S01.E04: Episode 4

[Guest]

Airs February 24, 2020

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In 1998, a car accident lands Gennaro "Jerry" Colombo in the ICU, leading Jerome "Jerry" Jacobson to scout for new recruiters. Among those who join the scam are ex-con Andrew Glomb and Mormon real-estate developer Dwight Baker, who convinces his foster son George Chandler to redeem a winning ticket. With "Operation: Final Answer" gaining speed, the FBI gathers intel on "Uncle Jerry's" middlemen and ends up tailing Dwight to the airport, where they worry a family confrontation may turn violent.

 

[Annber03]

Thank goodness that little boy was okay. It was nice to see him as an adult, though I feel for him being caught up in all the drama and rifts that happened within his family over the years. And then the fact that the accident happened just a few days before his third birthday, and his story of how, if he'd been in the car seat that night, he could've died. Damn. I'm amazed anyone would think it acceptable to show a kid of 9 or 10 a photo of the car accident itself-I could see the kid wanting to learn that information eventually, but god, at least maybe wait until they're in, like, their late teens or early adulthood or something? Poor guy. I'm glad that he's doing well for himself now, and has a lovely child of his own. 

I also sympathize with him wanting to view his parents in a positive light (especially his dad, since he barely got to know him), and wanting to defend them as he does. I imagine the truth about that robbery is likely somewhere in the middle-I can totally see the wife trying to hold on to all these family items both out of spite and because of the personal attachment (though given the way she spoke about her husband in the last episode, I do wonder how much she still loved him at the time he died). But at the same time, given the way the brother keeps trying to talk so highly of his brother and defend him and all that, I dunno, I could see him making accusations with no real basis, too. There's a lot of bitterness that runs deep in that family.

Regarding Jacobsen, it's super creepy how he just seems to keep finding all these people. He sure knows the right kinds of targets to pick, though. Druggies, people who are down on their luck financially and desperate, business owners and churchgoers who might want to take a little walk on the wild side or have a greedy streak lurking within them... And then all the connections between the people as well-simple and unusual all at the same time. It's weird.

The story about Dwight luring his foster son as it were, George, into the scheme was rather sad. Again, another story where somebody's like, "This is the first my family's going to hear of this. Uh-oh." It'd be interesting to find out how their families respond to all of this. 

And of course all these guys would think that that Amy was totally flirting with them simply because she was friendly to them. Of course. Idiots. 

It's also amazing how quick these people are to trust each other despite all the shady stuff happening here. Especially somebody like AJ, who's been in the drug scene and knows how messy that stuff gets. There's always going to be that one person who doesn't keep their mouth shut and trips up the whole thing, and sure enough, here we are. Will be very interesting to see how that takedown plays out. 

[ninjago]

Other than the FBI guys, I don't trust any of these people.  I don't even think most of them think what they did was wrong.  It's funny how people justify and soft-peddle their involvement, but are also weirdly amused and impressed by what they did.

In particular, the way Jerry Columbo's brother talks about him so admiringly is creepy.  Also, when Jerry Columbo died, all of his stuff belongs to his wife, buddy.  Why would you have any dibs on his baseball cards?

[Pike Ludwell]

I knew they'd have to stretch this thing out, but, MAN, the filler in this episode is killing me. Who gives a rat's a.. that this horrible Jerry person died. Yet the whole family is reduced to tears, and the segment goes on and on. They should have all been relieved that this guy was out of their lives. Yeah, he was that dude's brother, but, dude, your brother was a total A-H.

[Annber03]

5 minutes ago, ninjago said:

Other than the FBI guys, I don't trust any of these people.  I don't even think most of them think what they did was wrong.  It's funny how people justify and soft-peddle their involvement, but are also weirdly amused and impressed by what they did.

Seriously, that AJ guy seemed almost proud of his history with the drug trade. And he made a big to do with his whole, "I just got out of jail, I didn't want to get involved in a new scheme", only to...get involved in a new scheme, one he seems pretty aware isn't quite on the up and up from the get-go. What? I mean, he's already got a criminal past, so it's not surprising he'd get wrapped up in something new, but then don't come in with the whole, "I wanted to get out of the crime world" thing, because, clearly, you didn't. 

About the only person I think was genuinely honest about their role in this thus far was Gloria, from the last episode, because she actually does seem remorseful about getting involved, acknowledges how foolish it was, and her involvement was borne out of real, sympathetic desperation. 

[Popples]

29 minutes ago, ninjago said:

In particular, the way Jerry Columbo's brother talks about him so admiringly is creepy.  Also, when Jerry Columbo died, all of his stuff belongs to his wife, buddy.  Why would you have any dibs on his baseball cards?

