The episode begins with a flashback, showing a young Ormewood arresting a man named George Long in 2010. A witness claims to have seen George leaving the scene of a murder, but now, years later, the media reports that George is about to be executed in less than ten hours. He was found guilty of killing Atlanta real estate developer Thomas Kelly and his wife.
Meanwhile, Trent meets Ava in a bar. She challenges him to be spontaneous when she realizes that a man is following her. Trent quickly notices that they are being followed and corners the man. He learns that the man, Brett, is a former NYPD cop hired by Ron Moffitino to retrieve an urn that Ava stole from him. The urn contains the ashes of popular singer Meat Loaf. Ava refuses to return it, accusing Ron of not paying her for a previous job. Trent promises to handle the situation.
At the precinct, Joanne Drexel, from George Long's legal team, drags a man inside and demands to talk to Ormewood, who was the responding officer at the time of George's arrest. She gets the alleged witness to confess that he lied about seeing George leave the crime scene. Ormewood is frustrated because George is facing execution in just nine hours, and he might have contributed to his wrongful arrest. He and Angie interview Harris, who is too drunk to give a statement but admits he lied. Angie asks Ormewood to calm down when Joanne accuses him of being too antagonistic and of benefiting from George Long's arrest. With time running out, they go back to the files to see what they missed.
Meanwhile, Trent agrees to help Ava return the urn. They head to the pawn shop where she sold it. The owner informs them that he has already sold the urn, which has been attracting a lot of attention from people. Apparently, he was even getting calls from interested buyers in New York after posting it on his website.
At the pawn shop, Trent weaves a heartfelt tale about how Meat Loaf holds a significant place in his parents' hearts. The pawn shop owner, a hopeless romantic at heart, tips them off about a regular client who purchased the urn, but warns them that Murph Sanchez can be a "thorn in the side." He also mentions that he's hosting a little party later that night. As they leave, they bump into a rude man making his way in.
Back at the station, Faith joins Angie and Ormewood to dive back into the George Long investigation. It turns out there was only circumstantial evidence against George. Forensics never found any proof that he was even in the Kellys' house. At the time of his arrest, they only found money on him, which they assumed he'd stolen during the murder. But there's no direct link between George and the family. Besides the money, George's criminal history and a witness statement, there's nothing pointing to him as the killer. And now that the witness has recanted his testimony, they're facing a glaring miscarriage of justice.
Faith isn't surprised to learn that Ernie, Ormewood's mentor, was the lead detective. As they investigate further, they notice that Thomas had bruises on his body. The ME notes that these occurred a week before his death. They decide to focus on that physical altercation and speak to Thomas's assistant at the time. She describes Thomas as a "character," but can't remember which of the angry residents attacked him a week before the shooting. All she knows is that the fight was sparked because Thomas had kicked someone's girlfriend out.
Later, Ormewood engages in a conversation with Ernie, who exhibits no remorse or concern that George Long might die for a crime he didn't commit. Panicked, Ormewood snaps at Amanda, pleading for her help. She agrees to assist him but warns him never to raise his voice to her again. Meanwhile, Trent and Ava sneak into Murph's party, using their charm to navigate their way to the urn. As they're about to leave, Murph notices them. Thankfully, they manage to escape and take the self-driving cab that Ava ordered. Their passion escalates in the car, leading to them being kicked out due to their inappropriate behavior. It's only after disembarking the car that they realize they've left the urn inside. Ava calls the cab, apologizes, and retrieves the urn. Unfortunately, an accident with a runner causes Ava to break the urn, revealing an emerald stone inside. Later, Ron drops by Trent's house and confesses that there are people after the stolen emerald stone. He was only safekeeping the stone for his friend, who is currently in prison. Ron got mixed up in a situation and made a deal with the mob for a short-term loan. However, things went south when Ava stole the urn. Trent advises Ron to call the mob and reinstate the deal.
Back to Ormewood's case, Faith discovers a new lead that leads them to a woman named Christine, who was allegedly kicked out of one of Thomas's apartments. Simultaneously, Joanne informs Ormewood that the governor won't pardon George without evidence of his innocence. She explains how prisons can be deadly for death-row inmates, adding to Ormewood's guilt. Just then, Angie finds another lead. It turns out that Christine is married to Harris's brother, who was the man who beat Thomas a week before his death. Worse, Harris knew his brother went back to kill Thomas but lied to protect him. The team quickly arrests Harris's brother and recovers the gun used in the crime.
With less than an hour to go, the team anxiously waits for the governor to pardon George. As they wait, Ormewood starts praying while silently crying. He is relieved when Joanne finally gets the good news that George will get a chance to come home.
Concurrently, Trent delivers the emerald stone to the mob. Unbeknownst to them, Trent had already set up a plan to arrest them at the crime scene once the deal was done. The next morning, Ava rearranges Trent's room and bids him goodbye. He promises to call her and admits he liked being spontaneous with her. Unfortunately, her cab cancels on her, so he offers to drive her home. The episode ends with Joanne and Ormewood having breakfast, and she admits that she had him figured out all wrong. At the same time, Ormewood realizes that guys like Ernie are cowards.
