US Television: Breakout Kings, Episode 1.11, "Off the Beaten Path"

Breakout Kings
Season One, Episode Eleven, Off the Beaten Path
Original Air Date:  May 15, 2011

The team is called in when a dangerous psychiatric inmate escapes during a field trip to a medieval-themed restaurant.  As the man is a known killer, the team knows they must work fast before he can kill again.  When they learn he has abducted a young television host time starts running out even faster.  An old face returns to the Breakout Kings to help them track the inmate through the Adirondack's.  Erica has flashbacks of the area where they are searching for the inmate as it is where she sought vengeance on one of the men who murdered her father.  Meanwhile, Charlie's father's watch is missing and he blames one of the cons for taking it.

At Sunnybrook Psychiatric Detention Center in New Hampton, New York, several inmates are lining up next to a bus for a field trip to Chivalry Castle, a medieval-themed restaurant.  When the woman in charge of them, Paula Berry, asks why the are going on the trip one of the inmates, Kenny, raises his hand.  He answers because they listen and have good behavior.  She asks why Todd and Phillip aren't going with them and Kenny again raises his hand to answer because they didn't listen and had bad behavior.  She tells them field trips can be taken away so they must follow the rules then allows them to board the bus.  One of the orderlies, Victor, stops an inmate, Bennett Ballester, telling him he can't take the stuffed animal he is holding with him.  Bennett begs Paula and she tells Victor it's alright and to let him go.

At Chivalry Castle in Hudson, New York, Paula tells the inmates any misbehavior will result in the loss of all privileges and they'll end up in the isolation room.  She thanks an employee, a Green Knight (Sean Delaney), of Chivalry Castle for opening early for them.  She finds Bennett standing next to the cage of a falcon petting the stuffed animal he is carrying and looking at the bird with fascination.  She asks if he likes the bird and he says only "grandpa".  She asks "grandpa, what?" and he replies "grandpa painted" leading her to understand that his grandfather painted birds and asks him if it is a nice memory which he admits it is.  She pats him on the shoulder then walks away to check on the other inmates.  He watches her leave then turns back to face the falcon.  He turns his stuffed animal upside down and removes a tool from it.

The Knights are on their horses in the center ring and the jousting show begins.  The inmates watch and cheer as the nights joust with one another.  Paula notices Bennett isn't there and Victor goes to find him.  Bennett is using the tool he had in his stuffed toy to pick a lock to the staff weapons room.  When Victor finds him, he tells him he's in big trouble if he doesn't come to him right now.  He gets the door open and retrieves a sword which he uses to kill Victor.

At the office, as Ray briefs the team on Bennett Ballester, Charlie is in his office rifling loudly through the drawers of his desk drawing the attention of everyone in the main room.  Shea comments that the inmates were given a day trip and Lloyd points out integrating patients with the outside world is a standard and often successful practice when you're working toward rehabilitation.  In this case, it was clearly very unsuccessful.  Julie adds that the CCTV system at the Castle showed Bennett leaving the facility and Victor's wallet was missing.  Lloyd asks if Bennett has killed before and Ray confirms it.  Julie provides the information that Bennett was in for ten years for killing a local newscaster he was obsessed with.  She was engaged to be married.  Her body was never found but her DNA was pulled from beneath Bennett's fingernails.  Lloyd begins telling the group about erotomania, a common trait in stalkers, when Charlie comes out of his office and looks strangely at everyone in the room.  When Lloyd stops talking, Charlie tells him to continue.  Julie tells them Bennett should be in maximum security prison for life but his lawyer proved he was unfit to stand trial due to a history of comorbidity.  Lloyd asks Charlie if he's alright and he quietly tells Lloyd to finish.  Lloyd explains that comorbidity means that Bennett is "a whole cocktail of crazy".  Erica says there is evidence in the files of a diary Bennett's lawyer had suppressed during the competency hearing and Lloyd says he needs to see it, something Ray tells Julie to look into.  Charlie continues looking strangely at the cons as Shea says the only family is Bennett's brother and they should talk to him.  When Charlie gives Shea a strange look he asks him "dude, what?" leading Charlie to tell the team he's most angry at himself for actually thinking he could trust the cons.  He tells them his father's watch is missing and it better be on his desk by the end of the case or heads will roll.  Lloyd denies taking it and points toward Erica who also denies it as does Shea.  Charlie maintains he doesn't care who took it, he just wants it back.  He tells Ray to continue.  Ray and Lloyd will be going to Sunnybrook to find more information on Bennett and Julie should call in his brother for Charlie to interview.

