It turns out John actually has quite a pedigree: his great-grandfather built the freeways, and now his father, Judge McNamara (Robert Culp), is being honored for 35 years of public service. John shows up to pay his respects, and is immediately accosted by his brother, who seeks a career in public office: "I hope you're not thinking of writing about this event; although I'm sure you can turn something this innocuous into shit!" The judge wonders why his son is going against McNamara tradition by tearing people down instead of building their city up. John replies he's just not the legacy type; he's just too untrustworthy, and implies being a reporter is the best way he can turn that into something positive.
The dinner is being covered by the press, and there he reunites with Linda, who works for rival newspaper The Daily Gazette. She usually avoids him, since he used to be in the habit of propositioning her while he was still married, but now she needs his help on something. They head over to her place, where they are joined by London. It turns out London is covering her bases by collaborating with Linda. She has Darryl's computer files, and probably wasn't sure if John would last long enough on the job to pursue the story.
She would come to regret bringing Linda into the mix, given her past with John. That night, the two of them would spend the night making whoopie, while London snoozed away on the couch. She laughs it off, for the moment: "Bastards!!" she wails comically, as they slowly wake up.
London takes them to meet her friend down at the County Surveyors Commission. He would know if there were any irregularities with the CCU power plant. He says there aren't, but London is suspicious. Following a lead in Darryl's files, they contact a disgruntled employee of the Commission.
Frances Johnson (Kim Darby, star of "True Grit" and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark") used to work there, but is now a paranoid agoraphobe, terrified of leaving her apartment out of fear she'll be killed by the mob for knowing too much.
Meanwhile, John makes the error of taking on the big fish, Jake McCullum, by himself, and getting burned in the process. Now he has a powerful enemy who can get him fired. When he shows up for work, he's hounded by the tv news media who won't let him by. Again, London rescues him with an improvised weapon:--her mouth: "Change channels! Turn off your TV's! Boycott products on this news show!!" It doesn't help for long, though. Inside, he discovers he's fired. London snaps his picture as he's clearing out his desk: "I still work here--We're doing a story on you!"
At Linda's place, John is feeling sorry for himself, and Linda is preparing to offer her shoulder to cry on, when London interrupts them:
Linda: "London, can you give us a second, please?"
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