The Bottle Job - Recap

The owner of McRory's, John McRory, has died and everyone has gathered there for a wake. In the back, Cabella, McCann, and Donnelly are playing poker. When John's daughter Cora comes in with beers, they offer their condolences. As she leaves, Doyle and two thugs, Liam and his brother, intercept her. Doyle explains that he's a loan shark and John borrowed money. By the time he died, John owed a total of $15,000. Doyle shows Cora her father's marker and insists that she either pay him the $15,000, or he'll take the bar. When she tries to slap him, Liam and his brother grab her, and Doyle tells her that she has two hours to come up with the $15,000.

Nate, Alec, Eliot, and Parker stop by for the wake. Nate explains that his father, a criminal, used the bar as a base of operations and Nate learned his criminal skills from him, including finger breaking. When Cora comes out, Eliot takes an interest and Nate tries to deter her, explaining that they grew up together and she's like a niece to him. Cora takes all of the money out of the register and gives it to Doyle, who points out that she still owes him over $14,000.

The team takes Cora upstairs and she explains what is going on. Nate tells her to go downstairs and then they try to figure out how to save the bar. They can't go to the police because there's no evidence, and Doyle will simply come back and burn the place down, or beat Cora. Nate wonders why Doyle needs the money in two hours and decides to do some reconnaissance first. As he goes, he tells the team to call in Tara and tell her they have a job.

Tara arrives and Nate tells her to flirt with Doyle. She modifies her clothing appropriately and approaches the loan shark. As the two of them flirt, Parker pickpockets Doyle's wallet. She gives it to Eliot, who scans it with his cell phone and sends the image to Alec upstairs. Alec checks only to discover that Doyle has a clean record. He does determine that his father, Tim Doyle, is a major gangster in Ireland and figures that Doyle is in Boston setting up a new branch of the family business. Parker returns Doyle's wallet without him noticing, and Alec confirms that Doyle is taking a plane to Ireland in two hours. Tara convinces Doyle to explain that he's going to meet with his father and show him the profits he's made off of loan sharking in the neighborhood, so he can prove himself to his father.

The team regroups upstairs and Nate insists they can pull off a wire scam in two hours. All they need to do is "borrow" the wake. Nate and Tara go downstairs and Elliot, Alec, and Parker rip apart every hiding place in the apartment to find their hidden stash of $9,000. Alec and Parker hook into the bar's TV cables while Eliot takes the money to Nate. When Alec is ready, Nate starts by groping Tara. She leaves, much to Doyle's irritation, and Nate explains that he used to date her until he had to break her brother's kneecaps over a gambling debt. Doyle takes more of an interest and has a drink with him at the bar.

Alec intercepts the sports channel feed and delays it 20 seconds. In the bar, Doyle starts betting on the basketball game and Nate keeps throwing. Meanwhile, Eliot distracts Liam and his brother by matching them at dart without looking. Parker brings them some drinks and steals their wallets and cell phones. She takes it back upstairs to where Tara has retreated, and Tara realizes that among the contents are Doyle's ledger. She starts decoding it.

Nate suckers Doyle in to gambling big on the game, but Doyle notices that Nate isn't drinking. He refuses to bet with a sober man and Nate has no choice but to take a sip. The rest of the team watch nervously as he continues, and Alec warns Tara that it isn't good. Alec then works to trace the phone calls from the stolen cell phones so he can determine where Doyle keeps his money.

Once Tara decodes the ledger, Alec checks the names and discovers they are all locals who Doyle set up with his loan shark routine. He calls Nate, who is ready to bet on the game's final outcome. He hesitates and Alec tells him to go for it. Doyle refuses to offer the money he's taking to Ireland and offers John's marker instead. Nate finally accepts and wins. Doyle leaves Cora to Nate and suggests they talk business when he returns. As he goes, Nate tells the team that he's decided to take all of Doyle's money. He explains that if Doyle proves to his father that Boston is a profitable area for expansion, he'll come back and they'll never be rid of him.

