Shane the traitorous bastard went rogue and blew Lem up in his car to keep him from talking about the team's shady dealings. Vic murdered Guardo, a Salvadoran grenade smuggler that he believed had Lem killed.
Paramedics wheeling a gurney into the hospital give a hand-off report to the nurse: They found a man "swirlin' around in the gutter." He's stable now but bloodied with some possible fractures. Corinne pages the resident. One of the paramedics shows her something they found on the victim: a badge. More specifically, a detective's shield. Corinne glances at the man on the stretcher; it's Shane.
A short time later, Vic and Ronnie arrive. Corinne explains that Shane was beaten and doesn't remember anything about what happened. "Oh man!" Vic mutters when he gets a good look at his best friend. Shane puts up his hand: "No shit from you guys. Already took one pounding today." His head and side are bandaged, his face bruised all to hell.
Shane was walking to his truck and next thing he knew, "I'm comin' to in a meat wagon."
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| I've always understood that term to mean one of these. (Photo credit) |
"Tell me somethin'. Who's that?" asks Shane, pointing to Ronnie. Vic chuckles, squeezing Ronnie's freshly shaved cheeks. Ronnie says his new girlfriend prefers that look. Shane laughs so hard at his teammate's expense that it aggravates his broken ribs.
"Oh my God! What happened?" cries Mara, rushing to hold her husband's hand. Shane doesn't answer, just kisses her knuckles.
At the Barn, Claudette asks how Shane is feeling. "Hurtin' for certain. Not especially pleasing to the eye at the moment," Vic reports. (Was Shane ever)? Claudette will post a uniform outside Shane's hospital room until they know more details about the attack.
Claudette asks what Kevin knows about the San Marcos house murders. Only what he heard. The case was being investigated by Robbery-Homicide, but they recently kicked it back to the Strike Team. The original detective found 11 bodies and one severed arm. "Machete's the weapon of choice for the Salvadorans," Kevin notes.
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| No, not THAT Machete... (Photo credit) |
"So far no one on the streets is braggin' about giving Shane a beat-down," says Ronnie. He has a theory: Guardo's girlfriend figured out they used her to get to Guardo and told his friends. Vic doubts that: "Shane got hit with a fist, not a machete or a grenade."
Kevin found out the San Marcos victims were all connected to the same drug cartel. Julien, who Claudette brought onto the Strike Team, adds they had guest worker visas. "Prisoners don't get work visas," says Kevin. Vic adds, "Especially not real ones. Where do you want to start, jefe?" Ronnie looks surprised to hear the new guy referred to as such.
Kevin still knows people at INS who can help ID the arm. But where does Vic want to start? He knows the territory and the players. Vic might know someone who can forge visas this well. He shakes Julien's hand, welcoming him to the team. Julien promises not to let Vic down. Vic says, "[Kevin's] the boss now. Don't let him down."
Teenage rape victim Graciela is being released from the hospital today, but Dutch is no closer to ID'ing her attacker. Billings is canvassing with a sketch. Dutch sent a profile to the feds and is waiting to hear back from local Y's and youth shelters. The guy is escalating quickly and Dutch wouldn't be surprised if he's already found another girl.
"Oh my God," Julien sighs as he looks around the San Marcos house, a blood-spatter extravaganza that resembles a cross between the shower scene from Psycho and a production of Sweeney Todd. He takes out a pen and a pad of paper. "Who wants what and why and how slaughtering all those people in this room helped achieve that goal. That's all you need to be writin' down," advises Kevin.
Vic and Ronnie drag in a nervous-looking white guy. "I read about it in the paper. I didn't need to see it," he protests. Vic shows him the forged visas. The forger claims he changed careers and he has no idea who else could've made them. Vic tells him the police are under pressure to make an arrest "no matter how bogus the ID."
Forger can tell by the font that the visas were printed in Mexico, not the U.S. There's tension between Mexicans and Salvadorans: "Latinos can't even trust each other." Vic tells him to wait outside and the forger gladly sprints for the exit. Vic wants to start with the Salvadorans.
They ask Guardo's former second-in-command Tejado why there's a feud with the Mexicans. The guy won't talk without a favor, namely oral sex from "a hottie" right here in the interrogation room. "Thought it was gonna be somethin' difficult," says Vic. Guardo's lieutenant believes Mexicans were responsible for Guardo's murder and the Salvadorans must avenge him.
