Sometimes You Get So Busy Runnin' 'Round in "Circles" (Episode 1.13)

Previously on: Two black women were murdered in their apartment; they had called 911 during the break-in, but it took the police an hour to respond. The 911 tapes were leaked to the local news, sparking a race riot. Gilroy killed someone in a hit-and-run, then shot the only witness. Gilroy's mistress Sedona is the CEO of a dummy corporation that's been buying up property in the neighborhood where the double murder took place. Gilroy went to Vic's house and menaced his family.

The riot in the Grove is still going strong. A police car has been flipped over and set on fire. A riot squad officer with a megaphone orders them to disperse, but no one is listening. People throw bottles at the riot squad's shields. They start to jump on cars parked along the street.

At the command post, Claudette and Edgar-veda listen in. It's getting too dangerous out there for the riot squad. The captain has to decide whether to pull them back or tell them it's time to start arresting people. He says to send them in. It only takes one container of tear gas to send most of the crowd on their way. A young woman trips and falls on her face. A uniform relays this to Edgar-veda. Things just went from bad to worse.

Danny gets a radio call, but another female officer answers that she's responding to the same address; she and Julien may need back up. Danny tells the rookie to hit the lights so the other officers can't beat them there.

Vic seems to have set his family up in a very nice hotel suite. He instructs Lem to keep everybody calm. He has the best temperament out of the whole Strike Team, so he picked the right man for the job. The rest of the Mackeys have to lay low until someone finds Gilroy. Vic asks if Lem minds sleeping over on the couch. "I've had worse," says Lem, taking off his jacket and making himself comfortable.

Corinne reports that all the kids are asleep and turns to her husband, "You want to tell me why my children are in danger?" Vic assures her they're not. "Then why are we living like refugees?" Over on the couch, Lem looks awkward about witnessing this marital dispute. Vic just has to figure out some things, so they can't go home yet. Corinne knows this doesn't happen to other cops' families.

Vic and Julien arrive at their scene, but the other officers beat them there. The female officer driving is unconscious in the car, her head bleeding. Her partner is dead. Julien radios for help. "Up," groans Officer Paula. Another bullet hits the roof of the car. Danny and Julien drag Paula and Rudy out of the car and to the ground. More than one person is shooting at them from the balcony of a nearby apartment building. Julien manages to hit one suspect; the others flee. Danny holds Paula in her lap.

Cut to Paula being loaded into an ambulance. Vic and Shane arrive. Claudette tells them what happened: "Someone made a bogus 911 call. When the units responded, they opened fire." To anyone following current US news, this should be sickeningly familiar. Vic sees Danny's patrol car and asks anxiously, "Who got hit?" The captain says Rudy is dead and Paula is in bad shape; Danny and Julien are fine.

"Is this because of the dead women who got stood up by 911?" asks Shane. Edgar-veda thinks so. Vic wants a shot at whoever is responsible, the line forms behind him. Danny is shaken; Vic gives her a hug. Claudette traced the fake 911 call to a cell phone registered to a man named Cyrus. Vic, Claudette, and Edgar-veda go to Cyrus' apartment and take him into custody.

"Where's your cell phone?" asks Claudette. He doesn't know. Edgar-veda tells him that's a problem; two police officers were shot and his phone made the call that lured them there. Cyrus says losing your phone isn't a crime. If it was, I personally would have a pretty long rap sheet.

Vic asks if Dutch is still working the gangbanger hit-and-run. Dutch nods. Vic wants to know if he ever tracked down the driver's girlfriend. Dutch says Sedona used to work at police headquarters as an accountant. All her real estate purchases went through the same escrow company, but they won't release anything without a warrant. Vic thinks he might be able to convince them.

In the clubhouse, Shane tells Vic that Gilroy isn't at home or his office: "We gotta find him before he finds us." Vic suggests Gilroy is with Sedona, but Shane is sure the mistress is dead. Vic more or less tells Shane to stop bitching and start helping him look through files. You see, in order for Gilroy to collect money from the land sales, he needs Sedona's signature. She's more valuable to keep alive.

Danny comes into the locker room and apologizes for interrupting his prayer. "You're shaking," she observes. He says he's not scared, just grateful he didn't lose his partner.

"This isn't the first cell phone you've lost, is it?" Claudette asks Cyrus. She called 7 cell phone providers; he's lost or cloned all 7 of those phones and always on the first of the month, due date for the bill. She suspects he sells the phones to people and waits a few days to report them missing. Legally, the phones are still in his name, which makes him an accessory to Rudy's murder. Cyrus can tell them who he sold the phones to and swears he wouldn't "get mixed up in no cop killings."

One of his customers is named Igal and quote "one of those Jews."

"Jews? Where?"
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Cyrus means "he's not an American Jew...one of them real Jews, like from Jerusalem or somethin'." Dutch comes in with bad news. There's been another phony 911 call used as a setup to ambush police officers; both victims, Patrick and Chris, are dead. At the crime scene, Claudette and the captain find that both officers' badges have been taken as trophies.

Shane and Vic canvass the crowd for witnesses. Shane lies that they were told a woman was at the scene earlier; she didn't witness the shooting itself but remembers another witness being present. Mystery woman is supposedly on her way to ID that person. During the speech, a teenage black boy starts to slink away from the scene. Vic and Shane chase him through traffic, Vic yelling, "Don't make me shoot you, asshole!"

The boy tries to outwit the heavyset detective by climbing a wooden fence. Vic simply plows through it and lands on top of him. "I didn't do nothing, man!" the kid protests. Vic pulls a baggie of drugs out of his pocket, threatening to plant it on the kid if he doesn't start talking. The boy saw 3 people shoot the cops and "mess with the bodies a little," two black men and a black woman.