This bugged me so much. Unless Jerry put it in his will that his brother was supposed to get that stuff, it legally belongs to the widow.

I found it weird that his brother also said that he was told by his family, and not by Robin, to stay out of Francesco's life. His mother was still talking to Francesco since she decided it was a good idea to show a nine-year-old child photos of the wreckage that caused the injuries from which his father died.

[sadie]

I am shocked at how gullible and greedy and crooked so many people are. That developer guy just read all kinds of shady to me despite all his professed churchgoing ways. Yea dude it’s legit that McDonalds is okay with this, that’s why you’re meeting the guy at the end of a dirt road to get the ticket and lying to your foster kid to get him involved. 

And yes to all who said all of Jerry’s stuff after he died belonged to Robin. She didn’t “steal” anything. Jerry’s brother makes me want to punch him, so smug about what a great guy his brother was but what a piece of crap Robin was. Sorry dude but you are all low life criminals. 

[link417]

I was so bored with this episode, up until Linda took off with the money at the end. I hope next episode picks up again, and things really start unraveling soon.

[Pike Ludwell]

1 hour ago, sadie said:

I am shocked at how gullible and greedy and crooked so many people are. That developer guy just read all kinds of shady to me despite all his professed churchgoing ways. Yea dude it’s legit that McDonalds is okay with this, that’s why you’re meeting the guy at the end of a dirt road to get the ticket and lying to your foster kid to get him involved. 

And yes to all who said all of Jerry’s stuff after he died belonged to Robin. She didn’t “steal” anything. Jerry’s brother makes me want to punch him, so smug about what a great guy his brother was but what a piece of crap Robin was. Sorry dude but you are all low life criminals. 

And it's all for a cut, split several ways, of 50K a year (minus taxes, is what? a measly 36K??) Some real low level stuff.

[Grumpbump]

This Dwight Baker guy....fuck him.  He claimed he didn't get a cut on the $1 million ticket that he conned George into redeeming.....and then in his next breath, he said I just asked for a laptop and a Navigator.  And he acts like the value of those items is negligible.  I hope this douche bag gets his comeuppance.

[Annber03]

Yeah, one minute he's acting like this totally modest, "Aw, shucks" church-going family man who just wanted a couple nice things, the next he's showing his true, and greedier, colors. I wonder if other people at his church will see or hear about this program. 

[DrSpaceman73]

6 hours ago, ninjago said:

Other than the FBI guys, I don't trust any of these people.  I don't even think most of them think what they did was wrong.  It's funny how people justify and soft-peddle their involvement, but are also weirdly amused and impressed by what they did.

In particular, the way Jerry Columbo's brother talks about him so admiringly is creepy.  Also, when Jerry Columbo died, all of his stuff belongs to his wife, buddy.  Why would you have any dibs on his baseball cards?

Not only do I not trust most of these people, I don't believe half of what they are saying, even though they are supposed to be revealing the "truth" here.

Parts of it don't even make sense.  Like jerry being in the ICU and they never really say why, then all at once he is dying.  There is more to that story, lots of gaps.  How did he die exactly after the crash?  they just say "internal injuries".

I don't believe the story that the one guy though he was buying someone's lottery ticket to help them hide money from an ex-wife in a divorce. Both him and the real estate guy it seemed were pretty well off anyway.  Why risk it with this highly illegal scheme exactly? 

I don't mind the kid talking about his dad in a positive light.  that's all he knows of him.  the brother on the other hand is a complete tool.  He may not be involved in the mob like his brother, not really clear on that, but he is still a douche making excsuses for his dead brother.

This episode did kind of drag a bit. 

AJ kept a WRITTEN LIST of all the people he sold the tickets too.....and still had it?  Seems kind of stupid.  Maybe he needed the list at one time, but why keep it? 

6 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Seriously, that AJ guy seemed almost proud of his history with the drug trade. And he made a big to do with his whole, "I just got out of jail, I didn't want to get involved in a new scheme", only to...get involved in a new scheme, one he seems pretty aware isn't quite on the up and up from the get-go. What? I mean, he's already got a criminal past, so it's not surprising he'd get wrapped up in something new, but then don't come in with the whole, "I wanted to get out of the crime world" thing, because, clearly, you didn't. 

About the only person I think was genuinely honest about their role in this thus far was Gloria, from the last episode, because she actually does seem remorseful about getting involved, acknowledges how foolish it was, and her involvement was borne out of real, sympathetic desperation. 

