SYNOPSIS:

The pilot opens in 1990 Reno, Nevada, where we meet 13-year-old Madeline "Maddy" Ivers, a scared teenager running away from something. She encounters Howard Sawicki, a former police officer, who offers her a ride when she's clearly in distress. She hesitates, but after approaching headlights frighten her, Maddy accepts his help. Howard takes her to his farmhouse, where she reveals she's running from her foster home and was supposed to meet her foster brother at the train station, but he never showed. Howard offers her shelter and suggests they discuss her situation in the morning. Jump ten years to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Maddy is now living under the name Lucy Sawicki (age 23). She works as a policy typist at Quality Title, where her boss, Mark Dailey, shows an inappropriate interest in her. Lucy plans to attend an Irish festival with her friend Shelby from Pro Mortgage, despite having plans for happy hour with coworkers. At the Milwaukee Irish Festival, Lucy becomes entranced by a Celtic rock band called County Hinterland, particularly their didgeridoo player, Jax Black. She meets Trevor, the band's road manager, who invites her to their next show in Madison. During the performance, Lucy experiences flashbacks to her traumatic childhood in Reno, where she witnessed violent fights between adults. The next day, Lucy receives a call from Detective Barbra Gold about Mark Dailey's death. Lucy lies about being in Ohio visiting family and promises to come in for questioning the next day. Meanwhile, we learn that Lucy had been avoiding calls and texts from Mark before his death. The story reveals that Lucy has a dark past connected to an organization called "the Channel" in Reno, led by Stella Allbright. Malcolm, someone from Lucy's past, tracks her down in Madison and confronts her. Through their interaction, we learn that Lucy was involved with the Channel's trafficking of children when she was only thirteen. Malcolm reveals that he witnessed Mark's death - Lucy had apparently pushed him in self-defense after he attacked her, causing him to hit his head. She has no memory of this at all because Mark had drugged her and taken her to his secret lair. As Lucy tries to escape both her past and the investigation into Mark's death, she breaks her phone and boards a train to Reno to warn Howard, who raised her after she ran away as a teenager – that the Channel was after her and would confront him to find her. However, when she arrives at Howard's farm, they are surprised by unknown assailants. Howard helps Lucy escape through a hidden door, giving her his truck keys and telling her to flee. Meanwhile, the investigation in Milwaukee reveals that Mark's wife Jessica was involved in his death, having poisoned him with Tetrahydrozoline. Malcolm, who’s been having an affair with Jessica, is arrested but mysteriously released by Special Agent Sechny, who turns out to be working with the Channel. The pilot ends with Lucy working as a roadie for County Hinterland, having taken Trevor up on his job offer. She receives a call from Howard, who has survived an attack but is hospitalized. He warns her that if he could track her down, so can the Channel, and suggests they work together to bring down the organization.