Previously on: Teenage Lloyd shot and killed a classmate; he claimed self-defense because the kid had broken into his house. Dutch feared they have a Ted Bundy in the making. Vic started a mini race war by making it seem as though the Armenians stole the Mexican's Box O' Blackmail. City controller Robert Martin's name was in the box, so Edgar-veda convinced him approve a memorial to the Armenian genocide. At a rally to announce said memorial, Martin was assassinated.
Vic discovered a file on his fed friend Olivia in the Box O' Blackmail, meaning his only ally is in Cruz's pocket too. He confessed to Edgar-veda that he's told Olivia "enough to get us both killed."
Vic and Edgar-veda arrive at the Barn's parking lot at the same time. Ronnie gets out of his car, bandage still wrapped around his arm from the recent dog attack. "You look like shit," Vic remarks. Ronnie finds it a little hard to sleep when he knows Olivia could talk to Cruz and have them greenlit. (Honestly, you'd think he'd be used to green lights by now).
Vic thinks there's a possibility she's planning to take Cruz down herself; it's what he'd do to get out from under someone's thumb.
In Claudette's office, Edgar-veda describes his dead friend Martin as "a glorified accountant, not a very sexy target." He had no enemies. (Well, Lem didn't think he had any either). Claudette explains the Strike Team was present at the rally because of Shane's work with an Armenian informant. Said informant told them about bad blood with the Mexicans. Detective Kouf wonders if recently announced mayoral candidate Edgar-veda could've been the real target.
In the hall, Edgar-veda asks if Vic has change for the vending machine, closing the gap between them so they can't be overheard. Kouf is a great detective and the councilman worries Martin's death could blow back on them. "Neither of us had a thing to do with that shooting by word or deed," Vic reassures him.
He accuses of Edgar-veda of trying to have it both ways: Brand himself as a reformer by busting Cruz, but not until he's done using his fat campaign donations.
"What's up, buttercup?" Vic asks Olivia. She sighs that she needs Vic's help again; the favor has to go through Claudette before she can tell him what it is.
Vic and Ronnie share a tense look when Vic says Olivia wants their help. "Am I missing something?" asks Shane, who's been excommunicated from the inner circle. Surprisingly, Vic tells Shane about the file Cruz has on Olivia. Cruz somehow has proof that Olivia's brother is in debt to mobbed-up bookies.
Shane wants to give the Box O' Blackmail to Rezian and have him return it to Cruz. This would pay off the Strike Team's money train debt and get their families out of Armenian crosshairs. How is that a bad thing? Julien enters, causing Vic to say he'll explain another time.
Olivia drops exposition on Claudette. Gayton Echeverria, known Cuban rat, is visiting L.A. from Miami. He has a meeting with Martin Blez, a denim manufacturer, about using his operation to launder cartel money. Echevarria's daughter, a freshman at USC, was carjacked/kidnapped earlier in the day by three black men.
"In that neighborhood, it's probably gang-related," says Claudette. Olivia nods: "Hence the Strike Team." This is their best chance at stopping the whole scheme. The Strike Team can recover the girl and keep Daddy's mind on the business of drug dealing. Echeverria didn't report the kidnapping to the police; he's using his own men to find her.
Olivia brings them the information on the daughter's car. "Not like we can put out an APB if we need to keep this on the down-low," Ronnie points out. Olivia suggests making rounds of the local chop shops. Ronnie asks Julien to pull files on carjackings with similar M.O.s. Echeverria's four enforcers are all Jamaican or Cuban and heavily armed.
Blez's private plane is due to land at 6 PM. "That doesn't give us a whole hell of a lotta time," says Vic. Olivia warns that Echeverria will get spooked and skip town before the meeting if he senses police presence around his daughter's abduction.
Shane doesn't like the idea of Olivia "walking us into a sketchy case with out-of-town players." They have to assume Cruz is getting a heads-up. Vic thinks Shane is being paranoid, but they should still be careful. Julien found a chop shop on Manzanita that specializes in stolen parts for Japanese cars like the missing Nissan.
