Diksha Sundriyal
ABC’s ‘RJ Decker‘ comes to an end with its ninth episode, where RJ Decker discovers the truth about the incident that changed the course of his life. In the previous episode, he was antagonized by Victor Ochoa, Emi’s father, who threatened to have him sent back to prison if he did not stay away from Emi. Conflicted about what to do next (though Wish tells him that the choice is clear), RJ keeps his distance initially, but then Emi finds out about the deal. This not only leads them to take a step further in their slow-burning romance, but it also prompts her to tell him the truth, especially about his last interaction with her brother, Lucas. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Why did Lucas Try to Steal RJ’s Camera? What was On It?
The season started with RJ going to prison for beating up Lucas Ochoa, who tried to steal his camera. At the time, it seemed like RJ overreacted because he was going through some personal stuff. However, the question never dawned on him about why Lucas, whose father is a wealthy politician, would have any interest in his camera. It couldn’t be about money, and Emi confirms all of this when she tells RJ exactly what happened. It turns out that Lucas was tasked with stealing the camera by his father, Victor Ochoa. While Lucas has no idea what Victor wanted, it is clear that the camera had photos that could tie the man to a crime, becoming the reason for his downfall.
RJ remembers that, at the time, there were only two cases that he had photographed. One featured an animal, and the other focused on the murder scene of a man named Peter Bellweather. Intrigued by this information and hopeful that he may have a way to shut down Victor’s threats, RJ asks for help from Catherine, Mel, and Wish. Catherine had covered Peter’s murder, so she goes back to her research on the case, while Mel pulls out old case files. Meanwhile, Emi reveals that while Peter did steal the camera, it didn’t exactly find its way to Victor. She got her hands on it first, and she has been keeping the SD card hidden since then. When RJ discovers that Lucas has the card for safekeeping, he decides to meet the man himself.
Because this is the first time they have seen each other since RJ went to prison, the PI expects a fight. However, things unfold on a much different scale. Lucas knows he was in the wrong for stealing the camera, but he is not sorry for sending RJ to prison, because that night, Lucas saw blood in his eyes. He knew that RJ could have easily killed someone that night, and he is glad that didn’t happen. The meeting ends with Lucas handing RJ the SD card. As they comb through the photos, RJ and his team try to figure out exactly what connects Peter’s murder to Victor. Meanwhile, Catherine brings in Peter’s former business partner, Steven Crane, for an interview, hoping that he will bridge the gap in their information.
Another Unsolved Murder Becomes Key in Unraveling the Mystery
Things take a surprising turn when Steven Crane confesses to Peter Bellweather’s murder. Apparently, Steven had drug problems, and Peter gave him an ultimatum about going sober or losing his partnership. Steven got angry and hired a killer to murder Peter. Since then, he’s gotten sober and has been eaten alive by the guilt. Now that the case is open again and the opportunity has presented itself, he feels that revealing the truth is the right thing to do. While it’s great news for Peter’s case, it adds more questions to RJ’s quest. Meanwhile, having found out that Victor’s henchman, Ray, had broken into their house, Mel pays him a visit. She knifes his car’s tires, sending him a clear message that he has messed up with the wrong person.
Ray immediately reaches out to Victor and tells him to get his house in order, revealing that Emi could be the only one who told Mel about the break-in. The interaction turns out to be more fruitful when Mel takes another look at the photos and discovers that one of the photos features Ray’s car. This means that he was there the night of the murder, but it wasn’t Peter’s. A quick search reveals that an architect named Jessica Laurent also died the same night. While her death was ruled a suicide, Ray’s presence in the neighborhood suggests that she was murdered. Given that Ray works for Victor, this means that Victor ordered her murder, and now, all they need to do is find a connection.
Because Jessica worked with Bruce Vinkour, Emi reaches out to him in the hopes of finding some connection between Jessica and her father. She’d previously reached out to him when trying to take over the business from her father, but he had refused to back her. Now, as well, he is unable to give her any information that might give her leverage over Victor. The only thing she knows so far is that Jessica was highly sought out, and Victor had wanted her to work with him for a very long time. However, that still doesn’t answer why he would have her killed. While Emi, RJ, and the others are still pondering over this mystery, another murder takes place, putting a new twist on the case.
A Third Murder Twists Things Even Further
With Ray being the prime suspect in Jessica’s murder, he is brought in for questioning. At first, he doesn’t give up any relevant information, but it is believed that a good deal might make him cough up the truth and betray Victor. While they are still waiting for Ray to turn, he is murdered. The natural suspect is Victor, and a clue leads Emi to figure out why all these murders happened. On the night of his murder, Ray was being followed by Wish, who was put on his tail by RJ, who hoped that his movements might help shed more light on the facts of the matter. Instead, Wish ends up seeing a hooded man enter Ray’s place, followed by gunshots, and then the hooded man running away. Wish is not able to save Ray, but he does get to hear his final words.