Ray and Lloyd arrive at Sunnybrook and Lloyd finds the place undeniably fascinating while Ray doesn't like being there.  Ray asks him if he took Charlie's watch and he flatly denies it.  Paula walks up to them and introduces herself.  She tells them Bennett was an ideal patient who was on a good combination of meds.  Lloyd points out that his actions from that day suggests he had been off the meds for quite a while without her knowledge.  She asks how he knows so much and he tells her he has a PhD in behavioral psychology.  Ray wants to look over Bennett's room and see copies of his files and notes.  Lloyd asks her about the history of fixations he saw in the files and asks if he was fixated on anything recently.  When she admits she doesn't know as he had them fooled he asks if Bennett was close with any other patients.

Lloyd sits down to talk with Bennett's friend, Teddy.  He skips his usual talking to win Teddy's confidence and instead bribes him with sweets.  Teddy says "meow time" and points to the television.  Lloyd gives him the suckers and gets up.

Bennett is in a shop buying ropes and survivalist gear.  His last choice of purchases is a 19-inch stainless knife.  He surveys the knife then reaches into his pockets and pulls out two handfuls of money and gives them to the man behind the counter.  He picks up his purchases and leaves the store without getting his change.

As Bennett's brother, Calvin arrives at the office, Charlie asks Julie if she's had any luck getting a hold of the diary.  She's on hold with the lawyer's assistant at that moment.  Charlie points Calvin toward the interview area and tells them when he comes back, they better have a lead.  Erica says she thinks Lloyd took it and Shea says she might have as he knows he (Shea) didn't take it and he doesn't think Lloyd has the gumption to steal the watch.  Julie finally gets to talk to the lawyer and informs him his client is a fugitive and they don't have the time to get a warrant as it could take days.  When he hangs up on her she tells Shea she might need a favor.

In interview, Calvin tells Charlie he's ashamed to share the same last name with Bennett and if he knew where he was he would tell.  Charlie asks why he came in to see him and Calvin says it's because he asked.  Charlie points out that ten years ago when Bennett killed the newscaster no one in his family cooperated when he didn't mind sharing the same last name with his brother.  Yet, today, he makes the trip from mid-town.  Angry, Charlie stands and tells Calvin he doesn't have time to waste and asks where Bennett is.  Calvin swears he doesn't know and admits he should have told the police ten years ago that Bennett would disappear into the Adirondack's behind their house for days and sometimes return with a backpack filled with dead birds.

In the main room, Julie is searching for "meow time" and is having trouble finding a match.  Ray says that the session notes are useless as Bennett was running game on the entire facility.  Charlie enters the room and asks Julie to get him a map of the southern Adirondack's above Northville.  Upon hearing the location, a memory is triggered in Erica's mind.  Charlie tells them about Calvin giving him information that Bennett is obsessed with survivability.  Ray tells Charlie they need Gunderson but Charlie refuses.  Erica asks who Gunderson is and Lloyd tells her he was one of the first Breakout Kings until Charlie caught him stealing an eating utensil.  Ray points out Gunderson is a survivalist who grew up in the Adirondacks and is tailor-made for the case.  Charlie again refuses.  Julie has found "meow time" and tells the team it is the signature greeting of the host of the children's program "Goodnight Kitten", Debbie Myers.  Shea puts a picture of Bennett's first victim, the newscaster, next to a picture of Debbie.  The two women have a striking resemblance.  Lloyd says he'd feel way more comfortable if they let Ms. Myers know what is going on immediately.

At her home, Debbie Myers goes to answer the incessantly ringing doorbell.  Bennett is standing there with flowers.  When she asks if they are for her he says "hello, kitten" making her immediately uncomfortable.  She tries to shut the door and run but he manages to get inside the house.  He puts a bag over her head and drags her away.