At the Barn, Shane brings in a stack of flyers with their suspects' sketches on them. Vic will see if his street contacts recognize them. "No one talks to the press but me," says Gilroy. Nice of you to join us. He wants every off-duty cop in Farmington here within 45 minutes. He demands to know why Dutch is just sitting at his desk. Dutch tells him about the hit-and-run.

"Well, stop," Gilroy orders, "We got cops bleeding out in the streets. Half the district's on fire. There is no other case. You and Claudette will be overseeing this investigation." Edgar-veda practically whines that this is his case. Gilroy explains why he's pulling Edgar-veda off. The captain was in charge of the riot squad and a woman got trampled to death during the rioting. Two more officers are dead and "I can't afford your leadership right now. If you wanna cry to the chief, do it downstairs 'cause I'm taking over your office."

Vic comes upstairs and is stunned to see Gilroy behind Edgar-veda's desk. "You threatened my family," says Vic. Gilroy says coolly, "If I wanted to hurt them, I could've. You kept digging into Sedona and our land deals. I was just refocusing you." Vic knows what Gilroy did, but the deputy chief is confident he won't do anything with that knowledge. Gilroy has something on Vic. I'm not sure if he's referring to Terry or something else. He tells him to find the cop killers and forget about Sedona.

In the bathroom, Edgar-veda splashes some cold water on his face. Vic sees this and plays on the captain's ego; Gilroy is unfairly blaming him for what happened in the Grove and Edgar-veda will be the goat even when they catch the cop killers. It could be bad news for him in the city council race. "What if I told you there was a way to flip things around, make you the hero?" All the captain has to do is help Vic catch a dirty cop.

"Gilroy diverted police units from that part of town so crime would rise and he could buy property at a profit?" asks Edgar-veda in the Strike Team clubhouse. These actions led, however indirectly, to the double homicide that sparked the race riots and the murders of police officers. Vic tells about Gilroy being afraid of this information coming out after he killed someone in a hit-and-run with his mistress riding shotgun.

Edgar-veda asks why Vic doesn't just arrest Gilroy. "Because I can't prove it," says Vic. He can't decipher all these complicated real-estate papers, but a smart guy like Edgar-veda could. "You're flattering me, so this must be a setup." Give the captain a cookie! Vic can't charge Gilroy for the hit-and-run because he had the car fixed and the only witness is dead. They need to find Sedona, Gilroy's passenger/mistress. She can give him up.

If Edgar-veda finds her, Vic will let him make the big arrest of the cop killers and Gilroy. It'd be a real pretty headline. There's more back-and-forth about how Edgar-veda doesn't trust Vic. The captain does agree to do it.

Dutch dumps out an evidence bag full of phones, asking Igal if he's trying to put AT&T out of business. Claudette tells him all the phones were cloned or stolen. Igal deadpans, "I am as shocked you are to discover that." Dutch shows him the sketches. Are any of these people his customers? Igal isn't sure and wants to know what the kids have done.

Claudette informs him they shot and killed three police officers and put a fourth in the hospital. They used these phones to lure the officers into harm's way. Igal admits to selling each of the kids a phone the day before. He asks what he can do to help. Claudette tells him to write down the numbers of the phones they bought.

Ronnie is upset about Patrick's death; the Strike Team just went to his kid's birthday party. Lem joins them, still in last night's Canadian tux and orange T-shirt. Vic will be giving out a reward to whoever IDs the cop killers. He asks how the kids are doing. Just fine, Uncle Lem rented them a PlayStation. Lem thinks Vic should call Corinne because she's not a happy camper. The guys head off in different directions.

Vic decides to take Lem's advice. "When are we going home?" asks Corinne without so much as a hello. Vic is sure it'll just be a day or two; he has a lot going on and doesn't need another problem. "What's happening to this family is a problem and you won't even tell me why!" says Corinne angrily. Vic retorts that all she needs to do is sit at the hotel and do nothing; is that so hard? He'll tell her when it's safe go home. "Don't bother," Corinne tells him, hanging up. I bet she pulls a Janet Gavin and moves everybody's stuff out while he's at work.

Vic and Shane find Tio the drug dealer on his usual corner. "Killing brain cells is fine, but killing cops ain't," Vic says, patting Tio down. Tio thinks the community should work for a better relationship with the police department. Vic tells Tio to be his eyes and ears on the street, his hands and feet too if he finds the shooters first. People tend to brag about these things.

At the Barn, Edgar-veda is trying to get someone at the real-estate office to give him some information. Gilroy apologizes for being hard on the captain. He thinks he knows how to make him feel better about being pushed off the cop killings. This interests Edgar-veda enough that he hangs up the phone. Until recently, Gilroy thought Vic meant well enough.

Now there's a dead kid named Jesus who's been written off as a gang hit. A source says Vic did it. Oh, that dirty bastard! Edgar-veda is the only person Gilroy can trust to look into it. Suddenly, a hail of gunfire takes out the Barn's stained-glass windows. Pity, they looked so nice. "Lock down the building!" Edgar-veda orders.

Inexplicably, he and a group of other officers then run out into the back of the station. The shooter's red car barely gets half a block before it's boxed in by police cars. One of the passengers is still holding what looks like a machine pistol. Edgar-veda orders them to throw their guns out the window. One of the suspects whines that the police will just shoot him anyway. A uniform has a clean shot, but the captain tells him not to fire and starts talking to the suspects in Spanish. The driver and passenger drop their guns on the ground.

"Everyone in the neighborhood feels like they can take a free shot now," says Edgar-veda as the suspects are put in the cage. Gilroy asks if Edgar-veda is still interested in taking down Vic, which, of course he is.

Vic and Shane meet Tio on his corner. The drug dealer "heard about some punk flashing a cop's badge as a souvenir." He knows where the kid lives; his dad is a regular customer. "Dad's busy mainlining and Junior's a cop killer. I doubt Mom's Betty Crocker," says Vic. They drive off with an address in hand. Not surprisingly, it's a sleazy apartment building.

