'American Hostage' Episode 7 Recap & Ending Explained: Is Tony Being Duped?

Episode 6 of American Hostage took place in 1972, as we saw Cookie sneaking his way back into Fred’s life in order to strike a deal with NASA which’d allow him to sell his product, Star Bites. Fred was wary of Cookie’s ulterior motive, but he helped out Cookie with his business deal, largely because Barbara asked him to. After securing the financing for Star Bites, the Heckmans were approached by Lou, one of the financiers, and he innocently brought up the flooding issue that Cookie had cited to explain the delay in the production and distribution of the snacks. When Lou got out of earshot, Fred confronted Cookie about the “flooding,” and it became apparent that Cookie didn’t have the requisite amount of Star Bites to honor the deal he had made; he just wanted the investment money so he could pocket it and run away. Cookie had paid back all the money that he owed to Fred, but that wasn’t Cookie’s money; it was his girlfriend, Doris’. And, as Fred had predicted, the day after Cookie’s scam was caught, he ran away with that NASA money, and he even abandoned Doris. Parallel to that subplot, we learnt about Tony’s mental health issues and his family’s efforts to get him the therapy he needed. The therapy didn’t exactly pan out as the Kiritsises expected it to and, in that chaotic mental state, Tony barged into a meeting between the Halls and pitched his steakhouse idea directly to M.L. Richard, who had just been crowned interim president of Meridian Mortgage, advised his dad to not approve Tony’s mortgage because he won’t be able to pay it off. M.L. rubbished Richard’s fears and greenlit Tony’s mortgage plan. That prompted Tony to go to the plot that he had bought and blow up some trees. In the present day, as Richard bore the consequences of M.L.’s actions, Fred went on air and lied to Tony about his legal immunity documents’ authenticity. What happened next? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Fred Senses That Tony Is About To Be Duped

American Hostage episode 7 starts off with Tony imagining that he is wandering around an empty WIBC office. The hallucination then transitions into reality, where Tony (in his apartment) tells Richard that he has a good feeling about his legal immunity documents. Yes, Tony has signed them, and he slides them underneath the door; whoever is on the other side can pick them up and deliver them to Gallagher. And once that’s done, Tony and Richard are going to get on a call with Meridian and negotiate the amount of money he should get as compensation for all the trouble he has been put through. Meanwhile, downstairs, Charles, John, Cormac, Gallagher, Rimstidt, and Martz are seen examining a group of men they have hired to pose as lawyers. To what end? Since DA Kelly is unavailable, or doesn’t want to negotiate with Tony, the authorities have decided to bring in a fake DA (much like the fake immunity documents). Fred and Jimmie are sitting right outside the office where all this is going down, and they have no clue what Cormac and the rest are up to. As Fred is checking in on Jimmie, they notice Charles walking out of the office in a huff. So, Fred goes after him to find out what exactly Cormac, Gallagher, and John are cooking. He finds Charles in the laundromat and asks him to spill the tea, and Charles immediately reveals the fact that Cormac, John, and Gallagher are planning to present a fake federal DA on TV. Fred isn’t all that surprised by that revelation, because a few hours ago, he himself went on air to lie about the authenticity of the immunity deal documents. Charles starts to panic and says that everything about this case goes against his professional ethics. And yet, he has agreed with John and the rest to use that fake DA to convince Tony that everything is going according to his plan; in the meantime, Judge Dugan is going to give Gallagher and his team the warrant they need to capture or kill Tony.

