Alert Missing Persons Unit Season 3 Episode 9 Recap: Burt

The disappearance of a brewery foreman throws the MPU into another race against time in the ninth episode of Fox’s ‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit’ Season 3. The episode opens with the foreman, named Burt, at the brewery, where an accident with another worker leads him to confront his boss about safety issues at the workplace. Following the heated argument, Burt goes back in, but he never comes out. An unseen person attacks him and is nowhere to be found, leading his daughter to come knocking at the doors of MPU, to the only place and people that can help her and her father. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Burt’s Righteousness Creates Many Enemies for Him

When the investigation begins into Burt’s disappearance, the first thing that the MPU discovers is that he is a well-liked person. It was because of him that a fatal accident was averted the day before, saving his colleague’s life. This shows how much he cared for the people around him, but that’s not where his good nature stopped. Burt had been hounding his boss and the brewery’s owner, Lembeck, about the safety issues for a while. The accident with his colleague could have been averted had Lembeck followed the protocol and taken the safety measures, but he did not think this was worth his time and money.

Believing that his boss would not do anything, Burt printed out all their email correspondence regarding the safety issues for future purposes. He might have intended to use those emails to report his boss, but they come in handy for the MPU when his daughter presents the printout to them, showing that Lembeck had the motive to harm Burt. Interestingly, he is also reported to be the last person to have seen him alive, putting him at the top of the suspect list. When the finger is pointed at him, Lembeck reveals that his rival brewery owner may have wanted to harm Burt.

According to Lembeck, Burt was indispensable to his brewery because he was the only one who knew the formula for their new brew, which would be a breakthrough for them. This would have wiped out his competitor, Demetri, who already seems to have quite a criminal record. When Mike and Kemi pay him a visit, he tries to run and immediately calls for a lawyer when Burt is mentioned. Things get more interesting when Burt’s helmet, which is marked with his blood, presents traces of a substance traced to Demetri’s brewery. This establishes a connection between him and the victim, but a completely different story comes to light.

Burt’s Desire to Do the Right Thing Lands Him in Trouble

Demetri reveals that he couldn’t have hurt Burt because they were working together. It turns out that the formula for Lembeck’s new brewery was stolen from Demetri. When he told Burt about it, the guy looked into the matter and found that his boss was a cheat. So, he decided to get to the bottom of this and report him. Meanwhile, at the brewery, it is revealed that Burt had been part of the lottery group, and the last lottery ticket had earned him and the team a win of 50 million dollars. This is another motive for someone to hurt him, but before Mike and Jason ponder the possibilities of the discovery, the brewery’s receptionist, Bianca, makes a run for it. This is when we discover that Bianca and her boyfriend, Wyatt, are the ones behind Burt’s kidnapping. They found out about the win and believed that Burt was planning to keep all the money for himself.

However, he reveals that he was going to give it to Jerry’s widow. Jerry was their coworker who passed away the year before. Since then, Burt has been visiting his widow to try to help her out for Jerry’s sake. At the same time, he also bought lottery tickets with the same number that Jerry used to. Burt was doing this in his friend’s honor and never expected to win. So, when he did win, he credited Jerry for it and believed that his widow should get the money. This did not sit well with Wyatt and Bianca, who wanted all the money for themselves. Soon, it becomes clear that Bianca is the saner of the duo, and her boyfriend is more unhinged than expected. He is ready to torture Burt for the ticket, but when it becomes clear that he is not going to tell them where he has hidden the ticket, they decide to kidnap his daughter to blackmail the truth out of him.

Gabrielle Takes Charge of Saving Burt

Before Burt’s case is brought to the MPU, the team is a little out of sorts. Poor Helen broke up with her stripper boyfriend, Jackson, because she was scared of how serious things were getting between them. Jason brings Wayne’s dog, Ursula, to the office because he is babysitting the dog and has nowhere to put her while he is at work. As if this weren’t chaotic enough, another problem arrives for Gabrielle in the form of her ex-husband, Damon. It turns out that he is Demetri’s lawyer and is not happy with the way MPU handled him. He warns Gabrielle about keeping her team in check, which makes her angrier, but even more determined to solve the case. When Wyatt and Bianca try to get the lottery ticket, they make a video of Burt and send it to his daughter.

Through this, it becomes clear that Wyatt has kidnapped Burt. What remains to be ascertained is the location where he is holding the victim hostage. Through her contact, Gabrielle gets a satellite image of the brewery and its surrounding location and discovers that Burt is being held on the roof of the abandoned section of the brewery. This coincides with Bianca trying to trap Burt’s daughter in the hopes of kidnapping her and forcing Burt to hand over the ticket, but her plans are disrupted by Kemi. Once the location is confirmed, Jason and Mike make their way to the roof, and after a brief gunfight, Wyatt is subdued and Burt is freed. He is reunited with his daughter, and it turns out that he hid the ticket in a book he gave to Jerry’s widow.

When he hands her the 50 million dollar worth of ticket, she reveals that she has feelings for him, which he reciprocates. This encourages Helen to call Jackson to try to fix things with him. At the same time, Lembeck’s corrupt practices, especially the part about stealing the recipe from Demetri, come to light, and charges are filed against him. Still, Demetri being dragged to the police station does not sit well with Damon, and he uses this excuse to intimidate Gabrielle, telling her that he can and will destroy her. However, Gabrielle refuses to be scared of his tactics, which shows that the conflict with Damon is going to cause problems for her in the future.