The Finder (U.S. TV series)

The Finder
Promotional poster
Genre	Drama
Created by	Hart Hanson
Starring	Geoff Stults Michael Clarke Duncan Mercedes Masohn Maddie Hasson
Theme music composer	John Fogerty
Opening theme	"Swamp Water"
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Hart Hanson Daniel Sackheim Barry Josephson
Location(s)	Florida
Running time	43 minutes
Production company(s)	Josephson Entertainment Far Field Productions 20th Century Fox Television
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	720p (HDTV)
Original run	02013-01-12January 12 – May 11, 2012 (2012-05-11)
Chronology
Related shows	Bones

The Finder is an American procedural drama television series created by Hart Hanson that ran on Fox from January 12, 2012 to May 11, 2012. The series originally aired on Thursdays at 9:00 pm, and moved to Fridays at 8:00 pm beginning April 6, 2012. It is a spin-off of another Fox television series, Bones. The backdoor pilot, entitled "The Finder", aired in its sixth season. It is loosely based on The Locator series of two books by Richard Greener. On May 9, 2012, Fox cancelled the show. It also served as the final television performance of Michael Clarke Duncan, who died of complications due to a heart attack in early September 2012.

Cast

• Geoff Stults as Major Walter Sherman, U.S. Army (former). Due to brain damage suffered overseas in Iraq, Walter is paranoid, suspicious and quirky, but it also somehow resulted in him now being able to find anything, seeing patterns where others wouldn't. His brain uses "Walter Math" to explain these things to him. In the backdoor pilot, in Bones, FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth calls Walter's gift "The Finder Power", while Leo Knox calls it "Darna Shellah" and "Akashvani". Because of his ability to find anything, a lot of powerful and influential people now owe him favors. Walter's catchphrase, as such, is "I'mma risk it" where he often makes a decision even after Leo legally advises him otherwise. He has a habit of sometimes taking before-and-after polaroids of clients. Walter has the knack of also finding out things that his clients didn't want to know by finding what people are really looking for, not just what they think they're looking for. He is depicted as being younger than his literary counterpart, having never been married or any children, as opposed to his literary counterpart. Walter's original literary incarnation served in Vietnam and never suffered brain damage.
• Michael Clarke Duncan as Leo Knox, a widower and former attorney. He owns the bar, "The Ends of the Earth", located on Looking Glass Key, and he also serves as Walter's manager and legal advisor, and sometimes bodyguard. Leo is also known for his quoting of religious literature, particularly Buddhism. He calls Walter's power "Darna Shellah" and "Akashvani". According to Leo, he owes Walter his life. In ep. 3, A Cinderella Story, it is revealed that Leo lost his family, (his wife, Nina, and teenage daughter, Ellie), to E. coli poisoning. He is based on the character "Leonard Martin" in "The Knowland Retribution", the first "The Locator" book the series was based on.
• Mercedes Masohn as Deputy U.S. Marshal Isabel Zambada. While Walter's antics frequently get on her nerves, she and Walter have a "friends with benefits" arrangement. Isabel has ambitions of leaving Florida for Washington DC to become the Attorney general of the USA. While she works as a Deputy U.S. Marshal during the day to gain field experience, she attends Law school at night. It is her intention to be "eating dinner in the White House within six-years."
• Maddie Hasson as Willa Monday, a Romani juvenile delinquent. Willa is very talented with computers, but she is prohibited from using a computer for the duration of her probation. While Willa has been betrothed to her cousin Timo since she was 5 and Timo was 10, by their mutual Uncle, Uncle Shad, the head of their family, Willa and Timo only love each other as brother and sister. As Willa believes in true love, she wants for Timo to be able to be with the girl he loves, their mutual cousin, Magdalena. At the end of the season, Willa goes on the run, violating her probation, in order to avoid her betrothal to Timo.
• Toby Hemingway as Timo Proud, a Romani and Willa's cousin. Timo is 5 years older than Willa, and he has a talent for Tarot reading. While Timo and Willa have been betrothed (by their mutual Uncle, Uncle Shad) since she was 5 and Timo was 10, Timo is himself in love with a mutual cousin of theirs, Magdalena.

Development

Fox developed a quasi spin-off series for Bones that was built around a character introduced in the sixth season. Production on the episode featuring The Locator began in February 2011, with the episode airing in April. The series was created by Bones creator/executive producer, Hart Hanson, and based on The Locator series of two books written by Richard Greener: "The Knowland Retribution", and "The Lacey Confession". The character of Walter is an eccentric but amusing recluse in high demand for his ability to find anything. He is skeptical of everything. He suffered brain damage after surviving a roadside bomb explosion, which explains his constant paranoia and compulsion to find things—and for asking offensive, seemingly irrelevant questions to get to the truth. Production on the episode began in early 2011.