The team arrive at the house and find that her car is missing as well.  Erica has been looking through Debbie's closet and believes Bennett took her ski jacket and hiking boots.  When Charlie comments he's heading into the Adirondack's, Erica again zones out.  He asks if she has something to say she tells him 'no'.  Charlie finds wedding invitations as Debbie was supposed to be getting married that Saturday.

At the Law Offices of Phillip Kincaid, Esq., in Brooklyn, New York, Shea and Julie arrive and speak with Kincaid.  Kincaid asks Shea if he needs help with some criminal issues and he tells him he does because he's heard Kincaid was one of the top criminal defense attorneys around and he knows a lot of guys who has used him.  Kincaid tells him it's a $5,000 retainer up front and Shea looks to Julie.  Kincaid asks who she is and she tells him.  Immediately, Kincaid tells them the diary, as she chooses to call it, has the words "dear counselor" written on the first page and "sincerely, your client" written on the last.  Everything in it is attorney/client privileged correspondence and tells them to leave until they have a subpoena.  Shea says he doesn't think so and tells him Julianne pulled up his court records and he personally knows ten guys who have used him.  Six worked for him, one is his second cousin and they all owe him.  Kincaid asks who he is and Shea says he's going to pull three names from a hat then have those three names cut a deal saying Kincaid recommended the perjure themselves for lighter sentences.  He's choosing three because it will ensure Kincaid will get his ticket punched and end up in Sing Sing where he (Shea) will make sure the right booty bandits run a train on him.  His other option is to give Julie the diary.  Kincaid chooses the latter.

Bennett stops Debbie's car on a deserted road in the woods and takes her from the trunk.  He takes the bag from her head and tells her she can come up front.  As he's putting her in the back seat, she asks who he is and what he wants.  She gets into the car and touches a bag he has in the backseat.  He cautions her to be careful or she'll crush it.  She looks in the bag and sees her wedding dress.

Charlie arrives at the office and Ray tells him they have something.  Gunderson is sitting there and smiles at Charlie as he walks in.  Ray tells him Gunderson used the information given them by Calvin to narrow down the location in the Adirondack's to locate Bennett.  Ray insists they aren't equipped for that sort of pursuit and since Gunderson grew up in the mountains, they need him.  Charlie still maintains they can do it with the use of technology and even K-9 units but Ray says they don't have the time as the girl will be dead.  Gunderson tells Charlie if Bennett is a true survivalist he will take the abandoned trails which are hard to find and aren't on the hiking map.  Erica's memories come back again and she sees flashes of herself hiking through the woods with a man.  Julie and Shea return with the diary and he says it looks like a mouse on mushrooms wrote it and throws it to Lloyd.  Charlie asks Ray what deal he made with Gunderson.  Ray promised him all the ribs he could eat, a 12-pack of beer and copy of Hustler.  Charlie consents that Gunderson can take them to the trail head but that's it.  If it looks promising, they call the local fire team from special operations, with which Ray agrees.  Charlie tells Julie to call the ranger on duty to make sure he meets them there.  Lloyd is to stay at the office and go through the diary as they'll have satellite phones and will be in constant communication.  Before they leave, Charlie warns Gunderson that one wrong or stupid move means he will bury him up there.

Bennett stops the car at a locked gate.  He gets out to try and open it and a ranger's truck pulls up behind him.  He orders Debbie to be quiet and the ranger tells him the road is closed.  If he wants to hike there he needs to get a permit and leave the car at the park entrance.  Bennett comments that rangers don't come up there this time of year and the ranger tells him he saw his car pull off the side of the road and again tells him to get a permit so he doesn't have to cite him.  When the ranger's phone rings, Debbie starts beating on the back glass and screaming 'help' leading Bennett to attack the ranger with his knife.

