Ready or Not

"Ready or Not"
Season 4
Season 4
Episode 18
Episode 18
Directed by	Christine Moore
Written by	Bob Goodman
Aired	March 27, 2016
Viewers (millions)	5.16
Episode guide
Previous	"You've Got Me, Who's Got You?"
Next	"All In"

Cast

Main cast

Jonny Lee Milleras Sherlock Holmes

Lucy Liuas Joan Watson

Aidan Quinnas Tommy Gregson

Jon Michael Hillas Marcus Bell

Featured cast

Daniel Oreskesas Lloyd Springer

Michael Lorzas Brian Springer

Wayne Maugansas Vincent Bader

Miriam Shoras Jennifer Bader

Seth Gilliamas Dr. Ira Wallace

Auden Thorntonas Julie Monahan

Kate Milleras Julie's Attorney

Betty Gilpinas Fiona Helbron

Nadia Dajanias Dr. Grannis

Frederick Welleras Ronnie Wright

Max Von Essenas Clyde Staller

Plot

"There are two things you should know, Mr. Springer. First is that I'm going to punch you in the face. Second is that we'll take your case." — Holmes to Springer

In the kitchen of The Brownstone, Holmes complains to Watson that he's being disturbed by the sounds of sex from their neighbor Trent Garby which Watson can't hear. Attorney Lloyd Springer arrives with his son Brian to hire them to find a missing doctor, Vincent Bader. Showing great acrimony towards Holmes, Lloyd explains that Brian has chronic back pain and Bader was responsible for getting Brian addicted to pain meds. Lloyd stopped Brian from seeing Bader but he disobeyed and had an altercation with the doctor. As Watson takes the repressed Brian out of the room, Holmes deduces that Lloyd has been beating Brian and is responsible for his frail condition. After punching Lloyd in the face, Holmes says they'll take the case. Questioning Bader's wife Jennifer at her home, she's unconcerned that he's missing as she believes he's having an affair with a redhead.

It began at your hand, did it not?

Bringing Holmes into the garage, he finds it filled with weapons and supplies. Jennifer explains that Vincent is a "prepper", who is convinced that society will collapse and, that he was obsessed with self-defense. At Vincent's practice, Watson questions Dr. Ira Wallace who doesn't believe Bader would have an affair. Indicating that he was on vacation with his girlfriend at Lake Ronkonkoma the day Vincent disappeared, he spoke to Vincent on the phone that day and everything seemed fine. Discovering that a drug rep, Julie Monahan, is a redhead, Watson takes her business card. Later at the 11th Precinct, Watson and Detective Bell question Julie. Insisting she didn't know Bader was missing until they called her, Julie says that Bader was selling pills from the practice to drug dealers. Notified an audit was coming, and short $200,000 in pills, Julie agreed to lend him the pills, the audit passed and he gave them back. Although Bader swore he was done with the dealers, Julie believes they were involved in his disappearance.

He'd bought himself the time he needed.

Later at the Brownstone, Watson takes a call from Holmes who has found that Bader never arrived at the gym he was heading to the day he disappeared. Believing he might be on the lam, Holmes also says that police are looking through Bader's phone records for calls to known drug dealers. Holmes' girlfriend Fiona Helbron arrives wanting to speak to Sherlock, but not finding him there, she tells Watson that she has a prepared speech and will come back later. Holmes returns to the Brownstone and in the basement, he and Watson discuss a drug dealer found calling Bader's phone that day, indicating that the dealers don't know Bader's whereabouts. Holmes intends to use a smelly chemical to provoke Trent into leaving temporarily as he now insists he can always hear him humming. Mentioning Fiona's pop-in, Watson asks if their relationship is OK but they're interrupted by a call from Bell that Bader's body has been found.

What is going on with you?

At the Morgue with Dr. Grannis, Bader's body was found tied up in a tarp and dumped in a park. Noting wounds made from multiple weapons, Holmes shows them a multi-purpose tool, favored by preppers, that was used to split Bader's skull open. In Gregson's office, Bell and Captain Gregson break the news to Jennifer Bader who says she found that Vincent spent $100,000 on something called "The Keep." At the Brownstone, Holmes shows Watson that "The Keep" is a exclusive luxury doomsday bunker. Believing that a member killed Bader, Holmes expresses interest to the owner, Ronnie Wright, and mentions that he's Morland's son. Meeting Wright at his office, he refuses to give out the names of the members until Holmes and Watson are cleared and made members. He offers to take them to The Keep, takes their phones and they are driven in a blacked-out SUV.

