React to Contact - Recap

The scene opens with a storm roaring outside and a kid in his bed. A man enters with his gun and tells the boy to get down. He thinks that someone is out in the yard. As he walks around the house, there is a noise and he fires his gun. The boy falls to the ground but he is unharmed. A woman enters and tells the man that he needs help. Later, at the VA Hospital, Lightman and Foster are there to evaluate a recent Iraq vet, Sgt. Jeff Turley, who was in for almost killing his son. Coronel Powler tells that he is lucky to be in the VA Hospital and not a jail cell. His son, Jake goes up to Lightman and asks if he is going to help his dad. Becky, Jeff’s wife, pulls back Jake. Lightman goes inside and talks with Jeff Turley. Jeff tells that he is being hunted even after Iraq by someone. Lightman unhooks his restraints and tells that he is getting him out of there.

At the Lightman Group, Foster and Torres are talking about how Jeff is a war hero and that he thinks that someone is trying to kill him. Lightman talks to Jeff and asks if he likes his son. Jeff tells that he does. Lightman tries to make Jeff relaxed but he throws the file on the ground saying that he knows that he has PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) but Lightman tell him to calm down and think about cheese so that he will be smiling when they take pictures of his brain. In the examination room, they take pictures of Jeff’s brain. Afterwards, Foster tells that Jeff has PTSD because he is showing anger when he sees neutral faces. Lightman tells that he is going to take Jeff back to the root of the problem that would have caused it.

Using virtual reality software, they plan to trigger Jeff’s memory of the events that happened. With the equipment on, Jeff narrates what happened on the day to award him his purple star. The scene plays through and Jeff talks about his friend Ronnie Baca is getting more and more scared. He tells that he has to go through a door or he’s going to kill him. Lightman tries to connect with Jeff to find out who “he” is and why he is going to kill him. But Jake removes the virtual reality equipment and asks “Are you calling me a coward Captain?” They need to find Jeff’s captain.

Torres and Foster walk up to the Captain Renshaw who is giving a course on how to save a soldier’s life. He tells Foster and Torres that he is familiar with Lightman and that every soldier reads his book. It saved a lot of soldiers’ lives because they were able to recognize the facial cues. He tells that Jeff was a good soldier. Lightman is in his office looking at old pictures of his father in the military and Emily brings in a cactus. Certain that she did something, Emily tells that the cactus reminded her of Lightman. Back at the base, Foster and Torres talk about how Renshaw told Jeff to get out of the Jeep or he would kill him. He agrees to it and Torres tells that she would go into war with the Captain but Foster tells that he is hiding something because of the pride in his voice.

Back at the Lightman Group, Jake is racing his car that his dad gave him and tries to talk to Emily and tells that Lightman is helping his dad. But Lightman pushes Emily further and she leaves. Lightman disappears behind a door. He is with Torres and Foster and they recap the incident again on a whiteboard. Lightman tells that there is more then one version to the story. Jake is racing the car and Lightman tells that he will try to race it. He crashes it and apologizes. He sits down with Jake and sees bruises on his arm. Jake tells that the bruises on his arm are from Ronnie, Jeff’s friend. He lives above the garage. Jake tells that Ronnie was touching his mom’s face gently. Foster and Torres talk to Becky Turley and she tells that Jake is telling lies but it is her that is lying. She tells that Ronnie was there when Jeff wasn’t and that is all and nothing has happened. Foster believes her. Loker comes in and tells that Jeff is gone. Becky tells to check the house.

Lightman and Foster arrive and visit Ronnie. He tells that he is not having sex with Jeff’s wife and that he never hurt Jake. Lightman believes him and Ronnie tells that Jeff was there and that he is going to look for him. He asks how he feels about Captain Renshaw. He doesn’t mind the Captain but Jeff doesn’t like him. He tells that his gun is missing.

They visit the Renshaw’s home and a nervous Captain answers the door. He tells that he needs to get sleep and that Jake is not there. They know that Jeff is there. They look through the window and see Jeff pointing a gun at Renshaw. Foster goes to the door again to give Lightman the chance to get the gun that is in the kitchen that Renshaw points to. Lightman has the gun and points it at Jeff. They ask why the Captain would want to kill Jeff. Jeff tells that he blames himself for what happened. Captain tells that Jeff was afraid and that means bravery to him. Lightman asks what happened behind the red door, but the Captain doesn’t think it would help anyone. Lightman gets the gun away from Jeff. Back at the Lightman Group, Jeff back in virtual reality again and he is refusing to go through the red door. Lightman tells that he needs to go through the door or raise his son from the mental house. He goes inside and tells how the scene went. He gets to a part when he sees a kid. He tells that he shots him and runs to Ronnie. But Lightman picks up that Jeff is lying.

They visit with Captain Remshaw, Jeff and Ronnie there. They set up a reenactment of the scene behind the red door in Iraq there at the base. The men reenact the scene and tell the story play by play. Jeff gets to the part of the kid and tells that he shot him. Lightman tells that he didn’t shoot the boy and Jeff finally tells that the kid ran away after shooting Ronnie in the eye. He tells that he ran to Ronnie’s side and says that he saw something else. It is another soldier and it was Captain Remshaw who shot the soldier. Claiming friendly fire, Remshaw tries to cover himself. But Jeff says that after he grabbed Ronnie, he saw the Captain calling in an airstrike. Jeff’s mind is finally at rest and Captain Remshaw is escorted out in handcuffs.

Jeff is in full uniform and is visiting the soldier’s grave that got shot by the Captain. His wife and son are there and Jake thanks Lightman for his help. Jeff tells Lightman that he got a good night’s rest. Back at the Lightman Group, Lightman gets a scan of his brain. He shows Emily his results. At the picture of Emily, his brain is showing love. At the picture of Zoe, it is showing flight. At the picture of Foster, his brain is active everywhere. He shows Emily a picture of his dad and tells that he was in the military. Emily says that she wants to meet him someday. Lightman agrees. Someday.

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