Outside Dave's luxurious estate, we find two tough-looking characters in all-black clothing observing the residence from afar in a monochrome SUV. The individual in the driver's, an African American man with dark brown hair, turns towards his partner, a Caucasian male with a dyed-green mohawk, a soul patch, and a few facial piercings.
"Here we go, Duncan," he tells him, his tone dead serious, before turning his attention back towards the house.
The Caucasian male, named Duncan, uses a burner phone, and makes a call to persons unknown. "Yeah, Roland and I…" His partner turns to give him a stern look. "Sorry, Lightning and I are at the house," he tells the person on the other end. "We'll let you know when we have 'em." In the background, we see the other individual loading a pistol with a magazine cartridge, signifying that some seriously messed up shit is about to go down.
Back inside the house, we find a door that seemingly opens on its own accord where we see find Noah freshening himself up before the night's festivities. He momentarily stops to check his reflection before he begins to exit the room. However, as he's about to move back towards the living quarters, he hears a clattering noise in the distance. Sensing something is off, he peers down the hallway and before walking, timorously. Suddenly, as he enters the kitchen, Dave appears holding a sharp knife, nearly skewering Noah.
"Jesus Christ!" Noah yells out, practically suffering a heart attack. "What's with that knife?"
"It's for the cheese," Dave answered, nonchalantly, holding up some plastic-wrapped cheese.
Noah turns and sees that Dave is preparing a charcuterie board. "Okay, all right," he says, still a bit miffed at Dave's attitude in regards to the way he's handling a dangerous utensil. "Just, you know, really aggressive way to carry a knife." Dave sets the cheese down, grabs the charcuterie board, and heads towards the living area, with Noah following behind him.
Back in the living area, Noah and Dave rejoin the group, who are knee-deep in the drinking game.
"Oh, no, I've got one," Bridgette says. "Never have I ever connected my work computer to the projector in the conference room when it was open on a WebMD page for chlamydia symptoms."
"That's not cool," Geoff said, indignant that he's forced to reveal that he did all that… and then some. Everyone laughs while Dave checks his watch, wondering when the Murder Mystery people will be here.
"Drink!" Bridgette said. Geoff does so, though he's fairly annoyed about it.
"Just for the record, I did not have chlamydia. It was pubic dermatitis. You get it from not washing your crotch, so…" Geoff clarifies, clearly not helping his case in the matter.
"Okay," Stephanie said, disgusted.
"Good for you," Ryan said, simultaneously disgusted.
"I… I like her," Emma said.
"Thank you," Bridgette said, grateful for the compliment.
"And, listen," Geoff began to speak, regaining Bridgette's attention. "You're not supposed to single people out in this game. It's supposed to be generic things, like…" Pauses before giving out a random example. "'Never have I ever slept with a celebrity'."
"Oh, I didn't know. Okay," Bridgette says, although her tone of voice indicates that she was aware but just said that to mess with Geoff.
Without thinking, Stephanie instinctively picks up her drink and takes a sip when Geoff mentions that celebrity bit. As soon as she finishes, everyone sees her put down her glass, causing everyone to look at her, inquisitive. After a moment, she notices Ryan's questioning glare.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"You slept with a celebrity?" Ryan asked. Stephanie, realizing what happened, attempts to save face.
"No, I was taking a drink separate from the game. That was bad timing," she claims, though the look on everyone's face clearly indicates they don't believe her. "I see how you would think that, but it's not."
"Well, then why are you breathing like you just got off the elliptical?" Ryan asked, suspicious.
"I'm not. I'm… Babe, come on." Stephanie tries to move the conversation away from her. "Whose turn is it?"
"Uh, it's Noah," Emma said, trying to help her friend out of a tight situation. "Noah, it's your turn. Huh?"
"I'm not playing a drinking game," Noah said, staring intently at Stephanie. "Who was it?"
While Ryan and Stephanie argue in the background, Bridgette pulls Geoff aside. "What's the deal with that?" she asked, intrigued.
"They've been together since middle school," he answers, gaining a knowing look from Bridgette.
"How could you possibly have had sex with a celebrity when we've only had sex with each other?" Ryan asked.
"Please, can you not make this one of your things right now?" Stephanie said, feeling humiliated enough at it is.
"How is this one of my things?" he asked. They continue to argue as Dave watches on when Noah redirects his attention.
"Yeah, Dave, this is why we don't play drinking games." However, before the conversation can further escalate, a knock is heard at the door, redirecting everyone's attention away from the fight and towards the door.
"It looks like the game is afoot," he said, cryptically, as he gets up from his chair and approaches the door. Geoff appears excited while Stephanie appears relieved.
"Thank you, God!" she said, while Ryan still looks perturbed by all the information that hit him in full swing like a 2x4 to the face.
Dave opens the door, and we see a stern-faced, dark-skinned female with short, dark brown hair wearing an outfit straight out of Men in Black enter the residence.
