Recap page for episodes of Wisdom of the Crowd:
Wealthy tech innovator Jeffrey Tanner is obsessed with finding the truth behind the murder of his daughter Mia. He believes that Carlos Ochoa, the man convicted of the crime, is innocent. Tanner's estranged wife Congresswoman Alex Hale believes Ochoa to be the murderer. Tanner sells his stock in the search giant AllSourcer to developed a crowd sourcing app called Sophe that allows users from around the world to submit and evaluate evidence. He brings together a unique collection of talented individuals with many different skills to help him run the new platform, including Detective Tommy Cavanaugh, the original police officer who searched for his daughter's killer and agrees that there's something off about Ochoa's conviction; Tariq Bakari, a genius hacker whose issues with authority put him at odds with the law; Sara Morton, a brilliant engineer who followed Jeffrey from AllSourcer to Sophe for reasons that aren't strictly professional; and Josh Novak, the technically-minded head programmer of the Sophe team. When a video showing a mystery man leaving Mia’s apartment the night of her murder is uploaded to Sophe, the crowd's attention turns to a rideshare driver and then a bartender implicated in another crime. Mia's case takes a backseat to the investigation of a string of murders and assaults as the crowd races to piece together the puzzle before the perpetrator can escape justice.
- Plot-Triggering Death: The murder of Mia Tanner drives Jeffrey Tanner to create the crime-solving crowd-sourcing platform "Sophe."
Tanner gets a new lead on his daughter's murderer when a Sophe user submits a video of her being strong-armed by an unknown suspect at a party, five months prior to her death. A 13 year old boy goes missing, and much to Detective Cavanaugh's chagrin Tanner enlists Sophe's crowd to solve the mystery of his disappearance.
Crime data is entered into Sophe looking for links to Mia. Instead it links 3 previously unrelated cases. When Detective Cavanagh adds a clue, the number jumps to 14 and keeps climbing with crowd's help — revealing a serial killer that's been operating in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. Meanwhile, Carlos Ochoa is threatened in prison.
An anti-immigration rally turns into a riot, and a white-nationalist alt-right agitator is found murdered. Detective Cavanaugh reluctantly reaches out to Tanner for help with sorting through the dozens of potential suspects, resulting in cyber attacks on the Sophe platform over the controversial case. Tanner and his wife are at odds when private information is leaked to Sophe regarding Mia's decision to admit herself to a rehab program.
- Asshole Victim: Victim of the Week Brandt Davis was an outspoken ethno-nationalist who campaigned against immigration and openly insulted minorities. When he turns up dead after starting a riot, the Sophe team expresses hesitation to investigate his case because of the negative attention it could bring to their software. Tanner pushes ahead, insistent that this will be a good test case for rooting out implicit biases in their crowd-sourced evidence. After all, their victims up 'till this point have been sympathetic figures — a murdered white woman, a missing child, the murder victims of an unrecognized serial killer. When they bring the case online, Sophe suffers from both a "Troll Storm" DDOS caused by Davis' followers spamming the server with useless traffic and attrition caused by older users deleting their accounts in protest.
- Inspirational Martyr: The Sophe team reviews a video of Davis praising Gandhi, MLK and Malcolm X for "etching themselves into history" via their assassinations, they realize his plan was to do the same, rather than dying of pancreatic cancer.
- My Death Is Just the Beginning: Davis' plan was to have his wife kill him and frame an undocumented man for his murder, stoking further racial tensions and becoming a martyr for the alt-right.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The episode aired in 2017, so it's not hard to imagine that the "alt-right nationalist campaigning against immigration and minorities stokes a riot" plotline was drawn from some of the more contentious social issues surrounding America's 2016 presidential election. Davis' followers even cry "fake news" when his death is ruled a Suicide by Assassin.
- Suicide by Assassin: Brandt Davis was diagnosed with untreatable pancreatic cancer that left him with only months to live. He convinced his wife to shoot him and frame an undocumented man for the crime.
A medically retired Inspector is murdered. Detective Cavanaugh is not allowed on the case due to his prior involvement with the widow, so he seeks Tanner's help. Meanwhile, AllSourcer alleges he stole their code to create Sophe, and demands reparations.
A computer expert creates a challenge that targets vulnerable teenagers and compels them to commit suicide. Detective Cavanaugh reaches out to Tanner and his team to get to the source of the malicious "game." Meanwhile, a clue emerges in a photo of Tanner's daughter.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The "suicide game from the internet" storyline likely drew inspiration from the much sensationalized Blue Whale Challenge
of the mid twenty-teens.
Cavanaugh's plans to reconnect with his 14-year-old son are interrupted when the team and Sophe's users uncover recent security footage of a domestic terrorist missing for 20 years. The Crowd daringly tracks his every move—even as federal agents threaten to shut down the platform. Tanner and Sara's ongoing legal troubles with AllSourcer drive a wedge between them when AllSourcer files an injunction against Sara, forbidding her from working on Sophe or communicating with the staff. Mike Leigh is trapped in the middle. Alex confronts Tanner about the Congressional investigation; the team loses control of the crowd, with potentially deadly consequences.
Tanner and the team race to halt a digital attack that has silenced the crowd and knocked the platform offline, forcing Tanner and Alex to make a deal with an untrustworthy rival; Cavanaugh and Sara question three suspects in the suspicious death of a Silicon Valley CEO; the Hive endures unwanted visitors.
Tanner is offered new evidence in Mia's case if Sophe can prove a gangster's niece is innocent of murdering her roommate. Tanner and Sara begin depositions with AllSourcer for the rights to Sara's work and Sophe's code.
The team tracks a killer targeting online celebrities and broadcasting their final moments on a live-streaming platform; Sara worries about being banned from using Sophie.
Tariq and the team use the Crowd to aid a friend and blogger targeted by an internet stalker; Tanner's pursuit of a mysterious series of payments tied to his daughter's murder leads to bruising consequences.
Tanner and detective Cavanaugh speak to Carlos, and he remembers something vaguely about a man taking a selfie with Mia on her phone. Alex and Tanner sift through Mia's belongings looking for that photo, with the hope that it could clear Carlos Ochoa's name and shed light on her murder. But something is wrong.
Tanner and Hale go to court to convince a judge to free Carlos. A man who was obsessed with Sophe, including Mia's case, is found dead. Investigating this man leads Tanner to information revealing a city official's killer.
- String Theory: The Sophe user who is found dead turns out to have a basement conspiracy theory lab where he collected evidence to support his theory that "Mia was killed to control Jeffrey Tanner." The room is filled with photos, news clippings, and string.