"Guardo's dead, you're wearin' orange, so who's gonna take up the fight?" asks Vic. Tejado says that part is "bein' worked out in upper management." He lists some possible names: Octavio, Rodrigo, and Hernan. Hernan is new but wants to take over as shot-caller. Vic's phone rings and he starts to leave.
"What about my hummer?" demands Tejado. Vic calls over Officer Asher, who it should be noted is male: "You're considered a hottie in some circles, right?" "Damn straight," Asher says proudly, "Why?" "This is Tejado. He's got a request for you," says Vic.
Vic thinks Moses from the One-Niners might know who went after Shane. San Marcos is the first priority, so he'll deal with it himself. "Don't go walking into traffic, making me look bad," cautions Kevin.
Billings and Dutch interview one of Graciela's friends from the youth center. Billings gives her a sandwich. "By law, we're required to send runaways back home," says Dutch, "If you cooperate, tell us everything you know about Graciela, and promise to go back home on your own, we'll take you at your word." The girl never noticed anyone following Graciela, but there was a creepy guy named J.B. they'd see at Ray's Burger Stand. They didn't mind him much because he gave them free burgers.
Judging by J.B.'s attire, he works at Ray's Burger Stand. Billings confirms my suspicion by saying that if J.B. was giving away food, that's considered stealing and is a parole violation. J.B. swears he only talked to the girls and gave them leftovers that the restaurant would've thrown away.
"Talkin' to 'em is one thing. Spiking their soda with GHB, sodomizing, and torturin' 'em is another," says Billings, laying crime scene photos on the table. J.B. insists, "I didn't do that shit!" Dutch bets it's tough for an ex-con making minimum wage to find a nice girl his own age. However, "a homeless, hungry 15-year-old runaway is easy impress with a burger and fries."
When Ronnie and Vic arrive at Moses' hangout, the gangster has a cane. "You better pray you didn't hurt that foot stickin' it up a white cop's ass," says Vic. Moses tells Vic to relax: "I'm rockin' a pimp stick 'cause I'm cold like that." He reveals that Shane's been hooking up with his 18-year-old girlfriend Tilli.
That sounds like motive to Vic, but Moses "ain't about no sloppy seconds." Tilli, on the other hand, might have an idea.
Carlos, from a shelter called Children's Beacon, sits down with Dutch. He made a list of female residents he feels would be most at-risk, ones with known drug and prostitution issues. Helping runaways is an issue close to Carlos' heart; his own daughter Sabrina went missing three years ago. Dutch offers to take another look at the case.
When Danny arrives to guard Shane, Mara is helping him walk to the bathroom. This means Danny is treated to the sight of Shane's bare ass sticking out of his hospital gown.
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| (Image credit) |
Shane doesn't want police protection: "I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Be that as it may, Danny still has to follow orders.
Dutch didn't find anything incriminating at J.B.'s and doubts he's their guy. J.B. lives in a 4th-floor walk-up; most people wouldn't bother dragging victims up all those stairs. The building has thin walls, so a neighbor would've noticed screaming.
Carlos returns with the names of girls Children's Beacon recently lost touch with. Dutch introduces him to Billings. Carlos again relays the story of his daughter. In a corner, Billings asks Dutch for a refresher on his profile. Dutch believes it's "a single father whose daughter disappeared or died prematurely." Carlos fits that bill. And "a lot of these freaks like to insert themselves into the investigations."
Edgar-veda introduces Claudette to a man named Cruz, a Latino activist. He was the person who initially suggested a Salvadoran connection. Claudette assures him that Kevin, the lead detective, is more than qualified to deal with that angle.
In the observation room, Claudette lectures the councilman about "bringing a civilian into a confidential police matter." Edgar-veda doubts she'd take this so personally if she knew more.
Billings and Dutch bring Carlos to an interrogation room.
"Why you callin' me out in front of my people?" Tilli demands. Vic heard she likes cops. Does she knew who could've put Shane in the hospital? Tilli wants to see him; Vic is sure Mrs. Vendrell won't appreciate that. Tilli shrugs, "I'll just say I'm a friend." Vic knows that won't play: "Shane doesn't have too many teenage black friends."
Ronnie spots a bruise on Tilli's arm. It came courtesy of her stepdad after he found out she was seeing Shane. Tilli told Stepdad that if he tried to break them up or hurt her, she'd get Shane to kick his ass. She doesn't know where her stepdad is other than maybe at home because "he all about that monthly check from the county." Vic warns Tilli to stay away from both her stepdad and the hospital.