Charles Subtly Unmasks John 

Sensing Charles’ dilemma, Fred gives him the chance to “set the record straight” by giving him an interview where he can say that he disagrees with everything that John, Gallagher, Cormac, and the ADAs are doing. They head to the WIBC van and Charles starts the “off the record” interview by stating that he refuses to go to jail because of the people he is working with. He reveals that John has suddenly become very chummy with the ADAs, Tony’s phones have been tapped, and Tony’s private telephonic conversations have been recorded; and if word of this gets out, then it’ll be pandemonium. Charles says that if he can get someone else to go on record regarding these revelations, then he is willing to corroborate these claims. And then Charles ends the interview with the statement that Gallagher and Cormac intend to kill Tony. Speaking of Tony, he gets on a call (which is being tapped and taped) with Bill, Jack, Cliff, and other officials to talk about the money he is supposed to be paid. Apparently, the Halls wanted to give him $3000, but Tony thinks he deserves $12 million. The Halls say that $12 million is impossible, and Richard agrees with that statement. But Richard thinks that $5 million is doable. As the Halls and Tony are going back and forth regarding this matter, the former receive a bomb threat; hence, they are forced to hang up on Tony and evacuate the building. Tony thanks Richard for his help and then goes into the bathroom to have a moment, because he thinks he is about to become very, very rich. This triggers another one of his hallucinations; this time, he is sitting with John in the WIBC office, where he is telling him that this whole thing is a bad idea, and he has made the wrong decision by putting his trust in Fred. And it seems like John says that he has struck a deal with the ADAs, and he isn’t working in Tony’s best interest, because he needs to get paid on time and he can’t depend on Tony to pay him for representing him. The imaginary Tony tells the imaginary John that he needs money too, and he is doing whatever’s necessary to get it; that’s where the illusion ends.

Meridian Gets A Bomb Threat

Fred meets up with Gallagher–interrupting a heated discussion with a detective–who leaves the room as soon as Fred gets there–and he asks the police chief, since the sniper plan has been canceled, what he intends to do if Tony exits the apartment armed with the gun that’s connected to Richard via a dead man’s wire. Gallagher doesn’t give Fred any answer because, in his opinion, what the authorities are planning to do with Tony is none of Fred’s business. He just says that Fred has to take the “glass half full” approach to dealing with situations like these; which obviously means that Gallagher has no intention of letting Tony live; it’s possible that Gallagher doesn’t care if Richard lives either, because all he wants is for this hostage situation to end. The focus of the episode then shifts to Barbara, who is enjoying the fact that her roses are getting the sunshine they need. Then we see Ibby talking to Lester about Barbara and her own brother (who perished during the Vietnam War). That’s interrupted by a call from Bill, who tells Ibby about the bomb threat and advises her to take the kids somewhere safe. Going back to Tony and Richard, they talk about their favorite cars, and for some reason, Tony makes a very accurate “guess” about why Richard loves the car that he loves, and talks about the time Richard and Ibby had spent in Rome. This enrages Richard enough for him to imagine strangling Tony to death. But, to be honest, I think the whole conversation is imaginary, because how could Tony possibly know about Richard’s vacation? When we hear Tony asking Richard what’s wrong, it does seem like Richard was imagining the vacation conversation so as to motivate himself to kill Tony. Anyway, Richard tells Tony that his hands are aching because of the cuffs, and Tony promises that if he gets a call from the authorities, he’s going to ask them to send an officer with a key so that he can get those cuffs off. Tony tells Richard to hang tight and assures him that he’ll soon be reunited with his wife and kids. 