In Adirondack National Forest, Charlie stops the SUV behind the ranger's truck.  The team get out and survey the area.  Shea finds blood on a leaf and Erica calls them over to where Bennett has hidden Debbie's car beneath some limbs.  In the trunk, they find the body of the ranger.  Charlie says he'll call in the fire team and they have to gear up.  Gunderson points out the old tire tracks and tells them this is prime crop area for pot growers.  Shea reminds him the feds cleaned that up but Gunderson says a lot of the traps they set in the area to protect their crops are still primed.  He tells Charlie he doesn't need to wait for backup.  He'll get him where he needs to go if he trusts him.  Shea urges Charlie to not take the cuffs off Gunderson because if they go up in the mountains with him he's the only one coming back.  Charlie assures Shea that isn't happening.  Ray again insists they can't wait and he will personally watch Gunderson.  Gunderson again tells Charlie he can trust him.  Erica steps forward and tells them they don't need Gunderson as she knows the area like the back of her hand.  She chased a bail jumper who allegedly dumped a body up there.

Charlie chains Gunderson to the SUV and pairs the team off.  He and Shea will travel together and Ray and Erica together.  Gunderson asks Charlie if he's really going to bet on Erica over him and Charlie confirms he is.  Gunderson says they'll die up there and he'll laugh about it.

As they are walking, Debbie asks Bennett what a grown man is doing watching a children's show.  He tells her the show isn't a children's show and forces her to sing the theme song.  When she starts saying "goodnight" to different names, she asks what his name is.  Angrily, he tells her she knows and says 'Bennett'.  He tells her he loves her and when he turns around, she pulls one of her fake fingernails off and drops it on the leaves.

At the office, Lloyd is going over Bennett's diary which is full of pictures of falcons, and drawings of boxes and the number two.  Julie says she can't make heads or tails of it and asks him if he'd like to have some coffee.  He is absorbed in the diary and doesn't answer.  He tells her schizophrenics who take their fixation to the next level sometimes latch onto symbolic element and he has found "RBF" all over the diary.  Julie asks what it means and he looks at one of the drawings of the falcons and tells her it's a bird and asks her to pull up everything there is on the red-bellied falcon.

In the woods, Shea tells Charlie, man-to-man, that he didn't take his father's watch.  Charlie doesn't want to hear it and again tells him as long as the watch is back on his desk by the end of the tour he won't ask any questions.  Shea slips on some leaves and some cans fall from a tree.  Charlie draws his gun and comments it's a homemade alarm system and he wonders what else they planted.  They continue climbing as Charlie's phone rings.  Lloyd tells him the red-bellied falcon nests at 5,000 feet and there is only a quarter-mile section of the mountain at that elevation.  Charlie will notify Ray and he wants Lloyd to update him on anything else.

A strange animal sound catches Erica and Ray by surprise.  She tells him it's a fisher cat and nothing to be worried about.  He asks if she studied the mountains when she was chasing the bail jumper and she confirms she did.  He grabs her hand and pushes her coat sleeve up exposing the marks on her wrist and asks if it has anything to do with the guys who killed her father that she allegedly made disappear.  She has a memory of firing a gun and just says "allegedly" to Ray.  She looks down and sees the fingernail Debbie dropped.  She tells him to call Charlie as they're on the right trail and she continues walking.

Bennett points out a red-bellied falcon nest to Debbie as they are walking.  He tells her when the birds mate, they do so for life.  He looks behind her and asks "do you remember their eggs?  Those pretty eggs?".  He continues talking to someone she cannot see causing her to ask him who he's talking to as there's nobody there.  He tells her she sang to him on her show and said his name.  She looked right into the camera and said "goodnight, Bennett" then went off to marry him.  He jerks her to the forest floor.  She pleads with him saying there are lots of little boys out there named "Bennett" and if she said his name before it didn't mean anything.  He tells her they will be together forever and jerks her to her feet so they can continue walking.

Debbie is tied to a tree and asks Bennett what he will do with her and to just let her go.  When he doesn't answer her, she yells for him to kill himself.  He walks to her and takes out a knife and cuts the palm of her hand then cuts his and presses their hands together.  Their blood is the same now and they belong together.  He looks to the side and angrily tells an invisible person not to talk about her like that.  He tells them she just doesn't understand yet and gets up and walks away.

