner's court of last resort.
When your legal appeals have all been exhausted and there is no hope left, you can make one last plea to The Judge.
What kind of plea?
Prisoners can state their case, argue their innocence, explain why they were convicted unfairly and who is responsible -- a prosecutor, a corrupt detective, maybe an incompetent public defender.
This demand for justice -- where does it go?
Supposedly, it's passed among inmates until it finally reaches some book depository at the Federal Penitentiary in Monroe, Virginia.
And then?
Nobody knows for sure.
Nobody's ever met him.
Somehow, the appeals make their way to The Judge.
He reviews the case, and if he thinks you're innocent, he evens the score.
If freedom or life were taken unfairly, he demands the same in return -- an eye for an eye.
_ Reddington says Mark Hastings was held captive?
Yes, but not by Reynoso.
He thinks it might've been payback for a different case Hastings prosecuted 12 years ago.
Aram?
Leonard Debs -- sentenced to 14 years for armed robbery when he was 28.
According to this so-called Judge, this guy is innocent?
A witness allegedly came forward at the time saying Debs wasn't at the scene.
Hastings never told the defense.
Ressler: Debs got out two months ago.
He served 12 years of his 14-year sentence.
Hastings went missing 12 years ago.
Hastings took 12 years away from Leonard Debs, so The Judge evened the score.
And Reddington says there have been others.
A New York homicide detective, an appellate court judge, two prosecutors all missing and presumed dead, all involved in cases in which some impropriety was alleged, which made them targets for The Judge.
An underground criminal court of appeals.
We believe that the appeals are being processed through a book depository run by a prison-literacy project.
We pulled the files of everyone who worked at the depository, and I think we found something.
Frank Gordon -- a civilian now, but he's a convicted killer.
He now works for a prison-literacy project at their book depository in Monroe, Virginia.
He takes the letters from the returned books, screens them for The Judge.
Find him.
And see if you can get anything out of him.
_ Frank's been with us for almost six years now, ever since the court reversed his conviction.
Does his job require he interact with prisoners?
Well, n-not directly, but he does respond to their requests.
Our program is one of the many that provides inmates with reading materials.
Frank?
Who else knows Frank stays here?
Is he in some kind of trouble?
What's back there?
Oh, I-I really feel we should wait for Frank to come back.
It's his space.
It's... Stay here.
Hello?
Mr. Gordon? FBI.
We'd like to talk to you.
Liz: What is it?
Stay where you are.
Ressler?
You okay?
Ressler! He was just there.
Agent Keen -- she fired, tried to stop him, but it happened too fast.
He got away.
I set up checkpoints at all major roads and highways, sent Frank Gordon's photo to State, Federal.
You're not gonna believe this.
Pleas from inmates, all handwritten from prisons all over the country -- ADX, Marion, Pelican Bay.
And look at this.
Alan Ray Rifkin.
It's a case folder -- research, evidence.
Frank was reviewing trial transcripts for The Judge.
_ Alan Ray Rifkin -- American college student, dropped out, joined the army, deployed to Afghanistan.
In 2003, he was tried and convicted as an enemy combatant -- fought alongside the Taliban.
He's scheduled for execution tomorrow.
According to the charges, Rifkin and a few dozen Taliban fighters raided an Afghan village, killing dozens of civilians.
At trial, Rifkin's lawyers claimed it was friendly fire, that the American military destroyed the village, from the air, mistaking it for a Taliban outpost.
The military denied it.
So The Judge thinks Rifkin is innocent.
[ Knock on door ] Guys, that Rifkin case you were asking about -- the investigating officer was the Senior FBI Agent in Afghanistan at the time -- Harold Cooper.
Cooper: You think this is a coincidence?
Reddington feeds you The Judge, and I'm next on that lunatic's hit list?
We need to take it seriously.
No, we don't.
The federal prosecutor on the case is Tom Connolly.
His reputation speaks for itself.
So should mine.
Rifkin admitted to treason.
We're not saying he's innocent.
But if you or Connolly are in danger -- What exactly does this so-called Judge think that we missed?
