Quillsville Cold Case: Richmond Quill Explosion
| "Quillsville Cold Case: Richmond Quill Explosion" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen of the Willis episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 13 Episode 8 | ||
| Directed by | Season Atkins | ||
| Written by | |||
| Featured music | (see article) | ||
| Production code | 1308 | ||
| Original air date | October 4, 2024 | ||
| Guest actors | |||
| Episode chronology | |||
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"Quillsville Cold Case: Richmond Quill Explosion" is the eighth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series Queen of the Willis. It originally aired in broadcast syndication in the United States on October 4, 2024 as a two-hour movie. In the episode–inspired by the 2012 Richmond Hilll explosion, the 2016 assassination of Christina Grimmie and 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting the day after Grimmie was killed by Kevin James Loibil–construction workers discover a skull with a bullet hole under the ruins of a LGBT-themed nightclub that exploded in 2013. 22 people died in the fire. Sgt. Lilly Rush and Officer Jarett Dailey come to the conclusion that the explosion of the nightclub was not an accident accident, but it was meant to cover up a murder leaving them with not one, but 23 cold cases. The episode, in effect a cross-over with Vote for the Girls with Ava Zinn & Alexandra Moffitt, contains music performed by Maelyn Jarmon, Tessanne Chin, Danielle Bradbery, Angie Miller, Jena Asciutto, and Christina Grimmie.
The episode was written by Karly Jameson and directed by Season Atkins.
Contents
Plot[edit]
The episode opens at a LGBT-themed nightclub, ”The Richmond Quill”, on June 21, 2013. A dance contest is being announced, with a $10,000 prize. People are dancing and enjoying. In the VIP room, there’s a gay guy getting ready... he gets shot between the eyes. An explosion occurs at The Richmond Quill.
In the present, Lilly and Jarett are talking to a lab worker at Quillsville CSI. She has a skull on her hand, found under what remained of The Richmond Quill. The skull has a bullet hole in it. Lilly and Jarett quickly realize that the guy was shot and the explosion was used to cover it up. ”We don’t have one cold case here”, says Lilly. ”We’ve got 23 of those poor LGBT Hoosiers that were killed”.
Lilly and Officer Kymberly Millspaugh pick up Benjamin Haley’s box — the skull belongs to him. At the office, Lt. Jeffries talks about The Richmond Quill, where he went once (in 1968). Everyone wants him to dance, but he won’t do it. They talk about The Richmond Quill. Benjamin’s remains were found on the ”Yellow Room”, where people bought and used drugs. They wonder if Natalia Chaney, the owner, was the one responsible for the fire, to get the insurance payoff. Captain Brad Hunter sends Lieutenant Nick Jeffries, and Officer Elaine Reed to look for him, while Jarrett and Lilly will go see Benjamin’s parents.
Lilly and Jarett talk to the Haley. It’s clear that Mr. Haley didn’t approve of Benjamin’s gay lifestyle. Mrs. Haley asks Lilly and Jarrett to go see Benjamin’s bedroom. There, she shows them pictures of Benjamin. Lilly goes straight to the point. Mrs. Haley denies, but Lilly insists, "Because I got the feeling there was." "It doesn’t have to leave this room", Jarrett adds. Miranda then opens up. She closes the door and confesses that a week before the explosion, she came home early from the (Budist) temple and saw Benjamin with a gay transman.
In a flashback of 2013, Benjamin and the transguy, who’s called Sonny, are dancing. They’re rehearsing for the dance contest. Sonny asks when Benjamin’s going to tell his parents he and Benjamin are engaged. They’re very much in love. The present day Mrs. Haley talks a little bit about Sonny.
She never told Mr. Haley about Benjamin’s fiance nor even the fact that he was gay (and with a transgendered male) because she felt it would only bring him more heartache. Lilly and Jarett interview Sonny at his workplace. He has burn scars on his right side. They ask him about Benjamin, if there was anything unusual going on in his life, or if he was involved with drugs. Sonny says no. Sonny can’t believe he was really murdered. Lilly says that anything could help them. "A couple of days before the dance contest, I got there earlier to practice", Sonny begins.
In a flashback to 2013, we see Sonny practicing alone on the dance floor. He notices that Benjamin is having an argument with Natalia Chaney and gets a little disturbed. When Benjamin comes to the dance floor, Sonny asks about the argument, but he says it’s nothing. Sonny gets angry and asks if he’s dealing drugs for Chaney. Benjamin swears he isn’t. They dance and talk about eloping if they win the contest.
In the present, Lilly and Jarrett ask Sonny if Benjamin was dealing drugs; he repies "Hell, no". They ask if she thinks Chaney would be the kind of girl to kill someone. Sonny remembers that Chaney had a gun and liked to show it off.
At QMPD, Elaine says that they’re still trying to find Natalia Chaney, but that they already know she had a gun permit in 2013, and that she shot a straight guy at The Richmond Quill in 2012 as well as on eight different occasions in 1985, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2000, and 2008. They want to find the guy Chaney shot in 2012 and try to make a match between the two bullets; so they can be sure Benjamin was shot with Chaney’s gun. Captain Hunter thinks "it's a fucking long shot". ”Well, Brad, we do love a challenge”, says Lilly.