"David DeSanto?" she responds in a serious tone, prompting a nod from Dave. She walks towards the group, as they all get excited by what is about to unfold from this point forward. Dave closes the door before reclaiming his seat while the actress proceeds to show-off her credentials. "Agent Sanders," she replies, holding up her ID before flipping it over to show her fake FBI badge. "FBI."
"Sunglasses at night," Geoff whispers to Bridgette. "It's legit," he claims, gaining an eyeroll from his date.
"I'll get right to the point," Sanders begins, taking off her sunglasses to showcase the gravity of the situation. "The Bureau has been tracking a ring of violent kidnappers in this very neighborhood. And we have reason to believe that one of you…" She points at each individual currently present in the room. "May be their next victim." Everyone looks excited by this, with the exception of Noah, who believes the actress is clearly overplaying her part.
"That's terrible news," Noah quips, sarcastically.
"Contained within these dossiers," she continues, holding up a few fake FBI files, "are the clues you will require to find the kidnappers." She passes them out to each pair partaking in the game.
"You'd like for us to do that, yeah?" Noah quips once more, knowing full well that the FBI would never actually put the trust of them secret files into the hands of civilians. "The Bureau's… What's the Bureau's role in this?" Emma nudges him, signaling for him to just have fun with it.
"Maybe you guys could take my wife in for questioning because, apparently, she has a secret life I don't know nothing about," Ryan interjects, clearly still annoyed at this candid and rather hurtful information.
"Baby, this is-" Stephanie begins, resulting in Sanders momentarily loses her composure.
"Shut up, all of you!" she yells, scaring everyone into silence. After taking a moment to breathe, she continues. "It's not a joke. You people are in real danger, and you're running out of time. And I, Agent Sanders, will not stand idly by while innocent civilians are slaughtered on my watch."
"I told you this is gonna be great," Dave chimes in, excitedly, with everyone voicing their agreements, minus Noah who still finds it all a bit phoned in.
"But, uh, before we get started," Sanders cuts in, breaking character for a moment to inquire about anything that she may need to know about before they begin the night's proceedings, "I'm required to ask if any of you have any food allergies." She's about to continue when, seemingly out of nowhere, the two thugs from earlier break down the door and approach the group, wearing masks to obscure their faces. The group believe this to be a part of the act, but Sanders appears genuinely surprised by their entrance. "Who the hell are you?" Duncan walks right up to Sanders and knocks her square in the jaw, knocking her out.
Dave, taken aback by this, stands up and approaches the two. "Now wait a second, I know you're method and all, but you can't just come in here and break the door." Lightning doesn't hesitate for a second and punches Dave right in the gut while everyone just watches on, believing the whole thing to be staged. Although Noah seems particularly invested, enjoying what's on display.
"I do not mind this game," he comments.
Dave, still believing this to be routine, shoves Lightning off of him. "Are you crazy?" he asked. Duncan rushes forward and punches Dave in the face before grabbing him in a headlock, forcing Dave to repeatedly punch him in the side, desperately trying to wrench himself free of Duncan's grasp
As they move across the room, Dave manages to get loose and hoists Duncan off the ground into a metal shelf. Lightning pulls Dave away and they go spinning into a framed poster on the wall, breaking the glass. Lightning knees Dave in the gut, but Dave quickly recovers and gives Lightning a solid right hook before throwing him off to the side. Dave looks to see if he's injured while the group watch on with fascinated smiles.
"It's very well done," Emma comments.
Dave, seeing Duncan approaching him with his fist raised, quickly dodges, and grabs his arm. Geoff and Bridgette quickly grab the charcuterie board and drinks as Dave slams Duncan onto the glass table… which surprisingly, doesn't break, much to everyone's bewilderment.
"That is a strong table," Ryan comments. Dave, now unequivocally terrified, lifts up his pantleg, revealing that he has a pocket pistol holstered within his sock.
"Oh, watch out! He's packing heat!" Geoff yells out, jokingly.
"Hell no!" Lightning yells out, kicking the gun out of Dave's hand before he can raise it. The gun slides across the ground towards the group, which gains Emma's attention.
Back to the fight, Lightning punches Dave in the face, but Dave manages to elbow Lightning in the ribs, forcing him back. Duncan then gets back to his feet and grabs Dave, lifting him up off the ground as everyone watches in astonishment… except for Emma, who's gaze is still fixated on the gun.
Now, a view from the pool outside shows Duncan carrying Dave through the hallway towards the kitchen as Lightning repeatedly deals blows to Dave's head.
Back inside, we see the trio crash onto the floor of Dave's kitchen. Dave, desperate to get away from these guys, quickly rams the fridge door into Lightning's face as he attempts to go after him, knocking him down. Duncan and Dave rise across from each other on either side of the kitchen island. Duncan reaches behind him and grabs a glass which he chucks at Dave, who instinctively ducks before rising and throwing a glass bowl at Duncan, who doesn't have enough time to react, resulting in him getting hit in the abdominal region. Dave quickly grabs a bottle of champagne and throws it towards Duncan, attempting to land another blow, only for Duncan to duck and avoid getting hit, resulting in the glass bottle shattering against the window.