We don't know yet.
We're reviewing the file now.
Fine.
You do what you need to do.
But I'm telling you, Alan Ray Rifkin is guilty.
And I for one will lose no sleep watching him pay the ultimate price for his crimes.
Mr. Rifkin, my name is Agent Keen.
I'm with the FBI.
Oh, I'd stand and applaud, but -- Alan, be nice.
I'm sorry, but I was told Mr. Rifkin had waived all representation.
He has. All of his legal claims have been exhausted.
Then you are...?
Oh, Ruth Kipling, The Amnesty Collective.
The capital guidelines state that death-row inmates are allowed a designated spiritual adviser.
Okay.
First, let me tell you that I'm not here to reconsider your case.
The court rulings are final.
Uh, how's this work, Agent Keen?
You just assume that I'm stupid?
I'm not here to see if you're stupid, Mr. Rifkin.
I'm here to see if you're angry -- angry enough to want revenge.
It's my understanding you filed for a demand of justice with The Judge.
No, as I said, all of his legal appeals have been exhausted.
He knows what I mean.
Since when does the FBI believe in prison-yard myths?
It's a story.
He doesn't exist.
Here's what I will say -- I have a sacred duty to battle the evil that put me here.
And who put you here?
You read his file.
You know he confessed.
I assure you, not of my own freewill.
You're saying you were coerced?
I'm saying that I was beaten.
I'm saying that FBI Agent Harold Cooper -- he beat me under the orders of Assistant US Attorney Thomas Connolly.
Jolene: What's the story with guys and basketball, anyway?
Honestly, if the Wizards were playing, I could stand in front of my TV naked, and you know what my fiancé would say?
"Move." [ Chuckles ] Really?
[ Chuckles ] Waiter: - Ma'am?
Uh, Maker's. Double.
She's having an affair with Mr. Whitney.
Have you talked to him about it?
Yeah, I have.
Believe me, it's not good, especially during parent-teacher conferences... Ohh! ...because her husband has no clue.
But, you know, that's the job.
I mean, teachers get to know every part of their students' lives, their families.
Some of it you just have to keep secret.
Are you good at that?
At what?
Keeping secrets.
Where's your wife?
Sh-she couldn't come.
Did you invite her?
I thought -- I thought you had a fiancé.
Oh, I do.
We haven't picked a date yet.
I'd invite you to the wedding, but I don't think he'd like you.
Why is that?
Isn't it obvious?
You here buying me drinks while your wife's back home?
I haven't done anything wrong.
[ Chuckling ] Oh, my God.
Hi.
Oh, my God.
Oh, God.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, me too.
You know, actually, I'm not that sorry.
I'm in room 618.
Yeah. I'm there now.
Where are we on the Rifkin case?
Understood, but I need to know that you and your men will be ready to grab Connolly and Cooper if the execution goes down as scheduled.
Okay, bye.
Kipling: Damn FBI.
Couldn't find their own asses with a mirror and a GPS.
How the hell did they find you?
I don't know.
Somebody must be talking, and it's certainly not me.
Oh, Frank, I believe you.
You're a John, not a Judas.
Walk with me.
It's feeding time.
Hastings, the one we released -- do we know if he's talking to the authorities?
He's not.
His mind's too far gone.
My sources say he's with his family -- still hasn't spoken a word.
Ah, it's just a matter of time.
About the Rifkin execution -- we're ready to respond, but... Yeah, but what?
Frank, Frank, look at me.
You were innocent.
People like this put you in jail.
They took 20 years of your life, 30 from my father.
But if they're on to us?
If they find us, so be it.
Until then, I'm not gonna stop the work we're doing.
If Rifkin dies, tell the others to carry out the sentence.
Just because you're on the outside now doesn't mean you can forget.
Good night, mother.
Ressler: Okay, so, the question is, why does The Judge think Rifkin is innocent?
Meera: We've been together a timeline of events using the file you found in Frank Gordon's room, and we found a problem.
After Rifkin was caught, Cooper had him flown from Bagram to Andrews Air Force Base in Virginia.
