Episode 2 of Memory of a Killer, titled “Ferryman,” gives viewers their first solid answer in the attack on Angelo’s daughter. The episode, which aired on FOX on Monday, January 26, 2026, picks up immediately after the premiere’s cliffhanger. While the immediate threat to Maria is stopped, the story uncovers a much larger and more dangerous conspiracy that puts Angelo on a collision course with a powerful new enemy.
The Immediate Threat to Maria Flannery
The episode starts at the hospital, confirming that Maria and her baby are physically unharmed after the shooting. The bullet only grazed Maria, but the psychological impact is severe. Detective Dave Woods suspects Earl Hancock, the drunk driver who killed Dave’s wife and threatened Maria on the stand. He brings Earl in for questioning.
Angelo watches this interrogation, a scene described as “dripping with dramatic irony”. While Earl seems to have an alibi, he mentions a name that immediately puts Angelo on high alert: “The Ferryman”. This is the first time this mysterious figure is introduced. The name acts as a cognitive trigger for Angelo, forcing him to launch his own secret investigation to protect his family without alerting his dangerous associates.
Patrick Dempsey’s performance in this episode continues to ground the high-concept thriller in raw emotion. Critics note he shows a “quiet intensity” and “real emotional weight” as Angelo switches into protective father mode while battling his own fading memory.
The Identity and Motive Behind the Attack
Angelo’s investigation leads him to track down and confront the actual hitman who took the shot at Maria. Before Angelo eliminates him, he gets a critical piece of information. The hitman confesses that the attack on Maria was directly ordered by “The Ferryman”. This confirms that the shooter was not a random threat or connected to Earl Hancock’s past grudge, but a professional job commissioned by a shadowy figure in the criminal underworld.
The episode does not reveal The Ferryman’s true identity or face. Instead, he is built up as a legendary and feared figure within that world. The motive for targeting Maria also remains unclear, creating the central mystery for the rest of the season. Is it a message to Angelo? A case of mistaken identity? Or is Angelo’s secret life finally catching up to him in the worst way possible? The show’s producers have teased that the mystery is “more complicated than it may first appear,” promising “lots of fun twists and turns”.
How Angelo’s Alzheimer’s Complicates the Investigation
Angelo’s mission to find The Ferryman is uniquely complicated by his deteriorating mental state. Memory of a Killer is built on the premise of a hitman with early-onset Alzheimer’s, and this episode powerfully shows the real-world consequences.
In one of the episode’s most tense and “heartbreaking” moments, Angelo forgets where he parked his car. For an ordinary person, this is a minor lapse. For a man who relies on precision, stealth, and constant awareness to survive in his profession, it is a potentially fatal mistake. This scene underscores the show’s core conflict: Angelo is in a race against both a hidden enemy and his own mind.
Co-showrunner Aaron Zelman explained that the writers aim for medical accuracy with a neurologist consultant. They explore Angelo’s journey of denial and the slow crumbling of the “wall in his mind” that separates his two identities. His struggle to accept his condition while protecting his family adds a deep layer of tension to every action he takes.
The New Players: FBI Agent Linda Grant and Hitman Joe
“Ferryman” also introduces important new characters who change the game for Angelo. Gina Torres makes her debut as FBI Agent Linda Grant. She arrives to investigate the shooting and immediately sees through Angelo’s civilian facade.
Within minutes of meeting him, she is suspicious of the “photocopier salesman” who ran toward a sniper without hesitation. Maria tries to explain it away with his military background, but Agent Grant is not convinced. The stage is set for a tense cat-and-mouse game, with Torres’s gravitas making “every scene feel like a chess match”.
Meanwhile, Angelo faces pressure from within his criminal organization. His boss, Dutch, is furious about Angelo’s unsanctioned killing in the premiere. As punishment, Dutch forces Angelo to partner with a novice hitman, Joe. This partnership is described as a “ticking time bomb”. Joe’s incompetence, including fumbling a drone during a job, leads to a messy situation and forces Angelo to threaten his life. This unstable partnership adds another layer of immediate danger and professional stress for Angelo.
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Growing Suspicion from Angelo’s Own Daughter
The attack and its aftermath begin to crack Angelo’s carefully constructed double life in another critical area: his relationship with Maria. She is starting to notice inconsistencies in her father’s behavior and story.
Maria questions his frequent and sudden disappearances, even during a family crisis. She notices the expensive, tailored clothes he wears, which don’t match his supposed salary as a salesman. She also finds a suspicious newspaper clipping in his possession. While she doesn’t yet suspect he is a hitman, she is realizing her father is not the simple man he claims to be.
This growing doubt is perhaps more dangerous to Angelo’s world than any external threat. His entire life has been built on keeping these two worlds separate. The co-showrunners describe it as a “wall in his mind”. As his memory issues worsen and the danger around his family grows, that wall is beginning to crumble from both sides.
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