They freeze for a moment before noticing a knife holder and quickly darting to it. Dave manages to get to it first and draws the first item he can find… only to discover that it's a knife sharpener. He begins swiping it at his opponent, who uses a metal tray as a shield. Duncan manages to knock the sharpener out of Dave's hand and the two begin wrestling, with only the metal tray dividing them. Dave pins the guy against the counter before smashing a glass pitcher against his head, shoving him down.
Lightning, who's recover from Dave's fridge door attack, stands to his feet, only to be met with a sucker punch from Dave, who tackles him against the counter. Lightning, using his reflexes, kicks out, sending them both back onto the kitchen island, causing Lightning to hit the back of his head on a pan suspended above the island.
"You're just making this harder on yourself!" Duncan tells Dave, as he grabs a cloth and attempts to use it to choke Dave out. Dave, still vigorously clinging to Lightning, latches his foot onto pan holder. The weight becomes too much for the latches to bear and the holder gives way, causing the trio to be dragged to the floor.
During the whole escapade, the group are simply beautifully minding the situation.
"Guys, make sure you get a piece of this cheese. It's just…" Noah comments as he cuts himself a slice while the rest of the group partake in the other amenities featured on the charcuterie board as the fight continues on in full-swing.
"Cut me one," Geoff says, grabbing a slice.
"Try it with the quince," Emma comments.
In the dining room, Dave frantically crawls on all fours alongside the dining table, pulling chairs out behind him in the hopes that it'll trip up his assailants. However, Duncan is not so easily deterred while Lightning avoids Dave's actions completely, allowing him to knock Dave into a lit decorative fireplace before tumbling onto the living room floor.
"Oh, my God," Bridgette proclaimed, startled.
"Now's he back," Noah comments as the rest of the group watches on, majorly invested.
"Stop fighting, asshole!" Duncan yells out in anger as he points a gun at Dave's head. Lightning takes a roll of duct tape out of his pocket and duct tapes Dave's arms together.
"Help me! This isn't—" Dave attempts to warn the group; however Lightning manages to duct tape Dave's mouth before he can spill the beans, further terrifying him.
"The Independent Spirit Award goes to…" Noah begins, gaining a snicker out of Emma.
The kidnappers, having finally achieved their objective, drag Dave to the door as everyone watches, still assuming that the whole thing is staged. "First one that follows us gets shot!" Lightning tells the group, menacingly, as he and Duncan aims their guns at them.
"Okay, roger that," Noah calls out to them. "You drive safe."
"Come one, motherfucker!" Duncan tells his partner, who quickly shuts the door as they drag Dave's still screaming body out the door into the dead of night.
Everyone chuckles at the whole escapade, believing everything that they just bared witness to as being nothing more than an elaborate show.
"That was amazing," Bridgette said.
"Really good," Stephanie said, lightly applauding.
"Mmm. No, there's something about this that just doesn't feel right," Ryan comments, suspicious that something may be amiss. However, he immediately shifts his attention back towards Stephanie and her celebrity affair. "How could you cheat on me with a celebrity?"
"I didn't cheat on you," Stephanie clarifies. "It was before we got married when we took that break."
"Oh, my God," Ryan said, mortified by this reveal. "Oh, my God. I've been living in The Matrix."
Meanwhile, Geoff, curious as to why Agent Sanders hasn't moved from her position, gets up from his seat and approaches her unconscious body, lightly nudging it with his foot. "Agent Sanders, you just gonna keep lying there?" he asks. And, believing that she's merely acting, proceeds to kick her in the side.
"Well, don't kick her!" Bridgette immediately yelled out.
Geoff looks fairly impressed by Sanders and her seemingly impressive acting ability. "She's a regular Daniel Day-Lewis."
While everyone else is distracted with their own thing, Emma and Noah quickly grab one of the fake dossiers and slip away, intent on being the first ones to win the game. However, Bridgette sees them walk off and quickly grabs another dossier while Ryan and Stephanie continue their argument.
"I thought we both agreed that we wouldn't hook up with anybody else during that break," Ryan said.
"Yeah, but then you went and got a hand job from Jennifer Pertsch," Stephanie retorts.
"No, don't do that," Ryan said, disgruntled at Stephanie for attempting to pull something as irritating as that. Geoff still continues messing with Sanders' unconscious body before being pulled away by Bridgette. "Because it was over the pants, all right? It was, and it hurt. It was very dry, and I didn't climax."
"Just admit it," Stephanie exclaims. "You guys did more than that."
"Don't turn this around on me," he tells her, indignant at this attack. "Do not do that. Don't you Johnnie Cochran me!" That's when he notices that everyone's flown the coop, much to his frustration. "Damn it, they got the jump on us. Come on."
"Shit, Ryan!" Stephanie yelled out in annoyance, quickly grabbing the last dossiers and bolting out of her seat alongside Ryan, hoping to catch up to the other's and claim the prize.