We open on Daniel lecturing to his class about seeing things we want to see like Elvis sightings at malls or the image of Jesus on a piece of toast. Then, his projector malfunctions and he asks Lewicki to fix it but he's texting on his smartphone, which annoys Daniel. But, then Lewicki then tells Daniel that the text is for him. It's from Kate asking Daniel to meet her at the courthouse and that it's an emergency. Lewicki offers to finish Daniel's lecture but Daniel dismisses the class instead.
Shoot to Kate and Donnie telling that Judge Cleland was murdered in his chambers an hour ago, he was stabbed in the neck and the developmentally challenged janitor was found standing over Cleland's body holding the knife. The janitor won't talk and they're hoping Daniel can get through to him.
Shoot to Daniel alone with the janitor, Emmanuel. Daniel notices Emmanuel's watch and he tells him that the judge gave it to him as a birthday present and they were friends. Daniel then asks Emmanuel what happened. He tells Daniel that he went into the judge's chambers and saw him on the floor, he thought he was sleeping but then he saw the knife in the judge's neck. Emmanuel then says he didn't like that so he pulled it out of the judge's neck then he yelled.
Shoot to Daniel telling Kate and Donnie that Emmanuel didn't kill the judge and he wouldn't be able to concoct an elaborate cover story. Kate then says that Cleland's Secretary was the one who found Emmanuel standing over Cleland's body but that her story didn't sit right with her.
Shoot to Daniel, Kate and Donnie talking to Cleland's secretary. She says the judge went into his chambers while the jury deliberated on his case then a bailiff knocked on his door to tell him the jury had reached a verdict then she says Emmanuel went in and started screaming. Daniel then questioned the Secretary that she didn't see the judge return from the courtroom. She says she "watched him like a hawk" because she wanted to ask him if she could leave early.
Shoot to Donnie telling Kate and Daniel that either the secretary or Emmanuel is lying but Daniel says that neither of them could be lying. Donnie maintains that saw Cleland in court but when a cop brings something of Cleland's found in the stairwell Daniel reiterates that Emmanuel isn't the killer.
Shoot to Daniel telling Kate and Donnie his theory about how the murder occurred. It all comes down to the killer putting on the judge's robe, coming into the courtroom for the verdict and leaving. Donnie maintains that he would have noticed that it wasn't Cleland. Daniel then says that Donnie experienced "change blindness," where someone doesn't see an action because they're focused on something else. Donnie doesn't buy it and says that Daniel's theory only works if the 40 other people in the courtroom also experienced "change blindness."
Shoot to Daniel talking to "Natalie" about Donnie prosecuting Emmanuel for a crime he didn't commit. "Natalie" advises Daniel to "open Donnie's eyes."
Shoot to Daniel and Kate setting Donnie up in a "change blindness" experiment. A woman stops Donnie and asks him for directions. Two men carrying a large obstructing object passes between them and it's a different woman but Donnie doesn't notice. Kate and Daniel then tell Donnie that he experienced "change blindness" for the second time. He maintains that their experiment doesn't prove Emmanuel's innocence but says if they can find another suspect that fits the theory, he'll listen.
Shoot to Daniel and Kate going to his house with lots of files. He calls Lewicki to gel but he doesn't answer because he's engrossed in an online video. Daniel is annoyed until Lewicki shows him the video of a news report of a referee at a local high school basketball game being stabbed in the neck in front of an auditorium full of people by the mascot, an alligator, and no one noticed. Daniel then tells Kate that he thinks they have a serial killer on their hands.
Shoot to Daniel showing Kate the video in slow motion and she sees the mascot stab the referee then run off. They talk to some of the witnesses who only noticed that something was wrong when they saw blood. They all can't believe they missed it. Then, Donnie calls Kate.
Shoot to Donnie introducing Jennifer Britton, profiler from the criminal analysis unit brought in to help on the case. Reporters are there as well as Daniel and Kate as Jennifer was the killer is a "thriller seeker...someone who's into extreme sports." Daniel interrupts saying it's early to make such assumptions. Jennifer says the killer is "attracted to risk" whereas Daniel thinks that the killer "could just want attention." Jennifer also says the victims are connected because they represent "archetypal authority figures probably from the killer's childhood." Daniel says that he thinks the victims are connected but isn't sure how. He then hallucinates seeing the alligator mascot and leaves, frustrated.
Shoot to Kate asking why he brought his own expert in and he says that her boss brought Jennifer in. Donnie then adds that their "change blindness" experiment was Daniel's way of making him look stupid in front of Kate.