Creator Hart Hanson posted on Twitter (in a humorous manner) regarding the notes he got from the network, "I received studio notes on the Bones spin-off idea. They want it to be better. Unreasonable taskmasters. Impossible dreamers. Neo-platonists."

In the episode, the main characters of Bones travel to Key West, Florida, where The Finder is said to take place. Geoff Stults was cast as the lead character with Michael Clarke Duncan and Saffron Burrows (as Ike Latulippe, bartender and pilot) in supporting roles. The three characters were introduced in episode 19 of season 6.

The Finder was picked up for the 2011–12 season on May 10, 2011, with an order of 13 episodes. The series premiered midseason 2012, airing on Thursdays at 9:00 pm ET, occupying the Bones time slot when it is on hiatus.

Saffron Burrows did not appear beyond the backdoor pilot episode, leaving the series, because the network decided to re-conceive the role. Mercedes Masohn and Maddie Hasson joined the cast as the two female leads. Masohn plays Isabel Zambada, a Deputy U.S. Marshal; and Hasson plays Willa, a juvenile delinquent who helps with their investigations.

Series overview

Season		Episodes	Originally aired		DVD and Blu-ray release date
			Series premiere	Series finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	1	13	January 12, 2012 (2012-01-12)	May 11, 2012 (2012-05-11)	N/A	N/A	N/A