Completely agree about Gloria.  She is the only one I totally believe everything she said.  All the others are still spinning a story with half admissions and half truths.

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

the brother on the other hand is a complete tool.  He may not be involved in the mob like his brother, not really clear on that, but he is still a douche making excsuses for his dead brother.

He even outright admitted to "making some things disappear" in an attempt to help cover his brother's tracks. So yeah, he may not be directly involved, but he sure learned a few tricks along the way, and it does put his defense of his brother in a whole new light.

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AJ kept a WRITTEN LIST of all the people he sold the tickets too.....and still had it?  Seems kind of stupid.  Maybe he needed the list at one time, but why keep it? 

Considering he willingly got involved in another criminal enterprise after practically just getting out of jail, I think that answers that question :p. Not the brightest bulbs, a lot of these people. 

Quote

All the others are still spinning a story with half admissions and half truths.

Yep. I get they want to try and paint themselves in the best light here, but it's very self-serving and all it's doing is exposing how foolish they look, and how dumb they behaved. All in the hopes of getting rich off some game pieces from a fast food restaurant chain.

It's very interesting trying to parse the truth from the BS, though! And to think that that's only a fraction of what the investigators themselves had to sift through while working this case. 

[Guest]

I find the story fascinating but the format of the show it’s starting to bother me. They are jumping around in a way that feels manipulative. 

Uncle Jerry’s ex-wife was talking about how their relationship ended after the incident with her sons while they were in California and she was a cop. But she already described in the first episode that they were together for years after that. This is already a convoluted story and they are making it even more so. 

Same thing with Gloria’s story last week not really matching this episode. She won in 1997 and they made it seem like Jerry Colombo was taking most of the money until they got caught. But Jerry Colombo died in 1998. 

Maybe it’s deliberate and they are going to pull it all together but I’m getting pretty skeptical. 

26 minutes ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

Parts of it don't even make sense.  Like jerry being in the ICU and they never really say why, then all at once he is dying.  There is more to that story, lots of gaps.  How did he die exactly after the crash?  they just say "internal injuries".

Yeah. That was the point when I decided everything they said was complete crap. Several things seemed odd to me so I read a little bit about the accident and 

Spoiler

Jerry died two weeks after the accident. He was in a coma and the doctors took him of life support. 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

7 hours ago, ninjago said:

 I don't even think most of them think what they did was wrong.

One of the guys flat out said it.

I'm not clear on how this really branched out to include so many people. The 'drug guy' just popped up because someone contacted him, but didn't really say how that guy was involved and now there's all these people.

All I want to know is how the fuck Uncle Jerry got the tickets in the first place. I don't give a shit about these dbags.

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

One of the guys flat out said it.

I'm not clear on how this really branched out to include so many people. The 'drug guy' just popped up because someone contacted him, but didn't really say how that guy was involved and now there's all these people.

All I want to know is how the fuck Uncle Jerry got the tickets in the first place. I don't give a shit about these dbags.

There are six episodes so they are probably going to reveal that in episode 6. We could probably just watch episode 1 and 6 and get the complete story.

[Quilt Fairy]

This episode really lost me.  I don't need to know people's backstories in excruciating detail.  I don't need to see that home video of Jerry Columbo and his son again.  (This is what, the 3rd or 4th time they've shown that?) 

I need the story of the scam moved forward  in an understandable way.  It seems as if Columbo was asking for a take of the annual payout in addition to selling the ticket whereas the later shills just sold the tickets for a flat percentage of the prize.  Am I getting that right? This is a complicated story that could really use a narrator.  

What really creeps me out about Jerry's brother and his wife (aside from the *wink-wink* stuff about the Family) is the way he and his wife echo what one another says within a second of each other.   You hear about couples doing that but jeez louise, it is strange. 

[Glory]

8 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

What really creeps me out about Jerry's brother and his wife (aside from the *wink-wink* stuff about the Family) is the way he and his wife echo what one another says within a second of each other.   You hear about couples doing that but jeez louise, it is strange. 

My parents do this and it drives me nuts! 

The first time we saw the brother and the wife, I almost felt bad for the wife because I got the sense that she was a little brainwashed. The more she speaks, though, the less bad I feel. She really believes all the shit her husband's mobster family is spewing. 

[DoctorAtomic]

10 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Am I getting that right? This is a complicated story that could really use a narrator.  

Or an editor. I feel like there was a time jump and the narrative was very nonlinear. After Columbo died from the accident, how did Uncle Jerry amass this network of people? Was it Columbo's network and he just took it over, or was Columbo just another part of the network? 