From there, prison transport took them to a federal holding facility in Alexandria.
That trip should've taken 30 minutes.
At trial, the US Marshal supervising the transport said it arrived on schedule.
But look at this -- the event log.
It recorded the actual time that the Marshal swiped in to Alexandria.
That trip didn't take half an hour.
It took 2 1/2 hours.
Why wasn't this presented at trial?
Another event log was -- one that matched the 30-minute timeline.
One of the event logs is fake.
We should find the Marshal, ask him directly.
William Munson?
Agent Keen. FBI.
I'm investigating a case you're connected to.
The defendant is Alan Ray Rifkin.
Not here.
I don't want the people I work with knowing I'm involved in this.
I'm running out of time, Mr. Munson.
Alan Ray Rifkin is running out of time.
I know that. Why the hell do you think I came forward?
Came forward?
To whom?
That group, the one that fights against the death penalty -- The Amnesty Collective.
You and Cooper, you were at Andrews when Rifkin landed.
You drove him?
Yeah, I was there.
But Cooper and me, we weren't the only ones.
That prosecutor, Tom Connolly, he was waiting on the tarmac.
Connolly was there?
He was angry.
Said the Rifkin case was assigned to him.
Kept saying they didn't have enough to convict.
He was going places, you know, and he wasn't gonna wreck his career by losing a high-profile case.
You heard this?
He said they needed a confession.
He told Cooper to pick him up, take him over to one of the hangars, and not let him out until he admitted it.
Mr. Munson, did Agent Cooper physically coerce Rifkin?
"Physically coerce"?
Man, you feds are too much.
He beat him, yeah.
I swept out the entry log, made the timeline make sense, and I had Rifkin treated in his cell instead of the infirmary to avoid any record.
Everyone said he was betraying our country.
But now, if he's really gonna die... Tom.
Harold. What are you doing out this way?
Looking for you, Tom.
We have a problem with Rifkin.
We need to contain this.
I found a flash drive, and your girl got some stuff.
The last six months, she's been in Havana, Port-au-Prince, Miami, various aliases.
Last September, she was in Prague.
This Jolene is definitely moving towards something.
Red... best I can tell, the girl's tracking someone, causing trouble.
She's either got lots of little targets or one real big one.
We need to talk about Rifkin.
I've already said everything I have to say on the subject.
Sir, I need to know whether you -- What's going on?
Agent Keen, this is US Attorney Tom Connolly.
Harold's been telling me what a great agent you are.
Dog with a bone.
Sir, may we speak privately?
The thing is, this Rifkin case -- the court has made its decision.
Agent Keen, whatever you have to say to me, you can say to both of us.
I need to know what happened at the airport after you landed with Rifkin.
Rifkin was transferred to a holding facility, as documented.
You beat a confession out of him.
Who told you that?
Your transport log was doctored.
This is the real log, which shows how long Rifkin was actually at the airport.
There's a two-hour gap.
Where'd you get that?
Does it matter?
Let's not play games.
You clearly have a theory.
Let's hear it.
No, I don't have a theory.
I have a witness who says he heard you order you to beat a confession out of Rifkin.
He saw it happen.
I did not railroad an innocent man.
There were witnesses, firsthand accounts.
Did you beat him?
Yes.
Agent Keen, Alan Ray Rifkin deserves the sentence he received for his crimes.
He's being transferred for execution.
We have to stop it until the court looks at his confession.
His day in court is over.
He's exhausted his appeals.
Once that happens, the supreme court is clear.
Why he confessed or whether he's even guilty becomes legally irrelevant.
We'll see if the Federal Clemency Officer agrees with you.
[ Chuckles ] He won't even agree to a meeting.
Be careful who you go around talking to, Agent Keen.
Are you telling me this, or is he?
The only career you should worry about is your own.
Warden: Upon arrival at the execution facility, the condemned shall be provided a form BP 199, in which he will be asked where his body is to be sent.
Liz: I understand. No.
He's the Federal Clemency Officer.