Tara intercepts Doyle as he leaves and explains that she couldn't leave because of the bad weather. Alec realizes what she's up to and starts grabbing blankets and computer screens. In the back, Nate tells Eliot and Parker that he'll get Doyle into a poker game, use the $9,000 to slow-play him, and stall while they find Doyle's office, steal the rest of his money, and bring it back so Nate can use it in the poker game. All they need to do is wait until Alec finds Doyle's office by tracing the GPS signals. Eliot wonders if Nate would consider such an insane plan if he was sober, and Nate admits that he would have at least considered it.

Once he's rigged up the big screen in the apartment, Alec puts on Nate's jacket. Using some computer graphics software, he makes it appear that he's a weatherman and then goes on the air in the bar. Alec warns that Boston is snowed in and Doyle decides to stay and chat with Tara. As they talk, she notes that Nate cheated him, and he cheats everyone who comes in. Doyle wants to get revenge and remembers that Nate mentioned he and Tara were lovers, and gets an idea.

Nate and Cabella talk to Cabella and the others. The men wonder if Nate is anything like his father.

Tara agrees to help con Nate in return for 10% of the profits. Doyle agrees and tells her to flirt with Nate, see what's in his hand, and signal him on the good and bad hands. Tara warns him that the other players are mobsters and it's a private game, but Doyle insists he can buy his way in.

Nate convinces the poker players to let Doyle in, once Cora asks them to do it for her father. Tara checks in and Nate assures her that the three players can pass as mobsters. He then checks on Alec, who has found Doyle's office. Parker and Eliot are there, searching for Doyle's safe. Nate continues to drink, and Tara notes that Sophie said he was once a drunk. Nate says that he was, and that he was okay with it at the time. The difference now is that he knows he's not okay.

After sending Tara in, Doyle stations Liam and his brother outside to take the money back if Nate leaves with it. He then breaks into the game and insists on playing, dumping all of his cash on the table. The three players agree to let him in. As they play, Nate slowly loses as Doyle spots Tara's signals. Nate finally asks for a break so he can get a drink and so Cora can bring him more money. He calls Parker and Eliot, who report they've found the safe. Parker tries to open it while Eliot hears someone moving around and goes to investigate.

As they play, Doyle boasts about he and his father plan to move into the Boston area, and some of the high-profile crimes he's committed that the police have failed to connect him to.

Two of Doyle's men are in the warehouse. Eliot takes them on and knocks them out. A third one arrives, sees he's outmatched, and runs into the office. Eliot chases him in and struggles with the man until Parker finally kicks the thug unconscious so she can finish her work, get the money, and leave.

Nate finally has to return to the table, just as Parker returns with the extra money. Nate bets it all but Doyle sees marks that his men put on it when he collected it, and realizes that Nate stole the money from him. He draws a gun, admits that he's a loan shark, and tells them to turn over all their winnings to him.

Cabella, McCann, and Donnelly take out badges and reveal that their Boston police detectives. Nate explains that they had gathered there to play poker in John McRory's honor. He asked them to help him with the scam in return for getting a wanted criminal. Much to their surprise, Doyle came in, told them what he did, and confessed to several crimes with providing all the evidence they needed. Doyle tries to bribe them to look the other way, but Nate slams him down on the table and breaks his finger, then tells him to report to Tim Doyle that Boston is a dry market. If he doesn't, they'll reveal that he lost all the money and confessed to police officers. Doyle quickly leaves and the detectives, observing Nate's violence, comment that he's just like his father. Tara collects her share and they go to give the rest back to Doyle's victims. The detectives agree to look the other way and forget there was ever any stolen money.

The team returns the money to the victims at the wake. A smug Nate boasts that he managed to pull off two impossible cons 30 minutes ahead of schedule. He starts to go up to the apartment, but Alec suggests that he wait so he doesn't see the mess. The rest of the team leave Alec to clean up. Cora sits down with Nate and observers that he's just like his father, but even his father had some good qualities. One of them was that he always took care of his friends. Cora tells Nate that her father would be glad Nate helped, and Nate admits that her father was good man. They share a drink and offer a toast to both their fathers.

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