In their car, Shane urges Vic to let Cruz have what he wants; his former friend needs to give up the dream of the Box O' Blackmail saving his career. "I don't have to remind you of all the bad shit we've done. You're the one who wrote it all down," says Vic. Shane tells him that was just Volume 1: "The next installment has Ronnie doing Zadofian's murder."
Honesty makes them all blood brothers again. Vic warns that Cruz will "unleash a level of violence and corruption in Farmington that'll turn this place into Little Mexico City." He refuses to let that happen. Vic doesn't trust anyone else to take Cruz out of play. Shane says someone else would just take Cruz's place. For Vic, locking up Cruz is "a down payment on me being able to live with myself."
Claudette calls Dutch into the kitchen. Why has he had Danny intercepting subpoenas to testify at Kleavon Gardner's trial? Dutch explains that he didn't think Claudette needed the stress of being cross-examined by Kleavon, who's acting as his own defense attorney. "Because of my illness?" Claudette guesses. Well, their last meeting, Kleavon did push Claudette down the stairs, which put her in the hospital.
Dutch promises Danny doesn't know why she was hiding the subpoenas. "I want this prick to get the justice he deserves," says Claudette. Kleavon is coming to the Barn later this afternoon to take her deposition.
As they pull up to the chop shop, a car peels out of one of the bays. "Got a rabbit," Ronnie says over the radio. The pursuit goes through an alleyway, nearly running over a pedestrian. The sudden appearance of a garbage truck inadvertently helps the team intercept their suspect. "Llwellen Wang?" Shane says incredulously, reading the guy's driver's license.
Wang protests he doesn't know anything about a missing girl. Four Caribbean dudes showed up while he was hanging out and asked about a Cuban girl. His friends didn't know what they were talking about and "dudes went at 'em with knives and shit!"
Wang points the guys to where this took place. "Zorro wannabe?" Ronnie quips, seeing the letter carved into the dead man's cheek. It looks more like a "N" to Vic. The drug lord's daughter is named Noelle. "They weren't wishing him an early Merry Christmas." says Vic.
A pompous Kleavon throws out all the legal jargon he picked up from watching Law & Order before asking Claudette to state her name and her relationship to the defendant. "I investigated the murders you committed and I arrested you for them." "What you're expressing is a very personal, biased opinion," says Kleavon.
Claudette advises him to "enjoy [his] charade." He'll be getting the death penalty for the murders he committed in California and Texas. She didn't interview other suspects because she didn't have to. Kleavon thinks Claudette acted out of prejudice: "We all know that serial murder is a white man's crime." Claudette reminds him of the videotaped confession.
Kleavon asks if Claudette is on any prescriptions. ADA Insardi tells both parties that's irrelevant. Kleavon holds up a prescription bottle he somehow got out of Claudette's trash.
Olivia arrives at the chop shop. Shane called a friend of his who works Robbery-Homicide; they've had three carjackings in a month that also involved sexual assault. Vic suggests reaching out to our old friend Deena the car thief, even though this isn't her M.O.
When Shane and Vic come knocking, someone starts shooting at them through the closed door. Vic goes around the side and almost gets shotgun pellets to the face as he dives through a window. Shane orders Deena to drop the gun.
Kleavon asks if Claudette was on steroids while interrogating him. "You are way over the line," says Insardi. Kleavon argues it goes to state of mind. Claudette claims she needs a bathroom break. Kleavon knows that's a side effect of steroids.
Dutch pulls Insardi aside. Can the ADA stop this deposition? Claudette's medical history is irrelevant to the case.
We see why Deena was so spooked. Her accomplice lies dead on the floor, an "N" carved into his cheek. "I came back from a run and I found him like that," says Deena. Her attire (low-rider jeans and a tight T-shirt) makes me doubt that story. There's a lot of demand for "Jap cars", so anyone could have their silver Nissan.
