- Date: June 21, 2015
- Type: Television Episode
In the fictional industrial town of Vinci, California, city manager Ben Caspere disappears shortly before he is to present plans for real estate development near a new high-speed rail line. His corrupt business partner, Frank Semyon (Vince Vaughn), is forced to make the presentation on his own, in the presence of his mob connections. Vinci Police detective Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell) is seeking custody of his son, who may be a product of his ex-wife's rape, years before. Through flashback, Velcoro is shown meeting Semyon at a bar, where Semyon gives him the name of his wife's rapist. Velcoro is now burned out and unhinged, and also works as an enforcer for Semyon. Ventura County detective Antigone "Ani" Bezzerides (Rachel McAdams) conducts a raid on a suspected illegal brothel, which turns out to be a legal porn studio, where she finds her sister Athena working as a cam girl. Later, the search for Vera Machiado, a missing woman, leads Bezzerides to the woman's last known place of employment, a spiritual retreat run by Bezzerides' estranged father, Eliot, leading to a tense confrontation. A third cop, Highway Patrol officer Paul Woodrugh (Taylor Kitsch), is put on paid leave after an actress, Lacey Lindel, tries to seduce him and later falsely accuses him of sexual misconduct when he refuses to look the other way to her speeding and violating her parole. While visiting his girlfriend, Emily, Woodrugh secretly takes Viagra and does not answer her questions about the scars on his body. Late at night, racing his motorcycle without headlights and with near suicidal ferocity, Woodrugh discovers the corpse of Caspere propped up on a bench, with his eyes burned out. Velcoro and Bezzerides converge with Woodrugh at the crime scene.