They aren't editing really well how the FBI built the case. They just said - we had the phone tapped but she left it on. When did they ID her that they got the tap? 

[rmontro]

Is anyone else surprised most of these people aren't in prison?  Not that I think they all belong there necessarily.  Some of them really appear to be victims - don't get me wrong, they're not innocent - but victims of greed and temptation.

14 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

It seems as if Columbo was asking for a take of the annual payout in addition to selling the ticket whereas the later shills just sold the tickets for a flat percentage of the prize.  Am I getting that right?

I don't know if that is correct, but that's the impression I got.

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

They aren't editing really well how the FBI built the case. They just said - we had the phone tapped but she left it on. When did they ID her that they got the tap? 

The FBI was following her husband, so they probably just tapped her as a matter of course.  They would follow one person, and whoever that person called routinely, they would tap them too.

[Quilt Fairy]

4 hours ago, rmontro said:

Is anyone else surprised most of these people aren't in prison?

Don't forget that this went down 20 years ago.  They may have been in and out already.  (Not a spoiler, I don't remember the disposition.) 

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, Quilt Fairy said:

Don't forget that this went down 20 years ago.  They may have been in and out already.  

That occurred to me.  What's the penalty for stealing a million dollars (or trying to)?  It seems worse than that though, since it affected the McDonalds business plus all of those people buying food there hoping to get a win, but they didn't really have a chance.

Plus some of the characters seem to be more deeply entrenched in crime than others.  I'm not saying any of them should be in prison, that's not my decision to make, I was just wondering about it. 

I haven't looked at any of the spoilers either, so I don't know who, if anyone, served time.  I have a feeling most of the winners got off in exchange for testimony, or got a slap on the wrist.  But that's just speculation. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

 

I haven't looked at any of the spoilers either, so I don't know who, if anyone, served time.  I have a feeling most of the winners got off in exchange for testimony, or got a slap on the wrist.  But that's just speculation. 

Just based on the Operation Varsity Blues sentences I think you are right. The real punishment would be having to pay restitution. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by Guest

[DrSpaceman73]

I assume almost all involved by now have served their time in regard to the case and are now out of jail, dead, off probation, whatever it was.  Its been almost 20 years. 

Only one I am not sure about is Uncle Jerry.  He has yet to be on the show and I haven't looked anything up so I am not spoiled about it, not sure if he died or is in jail or what happened with him yet

And on the note about Uncle Jerry and this show being vague on the truth, his medical diagnosis also does not make sense.  Differentiating between MS and guillan barre syndrome, or more likely CIDP in his case from what was described, is neurology 101.  There should not be confusion about those two diagnosis with the most basic of tests and exam findings. 

[biakbiak]

I really hate how this show has chosen to tell the story. It’s so much padding and is unnecessarily confusing with the multiple time lines. This could have been an amazing tight 2 hour doc but they have repeated so much bullshit and made it unnecessarily confusing for a pretty straight forward story.

I have read a ton on this story long before this was a thing so it probably colors my opinion but I find this a really bad way to tell the story.

So far it has made me think someone in the FBI needs to be more media savvy. If someone told me MCDonalds was putting me up in an Embassy Suites in VEGAS, I would have immediately said they were on to us. Pricey Vegas Hotel/casinos give discount rates for lower level shit than this daily. But the thing that killed me was when they had the one dude on this episode pose with a People magazine cover that had I think Chandra Levy, or some other brunette missing in 2001 on its cover with the all caps headline VANISHED! No PR person of a multinational Corp is going to allow someone to hold that cover while proclaiming how amazing it was so amazing. 

Edited February 28, 2020 by biakbiak

[WendyM]

On 2/25/2020 at 10:25 PM, Annber03 said:

Yeah, one minute he's acting like this totally modest, "Aw, shucks" church-going family man who just wanted a couple nice things, the next he's showing his true, and greedier, colors. I wonder if other people at his church will see or hear about this program. 

I kept hearing John Goodman's voice while this guy was talking--so I've started casting the whole thing as a movie put together by the Coen brothers. They would have a field day with this shit, except they've already done similar stories, I guess.

[Annber03]

8 hours ago, WendyM said:

I kept hearing John Goodman's voice while this guy was talking--so I've started casting the whole thing as a movie put together by the Coen brothers. They would have a field day with this shit, except they've already done similar stories, I guess.

Looking it up, it seems the only movie of theirs I've actually seen is O Brother, Where Art Thou? Heard of many of the others, just somehow missed out on seeing them. 

But I have a general idea of what their work is like, so honestly, if they wanted to make a film about this whole crazy scheme, I would watch it :p. 