When Emi hears them, she realizes that Ray was trying to tell them about a drive that she knew was in her father’s possession. This means that if they can get their hands on the drive, they might be able to figure out why Victor had Jessica killed. For this, they will need to break into his house. Emi would have done it, but since she fell out with her father, she has been restricted from his house. So, they come up with a different plan. Emi will keep Victor occupied long enough for RJ to enter the house, find Victor’s safe, and get the drive out. She gives him the house’s plan, so RJ knows exactly where to go. But a problem pops up when the password that Emi gave for Victor’s safe doesn’t work. Thankfully, Catherine has a solution.
Since Victor is a raging narcissist, she figures that he would use something like his own birthday as the password. After three wrong attempts, when RJ inputs the numbers she gives him, the safe opens, and he makes it out with the drive. Meanwhile, Emi confronts her father about his actions, including blowing up Lucas’ boat to send her a message. She also blames him for Ray’s death, but he refuses to take responsibility for that. While they may have had their differences, he says that Ray was like family to him and he would never have him killed. He also confesses that she is right to believe he has ties to very dangerous people, perhaps even cartels, but he claims it’s for the good of the city. By then, she sees RJ leaving with the drive, so she cuts the conversation short and leaves.
An Unexpected Clue Solves Jesscia and Ray’s Murder
On the way back, RJ gets a call from Wish, who reveals that Victor came through on his threats. He had RJ’s more amiable parole officer reassigned with a new one who quickly found all the rules that RJ broke during his parole. So now, there is a warrant out for his arrest. Wish doesn’t know how his friend can come back from this, so he gives RJ the number of a man who can arrange for him to disappear from Fort Lauderdale and start anew somewhere else. While RJ is grateful for the act, he hasn’t given up yet. He meets Emi, with whom he goes through Jesscia’s drive. It turns out to have nothing that suggests she was being threatened by Victor. It just has the plans for the projects she was working on.
After trying their best to find any trace of Victor in the drive, it eventually becomes clear that they were wrong about this case as well. Victor didn’t have Jessica killed. Her killer had been in front of them all along. One of the plans on the drive focuses on a project she worked on for Bruce. While he wanted the building to be built quickly, she pointed out a design flaw that would render the building vulnerable to natural forces, leading to a major disaster in the future. Bruce didn’t care about that. All he knew was that the building needed to be finished because without that, he wouldn’t have the money to fund his next project, which is how things worked in his business. Another look at the photo featuring Ray’s car shows Bruce’s car right next to his.
This confirms that Bruce is the one who killed Jessica, who threatened to expose him, which would have ruined his business and reputation. While he killed her in the heat of the moment, he had no idea what to do next, so he called Victor, knowing about his corrupt practices. Victor sent Ray to clean up and make Jesscia’s death look like a suicide. At the same time, Ray also stole Jessica’s drive and gave it to Victor, who now had not only access to her designs but also proof against Bruce. Moreover, when Bruce learned that the cops were reopening the case and that Ray had been questioned, he panicked. He was the hooded figure Wish saw entering and leaving Ray’s place. Because Bruce injured himself while crossing a fence, his blood is on the crime scene, confirming that he is the killer.
Does Victor Ochoa Go to Prison? Is He Dead?
When Bruce’s guilt is confirmed, Emi and Mel confront him. They lay out the whole thing in front of him, including the fact that he would be getting the death penalty for murdering Ray. However, he can have a more lenient sentence if he agrees to give up Victor. And that’s exactly what Bruce does. While he is still arrested for his crimes, at least he is not going to die. Meanwhile, Victor is arrested, though he doesn’t seem too concerned about it. He is put in the same cell as RJ, who gave himself up instead of running. RJ reveals that the news of Victor’s arrest allowed him and Mel to persuade his new parole officer to undo the charges about him breaking the rules. This means he is not going back to prison.
However, Victor points out that the war isn’t over yet. Whatever Bruce gave to the cops is not enough to make the charges stick, and sure enough, later that night, Victor is released from prison. RJ is not surprised by this, but he is still happy that he won the battle that could have sent him back to prison. When he returns to Wish’s bar, he finds all of his friends there, celebrating his freedom. This also includes Emi, who is sad about what happened with her father, but is still happy about RJ not going to prison anymore. While RJ and his group are all celebrating, Victor is alone in his mansion. He is visited by someone, but we never get to see their face. All we see is Victor’s dead body floating in his pool.
Previously, Victor told Emi that he was in bed with dangerous people because that’s how he could keep the city safe from them. It seems that his arrest ruffled the wrong feathers. One or more of his criminal associates may not have liked the fact that he was no longer infallible in the eyes of the public. Moreover, the fact that he was arrested opens the possibility that he could rat out people more powerful than him, as Bruce ratted on him. Those criminal elements would not have liked the idea of Victor blabbering about them. They would see him as a liability, which is probably why they had him killed. With him dead, there is nothing holding back the criminal forces that could now wreak havoc on the city. Perhaps Victor had been right all along.
Read More: Is RJ Decker a True Story? Is He Based on a Real PI?
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