Could be multiple attackers, different weapons.

While tracking their progress in the SUV, Holmes mentions that the reason for his churlish behavior is that he's been making a special effort to takes things slow with Fiona and they haven't had sex yet. Arriving at The Keep, a decommissioned NORAD comm center, Wright shows them the food supplies, air filtration, power supply and other rooms. Holmes exposes Wright as a fraud and after showing that the filtration and food are facades, he inspects the floor near the infirmary and finds signs of an attack and blood on the floor. Using a phone he didn't give Wright, Holmes calls Gregson, provides their location and says that he knows where and why Bader was killed. In "the box" at the precinct, Wright denies killing Bader and explains that his office was robbed of a set of Bader's keys to The Keep. Heading there to investigate, he found Bader's body and admits he removed it and dumped it in the park and he didn't want a police investigation that would reveal The Keep to be a sham.

This facility's incapable of protecting anyone.

Learning that Bader was killed by an axe blow to the head, Wright indicates that he has a shoulder syndrome that prevents him from swinging an axe and was turned down for the Marines because of it. Gregson tells Bell, Holmes and Watson to verify Wright's alibi and get him to provide the list of The Keep's members. In the kitchen at the Brownstone, Fiona breaks up with Holmes as she says that he's being too careful and not being himself when he's with her. At the precinct, Bell and Watson show Gregson that Keep member Clyde Staller signed on due to Bader's recommendation and suspects he killed Bader when he discovered The Keep was fake. Bell and Watson meet Holmes at a restaurant Staller is at where he denies killing Bader. Showing them that he's a reporter and was working on an exposé of The Keep, he was able to verify it was a scam as he found no records of the items supposedly bought for it, such as diesel and food.

I know I did the wrong thing.

Thanking him, Holmes says they need to go to Bader's garage. At the garage, Holmes shows Bell and Watson that a multi-purpose tool, like the one that killed Bader, is missing from Bader's "bug-out" bag. Realizing Bader brought the tool himself in his gym bag, Holmes says he knows who he went to The Keep with and why. Ira Wallace, Bader's business partner is called to the precinct where he's accused of his murder. Explaining that Wallace knew Bader was selling pills to a drug dealer, after passing the audit, he accompanied Bader to The Keep in order to replace the pills from its infirmary. Discovering there were no pills there, he realized whether Bader continued to sell pills or not, involvement with the drug dealer would bring a police investigation onto their practice and ruin his life's work. Killing Bader in The Keep would place Wright as the prime suspect and protect his practice.

I'm hoping to confirm an item's absence.

Reminding them of his alibi, Bell says they verified he was at Lake Ronkonkoma, which is close to The Keep, but his girlfriend said that Wallace was alone for several hours while she and her family went to a movie. Gregson shows Wallace a photo of him picking Bader up at the Ronkonkoma train station and challenges him to dispute their allegations. At the Brownstone, Fiona arrives and Holmes explains that he's only had one relationship, which was a failure. (♫ The Pines - Aerial Ocean ♫) He wasn't being careful with Fiona because she is different, but because he is. He also says that's she's a rare woman for whom he finds the extra effort worthwhile. Confirming that they're alone, Fiona says they should have sex and kisses Holmes.

I think we should have sex now.

Music

• The Pines - Aerial Ocean plays at episode end as Sherlock explains to Fiona why he's being careful with her and she bluntly proposes they have sex.

Trivia

• As Ronnie Wright mentions to Sherlock that he's impressed with the circles that Morland Holmes moves in, Sherlock says that Morland frequents the Ninth Circle at that time of year, referencing Dante's Inferno.

Quotes

Along with the myriad doomsday scenarios that haunt ordinary preppers, global pandemic, nuclear holocaust, socialist zombies coming to eat their guns, the wealthy ones also worry that the poor are gonna rise up with torches and pitchforks. Which, one could argue, wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

— Holmes

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