When they open the door, Dad's sitting on the couch with two syringes sticking out of his arm. "We're looking for your boy," says Vic. Sonny isn't home and Dad has no idea where he could be. Also not a surprise. If he doesn't cooperate, he'll be going through withdrawal in a holding cell. Dad thinks he can get Sonny home, but what's in it for him? When Vic pushes him back onto the couch, we see two more syringes sticking out of the top of Dad's foot.

Danny and Julien get a radio call, a woman reporting that she's dying. Julien notes the address is only 3 blocks from where Paula and Rudy were killed. They walk up to the house with extreme caution. Danny raps on the metal security door with her baton. "In here!" a woman shouts.

An older black woman is lying in bed. She tells them her daughter left and she's in too much pain to get out of bed to get her arthritis medicine. "You called us for your arthritis medicine?" Danny is incredulous, "Ma'am, 911 is for emergencies." "Well, it's an emergency to me," the woman retorts. Danny checks the prescription label and shakes two pills into her hand. "Would it kill you to get me a glass of water?" asks the woman.

Junkie Dad answers a phone call from Sonny, lying that Mom just came home. She got religion and can't wait to see him. He tells Vic that Sonny is on his way and shoots up another syringe.

Claudette gets a tip. A cell phone Igal sold to one of the killers was just used to call an apartment in the Grove. She and Dutch leave.

Sonny arrives and instead of a kiss from Mama, he gets a bearhug from Vic. And not the fun kind. Vic finds a gun on the kid and asks, "This what you used to kill my friends?" Sonny also has a badge in his pocket. He won't tell Vic who his partners were. Vic stabs the kid with the pointy part of the badge. "Dad!" Sonny cries. Junkie Dad, already high, unconvincingly says, "Sorry."

Vic asks again who else was in on this. "Benji and Twanya," sobs Sonny. Their plan had been to all squat in an abandoned building in the Grove. Vic pulls the badge out and stabs the kid somewhere else. He's getting ready to poke him a third time when they hear: "Police! Search warrant!" "It's just us!" Shane calls back.

Enter Claudette with several uniforms. Vic holds up the badge, proving this is one of the cop-killers. Sonny whimpers that Vic stabbed him with it. "You look fine to me," says Claudette. In the interrogation room, one of Sonny's legs is shaking. Dutch asks why he did it. Claudette wants to know how many more lives he wants to ruin. "More the merrier," Sonny replies coldly. He makes a finger gun and "fires" it at Dutch. "It takes everything in me not to slap you silly," hisses Claudette.

Tio tells a crack whore he won't give her a freebie. Vic and Shane pull up, this time with Lem and Ronnie as reinforcement. Vic needs another favor from Tio, namely all the cash on him: "I need to grease a few wheels. I left my play money at home." Tio hands it over.

Vic divvies up the money, telling the guys to "talk to every Boxcar Willy and bag lady" they can find. He wants to know where Benji and Twanya are squatting. Ronnie says, "Looks like it's gonna be rainin' Jim Beam." "Make it Thunderbird; it'll go farther," Lem advises.

Sedona arrives at the real-estate office, saying, "I was told there was a problem with the closing on one of my properties." "Actually, there's not," the realtor admits. Edgar-veda says he's a police captain and wants to talk to her. They go to her house, which is a far cry from her place in Farmington. Sedona modestly says she's been successful lately. Edgar-veda knows about the shell corporation in the Caymans.

"If you were gonna arrest me, you would've taken me in, not back to my place," she says, offering him a drink. Edgar-veda wants to know how the land scheme works. Sedona speculates real estate and knows it's not illegal. "Unless your boyfriend is keeping police resources from that area so it stays a slum and you can buy it on the cheap," says Edgar-veda. She can then sell it at a profit when the police clean up the neighborhood again. Sedona thinks she should've thought of that. The captain is sure she did; "seems a bit too complicated for Gilroy." Ouch.

Sedona claims she doesn't know anyone named Gilroy. Edgar-veda can prove she worked in his office for 2 months. She must've showed him how to put police department pensions in her account long enough to buy the land. He wants to hear about the hit-and-run.

Dutch thinks he understands why Sonny's angry: Dad's a heroin addict and Mom ran away when Sonny was 9. Did he know the women across the street, the ones who were murdered? Was this for revenge or a sick way of getting kicks? Twanya knew the murder victims; they took care of her. Twanya, Sonny, and Benji couldn't let their deaths go unanswered.

"The police didn't kill those women. Wally Thornton did," Dutch points out. Sonny disagrees, "They called 911! You all took an hour to show up!" He killed the cops "just like you all killed those ladies." Claudette levels a finger at him: "I don't care how right you think you are. I don't care what kinda bad life you've had. What you did was wrong. It's as wrong as it gets."

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Edgar-veda introduces Vic to Sedona: "She has a lot of interesting things to say about our assistant chief." "So much for loyalty, huh?" Vic remarks. Ben may be in love, but Sedona has a future. The captain informs Vic that he's been implicated too: "You think I wouldn't find out about the murder?" I'm sure he was counting on it. Vic swears he had nothing to do with killing Jesus, which actually is true. Edgar-veda tells Vic he has a warrant to search his house for the murder weapon.

Vic looks worried: "Ben was at my house yesterday." He adds in a whisper, "He must've planted the gun there." "And why would Gilroy have a murder weapon to an unsolved gang hit?" the captain asks. Vic's answer is unexpected: "Because he killed Jesus. I was in the room when he did it." He looks at the paper: "This warrant is 6 hours old."

Edgar-veda hasn't searched Vic's house yet. Gilroy wanted Vic to be allowed to arrest the cop-killers first. Vic phone rings. When he answers it, he scribbles down an address. "That was Lem," he tells the captain, "They know where the other two shooters are. Are you gonna help Gilroy frame me, or are you gonna go with me and nail these bastards?"