Later, Lt. Jeffries says that they found the guy who was shot by Chaney in 2012. He is now a woman called Rebecca Rigsbee (then known in 2012 as Chris Rigsbee) and is doing custodial work at an ice rink at Franklin Quill Park. Rebecca was shot twice (in the arm and in the genitals, requiring sex reassignment surgery which was performed by Dr. Melissa Rose) because she tried to rob The Richmond Quill. Then, Elaine comes in and explains why they can’t find Natasha Chaney: - she has died three months ago, from cirrhosis. Everyone is disappointed. Lilly and Jarrett go out to talk to Natasha’s daughter Paula, who owns a shop in Center City Quillsville.
Lilly and Jarrett arrive at Paula’s shop. They ask her about the explosion at The Richmond Quill; Paula is annoyed that more people are trying to blame her mother for what happened. Lilly and Jarrett ask about the gun, Paula says she got rid of it a long time ago, afraid her mom would turn it to herself. Lilly and Jarrett ask Paula about Benjamin, and tell her Benjamin was shot on the night of the explosion. Paula says she was by her mom’s side the whole night. They ask Paula if Benjamin was in trouble with anyone. Paula says no, everyone worshipped Benjamin, but that he had a fight with his boyfriend that night.
In a flashback of 2013, Paula is hidden, spying on the men’s room. Sonny runs in there, and Benjamin follows him. They fight. Apparently Benjamin is afraid to elope, because of his dad. Sonny says he’ll have to choose between him and his dad. She slaps him on the face and says, "I should fucking kill your God Damn ass for making a trans-bastard out of me. I was a virgin as a woman when I met you.” He goes away, leaving Benjamin alone.
In the present, Lt. Jeffries and Officer Elaine Reed find Rebecca Rigsbee at the ice rink. Rigsbee tells them that the slug was taken out by Melissa Rose on April 18, 2014. She paid Melissa $20,000 dollars to perform the deed.
At QMPD headquarters, Lilly and Jarrett are interrogating Sonny about threatening Benjamin when they broke up. Sonny says they would have worked that out; and asks if Debbie Butler was the one who told them about that. According to Sonny, Debbie would have done anything to win the contest.
In a flashback of 2013, we see Benjamin and Sonny on the dance floor. Debbie (a lesbian), who is with her partner Ariele (a transgender female), comes and asks Benjamin to dance with her. He says that won’t happen, and Sonny and Debbie have an argument. Debbie says to Benjamin, ”You won’t be the champion forever. A lot could happen between now and the contest.”
Lilly and Kymberly go look for Debbie, who now works as a hairdresser. They ask her about that threat she made to Benjamin on the dance floor. Debbie says maybe she said it, just to annoy them. She starts talking about how everyone used heroin at the time.
At The Richmond Quill in 2013, Debbie’s partner Ariele is using drugs; she wants some but Ariele has run out of it. And apparently, Ariele used everything she was supposed to deal for Chaney, so she’s in trouble. Benjamin comes in and says Debbie shouldn’t use those things. Debbie says he should worry about Sonny.
In the present, Lilly and Kymberly ask Debbie if she thinks Ariele could’ve done something to Benjamin to win the contest. Debbie says she doesn’t know, but that she wasn’t the one who owned Chaney thousands of dollars.
Later, at the office, they talk about Rebecca Rigsbee and Debbie’s partner, Ariele Mazzacomb, who’s now an Unber driver. Captain Hunter sends Jarrett and Lt. Jeffries to talk to Ariele, Elaine and Kymberly to check Sonny and Debbie’s alibi, and Lilly to talk to District Attorney Pia Yoque or ADA Kristy Elllis about getting a search warrant for the slug from Melissa Rose, but Ava and Melissa catch Lilly as Melissa says "No search warrant is necessary. I took the bullet out and thank God I kept that motherfucker all these years". Captain Hunter and Lt. Jeffries talk to Ariele. They ask her about Benjamin and about Ariele not liking Benjamin and needing money. She denies she eliminated Benjamin and says that he was on the dance floor with Debbie when the explosion occoured.
In another flashback to 2013, we see Debbie and Ariele dancing. They see Benjamin’s father arrive and they take her to the Yellow Room, where Benjamin is. Before, they tell Mr. Haley that the Yellow Room is the place where people use drugs, which leaves Mr. Haley very annoyed. The present day Ariele recalls that Mr. Haley was very angry, and that he wouldn’t have wanted to be Benjamin that night. Jeffries and Hunter are thoughtful.