Mara stops by the nurse's station to let Corinne know Shane's Percocet isn't working. Corinne hands Mara the bag containing Shane's personal effects. Mara immediately seems upset and asks Danny to take a break. Once she's gone, Mara throws the bag at her husband, hitting him in the chest.
"Goddamn it, how could you?" shouts Mara, "Why do you need condoms when I'm three months pregnant?"
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| "You rang?" (Photo credit) |
Mara continues ranting, loud enough for Danny to hear out in the hallway: "This is us, okay? Our family. You threw it away! I've been trying to help you through all of this." ("This" presumably meaning Lem's death). "You waking up screaming. And then you're out--Oh, I can't believe you!" She grabs her purse and storms out.
Carlos talks about how everyone pitched in when Sabrina first went missing: family, neighbors, people from church. Life and eventually the police moved on. He's sure Sabrina is still out there. Billings is a father and can't imagine what Carlos is going through.
Carlos brought them 15 names. Dutch asks if there's any one girl he thinks is particularly at-risk. Carlos flips through his file: "Probably Rosanna." She got involved with a pimp and hasn't been at the shelter for at least two weeks.
Downstairs, Kevin asks for Dutch's files on the San Marcos murders and anything he knows about Hernan. Dutch quietly tells him Hernan is an undercover fed. He was already told by Hernan's ICE handler to stay away.
Vic's former partner Joe pays him a visit: "I heard about your guy. Curtis was a good kid." He was out of town during the funeral. Can he donate to a charity or a police memorial fund in Lem's name? "Audubon Society," Vic replies, "Lem was really into birds, turns out."
Joe has a business idea for Vic, but Vic can't get involved right now. Twelve people have been murdered, no suspects. Someone put Shane in the hospital. Joe just wants to repay Vic for all his help a few years back.
Vic remarks that Joe looks like he's doing all right for himself with his fancy new car. Joe also has a 26-year-old Filipino wife "to keep in Gucci." He heard his old friend might be getting forced off the job without a pension. Vic says that's just a rumor.
Joe knows a guy who owns an apartment building. His friend wants to renovate and raise the rent, "only there's an undesirable element camped out there." More specifically, Jamaican drug dealers harassing the other tenants. The landlord can't evict them because they're never late with the rent. Mr. Landlord has promised cash up front to convince the Jamaicans to move. Vic agrees to take a look at the place.
There's a spotter at the apartments. Joe gripes about how his employment with the police department ended; all his dedication and "you don't even get to leave on your own terms." Vic takes note of how many people are involved in these drug deals. He's passing on the job and thinks Joe should too. Joe can't because it's his only income this month.
Joe asks Vic to run the building for tenants with priors so he has an idea of what he's dealing with. Vic agrees to that much.
Dutch brings Princess and her mother in. He plays a tape of Carlos' interrogation. "I'm sure that's his voice," says the teen. That's enough for the detectives to be able to go to Carlos' house.
"Entrance off the alley," Dutch observes. It'd be easy to take victims there without anyone noticing. Inside, there's general disarray and dishes piled in the sink. Billings kicks in a door at the end of the hall. It's definitely a teenage girl's bedroom: pink curtains and bedspread, stuffed animals, and the boy band posters Princess described.
"What 15-year-old keeps her room this neat?" Billings wonders. He's asking the wrong person; Dutch never had kids. The carpet is freshly shampooed.
Vic and Ronnie drive Shane home from the hospital. Vic tells him they know about the affair. Shane admits Tilli's stepdad beat him up. "Jesus Christ, Shane," mutters Ronnie. Shane says it's not like he's the only one of them who's "ever had a little out-of-bounds ass before."
Vic reminds him of the risks involved with Tilli, a One-Niner's girl. Shane was told Tilli broke up with Moses. "You sayin' this is about more than gettin' laid?" Ronnie asks incredulously. Shane repeats his story: "She just shot off her mouth about us to the dickhead stepdad. I got blindsided." "Yeah, I can see that," snarks Vic.
Vic also suggests "raising the mistress bar." "If you still want a wife and kid to come home to," adds Ronnie. Shane asks if the other two have ever considered coming clean about everything. Vic's answer is an instantaneous "no."