Vic asks if she knows any carjackers who target women specifically so they can rape them. She suggests Ghost Town Piru or Hollis Lane. Deena looks at the dead man and sighs sadly: "I liked him. He could've been the one. We were talking about getting out of the game." Vic thinks that's a good plan.
Kleavon remembers Claudette becoming unsteady and developing a nosebleed during his interrogation; he saw her fall down the stairs. "You're not a medical expert," chides Insardi. Kleavon points out he never went to law school either but is still being allowed to defend himself. Long-term steroid use can cause paranoia and psychosis. Does Claudette suffer from those side effects? She shakes her head.
Kleavon asks if Claudette remembers lying that his sister Fatima was strangled in an alley. Claudette defends it as a legal interrogation tactic. Insardi tells him to stop that line of questioning. Kleavon argues he would've said anything out of distress, thinking his sister was dead. Any evidence can be discredited through Claudette's supposed mental illness.
"You're putting on quite a show," says Insardi, "You think you're gonna get acquitted, think again." Kleavon wants the death penalty off the table; he's a changed man, in love with one of his prison pen pals. "Even more reason to put you down like a sick animal," says Claudette.
Chotzen, the FBI profiler who helped Dutch work Kleavon's case, wants to meet with him to discuss Lloyd's case. Billings warns that Mrs. Denton will figure out Dutch thinks her son is "Jack the Ripper Jr." His partner is free to beat a dead horse if he wants.
Danny asks Vic if he's signed the paternity paperwork; her lawyer wants to file it by the end of the week. Vic is curious about the rush, but Danny dodges the question.
Enter Corinne, clearly frustrated: "Cassidy's been suspended from school. I give up. She and her friends were at some pimps-and-hos party. All the girls had to wear lingerie." Holy shit, Cassidy is supposed to be in 8th grade! Where the hell did these girls even get lingerie? Stealing from their moms? Maybe I was sheltered, but I never even heard of parties like that until I was a high school senior.
Vic's reaction is much the same as mine, growling "pimps-and-hos" through his teeth. One of Cassidy's classmates posted photos of the girls in their underwear online. And that's not all. Corinne whispers, "There were drugs involved." Cassidy admitted she did ecstasy after Corinne threatened to make her take a urine test. She wouldn't say who gave it to her.
"I don't know what to do," Corinne frets. Vic says, "I sure as hell do!" Who threw the party? Corinne thinks it was a boy named Mickey. Vic promises to handle it.
Shane has confirmed it was live ammo fired at them. Vic doesn't think Olivia was behind that. Claudette wants the Cuban car thief in jail or sent back to Miami. Julien suggests following up on a statement made by a domestic abuse victim that uniforms have upstairs. The woman's abusive boyfriend is a gangbanger with a history of carjacking and has been bragging about "running a train on some Latina."
"Happen to mention if ol' girl was Cuban?" asks Ronnie. The girlfriend shrugs, "Cuban, Mexican, it's all reggaeton to me." Her boyfriend punched her when she refused to have sex with him. He's also a member of Ghost Town Piru.
Dutch and Chotzen go out for tacos. The profiler just got back from China, working a case where 37 women were "autopsied pre-mortem." Dutch tells him about 16-year-old Lloyd, who has "no obvious killer symptoms." However, Dutch doesn't buy the teen's story about shooting an intruder; he thinks it was a thrill kill. And if Lloyd is doing this now, what's he gonna do when he's 25? Dutch doesn't want Chotzen to let Lloyd know he's a cop too.
They bring Lloyd in based on the ruse that Chotzen is some sort of therapist. Lloyd says he's all talked out. Dutch goes back downstairs to sit with Mrs. Denton, explaining it's "easier to vent those feelings to a blank screen." She reports her son's been doing "surprisingly well" since the incident. Dutch presses. No anger or bedwetting? "My son is 16," Mrs. Denton says as though she thinks Dutch forgot that fact.