Ibby Goes To The Heckman Household

Ibby has taken the kids and gone off to Barbara’s place. While having a conversation about the bomb, Ibby notices that the fence that Barbara was talking about has come down. Barbara says that the act of rebellion has come at a cost: she has a splinter in her palm. Ibby sits her down and proceeds to extract that splinter from Barbara’s hand. That’s when Barbara opens up about Patricia, dealing with depression, and how Fred steered the ship (while also dealing with depression and doing his job). Ibby tells her that what Fred did during that moment of crisis is the bare minimum a man can do, and Fred doing said bare minimum shouldn’t stop Barbara from expecting more from life. That gets Barbara to fantasize about abandoning her family, moving to a different town, changing her name, and relaxing all by herself. Barbara finishes extracting the splinter, and she advises her to dream bigger. The focus of the episode then shifts to WIBC, where Ginny and Ben are talking about Meridian’s history of defrauding people. They briefly talk about whether everything is alright at Ginny’s home, because apparently her husband isn’t alright with her spending so much time at work; Ginny assures him that everything is fine. That moment is interrupted by Fred, who tells Ginny and Ben that Gallagher is trying to kill Tony. Additionally, he reveals the wiretap on Tony’s phone, and asks Ben and Ginny how they can expose that. Ben says that a wiretap can’t be done without the approval of Indiana Bell, the telephone service company. Since Jerry knows the head of Indiana Bell, the trio head to his office, interrupting his meeting with a swimsuit model, Charlotte (who seemingly recognizes Ginny, or maybe mis-recognizes her). Fred somehow gets Jerry to call up Leonard Gracie, the SVP of Indiana Bell, and he introduces Fred to Leonard. Fred asks him about the wiretap, and if someone from Indiana Bell wants to do an interview with WIBC so that they can do a story on it. Leonard feigns ignorance and says that he will ask his technicians if they are involved in such a matter and get back to Fred. On that note, they leave Jerry’s office so that he can continue his “conversation” with Charlotte.

Fred Sort Of Gets Confirmation That Tony’s Phone Has Been Wiretaped

In the WIBC conference room, Fred tells Ginny and Ben that Jimmie has seen Tony’s lawyers coming in and out of a white van at Crestwood, and Fred believes that has to be the surveillance van from which the police are listening in on Tony’s personal calls. Judy interrupts that conversation, saying that she has someone from Indiana Bell on the line. Fred takes that call, and the guy on the other side introduces himself as Bruce McKinnon. In a very cryptic way, Bruce lets Fred know that a wiretap has in fact happened, and that Tony’s calls have been recorded. Or maybe Bruce was supposed to deny everything but, you see, Fred hadn’t asked anything about any tapes, and Bruce still brought up the tapes, which means that Bruce unintentionally revealed the fact that Indiana Bell is helping the police record Tony’s calls. Either way, Ben and Ginny head out to Crestwood Apartments to look for this surveillance van. Meanwhile, Tony is seen tending to Richard, who is becoming increasingly sick with every passing minute. As Tony starts talking about himself again, Richard interrupts him, and reprimands him for being so self-centered. Tony says that he just wants to live peacefully, and the money Meridian is going to give him is going to help him achieve peace in his life. Richard doesn’t really care about Tony’s plight, but he hopes to see the look on M.L.’s face when he signs the check for Tony. This somehow triggers yet another hallucination, and this time, Tony sees himself walking through the WIBC station with Ben as they approach Fred’s recording room. Ben says that he is not in there, and when Tony opens the door and enters the room, he sees that Fred isn’t doing his own show; a recording of him is being played on the air. When Tony asks where Fred is, he sees Franco and the Pope standing beside Ben and talking about a rope-a-dope; that’s where the hallucination comes to an end. 

