“Trash Day” is a cautionary tale about unchecked ambition, criminal entanglements, and family betrayal. A solid episode that offers viewers familiar content, it continues Wolfe Entertainment’s tradition of delivering a recognizable style and quality that keeps audiences coming back season after season. Let’s review.
A young politician, Mayor Jocelyn Yang (Manini Gupta), is at the heart of this week’s story. The mayor is embroiled in fraud and corruption, enmeshed in an underworld of Asian gangs where power is bought, and loyalty is a fleeting illusion.
From the start, the plot hurtles forward, weaving deception upon deception. Jocelyn stages her own kidnapping in a bid to escape justice. Her lover, Peter Dao (Jon Jon Briones), is her accomplice, demanding a $200,000 ransom from the mayor’s Chief of Staff, Drew Mason (Frank De Julio).
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| ” Trash Day” – FBI: MOST WANTED Pictured (L-R): Shantel VanSanten as Special Agent Nina Chase, Edwin Hodge as Special Agent Ray Cannon, Roxy Sternberg as Special Agent Sheryll Barnes, Dylan McDermott as Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott, and Keisha Castle-Hughes as Special Agent Hana Gibson. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Kidnapping falls under the FBI’s jurisdiction, so the Fugitive Task Force is on the case. They split up. Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott (Dylan McDermott) and Special Agent Nina Chase (Shantel VanSanten) question Peter’s father, Josh Dao (Lawrence Kao). Josh, a waste hauler, although suspected of running a criminal enterprise, denies any involvement with the kidnapping.
Special Agents Ray Cannon (Edwin Hodge) and Hana Gibson (Keisha Castle-Hughes) interview the mayor’s staff. Drew is missing and so is the contents of the lock box in his desk. Hana and Ray use the office administrator’s phone to zero in on Drew Mason’s location.
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Meanwhile, Special Agent Sheryll Barnes (Roxy Sternberg) pieces together that the mayor likely staged her own kidnapping. Remy and Hana Gibson (Keisha Castle-Hughes) arrive just as Drew is about to hand over the ransom. “I told you no cops,” Peter explodes. Drew turns and runs. Peter shoots him in the back, and he and Jocelyn flee.
As greed and impulsiveness take hold, Jocelyn and Peter’s plan spirals out of control. Desperate for cash, Peter robs one of his father’s businesses—a nail salon that also traffics young, Vietnamese women.
Peter storms in, gun drawn, demanding the safe be opened. The manager doesn’t know the combination, but she knows Peter. She threatens to tell his father. Without hesitation, Peter shoots her in the face at close range as Jocelyn drives off.
The Task Force pursues them, ultimately taking Peter into custody.
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Where “Trash Day” succeeds is in its unrelenting tension. The narrative unfolds through rapid shifts in perspective, keeping the audience on edge. The camera focuses on the feet of the person who creeps up behind Peter’s mother and kills her. The point of view shifts to Jocelyn making a call from a burner phone. She says, “I’m waiting for you to pick me up.”
During Peter’s interrogation, Remy shows him pictures of his dead mother. Peter, struck by the emotional weight of this act, begins to crack. Remy accuses Josh Dao of the murder. “It wasn’t my dad,” Peter says. Remy presses him. “Because he wouldn’t have bothered,” Peter replies. The real killer? Jocelyn.
Josh Dao does, indeed, pick Jocelyn up—in one of his garbage trucks. Later, the Task Force finds a woman’s charred remains in a truck, but it isn’t Jocelyn. It’s the mother of a fellow gang member who had mountains of cash stashed in her basement.
Jocelyn and Josh kiss, celebrating their ill-gotten gains. But they still need new identities to escape. They head to Chinatown, where they buy a vendor’s supply of hats and distribute them for free, hoping to blend in.
The Task Force sees through their simple plan and fans out to search for them. It doesn’t take long for Josh to spot Remy, who—no doubt—sticks out in Chinatown. Shots are exchanged. A chase ensues. Josh and Jocelyn end up cornered—a wildfire surrounded by an advancing wave.
Jocelyn senses there’s no way out. She bargains with Josh: “You can get us a lawyer. We can be together when we get out.” Then, Remy delivers a signature line: “Cuffs or body bags? It’s up to you.”
It’s a moment of reckoning. Josh grips Jocelyn by the arm and says, “Trust me.” Then, in a bleak, nihilistic conclusion, he uses her as a human shield.
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| “Trash Day” – FBI: MOST WANTED, Pictured: Dylan McDermott as Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott. Photo: Mark Schafer/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
This ending brings the cautionary tale to a close—but not necessarily to justice. Josh and Jocelyn never face trial or public accountability. Their deaths offer no catharsis, only a bitter aftertaste of wasted potential and failed moral reckoning. The decision to frame their demise as an inevitability rather than a consequence makes the ending feel hollow. It also raises ethical concerns about the portrayal of death by cop, placing the burden of their execution on the souls of Remy and Sheryll, who pulled the trigger.
“Trash Day” serves forbidden desires and suspense but leaves viewers grappling with unresolved justice. It’s a brutal reminder that crime, when fueled by greed and impulsiveness, leads only to self-destruction—but whether that message lands effectively depends on the viewer’s appetite for moral ambiguity.
What did you think of “Trash Day”? Let me know in the comments.
Overall Rating:
7:10