The Long End

Buck Meltsner is trying to leave his con-artist past behind when a mysterious package arrives from Millsburg - a gold-framed mirror and an odd painting, the last gift of Mrs. Larson, the woman who knew his mother... and who has just died. Meanwhile the ruthless thug Two-Bits Luker is smashing his way through Odyssey with a baseball bat, hunting a hope chest and rocking chair for his boss, the old con man Jebidiah Skint, who wants papers Buck's mother left behind. Undercover agent Monty Whittaker is secretly on their trail, using the hope chest at his uncle Jason's antique shop as bait for a trap. As Two-Bits closes in, Buck and his family race to decode the painting's strange clues: carved initials, a woman with no reflection, and a signature reading "Dolly Tender." The trail leads back to the mirror hanging in Buck's own home. Hidden behind the glass, the family finds an astonishing answer - Buck's birth certificate.

Found on Trial by Fire Album 66 · 6 episodes

The run See every episode

0853 The Good in People A newly elected drama club president stakes everything on a bold promise, but a mysterious benefactor's offer proves too good to be true.

0854 Not What I Expected When a school career test sends cheerful Zoe to a funeral home and aspiring detective Emily to a law office, both girls discover their assignments hold far more than they expected.

0855 Divided We Fall When a backyard treehouse project ends in an accident, Buck's future with the Meltsners lands in the hands of a judge - and Eugene must confront whether he's fit to be a father at all.

0856 Much Ado about Jealousy When her best friend picks a rival's party over her, a hurt Jules finds a thrilling new companion in Connie's roommate Jillian - and soon everyone around them is wrestling with feeling replaced.

0857 Same Mold Story When a wall-smashing family game night uncovers a moldy secret, the Parker kids are scattered to three very different households - and learn what "boring" family life is really worth.

0858 B-TV: Trinity When a world-famous ocean explorer refuses to let her submarine dive, the B-TV crew must unravel the mystery of the Trinity - and the secret fear keeping her at the surface.

1 of 3 0859 The Long End When a mysterious inheritance from a stranger arrives on a reformed con artist's doorstep, it draws a dangerous crew to Odyssey - and hides a message only he can decode.

2 of 3 0860 The Long End A young man's search for the truth about his parents collides with a master con man's offer of one last, impossibly big score.

3 of 3 0861 The Long End A young con artist's apprentice must decide where his loyalties lie when his old mentor returns to collect on the longest con of his career.

1 of 2 0862 In a Sun-Scorched Land When a boy's robotics competition ends in disaster, a kindly janitor shares the story of how his own darkest day in an African village became a fight for survival and faith.

2 of 2 0863 In a Sun-Scorched Land Stranded far from home in a war-torn land, three children must trust each other - and a hope bigger than themselves - to survive the long walk to a rumored place of safety.

1 of 2 0864 Between Camp and a Hard Place At a summer camp with no Wi-Fi, shuffled team assignments turn a friendly competition into a week of clashing personalities, secret schemes, and growing suspicions.

2 of 2 0865 Between Camp and a Hard Place When a counselor scrambles the summer camp's usual partner pairings, mismatched campers must survive prank wars, a giant game of hide-and-seek, and each other.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 4 more roles

4 supporting roles

Monty Whittaker Chad Reisser Jebidiah Skint David Selby Wally Haggler Jim Ward Two-Bits Luker Zach Callison

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Nathan Hoobler Producer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Early one morning, junk dealer Wally Haggler brings Jason Whittaker a hope chest and a matching rocking chair he picked up at an estate sale in Millsburg, and asks Odyssey's resident antique expert to look them over. At the same time, across town, Buck Meltsner's quiet breakfast with Eugene and Katrina is interrupted twice: first by news that Dale Jacobs wants to interview him for a newspaper article about scams, and then by a delivery truck. Buck, a former con artist's apprentice trying to put that life behind him, reluctantly agrees that sharing what he knows might help people. The packages turn out to be for him, sent from Millsburg by Mrs. Felicia Larson, the woman who once knew Buck's mother.

Meanwhile, in Millsburg, a stranger comes to Mrs. Larson's door asking for her and learns she died a few days ago. The house has been torn apart by vandals with chainsaws, crowbars, and hammers, and so has another house she rented out, but an auction company had already removed and sold everything. The man at the door is actually Agent Monty Whittaker, working undercover, and as soon as the visitor leaves he reports that it was Tom "Two-Bits" Luker himself. Monty tells his team to watch him but not close in: "Let's see if they take the bait." Two-Bits drives off in a stolen truck carrying his boss, the smooth old con man Jebidiah Skint, who is hunting for certain papers Mrs. Larson had. When the auction inventory shows a hope chest and rocking chair sold to a buyer in Odyssey, Skint announces, "Looks like we're going to Odyssey," even though he can never show his own face there. Two-Bits, however, is unknown in town.

Back at the Meltsners', Buck's packages hold a gold-framed mirror and an amateurish painting of a woman sitting in a rocking chair with her back to the viewer, holding a children's book with a bear on the cover, facing a mirror that shows no reflection of her face. A note from Mrs. Larson says the items honor the last wishes of a dear friend and urges Buck to keep them safe and use the brains he got from his mother to figure it out. Eugene discovers Mrs. Larson has just passed away, so no one can explain the strange gift. At the art gallery, Penny Bassett declares the painting worthless as art but full of intentional messages: the painted mirror matches the real one Buck received, the initials "BB" are carved on the rocking chair and hope chest, and the signature reads Dolly Tender. Buck is stunned. He remembers Mr. Skint mentioning Dolly Tender, apparently an old sweetheart, and Felicia Larson once told him his mother called him "Bucky Bear." The painting seems to be a hidden message meant just for him.

While the Meltsners puzzle over clues, Two-Bits tracks the hope chest to Hagler's Junkyard, where he smashes up merchandise with a baseball bat until Wally, wailing "You're killing my profit margin!", admits the chest is at Jason Whittaker's antique shop. Wally phones ahead to warn Jason, so when Two-Bits arrives and threatens him with the bat, Jason coolly refuses to sell, and approaching sirens send the thug running. Monty steps out of the back room, revealing that Jason is his uncle and that this is a trap: for about a year, Skint has been visiting Felicia Larson because she held something Buck's mother left for Buck, and Two-Bits ransacked both houses trying to find it. Monty keeps Detective Polehaus in the dark to avoid tipping off Skint, though Jason cautions him not to let the job kill his trust. Polehaus, noticing the intruder wore gloves, advises locking the hope chest away.

At the gallery, Penny removes the painting's backing and finds a paper giving the work's title: "Little Miss Priss Can't See What's Right in Front of Her." Since a Little Miss Priss is a girl who stares at herself in mirrors, and the painted woman casts no reflection, Katrina realizes the real mirror at home must hold something Buck is supposed to see. The family hurries home, lays the mirror flat, and notices a smudge in one corner, just like the smudge in the painting. Carefully prying the glass from its black backboard, Eugene slides out a hidden piece of paper, gray on one side and printed on the other, and makes an astonishing discovery: "Buck, it's your birth certificate."