Medical Police season 1, episode 5 recap: Deuce to Nines, Double Draw

Lola and Owen go rogue and follow a new lead to Latvia, where they reunite with Goldfinch and take down a black market dealer on Medical Police.

This episode of Medical Police begins with Lola and Owen sprinting along to intense action music. They risk occasional anxious looks behind them and we assume they must be running for their lives, but really they’re just enjoying a good-natured foot race. They’re at the airport and getting ready to check-in for their flight.

Lola’s phone reminds her that she’s meant to attend the live taping of Break a Leg to support Cat (Lake Bell), but there’s no way she’s going to make it from Florida to Los Angeles in time. Owen reminds her to look on the bright side. That’s all.

Lola calls Cat to tell her why she can’t make it, but stopping a worldwide epidemic doesn’t excuse Lola from being a bad friend. Thanks for nearly nothing, says Cat as she hangs up. As Cat gets ready for showtime, a sinister figure (Eric Nenninger) with a briefcase wanders around backstage.

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Before Lola and Owen can head back home, Neri’s phone receives a text message from someone called Nikolai warning of another attack. Owen recognizes the Latvian country code from the country code song from elementary school. Lola calls Patten to update him, but be brushes her off and tells them both to go home. But they decide to ignore him and go to Latvia instead.

Owen calls ahead and has Goldfinch meet them in Latvia, which is only a 14-hour drive from Berlin, so no problem. Conveniently, Goldfinch knows exactly who Nikolai is: a black market dealer who has ties to Neri. He doesn’t know where to find Nikolai, but his van does!

Meanwhile, Cat introduces herself to Break a Leg host Joel McHale. She’s been texting him pictures of her cornhole and he is delighted to meet her in person. She invites him to join her in the electrical room in ten minutes, to which he gives her a blank stare. To have sex, she explains. Of course, says Joel McHale, he’d be delighted! But as Cat turns around to wait in the electrical room, she sees the sinister figure with the briefcase enter ahead of her. She follows him in, saying that she has the room reserved starting in five minutes. The man turns around, points a gun at her and says “I have this gun reserved starting in now.” Clever.

He ties her up as he finishes his preparations. A 3D printer, situated beneath the theatre’s ventilation system, is triggered to start releasing the virus when the show’s applause gauge reaches 10. Cat misses her date with Joel McHale, but she is able to free herself by miming scissors and cutting the rope. She has to do something to stop the attack, but any tampering with the equipment will trigger the virus.

Back in Latvia, Lola and Owen track down Nikolai’s mother and pay her a visit. Lola brings along the traditional Latvian gift of mittens and Nikolai’s mother, previously forbidding, welcomes them both in and makes them sit down to an endless and disgusting dinner of local delicacies. Following Latvian tradition, they must finish dinner before they can discuss business, but it’s hard to finish your food when it consists of a boiled horse head and warm mayo and onion salad.

When they finally finish, Nikolai’s mother tells them that she worries about him working with dangerous people and asks them to help her son. She says that they can find Nikolai at Club Klüb. There, they find Nikolai (Velibor Topic) playing cards in the secret back room. Lola and Owen pose as arms dealers looking to buy weapons-grade plutonium for an attack. That story checks out. Nikolai can get them what they need, but only if they beat him at cards. But if they lose, they die.

Owen and Nikolai proceed to play a convoluted game called deuce to nines, double draw. It makes absolutely no sense and involves chips, tapping, and about four decks of cards. They throw nonsense phrases at each other related to the game and even some of the cards’ suits and numbers are made up. It is ridiculous and delightful. Nikolai throws down sixteen ducks all in a row with quadruple pot-squatters with thigh-high tulips on the front side. Impressive. But Owen wins the game with two winks side by side with jeepers and creepers. But Nikolai knew the whole time Neri didn’t send them because he knows Neri is dead. He just wanted to play a fun card game.

Nikolai orders his henchmen to shoot them and walks out. Owen distracts the henchmen by throwing stuff at them and he and Lola escape to catch Nikolai. He’s just outside the club, easy to grab and stuff into Goldfinch’s van as it pulls up. They dose him with a deadly drug and promise the antidote if he talks. He tells them he doesn’t know who created the virus, but whoever did is about to sell the cure to the buyer. They will make the exchange in two days time in Shanghai at 4 pm local time. Each will be wearing a red hat to identify themselves. Lola and Owen head to Shanghai to arrest those responsible and get the cure.

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Which is great, because there was a huge outbreak of the virus at the Break a Leg show. Cat nearly prevented the attack by just barely toning down her inexplicably popular Charlie Chaplin routine, but then received a wild round of applause when she survives a terrible fall off the stage. The applause meter hit 10 and the virus was released, infecting hundreds.

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