Puppies and Monsters Recap: The Family

The third episode of “The Family” aired on 3/13/2016. It is certain now that John Warren and his daughter, Claire, are very guilty, at least of framing Hank for Adam’s murder. So that made it even stranger when Adam asked John why he stopped looking for him. Adam said he kept waiting for his family to find him and John said he didn’t know. The sensible answer would be because Hank confessed to murdering you, honey.

“Puppies and Monsters” is now online on ABC.Go.com

While Hank went out shopping for a puppy, Adam returned to the bunker where he was held captive with his parents, FBI Agent Gabe Clements and Det. Nina Meyers. Why do they keep splitting scenes, showing what Adam is doing and what Hank is doing? Whatever, in Adam’s scenes, Claire cannot bring herself to go into the bunker. John gets to see the way Adam recreated the layout of the Warren home by deciding where his bedroom, kitchen and dining room were. The dining room was for when the man brought him burgers and fries that were still warm about once a week. Adam asked for a minute alone in the bunker and when that was granted, he groped the wall looking for a loose brick. When he located it, he took it out and retrieved a hidden key. Meantime, Hank was happily rolling around in a cage full of puppies trying to let one pick him.

Through the flashbacks, we learned that John had in fact been gone from the rally where Adam disappeared. The cops had evidence on camera showing at least an hour’s absence much to Claire’s chagrin. When she questioned John, he claimed he went to get more flyers and stopped at their home to watch part of a sports game. Another flashback showed Willa confronting John and asking him if he “did it.” John said he did and now they wait. In the present day, Nina Meyers learned that the 911 call that got her into Hank’s home without a warrant was made by John. Nina asked John if he thinks they are the same. “I thought what I was doing was right. You knew what you were doing was wrong the second that you did it,” she pointed out and ordered him to get out of her sight.

Claire was having a real tough time trying to care about the little details that the RNC wanted her to pay attention to in her campaign for governor, like what color clothes to wear in an important interview. Willa was doing her level best to assure the party rep, Joanna, that Claire would “knock it out of the park” when the time came. Joanna retorted that if Claire wanted their endorsement, they needed to feel confident that she would toe the party line.

Bridey Cruz went to the DNA lab, posing as a graduate student, to see what she could find out about the DNA test on Adam. Her guide couldn’t tell her much about that but he did tell her how they are working on a plan to put microchips in sex offenders that will become huge. When she returned home, Danny Warren was waiting outside and off they went to take a bath together. He even shaved her legs. When he absented himself from the tub for a minute (in her kimono), he was shocked to find all kinds of stuff laying around about his family and a press card belonging to Bridey. (She previously told him she worked at Kinko’s, remember?) So out the door he went with nary a word.

The warm burgers and fries were an important clue in that the bunker was 3 miles from the road. It sent the police team on a search for tire tracks that were duly found and identified as 22-inch Achilles Desert Hawks, used in ’04 and ’08 Ram trucks. Then it was off to find oil refinery workers with matching vehicles.

Everyone watched Claire’s interview, with the Warren family surrounding her, on TV. Meyers and Clements turned it off in favor of finding the pock-marked man. Bridey watched in astonishment as Claire went off on a rant about “monsters,” including Hank, being all around us. She brought up installing microchips in sex offenders. The interviewer pointed out that Hank has been cleared, but that was beside the point to Claire. Unfortunately for Hank, it was also beside the point to the lady selling puppies. She took the puppy she just sold away. Bridey told her boss that the lab stands to make millions from the microchip idea. “Work your source,” he said and she admitted she no longer has one. But guess what? She does! After the interview, Danny came back and said he had her story.

Even though Claire broke down at the end of her interview, her message resonated with the public. #MamaBear began trending on Twitter and Willa was over the moon, thinking that was Claire’s plan. Claire told her not to be so cynical. “It gives you wrinkles– on your soul.”

The pock-marked man somehow knew about the discovery of the tire tracks and sold his truck. It was last seen at the compactor while he showed his pregnant wife their new mini-van. His name is Doug.

Was the scene where John told Claire how Adam remapped their home’s layout in the bunker meant to steer us into believing that this boy is really Adam? We already know that he has been studying up on the Warrens and Adam’s early life since Day 1 of his return. Now there’s also the possiblity that Willa is his coach. In another scene, Adam watched Willa getting undressed. She caught him and went to his room to tell him he can’t do that reminding him that she is his sister– twice. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I messed up.” The two of them are creepy with a capital C!