Ronnie peeks out a window with his binoculars, radioing that he sees a silver Nissan parked across the street. There are four guys in the loft. Vic plans to go with Shane and make the rescue look like a robbery by a rival gang so as not to tip anyone off about police involvement. Julien pipes up from the backseat, "No offense, but the only set you guys can claim is Aryan Nation." Vic has a way around that, but he needs Olivia's help getting Claudette to approve it.
Claudette doesn't like the proposal; it's too risky for police and civilians. She's sure it was Vic's idea. "I sign off on this insanity, here are my terms," says the captain. She wants Echevarria charged in Farmington before any federal cases are made. "Any blowback from Vic Mackey's voodoo law enforcement is on you."
"You don't have to wear your own colors. No one's gonna see your faces," Vic reassures the gangbangers. They seem to know about Shane's fling with a fellow gangbanger's girlfriend. Vic will allow them to take their own guns, but no ammo. Julien will accompany them to the fake robbery. "Now that we undercover brothers, don't you think we need to be deputized?" asks Burnout.
Vic tells them to raise their right hands. "Now do this while you do this," he instructs, rubbing his stomach and patting his head at the same time. The gangbangers fail to see the humor.
Chotzen and Dutch watch as Lloyd talks to a shrink. Lloyd worries that his mom is disappointed in him. He does some exercise where he addresses the kid he shot, saying it's all that guy's fault. Chotzen thinks Lloyd could be "speaking to his own shadow-self," which "could be interpreted as guilt."
However, Chotzen finds Lloyd's behavior more in line with the typical PTSD you'd expect after something like this. Dutch thinks he's wrong. If that's the case, the profiler says Lloyd is "a sociopath with a well-constructed mask of sanity." However, something is odd about Lloyd.
Insardi announces she's willing not to seek the death penalty if Kleavon pleads guilty to everything and accepts serving life without parole. Claudette hopes that if there's a God, Kleavon meets the same fate as his victims: throat cut, "miserable and alone."
Julien goes in the building first, then Burnout crashes the gate with his Escalade. While the real gangbangers do crowd control, Julien heads upstairs. Noelle is naked and whimpering, tied down to a filthy mattress. Julien undoes the ropes and throws her clothes at her: "Get dressed, bitch."
While he and Burnout fake a scuffle over some rims, Noelle runs out of the building. She flags down Danny, cruising by in plainclothes. The marked units surround the building. The Strike Team heads in, Ronnie toting Lem's favorite shotgun.
"I hear you're an attorney now. Not sure if that's a step up or a step down from doing time for murder," Dutch quips to Kleavon. He asks for Kleavon's expertise as a killer and shows him the tape of Lloyd's interview with Chotzen. "We all gotta ride or die with what the good Lord meant us to do," says Kleavon. Lloyd can be stopped, just like Kleavon himself was. "All it takes is a pair of cuffs and a cage to throw him in."
Vic parks at a house where two middle schoolers are shooting hoops in the driveway. "Which one of you fine young men is Mickey Dightman?" he asks politely. The kid with long blond hair nods. Vic tells him to put his hands behind his back. "What did I do?" asks Mickey. Vic smiles, "That's what you're gonna tell me, big pimpin'."
At the Barn, Vic shows Mickey a picture Corinne found online of the teen smoking a joint. He estimates booking to release will take about 18 hours. He bets the Dightmans are gonna love "being in and out of court for the next year, trying to clear their baby boy." Mickey claims he rolled his one joint from the weed patch that grows wild behind his school.
Vic questions him about the ecstasy. Danny knocks at the door; Mickey's dad is here and a parent's presence is required during the interview because of his age. "Your son is involved in a drug investigation," Vic informs Mr. Dightman. He had to make sure Mickey was safe before calling. Can Dad get Mickey to cooperate.
A glare is all it takes. Mickey stammers, "This girl in my grade, the pimps-and-hos thing was her idea...She scored the ex...The only thing Cassidy asked me to do was put together a mixtape." Vic's mouth drops open just a little.
Shane goes up to Ronnie in the parking lot, saying he knows his friend sees the big picture. "With what you did to Lem center and foreground," Ronnie says bitterly. Shane wants to appeal to Ronnie's better judgment, "even though I know I will forever be on the wrong end of it." "You got that right," grumbles Ronnie.