I need to talk to him. Yes, please have him call me.
Warden: He may have not more than one spiritual adviser, two defense attorneys, and up to five adult friends or relatives.
Connolly was right.
They don't consider the event log new evidence, and even if they did, the deadline to consider Rifkin's factual innocence has passed.
Do they realize how insane that is?
His innocence can't be considered?
I just want to say... I didn't do it.
You're killing an innocent man here tonight.
Even God won't forgive you for this.
We're ready.
Good night, mother.
Good night.
Good night.
We did the right thing.
Yes.
Just not the right way.
Let me ask you something.
That agent, Keen, the task force.
I mean, I've asked around on the Hill, Main Justice.
Nobody knows what the hell it is you do.
I've heard the stories.
They say you guys are taking down everybody -- people who aren't even on our radar.
How?
[ Laughs ] Nothing? Really?
Well, I can tell you this.
When I'm Attorney General and I get the President to appoint you Director of the FBI, you're gonna tell me all about it, the truth about your secret weapon... because we both know you have one.
The Judge would like to see you.
An innocent man is dead because of you, because you lied.
Alan Ray Rifkin was a terrorist.
You beat him to force a confession.
To a crime he committed.
Cooper's been taken.
By whom?
The Judge, we think, as retribution for Rifkin's execution.
Anything?
Not yet.
Alan Ray Rifkin?
We've got nothing! No license plate, no surveillance footage.
They could be anywhere by now.
Back up, Lizzy.
Rifkin. Go back to Rifkin.
Why would The Judge hold Cooper responsible for his execution?
Because he coerced Rifkin's confession.
You're certain of that?
Cooper admitted it to me.
How about the guy The Judge released?
Hastings?
We're getting a court order to talk to him over his doctor's objections.
He's worried about further trauma.
If you ever want to see Cooper again, you need to get Hastings to talk.
Lizzy, I must be going.
Wait.
Did you hear me?
Rifkin was executed -- an eye for an eye.
Cooper is going to die.
Dembe, you better tell Edward there's gonna be a change in flight plan.
Kipling: A woman's son is dead because of you -- a husband, father, brother, a good man.
Rifkin was given every opportunity to prove his innocence.
Prove to who?
To you?
To the very people who framed him in the first place?
You know, if you did your job right, I wouldn't have to do mine! How do you plead?
Lady, listen, this thing you're doing, th-this -- this is a horrible mistake.
I said, how do you plead?
I guess I plead... not guilty.
Madame.
I find you guilty.
_ Red: Richard.
Say something, Richard.
I keep meaning to attend our academy class reunions, and I remember how pinched I look in dinner dress blues.
What the hell do you want?
How's your family?
My wife left me, thanks.
After I was sidelined.
You made a hell of a mess when you left.
Nobody believed we couldn't see it coming.
Maybe we helped you.
Maybe we facilitated your treason.
Even without any evidence, it was enough to destroy some careers.
Yes.
Richard, I need to know about the Rifkin case.
He claims civilians were fired on by soldiers from a Black Hawk that CENTCOM says it never deployed.
I can't help you.
You were operational in the Guldara District.
If there were choppers in the air, you knew about it.
Rooming with you was the worst thing that ever happened to me.
I'm offering you an opportunity, Richard.
The men who want this information can be... very helpful.
If you help them, it could put you back on track.
Liz: I'm so sorry, Mr. Hastings.
I can't imagine how difficult this must be for you.
But there are others still there, being held.
I need to know where you were held.
Donna: - Enough.
Please.
Just go.
Good night, mother.
No, Mark, it's me.
It's Donna.
Aram, the paper said Rifkin's last words at his execution were "Good night, mother." He said it to his spiritual adviser, Ruth Kipling.
I just heard Hastings say it.
Okay, Ruth Suzanne Kipling -- single, 62, attended Vassar College, and co-founded the prison rights organization The Amnesty Collective.
The Marshal that covered up for Cooper and Connolly -- that's the organization he reached out to.
Which is how Kipling found out about the entry-log evidence.