Shoot to Lewicki asking Daniel what he should do about his class. Daniel tells him to cancel it. Lewicki says that he could handle it but Daniel refuses to let him. Lewicki reluctantly agrees to cancel the class. Once he's gone, "Natalie" tells Daniel that he should have let Lewicki do the lecture but Daniel's says the students paid for him to teach the class not Lewicki. "Natalie" thinks that Daniel doesn't want to be more dependent in Lewicki than he already is. Daniel denies this and is still trying to connect the judge and the ref. "Natalie" suggests connecting the victims through the idea of "cognitive blindness."
Shoot to Daniel telling Kate about the case against Kevin Connor, who was convicted of perjury because he said he didn't see four of his cop buddies beat a suspect senseless. Daniel thinks that Connor wasn't lying. Kate sees Daniel's point and searches for Connor's current whereabouts. Turns out he was just released from prison three weeks before the judge's murder.
Shoot to Kate and another male colleague going to Connor's home. He opens the door and says, "What took you so long?"
Shoot to Kate and Daniel questioning Connor. Kate reads Cleland's comments on Connor's case and how his "punishment was richly deserved." Connor says that he knew he would be a suspect when he heard Cleland was murdered but maintains his innocence. Kate asks for Connor's alibi at the time of the murder but he asks for a lawyer. Daniel then tells Connor that he might have Bern wrongly convicted. Connor then tells Kate and Daniel that he was chasing a suspect and was so focused on catching him, he didn't see the assault they said he lied about not seeing. Daniel asks Connor if he'd ever heard if "inattentional blindness." Connor says a shrink mentioned it at his trial but the judge told the jury to dismiss the shrink's testimony.
Shoot to Daniel and Kate telling Donnie that Connor wasn't lying about not seeing the assault back in 2000 but is lying about killing the judge. Kate tells Donnie that she wants a warrant to search Connor's house. Donnie then asks what the connection is between the judge and the ref. Before Daniel can answer, Donnie turns up the television as Jennifer is giving her assessment on the killer. Daniel is outraged saying that Jennifer is giving the killer what he wants...attention. Donnie does say he can get the warrant and Kate thanks him.
Shoot to Connor's house being searched. They find old newspaper clippings about Connor's trial. Connor says that his ex-wife must have collected them. Daniel asks to keep them and Connor agrees.
Shoot to Daniel's house. "Natalie" comments about Daniel's messy house and says, "The last time your house looked like this you ended up in the psych ward." Daniel ignores the comment. Then, Lewicki comes down and asks Daniel if he's talking to "Natalie." Daniel apologizes to Lewicki for waking him. Then, Daniel finds something in one of the old newspaper clippings.
Shoot to Daniel reading a letter to the editor of a newspaper written by the murdered referee applauding Cleland for debunking the "expert witness" in Connor's trial and his "junk science" to Kate, Donnie and Jennifer, Daniel thinks Connor killed both the referee and the judge because they both humiliated him. He then insists that Connor will murder other members of the prosecution who "shamed" him and wants Connor picked up. Kate then tells Daniel that they just arrested a man named Shane Murphy, who tried to stab someone in the neck onstage in front of 500 people and he confessed to killing the judge and the referee. Daniel sees the alligator mascot hallucination shaking its head at him.
Shoot to Donnie and Kate questioning Murphy. Meanwhile, Daniel and Jennifer are watching behind a two-way mirror. Jennifer thinks Murphy matches her profile of a thrill-seeker perfectly. Daniel then bursts in and asks Murphy how he got the knife past the courtroom metal detectors. Murphy won't say. Donnie then drags Daniel out of the room and yells at him for barging in. Daniel tells Donnie that Murphy isn't the killer and that he's just an "attention-seeking confessor" who saw Jennifer on television. Donnie thanks Daniel for his help and tells him to go home and get some sleep.
Shoot to Daniel's house. Lewicki asks him about his next lecture and Daniel tells Lewicki to do it. Lewicki is shocked and Daniel says he should have let him do it the first time he asked but he didn't because he thought he depended on Lewicki enough. Lewicki thanks him and offers to make him tea. Daniel asks for chamomile, which they don't have so Lewicki volunteers to go out and buy some. As soon as he's gone, Daniel calls a cab and "Natalie" appears and asks him what he's doing. He says he's going to the police to warn them about Connor. "Natalie" then says that Daniel's whole speech to Lewicki was just to "soften him up" but Daniel insists that what he said was true.
Shoot to Daniel at the police station. A lot of people there are coughing and there's a blind man there with a neck brace. A detective then approaches Daniel, who asks to see Det. Koepher. The detective brings Daniel into another room. Daniel tells the detective that he needs to warn Koepher about Connor. The detective tells Daniel that Koepher has been missing for two days and that he'll issue a warrant for Connor. He then leaves a relieved Daniel alone. Then, the alligator mascot hallucination reappears to him making the crazy sign and pointing to him. The alligator then tells him to leave but when he tries to he finds the door is locked and no one will let him out. Later, Kate arrives and tells Daniel that the detective thought he had something to do with the murders so he locked him in the room. She also tells him that she has two policemen stationed outside the houses of the two men Daniel said Connor would kill next. Daniel is relieved that Kate believes him. As they go to leave, Daniel notices the blind man again and tells Kate that it's Koepher. She takes off his neck brace and we see a stab wound in his neck.
