An e-mail from an investigative blogger known only as “Orwell” leads Faraday and his partner, Marty Voyt, to a cargo train owned by Fleming’s firm. They discover the train is smuggling implosive WMDs inside children’s toys. Unfortunately, Voyt set up Faraday and delivers him to “Chess”, who is Fleming the CEO of ARK. Fleming frames Faraday for the police chief’s murder and sends his security team after Faraday (televised by News channels) ending with a tanker explosion.

The entire city (including Faraday’s family) now believes Faraday is “Chess” and has perished in the explosion. Faraday is abducted, but then becomes accepted, by “The Carnival of Crime”, a traveling circus turned bank robbery ring. Their ring leader, Max Malini, trains Faraday to use a special black cape for defense against his intended foes. Max convinces Faraday to not reveal his identity, as this would endanger his wife and son. He then decides to fight Palm City’s corruption and clear his name by adopting the visage of his son’s favorite comic book hero, The Cape.

In the series finale, “Endgame”, Faraday exposes ARK’s corruption. Fleming, however, asserts that he is innocent and uses Voyt, the chief of his private police force, as a fall guy for the corporation. When Dana takes Voyt’s case and convinces him to turn state’s evidence, Vince takes his family and Voyt’s into hiding to save them from assassins hired by ARK. Meanwhile, Scales locates the carnival and Voyt jumps in front of Faraday to save him, getting shot twice in the chest. As Voyt dies in Faraday’s arms, Faraday removes his mask and forgives him for the betrayal, agreeing to care for his family. Though Voyt is redeemed in Faraday’s eyes, Fleming leads the entire city to believe that he was corrupt. The series ends with Fleming still at large and Vince’s family still believing him to be dead, though Orwell assures Dana that Vince loves her in the present tense (suggesting to Dana that he is still alive).