At the abandoned building, Vic asks if they're sure the kids are inside. "Thunderbird did the trick," Ronnie confirms. Lem adds that a squatter said Benji waved a gun in his face. He and Ronnie are sitting in the back of the van, outfitted in their tactical gear. As usual, Lem has the shotgun with the flashlight mounted on it. Edgar-veda pulls a vest on over his shirt and tie.

Vic tells everyone to stay close. "I know what I'm doing," says Edgar-veda. The look that passes between Lem and Shane says otherwise. Vic gives a quick pep talk: "If they want to come peacefully, fine. If not, they killed Rudy, Patrick, and Chris." As they enter the building, the captain is at the very back of the line.

The first group of squatters they come across are all too old to be Benji and Twanya. The next squatter is an old white man. It's Vic who finds them. While talking to Benji, Vic doesn't notice Twanya raising a gun behind him. Edgar-veda calls out, "Vic!" and shoots Twanya.

Vic is pointing Benji's gun at him along with his own: "Put your hands on your hand! I'm not gonna tell you again!" The rest of the Strike Team arrives. Lem asks if they're okay. Edgar-veda says yes and rips a gold chain off the girl's neck; dangling from it is a dead officer's badge. And now Vic owes the captain for saving his life.

Dutch and Gilroy watch as Benji is brought in. "Great work, David," the assistant chief praises. In the office, he asks if Edgar-veda still has the warrant for Vic's house. The captain doesn't think it's fair for Vic to be stabbed in the back after cleaning up Gilroy's mess; he knows all about the land grab and the hit-and-run. "Last time. Don't play with fire," Gilroy warns. If Edgar-veda won't serve the warrant, he'll find someone else. He adds, "You're fired."

Meanwhile, Vic and Shane are tearing the Mackey's kitchen apart, Shane climbing on the counters to look in the cabinets. Oh, Corinne is gonna love finding those boot prints. "Check the den again," Vic barks. Ronnie didn't find anything in Matthew's room, so Vic sends him to the garage.

"Ah, this gun is nowhere!" gripes Shane, fumbling around a living room table. He knocks over a framed photo of the Mackeys and the glass breaks. "I found it!" Lem screams from somewhere in the house. He appears, carrying a revolver, informing Vic, "It was in the central air vent in Cassidy's room." Vic checks the cylinder and sees it's loaded.

Gilroy arrives at Sedona's, all "Honey, I'm home!" Vic is waiting on the couch and greets, "Hi, Ben" with just a hint of malice. Shane locks the door. Vic holds up the revolver Gilroy planted. Shane disarms the assistant chief. "You planted a murder weapon in my house? A loaded gun in my little girl's room?" rumbles Vic. Gilroy is sure Cassidy couldn't have reached it.

Shane looks forward to what's coming next: "Oh, you are so over, man." Gilroy is sure there's a way out. "Shut up, you goddamn drunk!" says Shane. Gilroy asks them to drop him and Sedona off somewhere in Mexico and they'll disappear. Vic can't do that. "Just kill me, Vic! Go ahead!" says Gilroy. Oh, don't tempt him.

Gilroy asks what makes Vic think he's really the better man. Vic cocks the revolver and holds it under Gilroy's chin: "I'm not like you." "Not yet," Gilroy amends before telling him to pull the trigger. Shane also encourages it. He knows it can't be easy with all the history Vic and Gilroy have. He volunteers to shoot Gilroy instead. Vic's hand shakes as he holds the gun. Eventually, he decides to just pistol-whip his old friend.

In the locker room, Danny thinks she and Julien are becoming a good team. She does wonder about something. She tries to get Julien to open up about his life outside work, but he never asks her personal questions. "You want to talk, we will," says Julien, which isn't really an answer.

The squadroom falls into a sudden hush when Vic frogmarches Gilroy in. The assistant chief is bloodied and handcuffed. Vic puts him in the cage. Enter Lem. Oh, sweetheart, go home and at least change your clothes. He has bad news for Vic: "I went by the hotel. Your family's gone."

Corinne comes home and finds the house still absolutely trashed. Edgar-veda has a press conference to announce the cop-killers were arrested and that Gilroy was arrested for choices that led to "tragic circumstances." Vic walks through the house, calling for his wife and Cassidy. The picture frame Shane knocked over crunches under his feet. He looks down at the picture.

The light on the answering machine is blinking. Remember when people still had those? Corinne doesn't know where they're going quite yet; if Vic still loves her, he won't try to look for her. Seriously, after all the trouble Vic went to so their son could go to the autism program, she's taking off before his first day? Not to mention her concerns about the kid being academically and socially behind. Vic starts breathing heavy. He can't believe this is happening.

At the Barn, Edgar-veda won't comment further on Gilroy's arrest. At the Mackeys, Vic is sweating. He strips off his leather jacket and holster. He collapses into a kitchen chair, clawing at his chest. He looks like he's having a heart attack.

A reporter asks if the high-profile arrests will make Edgar-veda the front-runner in the race for city council. In Edgar-veda's experience, people don't like being told who to vote for.

Vic kneels on the kitchen floor amidst the scattered pots and pans, weeping.

Edgar-veda sums up the day's events: "Three officers gave their lives in defense of an institution that their boss betrayed for personal gain. It's a scandal and an outrage."

Vic hurls his badge across the room and it bounces off the cookie jar. He gathers up his jacket, holster, and keys, then walks out the back door. Phenomenal acting in the last scene by Michael Chiklis, showing how even the biggest, toughest guy can be broken by losing his family. End of episode, end of Season 1.

"Two Days of Blood" Sounds a Lot Better in Spanish (Episode 1.12)

And here we've arrived at one of my favorite episodes of the first season (and actually, of all time).