He gives Shane a choice about Tilli's stepdad: him and Ronnie can return the ass-kicking in kind or they can wait until Shane feels well enough to do it himself. Shane wants to let it go. Vic argues about the principle of the guy knowingly hurting a cop, but Shane is adamant.
When Shane goes inside, he finds Mara has locked herself in their bedroom. She opens the door with Jackson in her arms and informs her husband, "Some black bitch called your phone...She sounded like she was 10. Is that who you're banging while I've got morning sickness?" She throws the phone at him. "You've always been an asshole." Only took a few years for her to catch on.
"Mara, please," Shane starts. Mara snaps, "Yeah, I know. You're all torn up over Lem." She tells him to leave. Furthermore, she doesn't want Jackson or the new baby growing up around Shane.
Kevin's INS contact ID'ed the severed arm as Eduardo Romero, a presidential appointment to the Mexican government. As a high-profile figure, he should've been the first person Mexico identified. Vic guesses they wanted to spare themselves the embarrassment, then snipes at Julien to stop taking notes. Kevin backs Vic's play: "This is raw intel. We don't know where it leads yet...You don't hand your superior pieces of a puzzle; you hand 'em the whole picture."
Dutch apologizes to Carlos for the wait. They were sending uniforms to canvass the area where he said Rosanna works. More information about her might help, little things like where she goes out to eat and the movies and music she likes.
"You show me a kid's room and I can tell you their life story," says Billings. Carlos knows they searched his house and is sure they didn't find anything. Not exactly. Two witnesses identified his voice and remember the posters in Sabrina's room. Carlos is confident his lawyer will have him released before the detectives clock out.
Dutch offers to personally reopen Sabrina's case if Carlos tells them what they want to know. Carlos will only do that if he can tell his daughter's story in front of a TV reporter, accusing the police of burying the case three years ago.
Vic gives Joe the tenants' priors: possession, robbery, aggravated assault. Joe looks around the clubhouse: "Lotta ghosts in this place, man." "And every day's Halloween," Vic agrees.
"Goddamn freeway. City's turnin' into a third-world shitbag," gripes a man named Lester. Hey, It's That Guy! Patrick St. Esprit later appears on another FX drama Sons of Anarchy as Charming's town mogul Elliott Oswald. Lester, an ex-cop, knows Vic by reputation.
Vic suggests Joe take a few more guys to the building. Lester is confident the dealers will be too stoned to realize what's happening: "Raids like this, I used to do 'em in my sleep. Literally." Vic's warning about a recent weapons charge falls on deaf ears, so he asks to ride along.
A female detective with a camcorder tapes Carlos' confession. Billings asks about Carlos' endgame: "Punishing these girls for running away, get back at your own kid for disappearing?" Carlos maintains that what he did was worth it if it convinced even one girl to go home.
Dutch doesn't understand how sexually assaulting young runaways would help get Sabrina back. Carlos did that out of anger at the cops for dropping her case after three months.
Dutch wants to know why Sabrina took off in the first place. Carlos gets hostile, denying he gave her a reason. Dutch wonders if Sabrina might've been murdered. "She's alive," Carlos insists, "I just can't find her myself." Dutch reminds him the deal is off unless he's totally honest. Carlos won't talk unless the camera is off, which also seems like a violation of the deal.
"Sabrina's mother died when she was 9. She never got over it. I mean, neither of us did," Carlos starts. As she grew older, Sabrina started to really resemble her dead mother. "I don't think Sabrina realized just how much like her she was. In every way." This led to him molesting her.
Carlos tearfully asks them to turn the camera again and speaks directly into the lens, telling Sabrina he's sorry for hurting her. "Oh, Jesus," Billings says disgustedly, leaving the room. Carlos begs her to come home.
Outside the apartment building, Vic, Lester, and Joe wait in a car. Lester offers the others bulbs of garlic. Is he expecting vampires? No, it's because bad breath makes for effective psychological warfare. Joe passes because "I'd like to get laid tonight."
They kick in the door of the Jamaicans' apartment. One of them tries to hit Lester with a golf club from behind. Lester wrestles the club away and chases the guy through the house. In the process of trying to stop the suspect from climbing out the window, Lester either accidentally or on purpose loses his grip. The Jamaican plummets a couple of stories to the sidewalk.
"Fore," calls Lester, tossing the club out the window. The Jamaican hobbles into the night on a probably broken leg. In the living room, Joe is cutting off another Jamaican's dreadlocks. "How much you want?" asks a third Jamaican, "We'll cut you in for half. This is some felonious bullshit!"
