Season 1, Episode 7:
A Figure in Hiding
Frank and Callie look behind the veil at Rosegrave Prep and learn that Laura’s investigation started in high school, while Joe tries to prove their conspiracy has a local police connection.This episode contains examples of:
- Anger Born of Worry: Downplayed, but Frank isn't happy with Joe for leaving the house to snoop after he ordered him to remain at home to stay safe from the Tall Man, and admonishes him for putting himself at risk like that.
- Big Brother Instinct:
- Frank insists that Joe stay home for the day for his own safety while he and Callie go to Rosegrave because the Tall Man is after him for his "lucky charm", despite his brother's protests. When Joe naturally doesn't listen, sneaks out anyway with Phil's help to investigate with Biff, and shares his findings with his brother later, Frank scolds him for it while expressing his major concern about the situation:Frank: Joe, there is someone out there that wants to kill you. Does that scare you? 'Cause it scares me.
- Joe also inverts it with some Little Brother Instinct when the Tall Man attacks the boys by pushing him to the ground and then grabbing Frank and lifting him in the air while demanding the piece of the Eye. Joe quickly gets up, picks up a nearby trash can, and smacks the Tall Man in the back with it, making him drop Frank and giving them a chance to run away.
- Frank insists that Joe stay home for the day for his own safety while he and Callie go to Rosegrave because the Tall Man is after him for his "lucky charm", despite his brother's protests. When Joe naturally doesn't listen, sneaks out anyway with Phil's help to investigate with Biff, and shares his findings with his brother later, Frank scolds him for it while expressing his major concern about the situation:
- Both Sides Have a Point: Once Biff and Joe discover that Chief Collig is corrupt, she's naturally very worried for her mom, who works closely with and trusts Collig, and wants to fill her in on it to keep her safe. Joe points out that Jesse will probably be safer if she doesn't know, at least for the time being, because otherwise she might end up in danger while looking into it.
- Car Fu: The Tall Man runs into the road to chase the Hardys across the street, and gets hit by a car driven by a teenage girl, killing him.
- Caught on Tape: Joe's initial plan for how to prove someone on the Bridgeport police force is corrupt. He quickly ditches this idea when he can't get the tape recorder to work right.
- Character Death: After his previous fake-out death in "Of Freedom and Pleasure", the Tall Man is Killed Off for Real here when he runs into the street while chasing after the Hardy Boys and gets hit by a car.
- Defector from Decadence: Laura was born and raised into one of the world's richest and most powerful families, the Estabrooks, but once she learned where their fortune came from, she refused to have anything more to do with them and abandoned her life of privilege. She even broke up with her boyfriend when he chose to attend Rosegrave, and ended up marrying Fenton instead, who came from a modest working-class family.Paul: [Laura] said that Gloria was writing her life for her, turning her into another privileged, powerful, rich Estabrook heir. And she was turning her back on all of it.
- Dirty Cop: After Joe's and Biff's visit to the tailor last episode, he and Frank are sure that at least someone on the Bridgeport PD is crooked and in on the conspiracy in Bridgeport. They're proven right in a major way after Joe and Biff find out that Chief Ezra Collig himself was the mysterious hooded figure who came to pick up the idol at the brick factory in "The Drop".
- Doomed Appointment: At their secret rendezvous in the greenhouse, McFarlane begins to fill Frank in on what Laura knew of the Bridgeport conspiracy, but is forced to leave once they're at risk of being seen together, and asks Frank to meet him for breakfast the next morning, promising to tell him everything. When he doesn't show up, Frank goes to his office and learns from McFarlane's secretary, Lindy, that he resigned that very morning and his whereabouts are unknown. All he leaves behind is a note for Frank in the greenhouse giving him a hint on where to start looking next, and he discusses with Joe that someone likely threatened McFarlane to silence him before he could talk to Frank.
- Honorary Uncle: Biff tells Joe that Collig is essentially this to her when she's stressed over them discovering he's corrupt.
- Mid-Season Twist: After spending the whole first half of the season as The Dreaded Implacable Man who mows down anyone in his way of getting the piece of the Eye and has relentlessly pursued the Hardy Boys, the Tall Man is killed off at the end of this episode.