Previously on: Julien tried to commit suicide by suspect because he's ashamed of being gay. Deputy Chief Gilroy knows Vic killed the Strike Team's rookie Terry Crowley. Vic was investigated for stealing cocaine and Edgar-veda leaked the story to the newspaper. Gilroy told Vic that he can't cover for him anymore.

A Latino man spits a mouthful of liquor onto the back of a rooster. Another Latino stands across from him, also holding a rooster. They throw the birds at each other. A guy who looks a lot like Carlos Mencia watches from a corner. A fourth man has a Glock tucked down the front of his pants. The roosters fight to the death. One of the men lifts the victorious bird aloft like so.

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The spectators cheer. The fun evening of animal abuse is brought to a screeching halt by the arrival of the Strike Team. Lem is in full ass-kicking mode: long sleeves, a shotgun, a tactical vest, and a backwards baseball cap with his spiky hair sticking out the front.

Vic scolds the Glock carrier, "Cethru, how many times do I gotta tell you? Firearms and alcohol are a dangerous combination." He looks through a duffel bag of weapons and remarks, "Some of these might actually shoot." "Hey, Vic," Shane tips his head toward where the chickens are being kept.

Lemming is sitting on the ground next to one of the cages, looking sad. "Wishing your cock was that big?" Vic chuckles. Lem shakes his head, "Man, these are beautiful animals. I can't believe they just let 'em rip each other apart like that." Carlos Mencia (screw whatever character this is, he's Carlos) nervously asks where they're taking his birds. "Three little letters: KFC," drawls Shane. Lem gives Carlos a Gibbs-slap for good measure as he's led to a waiting squad car.

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Carlos protests that they're his best birds. Besides, he can help the police; Cethru is just a small player in illegal arms dealing and Carlos knows Pazi Aranbula. The name seems to mean something to Vic. Pazi is in town for Dos Dias de Sangre (Two Days of Blood), a major summer cockfight. He can get them inside. Vic doesn't think that would work; most of the fighters he's seen are Filipino or Mexican. Carlos gets some of his best fighting birds from rednecks. And we know just where to find one...

In front of Tasso's Market, a Latino named Tony gets hit by a speeding blue Mercedes, then dragged behind the car. The car drives away. Tony's friend rushes to his side.

Vic has a file on Pazi, who's wanted by Mexican, federal, state, and local authorities for gunrunning. Lem sees that there's also a 3-million peso bounty on him. At the mention of money, Shane jumps off the clubhouse couch and snatches the file out of his hand. Lem gives him a brief look of dude-I-was-trying-to-read-that.

Shane wants to go undercover to find Pazi. Vic jogs his memory about the last time: "You got beaten up by a stripper." "I was jumped by her thug boyfriend and she was a dancer," Shane says irritably, snapping "Shut up" at a laughing Lem.

Enter Gilroy. The rest of the Strike Team takes this as their cue to exit. The deputy chief knows it's been a rough year, but 1 out of 20 years of friendship isn't bad: "With those percentages, I'd still be with my first wife." Vic, unsure where this is going, opines that Gilroy's better off with his current wife Nancy. Gilroy sits down and gets to the real reason he's here to see Vic: "I was in a hit-and-run tonight. I think I killed the guy." He planned on getting out of the car, but the victim's friend shot at him and he got scared.

Vic shrugs that anybody would run from a gun-wielding gangbanger. There are deeper problems than that for Gilroy; he's a 4-time DUI loser and managed to hush it up so he wouldn't get fired. If anyone finds out that he killed someone and ran, nobody will believe he was sober at the time. Vic knows what happens to cops in prison and he can't want that for his old pal Gilroy.

Vic collects Gilroy's keys. He tells Shane to give the Mercedes to the department's best mechanic to fix as a top-secret priority. Lem will drive Gilroy home. Vic will find out who caught the case and run interference.

Dutch reports that the impact dragged Tony 75 feet. "Maybe you should call Guinness," snarks Claudette. Dutch shakes his head; the record is 30+ miles. Witnesses say Tony was a drug dealer who worked a nearby corner. The car was a four-door blue Mercedes; a man was driving and there was "a hot little Latin number in the passenger seat." Dutch doesn't think the a Mercedes owner lives in the neighborhood. Claudette guesses he was in a big hurry to get home.

In the breakroom, Danny sits on the counter, peeling an orange. She asks if Julien is okay; she understands if he's not ready to tackle the streets again. Julien swears he's fine. "Yeah, well, it's my life too, ya know," Danny points out. Julien is getting counseling from his reverend and his head is in the game.

Vic has just started to find out what Dutch and Claudette know about Tony when Edgar-veda pulls Claudette to work a double homicide in the Grove. The captain is going with her. Vic tells Dutch that Tony was probably a Toro. Dutch describes the car and its attractive passenger; neighbors have seen the same blue Mercedes parked in the area, always at night. Judging from the look on Vic's face, Gilroy's wife is not Hispanic.

Vic fills him in on a Toro ritual known as a "toss-and-shoot," in which a rival gangbanger is thrown in front of a moving car and they shoot off rounds in the area to frighten the driver away. "Maybe the driver killed the guy, didn't wanna get caught," Dutch suggests. Vic offers to help Dutch; the office joke has become "the man" since arresting that serial killer.

Claudette and Edgar-veda arrive in what appears to be a mostly African-American part of town. A crowd of anxious neighbors have gathered outside an apartment building. Claudette asks them to remain patient; someone will give a statement after she determines what's going on. When Claudette walks into the apartment, there's blood on the walls and a dead woman on the floor. "Sweet Jesus, what's burning?" asks Claudette. Danny says, "The garbage disposal. Motor burned out."

There's a bloody meat tenderizing mallet on the floor. A second female victim is in the kitchen with her hand halfway down the disposal. Her name is Tanya Kramer; the victim in the living room is her sister, Violet Roosevelt. The neighbors heard the women screaming. Julien tells them that someone downstairs thinks they can identify the killer. Edgar-veda looks eager for the excuse to get out of there.

