Silver Lining

Connie only wanted to rinse tree sap off her hands - until the river current sweeps her away and a limping stranger named Vic Hamilton dives in to save her. That night she sees his face on the news: he's an escaped convict, sentenced for a bank robbery he swears was pinned on him by a smiling bank teller named Brad Diamond. When Vic learns Connie has talked to the police, he forces her into Joanne's car, pours out his story... then leaves her behind and heads off for revenge. Officer Tim Hartzel, Vic's old friend, has stopped believing him, but Connie can't forget that a guilty man wouldn't have risked everything to pull her from the water. Then Joanne remembers a bird-watcher's camera trained on a kingbird's nest - and its footage catches Brad and Vic together, proving the meeting Brad denied ever happened. As Vic corners Brad on his boat, Connie pleads over the radio for the man who saved her life not to throw it away, and Vic surrenders just in time to see his case reopened.

Found on In Hot Pursuit Album 41 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

2 of 3 0524 Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? With his name off the case but his friend's name on the line, a determined young investigator keeps digging into a fraud scheme - while the biggest question of his life waits for an answer.

3 of 3 0525 Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? With a mysterious warning telling him to stop investigating, Mitch must decide whether solving the warehouse fraud is worth the risk - while Connie weighs an answer that could change both their lives.

0526 Seeing Red When pride threatens three very different relationships in Odyssey, everyone insists the other person should apologize first.

0527 Black Clouds A stormy detour strands Connie and Joanne at a lonely roadside diner, where a runaway girl is convinced she carries bad luck wherever she goes.

0528 The Taming of the Two When two pompous rival actors seize control of a small-town Shakespeare festival, two young friends must decide whether winning is worth more than their partnership.

0529 The Mailman Cometh When two young siblings scheme to prove they deserve the same freedoms as their older cousin, they learn that privileges come with a price.

0530 Silver Lining A stranger's daring river rescue leaves Connie questioning whether the escaped convict everyone has written off might be telling the truth.

0531 Teacher's Pest A prank-loving class clown and the straight-A student he torments are forced to team up on a biology project, and learning to work together may be harder than the assignment itself.

0532 Pink is Not My Color While staying with an FBI agent's family, Connie befriends his tomboy daughter and begins to suspect the girl is hiding who she really is - all while Connie's own long-awaited reunion keeps slipping away.

1 of 2 0533 Something Blue With Mitch's FBI career pulling him toward an elite overseas opportunity, Connie scrambles to prove she has what it takes to share the demanding life of an agent's wife.

2 of 2 0534 Something Blue With her wedding just days away, Connie must scramble to plan a ceremony while nagging doubts - and a bizarre kidnapping - force her to confront what marrying an FBI agent really means.

1 of 2 0535 Living in the Gray While staying in Washington, Connie looks in on an old friend from Odyssey and discovers that his glamorous new life as a big-city reporter may not be everything he claims.

2 of 2 0536 Living in the Gray With his career, romance, and living situation all hanging by a thread, a young man hiding the truth from everyone who loves him must decide between an easy way out and an honest way home.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 5 more roles

5 supporting roles

Gift Store Clerk Actor Unknown Brad Diamond Dale Inghram Vic Hamilton Gary Clemmer Officer Tim Hartzel William Holmes Wilda Murphy Shirley Mitchell

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Nathan Hoobler Writer Marshal Younger Director · Producer Todd Busteed Sound Designer · Producer Bob Hoose Producer Paul McCusker Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

During a breakfast stop at Gentle River Park, Connie walks down to the river to wash sticky tree sap from her hands. The bank is steeper than she expects, and the swift current pulls her into the water. A stranger named Vic Hamilton dives in and saves her, then hurries away without accepting thanks, photographs, or an invitation to dinner.

Back at their hotel, Connie and Joanne see Vic's face on the news. He has been convicted of bank robbery and has escaped while being transferred to prison. They report the encounter to Officer Tim Hartzel, who has known Vic since high school and is disappointed by what his old friend has become.

Tim explains that Vic and his younger brother Sammy once committed petty thefts. During a police chase, Vic crashed their car into a tree, killing Sammy and leaving himself with a permanent limp. Vic claimed the tragedy had changed him. He learned electrical work in jail and built an honest business after his release, but years later police found evidence linking him to a bank robbery. Vic insists that a popular bank teller named Brad Diamond framed him, though nearly everyone considers the accusation another lie.

At the park gift shop, Vic returns in search of a lost jacket containing Sammy's watch, his only keepsake from his brother. Connie accidentally reveals that she knows his name. Realizing that she has seen the news and spoken to the police, Vic forces her into Joanne's car and makes her drive away.

Connie points out that kidnapping her makes his claim of innocence harder to believe. At last Vic tells her that Brad had asked him to use his electrical knowledge and criminal experience in a bank robbery. Vic refused, but the bank was robbed soon afterward. Security footage showed a masked man with a limp, electrical tools were left behind, and money and a ski mask appeared beneath the carpet in Vic's car. Vic says Brad planted everything to silence the one man who knew about his plan.

Vic has returned to town to take revenge. Connie urges him to trust that the truth can still emerge and offers to speak with Tim, but Vic realizes she is the person who reported him. Feeling betrayed by the woman whose life he saved, he orders her out and drives away in Joanne's car.

Tim has already investigated Vic's story and cannot believe a man who has lied before. Connie refuses to dismiss him so easily. Vic risked his own freedom and safety to pull her from the river, and she believes that act revealed something good in him. She and Joanne look for a way to prove that Brad lied when he claimed never to have met Vic.

The park has no outdoor security camera, but Joanne remembers Wilda Murphy, the bird photographer they met after the rescue. Wilda keeps a stationary video camera trained on an eastern kingbird's nest. Her recording from April 13 shows two men at a distant picnic table. One is unmistakably Brad, and the other's limp identifies him as Vic. The video confirms the meeting at the heart of Vic's story.

As Connie calls Tim with the evidence, she learns that Joanne's car has been found near the marina. Brad spends every Friday afternoon on his boat, and the police realize that Vic has gone after him. When Tim calls the boat, Brad answers just before Vic confronts him.

Connie speaks to Vic over the radio and describes details from the recording to prove that it exists. Vic says revenge matters more than his freedom, but Connie reminds him that murder would make him guilty even if he had been innocent of the robbery. She pleads with the man who saved her life not to destroy his own. Vic finally relents before carrying out his threat.

The district attorney agrees that the video is enough to bring the robbery case back to trial, but Vic now faces possible punishment for assaulting Brad. Tim apologizes for not believing him and promises to help, though he cannot guarantee the outcome. Vic regrets ignoring Connie when he could have walked free. Connie reminds him that the part of him that stopped to rescue her is still real, and Joanne assures him there is hope as he returns to custody.