Father/Son

Updated 2 November 2026 · Fan site. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games or Take-Two Interactive.

Father/Son is an early story mission in Grand Theft Auto V (2013). Michael De Santa and Franklin Clinton chase thieves who are towing Michael's yacht along a Los Santos freeway with his son Jimmy hiding on board. Franklin leaps onto the boat, Jimmy is caught by the car, and the mission ends with Franklin and Jimmy getting the damaged car repaired.

What is Father/Son in GTA V?

Father/Son is the mission in which Michael De Santa and Franklin Clinton first work together in Grand Theft Auto V. It follows Complications, the job where Franklin tries to repossess a car from Michael's son and ends up crashing it through a dealership window. Father/Son is listed in the family strand on our GTA V missions page, and it is the first proper look at the troubled De Santa family.

gta.wiki notes that you can begin it as either man. Starting as Michael adds a short scene at his Rockford Hills mansion, where his wife Amanda and daughter Tracey are quarrelling before Michael escapes to the pool.

What happens in Father/Son?

Franklin turns up at the house hoping to learn from Michael, who insists he has retired and suggests college instead. The two are about to leave for a drink when Jimmy calls in a panic. He had tried to sell his father's yacht without asking, and the would-be buyers simply drove off with it on a trailer, with Jimmy still hiding below deck.

Michael takes Amanda's car and heads for the coast road. The boat is spotted behind a lorry, and a long chase follows across the freeways of Los Santos. Franklin climbs out over the bonnet, jumps onto the yacht and fights off the thieves on deck. When the boat's boom swings out with Jimmy hanging from it over the traffic, Michael has to steer so his son drops into the car, then pull close again so Franklin can jump back.

One of the thieves hit the engine during the struggle, so the car gives out and the yacht gets away. gta.wiki explains that this breakdown is scripted and happens whatever the player does. Franklin suggests the nearby Los Santos Customs garage. Michael takes a taxi home to cool off, leaving Franklin to pay for the repairs with Michael's cash and drive Jimmy back, and the two young men agree to meet up again.

What are the objectives and gold medal goals?

As Michael you drive, line up the car beside the yacht, shoot a thief, then catch first Jimmy and then Franklin. As Franklin you have the car fixed and return it to the house. gta.wiki lists two gold medal goals: catching Jimmy within ten seconds, and handing the car back with little damage.

What does Father/Son unlock?

According to gta.wiki, the mission pays $2,000 and opens the Los Santos Customs garages. Michael and Jimmy are added to Franklin's phone, Franklin can hang out with both of them, and Jimmy becomes available in Director Mode. The next steps in the story are Marriage Counseling for Michael and The Long Stretch on Franklin's side, which brings Lamar Davis back into the picture.

Why is Father/Son memorable?

The chase is one of the set pieces players remember from the opening hours. gta.wiki points out that all the traffic during the pursuit is hand-placed by the game rather than random, and calls it the mission with the widest range of scripted vehicles. The same page compares Franklin's leap onto the moving boat to the finale of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where Sweet ends up hanging from a fire engine ladder.

The mission also shapes the story. Michael sees what Franklin is capable of, which leads to their partnership and, later, to Michael's return to crime with Lester Crest in The Jewel Store Job. It also opens the family storyline, in which Michael's fragile relationships with Amanda, Tracey and Jimmy run alongside the crime plot.