Karen Mitchell, a black community activist, is also on the sidewalk. She introduces the detectives to Maya, a neighbor who saw the killer. Maya says they should be looking for Wally Forton, a white man who used to date Tanya's daughter. "What happened?" asks Edgar-veda. Maya says testily, "What happened is they called 911 and it took you over an hour to show up." Claudette asks if she's sure.

Maya heard Tanya yelling at Wally. Tanya called 911. Wally left and hung around outside for about 20 minutes, then went back in and killed Tanya and Violet. "An hour. Can that be right?" asks Karen. Edgar-veda will have to review the 911 tapes. He looks horrified, no doubt imagining his political career swirling down the drain. He tries to reassure the neighbors that the department treats all races equally.

Gilroy meets Vic in the clubhouse again. He identifies the mugshot of Jesus Rosales as Tony's friend. Jesus has an open warrant for possession with intent. Vic is sure he can find him. "He got a good look at me. What if he gets picked up and decides that I'm his bargaining chip?" Gilroy asks worriedly. Vic will just offer a better deal.

"So...when were you gonna tell me you were shagging a Latina in the neighborhood?" asks Vic. Gilroy sighs that he doesn't want her to get involved. "She was in the car; she couldn't be more involved," says Vic. Gilroy maintains that he was driving, not Sedona. Vic tells him to send her away somewhere; Dutch is onto the Latina connection. "She's not just some lay. I love her," says Gilroy. Maybe the two of them can double-date with Tigre and Lem.

A neighbor of Tanya's daughter Melissa says her friend left for the gym 2 hours ago. She was alone. The neighbor hasn't seen Wally for a while, but he was a cutie pie. She used to hear Wally and Melissa having sex. She thought they broke up. Wally came by looking for Melissa and the neighbor told him where Melissa was.

Vic tells Dutch that Tony recently pissed off some Los Mags. Dutch has identified the mystery woman by talking to a local pizza delivery man; he sees the blue Benz parked at Sedona's house a few nights a week. Dutch went to her house, but she wasn't there. A neighbor told Dutch that Sedona had gotten in a cab with a bunch of suitcases. "Who knows if it's even the same Benz?" Vic says, "Maybe she just went on vacation." "Or maybe she and the boyfriend skipped town. Don't worry, I'll get 'em." That's exactly what Vic is afraid of.

Lem and Shane, in matching Canadian tuxedos, ask why Carlos is willing to risk his life to beat a misdemeanor cruelty rap. Carlos raises his own roosters and they're like family. Shane outlines the plan: Carlos introduces Pazi to Shane, then Shane offers to trade fighting cocks for guns. "Can I go home?" asks Carlos. Lem puts Carlos on notice that he's more or less on parole until they make a deal with Pazi. Carlos will take the two cops to his house and give them a crash course in cockfighting.

Next time we see the boys, they're down on the farm and it's kind of adorable.

"Howdy, Shane!"
"Shut up, Lem! I'm readin' this here magazine!"
(Photo credit)

Carlos' chickens only drink bottled water because "the stuff that comes outta my tap'll kill 'em." He has a Kelso tucked under his arm.

Not that Kelso...
(Photo credit)

Carlos proudly informs them that Kelso is a champion who's never been cut. He points out the other breeds around the yard: Boston Roundheads, Solabina, and a Johnny Jumper he refers to as a "blinker." Lem doesn't quite get it until Carlos makes an eye-gouging gesture. "Oh man, that's sick," Lem groans.

Shane flips through the magazine, asking if chickens really need all these supplements. Lem leans over to pet the Kelso, asking, "What's his name?" Carlos stopped naming them; it hurt too much. "They're all called Nugget," Shane fires back. Lemming isn't amused: "These are innocent creatures." Shane drops the magazine and reaches a tentative hand toward the bird, guessing they're beautiful "in a snack food sorta way." Lem glares. I guarantee he never eats a chicken nugget again.

Vic goes to a vacant lot and arrests Jesus on his open warrant, A girl protests that Jesus didn't do nothing. Another guy tries to block Vic's way to his car. Vic badges him, tells him to back off. The guy thinks that if it was a real arrest, there'd be more than just Vic. This may be California, but Vic embodies the Texas saying "One riot, one Ranger."

Vic says open warrants arrestees are only held for 12 hours. Jesus' friend decides it's a good time to flash the piece in his waistband. Vic pulls his own gun: "I don't wanna shoot anybody today." Now he sounds like Raylan Givens.

"You make me pull, I'll put you down."
(Photo credit)

Vic is able to escort Jesus to the car without any further interference.

Claudette reports Wally and Melissa were seen leaving her gym together. She isn't sure if Melissa was going along willingly. Edgar-veda says Karen Mitchell is stopping by and can Claudette get her to back off? Claudette gives him an "It's because I'm black too, isn't it?" look.

Rumor has it Karen Mitchell was handpicked to run for Councilman Morgan's seat, vacant now that he's a senator. This means she's running against the captain in the primary. "You want to catch the killer and cover your ass, but if you can't do both, this is about catching the killer," Claudette says firmly.

Karen wants a progress report. The 911 tapes haven't been delivered yet and they got a report that Melissa is still alive. They're trying to find her. Karen wants to listen to the tapes with them. When Edgar-veda hesitates, she hopes he isn't playing politics. Isn't he always?

Vic and Gilroy sit down with Jesus. Vic tells him that what happened to Tony was just a nasty accident. Gilroy knows they weren't saints. Vic tries to convince Jesus that he's a good friend to have. Jesus agrees to keep his mouth shut. When he turns around to write down his cell phone number, Gilroy shoots Jesus in the chest.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" Vic demands. Gilroy says they don't have to worry now. Oh yes, I'm sure you can clear up the little misunderstanding about the two dead bodies. Vic repeats, "What did you do?" "Nothing you haven't done."

