At the end of Episode 5, Julian Kaye is wrongfully arrested for the murder of Elizabeth Shannonhouse. This comes after Edward Panish, Richard’s lawyer, bribed the manager of the motel where Elizabeth’s body was found to give away Julian’s name to the police. Meanwhile, Colin is taken by McGregor, who now demands a ransom in return for Colin’s freedom. In the middle of this chaos is detective Sunday, who has to figure out a way to protect Julian Kaye and try to atone for her past actions.
Spoilers Ahead
‘American Gigolo’ Episode 6: Recap Summary
Yung Joan Sunday returns home with her partner, Alice, and finds her brother, Andy, unconscious and barely breathing. She somehow manages to restart his breathing by injecting him with Narcan, a medication used to counter the effects of a drug overdose. However, Alice tells her that Andy needs to be moved to rehab. But Joan is fine with Alice leaving if she wants to, but Andy is Joan’s brother and her responsibility. She will not send him to rehab. As they are having this conversation, Joan gets a call from the department and finds out that she has to interrogate a murder suspect. She arrives at the department and goes and sits beside the suspect, who hasn’t opened his mouth yet. After making him confess to the crime, Sunday returns home only to find out that Alice had left. The name of the suspect was Julian Kaye.
15 years later, for the second time, detective Joan Sunday sits in front of a handcuffed Julian Kaye. She asks her if he is the one who killed Elizabeth Shannonhouse. Julian clearly states that he didn’t know Elizabeth Shannonhouse. However, Joan states that the fact that he, as a young boy, was groomed by an elderly woman might be used by the jury as a cause that triggered him to kill his son’s elderly lover, Elizabeth. Julian has to spend the night in custody.
As Julian is taken to his new cell, he remembers how he used to spend time inside the cell all those years ago. His childhood makes its way back to him as well. The old guy who taught him all about cars and how to fix them, his issues with the other bullies in the neighborhood who called him names, and how one time he almost killed one of them with a mere piece of rock. And this action of his stayed with him forever, and it is what eventually made him confess to a crime he didn’t commit, i.e., Janet Holmes’ murder. He was scared of what he could do, and the possibility that he could have killed the bully had his mother not stopped him is what made him consider that he could have killed Janet, too, without knowing it. Julian is taken to the phone to talk to a person of his choice. He calls his mom and finds out that Sunday had gone to talk to her. He tells his mother not to talk to the cops anymore.
In some other part of the city, Panish calls McGregor and asks for his location. Clearly, Panish wants to find Colin. But McGregor gives him 24 hours to get the $3 million, after which Colin’s safety will not be guaranteed. Panish then calls Richard and tells him the truth, i.e., his son has been kidnapped by McGregor, who is now asking for a ransom. Michelle, who has been sitting in front of Richard, asks him about the matter. He assures her that Colin will be back home in 24 hours. But when she asks about John (Julian’s real name) and if Richard is going to help him, as they know he was framed by Panish, Richard states that he could care less about her “boyfriend” and walks away. Michelle then calls up Sunday and tells her about Panish bribing the hotel manager to frame Julian Kaye for the murder. Sunday asks her to come to the police station so that they can talk in detail. At the station, Michelle is ready to accept whatever punishment comes her way for hiding evidence from the police as long as Julian, who is innocent, doesn’t go to jail. Michelle’s words throw a mirror in front of Sunday. Here is a woman ready to perhaps go to prison so that she can prevent Julian, even if one disregards her concern for him, from going to jail because she knows he is innocent. And on the other hand, we have Sunday, who made Julian confess to a murder he didn’t commit and sent him to prison for 15 years. Michelle also reassures Sunday that Colin will never kill Elizabeth because he loves her. Sunday arrives at the motel where Elizabeth was killed and charges the manager with providing the police with false evidence.
Julian is woken from sleep by Sunday, who tells him that he is free to go as the motel manager has taken back his claim. But before leaving, Julian offers Sunday some new information in return for not disturbing his mother anymore. Sunday agrees, and Julian tells her about the Lisa Beck file that Olga had left in his possession. He tells her how Lisa Beck died at the mansion all those years ago and that he and Isabelle Desnain were present there as well. After this conversation, Julian Kaye is released.
‘American Gigolo’ Episode 6: Ending Explained – Who Is Lisa Beck?
Richard gives Panish the $3 million to give to McGregor and take Colin back home. Lizzy picks Julian up from the police station, and they decide to go and have ice cream at the beach, Julian’s treat. There, Julian tells Lizzy that a woman [Elizabeth Shannonhouse] was murdered in the Valley, and the teenage boy she was having an affair with turned out to be Julian’s son.
Richard finally tells Michelle about McGregor’s ransom and that Panish is on his way with the money. It is then that Michelle tells him that the police are looking for Panish. Naturally, after she told Sunday that Panish had bribed the motel manager and the guy admitted it to Sunday, Sunday wouldn’t waste a minute before putting out an arrest warrant in Panish’s name.
Sunday arrives at Isabelle’s, formerly Olga’s mansion, and enquires about Lisa Beck. Isabelle tells her that Julian wanted Lisa to be a part of his world, the escort business, but Lisa couldn’t cope. When asked about Michelle Stratton, Isabelle says that Julian wanted to leave the business for Michelle. Sunday tells Isabelle about the Lisa Beck’s file Olga had left for Julian. Olga was probably trying to show Julian a particular direction, one that would seemingly lead him to the culprit behind the murder of Janet Holmes, as well as Olga Desnain and her lover, Guy. Sunday leaves after having got satisfactory answers from Isabelle, but she will be back.
Lizzy and Julian return home. Lizzy gives Julian a spare key to her room just in case he gets into some trouble. She has a gun that might come in useful. They wish each other good night, and Lizzy walks upstairs while Julian enters his room. Upon entering, he finds Isabelle standing and smiling at him. She has probably come there to talk about Lisa Beck. Lisa Beck’s identity and death are still mysteries to us. There has to be a strong reason why Olga decided to have Guy get Lisa’s file to Julian. There is something in the file that he hasn’t seen yet.
We also do not know what’s going to happen to Colin. If the police get to Panish before he gets to McGregor, Panish will be taken into custody without any delay. Then it will be up to Richard and Michelle to get Colin back, and that too, within 24 hours. Or else we do not know where Colin will end up.
See more: ‘American Gigolo’ Episode 5: Recap And Ending, Explained – Who Kidnaps Colin Stratton?