Ben And Ginny Expose The Wiretap

Elsewhere in Crestwood Apartments, Ben and Ginny get a hold of Detective Hart and question him about the wiretap; Hart obviously denies that a wiretap has been used. Ben keeps badgering Hart about the real purpose of the wiretap and the police’s real plans for Tony. Much like Charles, Hart suffers a mini breakdown as he claims that he, personally, isn’t doing anything to wrong Tony. Ben says he knows that, but when the bloodshed starts, Hart needs to be in the clear, and one of the ways to do that is by confessing to Ben that he’s against what the police and the Feds are doing. Hart eventually buckles under pressure and reveals that John has made a deal with the police and the Feds to sell out Tony; moreover, John had previously represented the Indiana Police Department during an investigation into the wiretaps that the police had done on their own officers. When Ben asks Hart about the DA’s office’s knowledge about the wiretaps, Hart says something about lawyers not wanting any loose ends. Speaking of John, he gets on a call with Tony and assures him that he’s getting the $5 million that he wants; and Tony seemingly believes that and hangs up. Ben and Ginny (while talking about the latter’s marriage and almost getting romantic with each other) find the wires leading out of Tony’s apartment and into that surveillance van that Charles was talking about. When they approach that van, the police officer cuts and runs. Fred confronts John in the loo about the hokey immunity deal, the wiretapping, and the plan to kill Tony. John smiles smugly–as if it’s an achievement that he has wronged Tony so brutally–and Fred wipes that smile off his face by urinating on his leather shoes. The episode then oddly cuts to the Heckman household, where Barbara, Ibby, and the kids are dancing and having fun. Ibby calls up Bill to tell him that she and the kids are at the safe with Barbara. Bill puts Ibby through to M.L., who insists that she leave Barbara’s house (because she is the wife of a member of the media) and go over to Bill’s. Ibby questions M.L. about the bomb scare earlier, and realizes that it was probably a lie peddled by M.L. to paint Tony in a negative light. Ibby wonders how M.L. can chill in Florida while his son is being held at gunpoint in Indiana. M.L. says that he doesn’t need to be lectured by her, since he’s the one paying $4 million to free him; and he hangs up. The fact that he says 4 instead of 5 means that he’s lying, because Meridian isn’t actually paying anything to Tony to get Richard freed.

Charles Writes A Fake Promissory Note

Fred heads to the lounge and sees Cormac preparing for some kind of a show there. Fred asks Cormac what’s going to happen to Tony. Cormac tells Fred that the best case scenario is that there is going to be a big trial with Tony at its center, and Tony’s lawyers will probably try to get a “friendly judge” because of how involved the DA’s office has been throughout this hostage situation. And while talking about his intention of saving lives, Cormac lets slip the fact that he only cares about rescuing Richard. In the makeshift office, Charles is seen typing up the promissory note which confirms that Tony is in fact getting $5 million dollars from Meridian. When he asks John about a grammatical error, John tells him to ignore all that stuff, because the note is fake anyway; they are just using it to lure him out of that apartment. To make things worse, when they can’t find somebody from Meridian to sign the note, Gallagher puts a fake signature on it. Charles is appalled by all this and decides to leave the apartment complex. He spots Ben and Ginny in the hallway and decides to book it, because he doesn’t want to tell the truth or peddle any more lies to anyone. Going back to Tony, he hallucinates yet again, and this time he sees Charles sweeping the floor in the empty WIBC office. Tony then goes to the conference room and sees John talking to M.L. and Fred about the trick that they are pulling off. However, when John spots Tony, he assures him that everything’s going to work out just fine. Tony tries to escape from the WIBC building but ends up in a padded cell he can’t exit. The hallucination ends there.

Fred Tries To Tell Tony He Is Being Duped 

In the ending of episode 7, Fred ventures into the Lost & Found room and sees Gallagher, Cormac, and two other officers doing a mock drill of how to kill Tony. Fred immediately calls up Tony, and the first thing that he asks him is if he has talked to Jimmie; Tony says that he has. Fred tries to learn what Jimmie and Tony have talked about, but he gets nothing out of him. So, Fred tells Tony, as plainly as possible, that he needs to come downstairs with Richard unarmed. Tony says that the immunity agreement didn’t have any such mandatory requirement, and he hangs up. The episode chooses to end on a frame of Richard having yet another full-blown existential crisis because, based on what he has heard, he knows that the police are planning to kill Tony. Tony intends to go downstairs armed; which means that shotgun with a deadman’s wire will be around Richard’s neck. If the police mistimes the whole thing, not only is Tony going to die, Richard is going to die as well. Is Richard going to try and convince Tony to go down unarmed, or is he going to just accept his fate and hope for the best? I have a feeling that it’s going to be the latter because, truth be told, Richard is exhausted. He has imagined dying several times over the past few hours. Now, I think he has given up and left it all up to chance. The only possible way Tony sees through the authorities’ ruse is if he reads that promissory note properly, because it’s going to be full of errors. He can force Meridian to do things correctly and hence, avoid getting killed. Is that what’s going to happen? We’ll find out in the finale next week.

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