Ellie Klug is a music critic in her 40s at a dying underground magazine, Stax. Her editor, Giles, (Oliver Platt) assigns Ellie to write a piece on Matthew Smith on the 10th anniversary of his disappearance which most people consider a suicide. Ellie, who was Matthew's childhood sweetheart and who remained with him until his disappearance, is unconvinced that he is dead and decides to track Matthew down. After receiving a tip online as to Matthew Smith's location, Giles gives Ellie a thousand dollars to pay the source. However Ellie is distracted by Lucas Stone, (Ryan Eggold) a struggling musician who is interested in Ellie, and accidentally leaves the money beside him when she leaves to catch her bus. When Ellie ignores his calls, Lucas misinterprets Ellie's actions and uses the money to cut a demo tape, believing that Ellie left him the money as a show of faith.