Julie asks Lloyd why Bennett is so obsessed with birds and he explains Bennett will "marry" Debbie than rape and kill her.  In his mind, the woman he loved betrayed him so he will try to possess Debbie with the same ritual.  He has an intricate ceremony laid out and will try to do it at a specific time.  He points out the "2's" on several pages of the diary and the drawings of cubes.  He realizes they symbolize "two cubed" and Julie says "eight".  The ritual will happen at eight o'clock and it's now seven-thirty.  Lloyd calls Charlie with word that Bennett's ceremony will be happening at eight giving them a half hour to save Debbie.  Julie remarks to Lloyd that he is amazing.

Debbie hears a helicopter overhead but Bennett tells her they can't see her and she should stop crying as it's disgusting.  He shows her what she looks like in a mirror, gives it to her and tells her to clean herself up as today is her wedding day.

As Ray is receiving word from Charlie about the time of the ceremony, Erica again remembers walking through the woods with a man.  She tells him he took her father from her and he tells her he wasn't the only one and didn't pull the trigger.  She tells him it's four down and two to go then shoots him.  Ray snaps her out of her thoughts and urges her ahead.  She climbs over a fallen tree and Ray throws his pack to her.  When he climbs through the limbs of the tree, he steps into a bear trap.  Debbie, still hearing the helicopter, tries using the sunlight to reflect off the mirror in hopes someone will see it and come to her rescue.  As Erica is trying to free Ray, she sees the glint from Debbie's mirror.  Ray orders her to leave him and go check it out.  Bennett turns and looks to Debbie who hides the mirror.  Erica runs toward the glint and sees Debbie alone.  She cautiously goes to her and is able to cut her loose before Bennett comes up behind her.  Erica yells for Debbie to run, which she does.  She tells Bennett it is over and as she's backing away from him holding her knife, she trips over a rock.  He raises his own knife ordering her to drop hers, which she does.

Charlie and Shea hear Debbie crying and soon see her running through the forest.  Charlie identifies himself as a Marshall and she tells him Bennett has got her.  Charlie figures out it is Erica he has and asks Debbie where she ran from.  She points behind her telling him about five minutes that way.  Charlie orders Shea to cut Debbie loose and he goes to save Erica.

Bennett has Erica dressed in Debbie's wedding gown and tied to a tree.  She is able to free her hands and as she's trying to make her escape he sees and stops her.  He tells her she ruined everything and puts his knife to her throat.  In the office, Lloyd notes it's eight o'clock and he hopes they got to Debbie.  Bennett tells Erica the most painless way to kill an animal is by cutting off their head quickly.  If the knife isn't sharp enough, cut the throat at the carotid artery and press on the neck so the blood drains quickly.  Charlie, his gun raised, yells to Bennett wanting to talk.  Bennett tells him Erica took away what was his.  Charlie tells him Calvin wants him to come back home but Bennett says he is home.  Charlie orders Bennett twice to put the knife down.  Bennett looks overhead at one of the choppers flying over then back to Erica and tells her to 'say goodbye'.  She yells to Charlie who shoots Bennett.

The team arrive back at the office where Lloyd and Julie are both asleep.  Charlie tells Julie to get Ray to a hospital and the cons to get changed up so he can take them back to Maybelle.  Julie tells Ray Debbie is with her fiance and is doing fine and Gunderson wants to know when he can get his ribs, beer and Hustler.  Lloyd congratulates Charlie on his marksmanship.  Erica touches the marks on her wrist with a faraway look in her eyes bringing a knowing look from Ray.  He goes into the restroom to get a look at his leg.  While in there, he finds Charlie's watch on top of the paper towel dispenser.  He takes it into Charlie's office and hands it to him.  Charlie asks who had it and Ray tells him the paper towel holder.  Charlie remembers taking the watch off and leaving it there when he cleaned his shirt.  Ray tells him not to say anything to the cons and it will make him lose credibility.  After Ray has left, Charlie goes out to where the cons are and tells them he misplaced his watch and no one took it, but he doesn't actually apologize.  When he walks away, Lloyd asks if he just heard what he thought he heard and Shea remarks "I think so".  As they are walking to the elevator, Lloyd mutters he's pretty sure he didn't hear an apology.

Breakout Kings airs every Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on the Arts & Entertainment Network.
For more information:
Breakout Kings Official A&E Site:  http://www.aetv.com/breakout-kings/
The Internet Movie Database:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590961/
TV Rage:  http://www.tvrage.com/Breakout_Kings