Shane worries Vic is gonna land the three of them in jail for life. Ronnie doesn't see anything wrong with Vic protecting his family. Shane knows it's more than that; Vic is trying to balance the ledger for Terry "in that big ol' box of sins God keeps on all of us." Ronnie replies, "I don't believe in God." "Oh, you will," counters Shane.
Vic thinks he can fix the world; Shane isn't like that and he knows Ronnie isn't either. Taking down Cruz won't change anything. Vic doesn't listen to Shane anymore, but he'll listen to Ronnie. Shane is aware Ronnie hates him, but Ronnie also knows the right thing to do.
Dutch vents his frustrations about Lloyd to Claudette. If Mrs. Denton realizes he's still a murder suspect, "she'll circle the wagons around her sweet teen killing machine." Is a better detective someone who arrests a guy after committing 30 murders or the one who prevents 29 of those murders from happening in the first place?
Dutch is sorry to hear how the deposition worked out. Claudette isn't; Kleavon plead guilty and she has the only copy of her deposition tape. Claudette sighs, "[I'm] more a liability with each passing day." If Kleavon can sense she's sick, how long will it take before a real lawyer does?
In the clubhouse, Vic wonders whose side Olivia is really on. "Makes sleeping tonight just as rough as it was last night," nods Ronnie, "Shane wants me to have the come-to-Jesus conversation with you about ending the war." He honestly think Shane has a point. Vic says, "I can't give back what I don't have." (Besides, he has bigger fish to fry. Like his 13-year-old daughter organizing drug and sex parties).
Vic explains Edgar-veda has the box. They still don't know if Olivia is Cruz's mole, a detail that has to stay between him and Ronnie.
In her office, Claudette confides to Danny that she's sick. Would Danny like a full-time reassignment as the captain's assistant? Danny smiles and agrees. She's finally got her ticket off the street.
Corinne isn't sure she wants to believe Mickey's story. What can they do if it is, anyway? Ground Cassidy until she's 21? "Or she can start learning about consequences the hard way like these people," says Vic, gesturing at the female side of the cage. Corinne balks. Vic doesn't want that to be her future either. "She's a good kid," Corinne insists. Vic thinks she better start acting like one again.
Danny starts in on him again about the paternity claim. Vic refuses to sign it. Danny thought they had a deal. "You have no idea what it takes to raise a child," says Dad of the Year. Danny never planned on Vic being part of Lee's life. "I may not have been part of the plan, but I was 50% of the execution," says Vic, which is a fair argument.
Danny thinks Lee's best shot at a good upbringing is Vic staying out of his life. Vic snarls that he won't abandon his son.
Dutch goes to Lloyd's house for a chat. He knows the kid planned on killing Luis and made it look like a robbery. Killing probably gets Lloyd off, but Dutch won't let him get away with it. Mrs. Denton emerges from the bathroom, putting a robe over her pajamas. She thanks Dutch for being helpful. Lloyd tells his mom Dutch stopped by to officially clear him of Luis's murder. "What a relief," Mrs. Denton sighs.
Olivia comes home to find Vic (and his gun) waiting for her. He takes her service weapon. She flirts that he could've just asked for a late-night rendezvous. He found a thick file on her nightstand that's labeled VICTOR MACKEY. How long has she been working for Cruz?
Two years ago, Olivia made documents in a bookmaking case disappear because they proved her brother was in debt to a cartel-financed casino. Cruz found out. Olivia thought she could live with the deal; they never asked her to do anything overly untoward. She recently smuggled four illegals over the border by pretending she was taking them for further questioning.
Olivia thinks those four men were behind the body-draggings on Kearney a few episodes back. She knew they weren't coming to the U.S. to pick lettuce. Olivia has dug herself a hole and she doesn't know how to get out of it. "You're talking to the right guy," says Vic, who's heard that song more than once. End of episode.
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