Lilly is at DA Yoque’s office as Pia is telling her that a search warrant for the slug from Rigsbee is impossible. ”Just like the exhumation”, Lilly observes (in "The Final Teaching"). ADA Kristy Ellis can’t believe she’s still thinking about that. "Goddamn it, we are supposed to be on the same fucking team here”, Lilly says after pounding her fist on Yoque's desk and Yoque informs an irate and frustrated Lilly to watch her language. "We are", Ellis answers, "And my job, as your team mate, is to tell what’s legally plausible. And this isn’t one of them." Lilly doesn’t like it. Ellis asks what this case is about, and Lilly is yelling "For God sakes, it’s a gay and lesbian muder, for crying out loud". Captain Hunter comes in and asks "What the fuck is all this arguing all about, Rush? I heard about something about a gay murder. That's a hate crime in Indiana. Been on the books for 21 years now." Lilly takes her phone out and plays Katy Perry's 2013 single Roar performed by Olivia Henken and then Yoque gets up and and singing along with the song as does Captain Hunter. Lilly tells both Hunter and Yoque to stop. Lilly laughs and says, "Yoque, honestly, this could cost you in the next Quill County election." Hunter and Yoque stops and sits by Lilly’s side on the couch. Yoque asks if Rigsbee is in any trouble with the law. Lilly says she’s on parole; and ADA Ellis say’s she’ll talk with Rigsbee’s parole officer to see if Rigsbee will exchange the slug for a reduced parole. Then out of nowhere, Ava and Melissa drop in and to the surprise of Rush, Hunter, Yoque, and Eliis, Melissa brings the slug that she removed from Rigsbee's genitals when Melissa performed Rebecca Rigsbee's sex reassignment surgery (even preserving the evidence). Yoque is sarcastically relived and says to Rush and Hunter, "Holy, shit! I don't belive this at all! Dr. Rose just saved me and the fuckin' taxpayers $35,000."
Elsewhere, Officer Dailey and Lt. Jeffries talk to Mr. Haley about that night. He says he didn’t tell anyone he had gone to the nightclub because he didn’t think it mattered. Mr. Haley is offended because Jarrett and Nick insinuate he killed Benjamin. Mr. Haley starts recalling what happened after he went into the Yellow Room.
In a flashback of 2013, Mr. Haley enters the Yellow Room. Benjamin is praying and Mr. Haley interrupts him. He asks Benjamin to go the temple with him, Benjamin says no. Benjamin gets angry and tells his dad that he's gay, and tells him he’s marrying a transguy. Mr. Haley is disturbed. He says Benjamin isn’t his son anymore if this happens. Benjamin says that it’s going to happen. Mr. Haley then says, "I renounce you", and leaves.
In the present, Mr. Haley tells Officer Dailey and Lt. Jeffries that that’s why he didn’t tell anyone he had gone to the nightclub, because his last words to his son were I renounce you." He also says he never told his wife about this meeting.
Later, Lilly is at the lab. The lab technician informs her that she has a great friend in Melissa and Ava and the lab worker tells them they have a match. The bullet that killed Benjamin came from Natasha Chaney’s gun. At the office, they all wonder who would’ve killed Benjamin, since even Natalia Chaney has an alibi. Lilly brings up Paula; she’s the only one without an alibi. One thing they can’t figure out is why Paula would kill Benjamin.
Later, Lilly and Jarrett go talk to Sonny again, and they ask her about Paula. Sonny says Paula worshipped Benny and wanted to be like Sonny. She starts recalling the day of the contest.
In a flashback of the nightclub in 2013, Benjamin and Sonny are dancing. Paula interrupts to show Benjamin a move. Benjamin says she’s good and should keep practicing. Paula then goes and asks Debbie, who’s also there, to dance with her. Debbie agrees and they start dancing. Paula’s hands are all over Debbie, and she takes Paula into the Yellow Room.
Lilly and Jarrett talk to Debbie about the time she took Paula to the Yellow Room. Debbie swears that she didn’t kill Benjamin, and that she only wanted to win. In a flashback of 2013, we see Debbie and Paula in the Yellow Room. She’s all over Debbie. She asks her to come into the Yellow Room before the contest and hurt Benjamin, so he won’t be able to dance. She says that if Paula does that, she’ll let him do anything with her. In the present, Debbie tells Lilly and Jarrett that Paula was only supposed to hurt Benjamin, not kill him. And that she couldn’t let Sonny win that contest. Later, Lilly and Jarrett talk to Paula about the fire. Paula says that wasn’t her fault. It was Benjamin’s fault.
In a flashback of that night in 2013, right after Mr. Haley leaves the Yellow Room, Paula goes in wearing a face mask and carrying a Moltov cocktail to hurt Benjamin. They get into a fight and Benjamin sees that it’s Paula. Benjamin says Paula is crazy and that she’s the worst nightclub dancer there. Paula gets angry and points her gun at Benjamin. They start fighting again and Paula fires the gun. She seems shocked with what she has done. She leaves the place and sets The Richmond Quill on fire and eventually explodes. In the present, we see Paula getting arrested. Debbie is there and sees her. They show Mr. Haley in Benjamin’s room. Mrs. Haley arrives and they look at some old pictures of Benjamin. Lilly and Yoque, along with Ava and Angie, Melissa and Stephanie, and Miles and Kendra are all dancing at a nightclub. Lilly looks very beautiful and they seem to be having a lot of fun. Lilly looks and "sees" Benjamin, who starts dancing with Sonnys from 2024 and 2013.
The scenes go back and forth from Lilly and Yoque to Benjamin and Sonny. The episode ends as Benjamin and Sonny finish dancing to the song.
Production and development[edit]
Music[edit]
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