(Photo credit) 

Gilroy helped Vic out when he killed Terry; now it's time for Vic to return the favor. He points out: "His buddies saw you take this guy away and now he's dead. I picked you for a reason." He and Vic dump Jesus' body in Los Mags territory to make it look like gang retaliation. Gilroy rather disingenuously apologizes for how this all worked out. Now Vic just has to keep Dutch off the deputy chief's trail. They're still cool, right?

At a yard sale, the usual amalgamation of treasures is on display: candlesticks, vases, random mismatched dishes, a light-up plastic Santa. Danny tells the guy running the yard sale that there's been a complaint. It seems he's been burglarizing his neighbors and making them buy their things back. The complainant didn't leave their name because everyone's scared of this guy.

Julien asks, "You got any proof this stuff is yours?" "You got any proof that it ain't?" asks the proprietor. He's just trying to make a few bucks; he even has a permit from the city. "Dookie?" Danny says amusedly when she sees the name on it. Julien asks the crowd if anything for sale belongs to them. "If you speak up, you'll get your stuff back," Danny adds. Nobody opens their mouth.

In the Strike Team lounge, Shane is holding a rooster on his lap as he talks to Jojo, a heavily tattooed bounty hunter. He's not happy that he'll be doing all the work and only getting 10% of Pazi's bounty. The bounty hunter himself only gets to keep 20%, so it's more than fair.

Lem comes in and Shane introduces him to Jojo the bounty hunter. "Bail enforcement agent," Jojo corrects. Shane asks if Lem wants a piece of Pazi's bounty. "Cops can't collect bounty, dude," Lemming reminds him. Shane has figured out a way around that. Lem adamantly refuses.

Shane puts the rooster down next to its water dish and tells him that his share would be 400,000 pesos, which has to be about 100,000 American dollars. Lem, who's better at exchange rates, says, "Try $50,000." Jojo nods to confirm the math.

Shane insists it's still worth it. Lem asks, "For once, can't we just do what we're supposed to do, then stop?" Jojo has had enough of their bickering; they can beep him when they figure out who's wearing the pants. Oh, 2002. Lem looks insulted.

Jojo adds, "Oh, your cock's out." Both of them automatically look down at their zippers before realizing their feathered friend is indeed making a bid for freedom. I'd love to see a deleted scene of Walton Goggins chasing the chicken around the precinct.

Julien's pastor asks if Julien sees himself as a gay man. Julien doesn't, but he can't control his urges. The pastor thinks he knows someone Julien should meet.

Dutch has researched Gilroy's mistress Sedona. Vic tells him it was a waste of time; some taggers found Jesus' body in a Los Mag neighborhood. Dutch is suspicious that something other than gang involvement is a factor. He continues sharing his research findings. Sedona is listed as the CEO of a corporation based in the Grand Cayman Islands, a corporation that's been buying a lot of real estate, all of it in Farmington. Dutch still wants to talk to the Toros that Jesus ran with.

"And you found all this out since 4:00?" asks Vic. Dutch brags, "Pretty good, huh?" He has a reputation to maintain now, just like Vic. "You're gonna put me right out of a job," Vic says, not kidding at all.

At the cockfights, Shane looks every bit the part of a redneck: an unbuttoned sleeveless flannel shirt under a denim vest, tight jeans, a big belt buckle, and a trucker cap. Remember when those were the trend? "Go, birdie, go!" Shane cheers, hopping up and down. Shane's rooster is victorious. He hugs Carlos, holds the bird up high, and laughs.

Shane is still laughing when he wanders up to Lem. Predictably, our animal lover is far away from the bloodshed. "What a bad-ass!" crows Shane (pardon the pun). Lem mistakenly thinks Shane saw Pazi. The exchange is too good not to recount:

Shane: "No, man, Frank! I mean, he gets in there and it's like he's possessed! It was so goddamn cool! I won 700 bucks!"
Lem: (more than a little confused) "You named him?"
Shane: (proud as hell) "Frank. What? It's just a first name."

Is his last name Van Damme, by any chance? For those playing along at home who haven't watched Sons of Anarchy, that'll make sense soon. Apparently, Pazi isn't even at the fights. He should be there the next day, though. "You ready for round two, killer?" Shane coos to Frank. Lem is like "Dude, you're sick."

On the 911 tape, you can hear one of the Grove homicide victims pleading for help. "At this point, it's been 47 minutes since the initial call," says Claudette. Karen murmurs, "Unbelievable." "You did this, bitch!" a man's voice shouts on the tape. Claudette turns it off, unable to take anymore.

Karen wants to know how this happened. Only two cars were assigned to that block; both were responding to other calls when the 911 tape was recorded. Gilroy explains their new policy of assigning more police cars to more crime-ridden areas, known in the trade as saturation patrol. It can supposedly reduce crime in said area by 65%.

Karen is aghast that they let other areas go unprotected. Gilroy shrugs that today was a statistical anomaly. Karen responds much the way I would: "Tell that to the family of those two dead women."
Gilroy passes the buck, saying the captain has discretion on which areas receive more police cars. Edgar-veda's face briefly flashes an expression of don't-you-dare-bring-me-into-this.

When Karen is gone, Gilroy asks, "Payback's a bitch, huh?" Saturation patrols have been effect for 6 months and the captain didn't care as long as the extra patrol cars were assigned to Latino neighborhoods. The case is now effectively a racial powderkeg. Edgar-veda has the audacity to say this isn't his mess.

Dutch brings in Jesus' friend, the one who pulled a gun on Vic. Vic flags down Julien and asks for a favor. Julien refuses at first until Vic reminds him just who is keeping the rookie's biggest secret.

