The Rydell Realizations

Morrie Rydell is out of police custody, but the charge still stands: someone used his computer to steal $250,000 from contest promoter Marvin Plotkin, and the trial is only six weeks away. Forbidden by the judge to touch a computer, Morrie can only watch as the kids at Whit's End dig for the truth. What they find is ugly - a contest designed to charm senior citizens out of their savings, a hacker's worm buried on Morrie's hard drive, and a sketch of the mysterious Carly that matches the face of Plotkin's own assistant. But before anyone can act, Morrie vanishes with a borrowed laptop, determined to hunt her down himself, court order or no. Then Plotkin corners Suzu on the street, and she's left bleeding on the pavement... until Cooper tracks her GPS signal and flattens him with a flying tackle. Plotkin flees, Suzu heads for the hospital, and Morrie is still out there, chasing the one person who can prove his innocence.

Found on Keep It Together Album 76 · 6 episodes

The run See every episode

2 of 2 0971 Precious Lord A legendary musician recounts how love, faith, and heartbreak pulled him between the nightclub stage and the church piano - and shaped the song of his life.

0972 Alibis A murder mystery party at Whit's End goes off the rails when a very real prank leaves one guest drenched in syrup and everyone pointing fingers.

0973 Extended Cut When an obscure movie based on one of Whit's old stories suddenly goes viral, Connie must face a fan convention obsessed with a ditzy on-screen version of herself - and the glamorous actress who played her.

0974 The Show Must Go On (and On) When her little sister's school Christmas musical is canceled over a budget crisis, Connie Kendall launches a campaign to win it back - but her biggest obstacle may be her most enthusiastic helper.

0975 Naughty or Nice At the Whit's End Christmas party, an anonymous gift exchange goes off the rails when mysterious presents, a threatening note, and a car key nobody can explain turn the celebration into a night of amateur detective work.

1 of 3 0976 The Rydell Realizations When a stranger's tearful story moves young genius Morrie Rydell to an act of kindness, it lands him in a police interrogation room accused of a quarter-million-dollar cyber theft.

2 of 3 0977 The Rydell Realizations When a boy genius is framed for a quarter-million-dollar computer theft, his friends at Whit's End race a six-week trial clock to unravel a charming stranger's scheme.

3 of 3 0978 The Rydell Realizations A young hacker's search for the woman who framed him forces him to confront the fact that the trap she set was built from his own past mistakes.

0979 Right Notes, Wrong Key A lonely former pop star gets a second chance in the spotlight - if she's willing to keep bending the truth to stay there.

1 of 2 0980 Making an Honest Buck Newly transplanted to a big school and sidelined by an embarrassing injury, Buck Meltsner is recruited for a secret mission that means befriending a classmate under false pretenses.

2 of 2 0981 Making an Honest Buck A boy working undercover for a federal investigation must weigh loyalty to his best friend against exposing the truth hidden inside that friend's family.

0982 The Ark's the Thing Two young directors clash over whether their Vacation Bible School play about Noah's ark should teach hard facts or stir big feelings - until an inquisitive cast member's questions force them to rethink what the story is really about.

0983 One Last Treasure Hunt On her twelfth birthday, a girl receives one final treasure hunt planned by her late father, and each clue brings her closer to a truth she's been afraid to face.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 1 more roles

1 supporting role

Marvin Plotkin Michael Ornstein

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Luke Guenot Sound Designer Nathan Hoobler Producer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Morrie Rydell is home again after a few hours in police custody, but his troubles are far from over. He has been accused of using his computer to steal $250,000 from Marvin Plotkin, the traveling businessman behind a computer programming contest, and because of the seriousness of the charges, his trial is set for just six weeks away. Morrie insists he was framed by a mysterious girl named Carly, who begged him to play the contest on her behalf - a girl Plotkin claims never existed.

At Whit's End, the team organizes a defense. Mr. Whittaker has persuaded Detective Polehaus to release Morrie's computer, but there's a catch: the judge has forbidden Morrie to touch any computer or digital device until the trial. So Whit and Morrie's sister Suzu take over the technical detective work, once Morrie hands over his password - "It's my name and IQ in Klingon," he explains. Cooper Calhoun, who turns out to be a surprisingly good artist, agrees to draw a sketch of Carly from Morrie's description. And Emily Jones arranges to interview Plotkin for the Odyssey Owl, pitching her editor a feel-good story about a traveling philanthropist.

In Plotkin's cluttered office, Emily learns how the contest works: it travels from small town to small town, charges a modest entry fee, and pays out a small prize. She photographs his "wall of fame" of contest pictures and hears about his assistant, Marian Hill, who has conveniently already left town to set up the next stop. Then Emily springs her trap. By her math, six years of contests couldn't have earned Plotkin anywhere near the $250,000 that was supposedly drained from his bank account - so where did all that money come from? Plotkin realizes she's a friend of Morrie's and furiously throws her out.

Back at Whit's End, the investigation comes together. Suzu, who has an eidetic memory, writes out the entire list of past winners she glimpsed only once in Plotkin's office, and Emily and Morrie start calling them. A pattern emerges: every contestant played on behalf of a senior citizen, every one of those seniors later invested with Plotkin's company, Markin Financial Management, and every one of them mysteriously lost money. Plotkin always apologized charmingly, blamed fees or bad investments, and never took so much that anyone made a fuss - as Morrie puts it, he's "a pig, but not a hog." The kids conclude that the contest is really a scheme to meet seniors and quietly scam them out of their savings. Meanwhile, Whit and Suzu discover a worm hidden on Morrie's computer - a program that let a hacker secretly control it from anywhere, drain Plotkin's account into an account bearing Morrie's name, and leave behind fake keystroke records to pin the whole crime on Morrie.

Then comes the biggest break of all. When Cooper unveils his finished sketch of Carly, Emily gasps: she's seen that face before, in the photo on Plotkin's wall. Carly is Marian Hill, Plotkin's own assistant. But before anyone can decide what to do, they notice Morrie has vanished - along with Emily's backpack and the laptop inside it. He means to track Marian down himself, even if it breaks his court order.

Alone with the laptop, Morrie argues with himself, imagining the voices of Whit, Emily, Cooper, and Suzu acting as his conscience and telling him to stop. Then another voice, one he seems to recognize, speaks to him: "You must do what is right." Shaken, Morrie pushes the warning aside, spots a location on the screen, and declares it perfect.

While the others search the town, Plotkin corners Suzu on the street, demanding to know why the kids are digging into his business. Frightened, Suzu blurts out that Marian is Carly, that Marian used Morrie's computer to steal his money, and that they know about his contest. When she runs, Plotkin chases her - and there's a sudden crash. Suzu is left with a bleeding head and an injured arm. Cooper arrives just in time, having followed the GPS signal on her device, and flattens Plotkin with a tackle, offering, "Want to see a flying body slam?" As Plotkin flees, Cooper helps the hurt Suzu toward the nearby hospital where his dad works - while Morrie is still out there somewhere, chasing the one person who can prove his innocence.