Vic stops Lester from super-gluing the guy's lips together. Lester drags the guy into the bathroom, holds a gun to his head, and tells him to pee. The dealer is forced to his knees and Lester orders him to drink from the toilet. Joe forces his head in. This is too sadistic even for Vic. He wrenches the dealer free and tells him to consider this an official eviction notice.
Shane is parked outside his house, sobbing. He stops long enough to snort some crushed oxycodone pills off a CD case. Ah, good old hillbilly heroin. Lovely.
Joe thanks Vic for his help. The same landlord owns another building in South Central L.A., but Vic wants no part of any further shenanigans. Joe promises he'll get rid of Lester next time. Lester pipes up with: "I guess all that badass noise I heard about you is bullshit."
Vic declines their offer of a ride back to the Barn. "Let him go, man," Lester says to Joe, "We don't need him. Word is most of the guys on his team end up dead anyhow." That was the wrong thing to say. Vic punches Lester in the nose, knocking him right on his ass.
"Did Sabrina make the news?" Carlos calls from the cage. Dutch confirms it was that morning's lead story. Another precinct got an anonymous tip that Sabrina is buried near Lake Elsinore; local officers dug up the area and found a body. Carlos is sure it can't be his daughter. Billings has heard enough. He turns around and shouts, "Your daughter's dead! You made her run away; she got killed!"
Vic meets Julien, Kevin, and Ronnie at a soccer field. Kevin points out Hernan; his handler agreed that he could talk to them as long as the Strike Team is subtle. Unfortunately, that's never been their strong suit. Vic floors it, driving right into the middle of the soccer game.
Kevin gets out of the car and tackles Hernan. "Stop fighting. We know who you are," Vic says through his teeth. Hernan tells Kevin to make this look good for the homies watching. Kevin obliges by chokeslamming the fed into a tree.
Hey, It's That Guy! Hernan is none other than Clifton Collins, Jr. He did a great job as Connor and Murphy's sidekick Romeo in Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.
Vic lays out what he heard: Salvadorans hit the San Marcos house and the Mexicans retaliated by killing Guardo. Hernan claims another Mexican faction is responsible for the San Marcos murders. "Killed their own? Unlikely," says Vic. Kevin adds, "Especially when one victim was a government official."
Hernan guesses Guardo was collateral damage. Vic thinks that serves him right after blowing up a cop. Hernan scoffs, "Guardo didn't have anything to do with that." He rattles off what he does know: Emolia ratted Lem to IAD and was put in a safe house; now she's living with her sister in Seattle. If the Salvadorans didn't kill a snitch, there's no way they went after a cop.
The late Guardo was in Mexico with Hernan the night Lem was killed. Couldn't get a better alibi than that. "Is anyone gonna make this look good?" asks Hernan. Kevin punches him in the jaw.
"Guardo didn't kill Lem," Vic repeats. Ronnie thinks Hernan could be wrong. "He's not wrong!" shouts Vic.
Mara wakes up when she hears someone jimmying the lock. She goes to investigate and finds Shane in the living room. "Ask me to come back," he pleads. He's crying and clearly high. "Our son is in the other room," Mara warns when Shane draws his pistol and shuts the door.
Shane begs for Mara's forgiveness; he knows what he did was wrong. Mara can't believe it: "You want me to forgive you for sleeping with a girl that's barely out of an inner-city middle school? Forget it. Go ahead, shoot me, shoot yourself." I'd be real careful about saying that right now. Shane doesn't want Jackson to find out what he's done.
Mara asks if Vic got Shane involved in something illegal. "He doesn't even know," Shane blubbers, "I killed Lem. I did it, I did it. I dropped a grenade in his lap and I just walked away." Mara is horrified. Shane gets into the more gruesome details, how Lem was still breathing afterward and he left him to die.
"Why?" Mara gasps. Shane explains that he thought Lem was gonna take a deal and hang them all out to dry: "I thought he was gonna take me away from you. From Jackson. From our baby." He didn't know what else to do. Shane wails at the ceiling, begging God for forgiveness.
"I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry," Shane says to Mara. "Please just ask me back." She wraps her arms around him and Shane lets out a shaky breath. Let me just say I have no clue how Walton Goggins didn't get an Emmy, based on that scene alone. End of episode.
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