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Production code	U.S. viewers (million)
1	"An Orphan Walks Into a Bar"	Daniel Sackheim	Hart Hanson	January 12, 2012 (2012-01-12)	1ATT01	5.50
After recovering one of John Fogerty’s (guest-starring as himself) beloved guitars, Iraq veteran Walter Sherman (Geoff Stults) helps a teenage boy (guest star Brett Davern) locate his missing father, a military pilot and war hero whose plane vanished after embarking on an undisclosed mission. Walter turns to Deputy U.S. Marshal Isabel Zambada (Mercedes Masöhn) for insider information about the missing colonel, which links the lost plane to a high-level drug dealer and illegal cargo. But when Walter forms an unlikely connection with the missing father, he not only locates the fallen aircraft, but in the process, he and Leo (Michael Clarke Duncan) uncover the real purpose of the flight and help the teenage boy find closure. Meanwhile at the Ends of the Earth bar, owner Leo and Walter keep a watchful eye on Willa (Maddie Hasson), a teenager on parole from juvenile detention and employed at the bar as part of her probation.
2	"Bullets"	Terrence O'Hara	Matt MacLeod	January 19, 2012 (2012-01-19)	1ATT05	6.58
Walter looks for the bullets that were involved in the murder of a police officer twenty years ago. Meanwhile, Dr. Lance Sweets investigates whether Walter is fit to participate in Federal investigations, he also assists Walter in his finding endeavors.
3	"A Cinderella Story"	Adam Arkin	Sanford Golden & Karen Wyscarver	January 26, 2012 (2012-01-26)	1ATT03	8.44
Walter's investigation of a missing shoe ends with a fairytale ending.
4	"Swing and a Miss"	Kevin Hooks	Aaron Ginsburg & Wade McIntyre	February 2, 2012 (2012-02-02)	1ATT04	6.87
Isabel’s new boyfriend Frank (guest star Lance Gross), an all-star baseball athlete, gets robbed, and Walter steps in to help find his stolen collectibles. But in the process, Walter learns Frank has lost something more meaningful than memorabilia. Then, to earn Willa’s trust, Leo and Walter bring her in on the case.
5	"The Great Escape"	Seith Mann	Emilia Serrano	February 9, 2012 (2012-02-09)	1ATT07	6.22
Preston Miller (guest star Jonathan Slavin) is a magician who seeks Walter's help in finding his assistant who vanished after a failed disappearing act attempt. Alongside Special Agent Judy Green (guest star Ever Carradine), Walter and Leo find clues leading to a counterfeit money ring. Meanwhile, Leo enlists Isabel's help in looking after Willa.
6	"Little Green Men"	Dwight Little	Will Pascoe	February 23, 2012 (2012-02-23)	1ATT09	6.18
The Jeffersonian's Dr. Jack Hodgins ropes Walter into searching for an 'Alien' Spacecraft that was seen and videoed by a pilot of an incoming Space Shuttle who is now dead (due to him not keeping quiet), thereby getting the other pilot, Col. Bradshaw's life back after he was discredited by a shadowy government agency. But all is not as it seems and Walter's life, family and friends face a very real threat from a woman code named 'Pope' (guest star Peta Wilson). Meanwhile Willa and Timo attempt to get their marriage arrangement dissolved by the notorious Uncle Shad. (guest star Eric Roberts)
7	"Eye of the Storm"	Alex Chapple	Aaron Ginsburg & Wade McIntyre	March 8, 2012 (2012-03-08)	1ATT10	7.08
The episode revolves around Hurricane Catherine, which is currently in Florida. The episode begins with Willa's probation officer coming to quickly inspect her living quarters at the bar; however she ends up having to stay due to the harsh weather. Walter, being his paranoid self, boards the bar up and calmly begins preparing to stay in, going as far as making punch and asking Isabel to come over. However, it all gets interrupted by a newsflash on TV about a missing girl. The hurricane forces Walter to find the girl while remaining in his bar.
8	"Life After Death"	David Boreanaz	Nkechi Okoro Carroll	April 6, 2012 (2012-04-06)	1ATT08	4.03
When a DJ begins playing new songs from a rapper who was gunned down ten years ago, Walter is hired to recover the music for the distributor. Walter instead decides to find the dead rapper despite all evidence of his death. In the course of the investigation, Walter learns more about the dead rapper's final moments, the origin of his songs, and uses this to help heal his still-mourning family.
9	"The Last Meal"	Milan Cheylov	Josh Friedman	April 13, 2012 (2012-04-13)	1ATT02	3.45
Walter is asked to find a meal for a man and his wife's anniversary. However, Walter searches for the chef behind the dish and source of its unique, smokey flavor. The situation becomes more complicated when he and everyone at the bar ends up in a life or death situation between The "Smoke Monster" (Lost reference) chef and a mob boss.
10	"The Conversation"	Jim Hayman	Patrick Massett & John Zinman	April 20, 2012 (2012-04-20)	1ATT06	4.31
Walter is asked by a young girl (Yara Shahidi) to find her recently-disappeared father. Initially uninterested, Walter determines the man had been talking with somebody else just moments after calling his family and sets out to find the conversation itself. Meanwhile Leo is depressed as the birthday of his daughter arrives and he once again contemplates his desire for revenge.
11	"The Inheritance"	David Straiton	Sanford Golden & Karen Wyscarver	April 27, 2012 (2012-04-27)	1ATT12	3.97
A friend of Isabel asks for Walter's help to find her father's killer. Walter refuses to seek him out, but eventually agrees to help—not to look for the killer, but to find an inheritance left behind for his daughter.
12	"Voodoo Undo"	Daniel Sackheim	Matt MacLeod & Emilia Serrano	May 4, 2012 (2012-05-04)	1ATT11	4.00
Shortly after a shoot out, a notorious crime boss seeks Walter's help but finds this job proves to be extra dangerous, primarily because he believes he is under a voodoo curse.
13	"The Boy with the Bucket"	Vahan Moosekian	Hart Hanson & Patrick Massett & John Zinman	May 11, 2012 (2012-05-11)	1ATT13	4.19
After discovering that a painting he found was a forgery, Walter begins the search for the original. However, Walter's brother Langston Sherman also shows up to bring him to their dying father, who tasks him with finding the love of his life, but there's one problem: she is in the Witness Protection Program. Willa struggles with her soon-to-come arranged marriage to Timo.

International broadcasters

Country / Region	Channel	Premiere	Note
Canada	Global	January 12, 2012	Simsubbed against the Fox broadcast in most areas
China Hong Kong Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Singapore Taiwan Thailand Vietnam	Fox Asia	January 28, 2012
Portugal	FOX Portugal	February 15, 2012
Turkey	FX	November 1, 2012
Poland	FOX Poland	February 17, 2012
New Zealand	TV3 NZ	March 22, 2012
Japan	Fox Japan	March 26, 2012
Netherlands	RTL5	TBA
Belgium Flanders	2BE	March 12, 2012
Serbia	Fox Crime	April 3, 2012
Sweden	TV3	April 22, 2012
Denmark	TV3	June 5, 2012
United Kingdom	Universal Channel	July 11, 2012
Latvia	TV3	May 31, 2012
Australia	Network Ten	June 25, 2012
Norway	TV3	June 28, 2012
Russia	TV-3	July 9, 2012
France	M6	July 21, 2012
Italy	Fox	September 5, 2012
Hungary	RTL Klub	January 7, 2013
Germany	Kabel eins	February 8, 2013
Estonia	TV3	TBA

External links

• The Finder at the Internet Movie Database
• The Finder at TVGuide.com