Okay, I've got an address in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.
I bet that's where she's holding them.
We ready, Frank?
Liz: Red.
Lizzy, have you located Harold?
Yes.
We're almost there.
There's been a development.
Kipling: Thus do I commend the end into the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ, the preserver of all mercy and reality, and the Father -- We got a problem.
Ressler: Get your men out of here.
Fall back now.
Move! Move! Let's go.
What are they doing?
Why are they moving back?
They want to talk.
Ruth, this is not a tactic.
I'm not trying to negotiate.
Yes, new information on the Rifkin case.
Someone with high-level access is en route.
Of course.
A woman.
If you came to advocate on behalf of Agent Cooper -- I didn't.
I came to advocate on behalf of you.
After devoting your life to a pursuit of the truth, to making things right, it would be such a shame in your last act to get it so wrong.
This is a classified Pentagon file on the Rifkin case.
In the spirit of full disclosure, it's a felony for me to have it or for you to see it.
But under the circumstances, who are we to quibble?
It states that on October 3, 2002, US military intelligence officers deployed a unit by helicopter to the village of Guldara the Kabul Province of Afghanistan to extract an asset whose identity had been compromised.
The Taliban in the area with whom Alan Ray Rifkin had aligned himself got word of the informant and advanced on the village.
But they were too late.
The boys had extracted their asset and left.
Angry and suspicious of others, the Taliban and Rifkin set fire to the village and executed inhabitants.
Dozens of women and children were killed at the hands of the Taliban in response to US military intelligence in the area.
I guess, fearing more headlines, the Pentagon wanted no association with the incident, so they covered it up.
That is what happened.
That is the truth.
That's why you're not gonna light up Agent Cooper today.
Alan Ray Rifkin wasn't executed because of a beating or because of a cover-up.
He was executed because of the truth.
Now, you and I could talk for days about the whys and why-nots of an execution, but at the end of it all, in the final moment, the only irrefutable fact is you better be right.
And I'm betting you're not so sure.
How could you possibly know what I'm thinking?
Mark Hastings.
You let him go because he had served his time, because this has always been about justice in your eyes, not blind revenge.
The day you started this, you knew it would inevitably end, that when you released your first prisoner, you would get caught.
You don't want to diminish your legacy of righteousness because of him... which is why you're going to surrender.
Harold, don't look so glum.
Come on.
[ Speaks indistinctly ] I thought you were gone.
What happened?
My secret weapon.
Five prosecutors, a federal judge, two cops -- there were 10 people in that bunker.
What's this?
Pleas we found in Frank Gordon's room from prisoners all over the country.
Send it to the Justice Department for review.
Walk with me?
Agent Keen, I regret the methods that we employed to obtain Rifkin's confession.
If you feel obligated to report it, I understand.
I think we've had enough judgment for today.
You knew this was gonna happen with me, The Judge.
If you thought that by saving me you'd get some kind of leverage -- Harold, a war is coming.
I believe the incursion of this facility and the rather sudden disappearance of Diane Fowler were just the beginning, and I'm certain that things will get considerably worse before they get better.
You want my help.
Not now.
Later.
But when I do, I hope you'll remember what happened today.
Is that it?
No.
I'd like you to reach out to Admiral Richard Abraham, he was very helpful in resolving the matters of the day.
He's had a rough go of it for quite some time.
Abraham.
Yes.
Admiral Richard.
He's a good man.
I wonder if you could... pull a few strings.
I'll see what I can do.
What have you found?
Cowboy: Looks like your girl has been following your every move.
You want me to bring her in?
No.
I believe she's finishing an operation.
I'd like to see how it plays out.
Hey.
Hey.
I'm glad you came.
[ Chuckles ] I'm sorry.
I can't.
That's why I came here, to tell you that I can't do this... because I love my wife.
Wrong answer.
Elizabeth Keen is not your wife, she's your target.
She's my what?
What is this?
Did they send you?
Really? To what?
Test me? [ Chuckles ] I told you that I was in love with her because that is exactly what I am supposed to be.
That is my job.