Shoot to Kate and Daniel questioning Connor again, who denies killing Koepher. Kate then asks Connor if someone could be killing on his behalf. Daniel mentions his son, who Connor said called him a "racist" after he was convicted and wouldn't even accept a birthday card from him. Daniel then see the alligator mascot hallucination again. Meanwhile, Connor insists that "no one gives a rat's ass about me" but Daniel then says that someone does and he knows who.
Shoot to Kate and Daniel telling Donnie and Jennifer about Dr. Robert Mills, the expert witness in Connor's trial. They reread the murdered referee's letter to the editor and says it was Mills who was offended by the referee's comments NOT Connor, Kate then adds that since Mills couldn't help Connor he's been killing off everyone who ruined his life. Donnie asks why. Then, Kate and Daniel tell him and Jennifer that Mills' wife was killed and his young daughter became a quadriplegic after a car accident where the driver was distracted because he was talking on a cell phone. Since then, Mills has made it his mission to call attention to “cognitive blindness." When Jennifer questions why Mills would start to kill now. Kate then adds that the daughter died three months earlier from complications stemming from her injuries in the car accident. Jennifer correctly assumes that made Mills snap. Donnie and Jennifer then ask why Mills didn't go after the distracted driver. Daniel replies that the distracted driver died four weeks earlier when he was too distracted to see an overpass. Jennifer then says that Mills has to be picked up but Daniel and Kate think that Mills wants the issue of "cognitive blindness" to get attention so give it some.
Shoot to Jennifer and Daniel going on television to talk about the murders and Mills has been invited as a consultant, while Donnie and Kate look on. Daniel eggs Mills on saying that talking on one's cell phone isn't that distracting while driving. Daniel also says that the killer "isn't trying to send out some public service announcement about the dangers of distracted driving," but Mills contends that the killer is "trying to challenge our assumptions about perception." Daniel replies that when someone in an alligator costume stabs a referee, no one is thinking about their perceptions, they're thinking, "Wow, an alligator just stabbed a referee. Then, they're texting their friends about it while driving to the mall." Mills replies that "the killer is trying to spark a national dialogue about the dangers of "inattentional blindness." Daniel then asks Mills how he knows that. The newscaster then mentions how Mills lost his wife and daughter in an accident with a distracted driver. Daniel then notes that Mills' book didn't sell so he started "killing to force people to pay attention to the idea of 'cognitive blindness.'" Daniel then tells Mills that the cameras are rolling to possibly air on a later news broadcast and now was his chance to get millions of people to care. He then adds that if he confesses, the footage will air, otherwise "it will go in the trash bin." Mills then explains that when the distracted driver hit his car, the driver was still talking on his Bluetooth headset after the accident, that left his wife dead and his daughter paralyzed. Mills then confesses to the murders but says that his "actions will save millions."
Shoot to Kate congratulating Daniel. When Kate walks away for a minute, Donnie comes over and tells Daniel that Kate is "really into you. You know that, right?" Daniel doesn't know what Donnie is talking about. Donnie insists that he knows Kate and the way she's acting with Daniel was the way she used to act with him. Daniel insists that he and Kate are just "colleagues, friends, that's it." Donnie then asks Daniel if he's "into her?" Daniel replies that he isn't and tells Donnie to stay out of Kate's personal life. Donnie just says that she deserves better than him (Donnie) and deserves "better than staying hung up on someone who's not interested" meaning Daniel. Donnie then says that neither one of them is probably good for her and they should let her move on with her life. Daniel insists he's not standing in her way and Donnie says that it looks to him like he's "leading her on, not on purpose, but I'm just saying that if you care about her, and I think you do, maybe you should let her know you're not interested." Then, Donnie walks away.
Shoot to Lewicki conducting the lecture for Daniel's class. He's talking about "cognitive blindness" and how everyone has a "blind spot." In the middle of the lecture, Daniel makes his presence known but tells Lewicki to continue with the lecture. As Lewicki continues the lecture, we see Connor looking at a newspaper story exonerating him then we see him opening his front door, his son is there, who then hugs him. We then see Mills being led away in handcuffs as Daniel watches. Then, we see Daniel saying hello to Emmanuel, the janitor, at the courthouse. Next, we see Kate running to catch Daniel as he's going down in an elevator. She wraps the scarf he left behind around his neck and they both smile as the elevator doors close. Then, we see Lewicki say, "the eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend." Daniel then nods.