[WendyM]

12 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Looking it up, it seems the only movie of theirs I've actually seen is O Brother, Where Art Thou? Heard of many of the others, just somehow missed out on seeing them. 

But I have a general idea of what their work is like, so honestly, if they wanted to make a film about this whole crazy scheme, I would watch it :p. 

I was thinking of The Big Lebowski (which features John Goodman), actually! A great Coen brothers film. There's also Raising Arizona, another classic and it happens to be about a crazy scheme too.

[DoctorAtomic]

On 2/26/2020 at 1:40 PM, rmontro said:

The FBI was following her husband, so they probably just tapped her as a matter of course.  They would follow one person, and whoever that person called routinely, they would tap them too.

I don't know if that's how court orders work though. The FBI people haven't really said much about actual work here. 

You can't go wrong with O Brother Where Art Thou. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 3/1/2020 at 12:12 AM, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't know if that's how court orders work though. The FBI people haven't really said much about actual work here. 

The FBI guy described it as Dwight making the call, so I assumed the phone was in his name even though it was his wife who was calling her sister. FBI tapped his phone and heard the wife talking to the sister and then whatever conversation Dwight and his wife had because they didn't hang up properly.

Regarding Jerry's death, it seemed strange that his brother apparently thought that all that was wrong with Jerry was that he had a broken leg and that the doctors had missed his internal injuries even though they had him in the ICU. Was that just a completely disingenuous attempt to promote a narrative that Jerry had been murdered (it wasn't clear to me whether the idea was that the car accident had been deliberate or that someone (Robin?) had murdered him in the hospital and made it look like he had died from the accident.)?

Edited March 3, 2020 by SomeTameGazelle

[Carolina Girl]

On 2/25/2020 at 7:39 PM, Annber03 said:

Considering he willingly got involved in another criminal enterprise after practically just getting out of jail, I think that answers that question :p. Not the brightest bulbs, a lot of these people. 

I think he kept it so that if he got busted, he'd have some information to trade, just in case they needed the names of others involved.

On 2/25/2020 at 10:13 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

This is a complicated story that could really use a narrator.  

I don't know if "American Greed" has done an episode on this, but I'll bet Stacy Keach could do a decent job narrating and summing it all up on one hour.

[Carolina Girl]

On 2/28/2020 at 6:21 AM, WendyM said:

I kept hearing John Goodman's voice while this guy was talking--so I've started casting the whole thing as a movie put together by the Coen brothers. They would have a field day with this shit, except they've already done similar stories, I guess.

Hey - I hear Affleck and Damon are working on a movie about this.  You may have done some nifty casting for them.  That and Holly Hunter as the ex wife that worked for Dittler Brothers.

[WendyM]

On 3/11/2020 at 11:12 AM, Carolina Girl said:

Hey - I hear Affleck and Damon are working on a movie about this.  You may have done some nifty casting for them.  That and Holly Hunter as the ex wife that worked for Dittler Brothers.

She sounds JUST LIKE Holly Hunter! Honest to god, I said that the first time we saw her...

[Black Knight]

On 2/28/2020 at 2:09 AM, biakbiak said:

So far it has made me think someone in the FBI needs to be more media savvy. If someone told me MCDonalds was putting me up in an Embassy Suites in VEGAS, I would have immediately said they were on to us. Pricey Vegas Hotel/casinos give discount rates for lower level shit than this daily.

Embassy Suites was just Doug's suggestion when he was describing the idea he had of gathering everyone in Vegas and mass-arresting them all - I assume he was trying to pick something more low-key to get his idea approved. The FBI still nixed it for budgetary reasons among others, but also realized that they could tell the winners anything since the trip was never going to happen and wouldn't need to be paid for anyway. So I'm sure in the pitch to the winners, they name-dropped a flashier hotel.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 2/25/2020 at 4:01 AM, Annber03 said:

Its also amazing how quick these people are to trust each other despite all the shady stuff happening here. Especially somebody like AJ, who's been in the drug scene and knows how messy that stuff gets. There's always going to be that one person who doesn't keep their mouth shut and trips up the whole thing, and sure enough, here we are. Will be very interesting to see how that takedown plays out. 

I honestly don't get how much these people trust each other. Like it keeps being the same story over and over about how some go between person will tell someone that they can have a million dollar monopoly piece of they give them $100,000 up front. If someone told me that I would pretty much immediately assume it was a scam and if I got anything for my money it would be a fake ticket. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I think they're trying to establish who these people are so you can buy in whether you'd think they would go for something like that. I wouldn't either, but look at these people.