- Mole in Charge: Joe and Biff learn that the Dirty Cop on the Bridgeport PD—who's working for JB's buyer, came to the abandoned brick factory to get the idol, and had a piece of their coat torn off in the chase there—is none other than Chief Collig, the head of the whole force.
- The One That Got Away: Laura Estabrook (who later became Laura Hardy) was this for Paul McFarlane. They were both accepted into Rosegrave Prep, but Laura didn't want to go because she felt that it would be just one more way for Gloria to control her life. When Paul decided to attend, she took it as a betrayal and never spoke to him again until a few weeks before she died. Paul regrets this and admits to Frank that he loved her more than anyone he's ever loved since.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Frank is not impressed by and fairly contemptuous of Stavros's haughty, elitist attitude about Rosegrave during their tour, and expresses it through a combination of bored disinterest and dry, snarky comments. Then see his parting words when he and Callie cut the tour short to go snoop:Frank: And good luck with the whole "being the best" thing!
- The Reveal:
- Chief Collig was the mysterious hooded figure who came to pick up the idol at the factory in "The Drop", making him a Dirty Cop.
- Rosegrave Prep Academy is really a front for a secret society that controls Bridgeport from the shadows.
- Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Laura Estabrook's High School Sweetheart Paul McFarlane was the rich suitor, being from a wealthy Bridgeport family like herself. Eventually, Laura turned her back on the privileged life she was born into and broke up with Paul, and ended up dating and marrying Fenton Hardy instead, the (relatively) poor suitor from a middle- or working-class family that Gloria considered to be, as Trudy puts it, from "the wrong side of town".
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Dean McFarlane starts to give Frank some valuable information about what Laura was investigating and asks to meet him the following day, only for Frank to return then to find that McFarlane has suddenly resigned his post and disappeared, clearly out to fear of what would happen to him if the shady organization behind Bridgeport and Rosegrave learned about this. He leaves behind only a note for Frank with minimal clues so the latter can continue his investigation, and is never seen again for the rest of the season.
- Trespassing Hero: Just like in "Secrets and Lies", Frank and Joe both separately go into places they're not supposed to be to snoop. This time, who gets caught and who doesn't is reversed.
- Frank, suspecting that Dean McFarlane is lying about not having seen Laura for many years, sneaks into his office to try to prove this after Callie creates a distraction for him. He manages to find an entry in the dean's calendar about meeting her right before McFarlane and Lindy walk in on him; however, after Frank confronts him about it, McFarlane arranges to meet him in secret.
- Joe and Biff, meanwhile, break into Chief Collig's house through a doggy door to try to find out if the fabric the Hardys found at the factory came from his police coat. They're forced to sneak out the window on the side of the house once the chief arrives home, and by doing so, they do find his torn police coat in the garbage can there, and discover that the piece of cloth matches perfectly.
- Upper-Class Twit: Stavros Vasili, the Rosegrave student who gives Frank and Callie a tour, comes across like this. He's shown to be incredibly arrogant and pretentious about attending the school, constantly bragging about how awesome everything is and how everyone who attends is a cut above the rest, while barely noticing how little the two of them are paying attention to him, and they quickly ditch him to investigate. Frank, who already had his misgivings about Rosegrave, is even more put off by Stavros's elitism.
- We Need a Distraction:
- Callie purposely breaks a vase to distract Lindy so Frank can sneak into Dean McFarlane's office, though he unfortunately does still get caught in the act.
- Joe directly invokes this while convincing Trudy to let him break house arrest to accompany Phil to a Bridgeport Sea Cadets meeting (which is really just a fake excuse he's using to sneak out): he points out that, since all the kids attending will be dressed alike, the Tall Man will have a harder time spotting the real Joe, who can sneak away while he's distracted by the other kids.
- Wham Episode: Fitting for the mid-season finale. Frank and Callie learn that the latter's dream school, Rosegrave Academy, is a front for a secret organization that controls the town of Bridgeport, and realize Gloria is probably part of it. Paul McFarlane resigns as dean and vanishes to avoid being killed by this conspiracy's leaders before he can tell Frank everything he knows. Joe and Biff discover that Chief Collig himself was the one who came to the factory in "The Drop" to pick up the idol, meaning he's a Dirty Cop working for JB's buyer. The Tall Man once again tries to kill the Hardy Boys, but the episode ends with him being Killed Off for Real in the attempt when he's hit by a car.