Upstairs, Dutch asks, "This guy just walks into the middle of you and your friends, pulls a gun, and walks off with Jesus? Any idea who it is?" Julien opens the door, claiming the captain needs Dutch for something important. Vic goes in to impress upon the kid the dangers of ID'ing him. Dutch comes back in and asks for a description. The kid didn't get a clear look, but the guy was wearing Los Mags colors.

"I told you it was boys in the 'hood," says Vic. Dutch the wannabe profiler noticed that the kid couldn't make eye contact. He must be covering for someone. Even if Vic's gang theory checks out, the guy in the blue Benz still witnessed a murder.

Edgar-veda orders the desk sergeant around: "I don't want anyone to be able to spit in the Grove without hitting a police car. And put the riot squad on tactical alert." Claudette has a location on Melissa. She, the captain, and some guys in tactical gear converge on a cheap motel. Edgar-veda wonders if Melissa was involved in the murders. "Let's just hope she's not halfway down the disposal," says Claudette. Like this place would have them anyway.

Wally brought Melissa and a bottle of champagne to the room 2 hours ago. "To celebrate?" says the captain. Claudette the eternal optimist says, "Or to tenderize." They break down the door and find Melissa and Wally in the aftermath of sex. They yank him, still naked, out of bed. Melissa covers herself with a sheet and asks what he's done. She's horrified when Claudette announces the murder victims' names. "They were just getting between us, sweetie," says Wally coldly.

Edgar-veda is in an especially foul mood at the Barn. Vic asks what happened, as if he doesn't know. Edgar-veda informs him that Gilroy is letting the captain take the heat for diverting police cars from the Grove. He leaves out the racist reason. Vic asks if there would be any incentive for someone to buy property in the Grove. "Crime's up, land's cheap," Edgar-veda replies. He saw Vic talking to Gilroy and wants to know what prompted the inquiry. "Just a stupid idea," says Vic.

In the pastor's office, a man tells Julien about his own struggles with homosexual feelings. He'd thought he was born gay and cursed God for doing it to him. The pastor tells Julien about a support group that meets at the church, a sexual-reorientation group for men. The other man went to the therapy program. He's now married with a pregnant wife. It will take hard work, but Julien too can go back to being straight. Julien wants to know when he can start.

Day two of the cockfights and Frank is losing. Shane desperately shouts encouragement from the sidelines, but Frank dies in the ring. Shane looks ready to cry. He picks up Frank's limp body and asks, "What the hell happened?" "You lost," says Carlos. Shane is still cradling the dead chicken when Carlos introduces him to Pazi. His heart is no longer in the case. Carlos and Pazi both assure him Frank's death was an honorable one. Carlos tosses the bird into a burn barrel and crosses himself.

Shane asks if Pazi can hook him up with guns. Pazi wants to see more of his birds first. Shane takes Pazi to an old green pickup. The tailgate is down, a few caged roosters in the back. He tells Pazi about the diet he gives the chickens. Pazi asks if there are more. Shane left the rest at the mo-tel, but he has Polaroids in the truck. Then he takes a rag out of his back pocket and presses it over Pazi's face.

(Photo credit)

They struggle. Pazi pushes Shane to the ground and draws a gun. Lem to the rescue! Pazi drops his gun. Shane grabs a handy 2x4 and clocks the arms dealer in the back of the head: "I thought chloroform was supposed to knock him out. Guess this works better." Lem tells Shane he was supposed to wait until Pazi showed him the guns to do that.

Shane knows Pazi's case would drag through American court for years; he'll be "properly hung by his balls" if he goes back to Mexico. Money from the bounty is just a bonus. "Thought we were gonna play this one straight, Shane," says Lem. Shane thought they changed their minds. In a word, no.

In addition to police, the Grove is now crawling with reporters and news vans. Vic confronts Gilroy with his newfound knowledge about the dummy real estate corporation. He asks if the next phase is sending the Strike Team to clean up the 'hood, then selling the properties for a nice profit. Two women are dead because of this scam, not to mention the escalating racial tension. Gilroy offers to cut Vic in. Vic is tempted; he needs money for Matthew's tuition at Glenridge.

Jojo has shown up to drive Pazi back across the border. "Different kinda cockfighting where you're headed," Shane says cheerily. Lem is still upset about Shane lying. Shane knows Vic would've done the same thing. Besides, they just made $25,000: 10 for Lem, 10 for Shane, and 5 for Vic. "What about Ronnie?" asks Lem. Shane responds, "Screw Ronnie. He's off the clock."

If Lem doesn't want his share, why, Vic and Shane could use an extra $2,500 each. Not so fast, pal. Lem snatches up the money and threatens, "Look, you do this to me again, I'm gonna kick your redneck ass!" An idea I fully support. "Don't gimme that look, bro," he adds as they get in the truck. I'm surprised when Shane doesn't retort "Bring it on, bitch" or something similar. It's probably not a good idea for him to be pissing off a guy who looks like he could dead-lift the back of a car.

Julien tells Danny about how he's starting sexual reorientation therapy at church. "God's gonna make you straight?" She's clearly skeptical.

An elderly woman shouts at Dookie that she wants her microwave back. "Bein' on welfare don't make you special," says Dookie, "You got to pay like err'body else." Julien asks if she has proof the microwave belongs to her. After the last time it was stolen, the woman carved her initials on it: EB for Emily Berry. Dookie tries to claim it stands for "excellent buy."

Emily Berry indicates a picture frame, also hers. Dookie tells her it can be hers for $10. "If that's your picture frame, how come that's me and my granddaughter?" asks Emily Berry. Dookie doesn't have an answer for that. This guy is an idiot. Julien arrests Dookie. Danny tells the neighbors to take what belongs to them and go home.

Edgar-veda needs Claudette. The 911 tapes were leaked to the media (probably his doing again) and now there's big trouble in the Grove. He needs her to do the talking: "Coming from you, a plea for peace will sound more--" "Black," she says archly.

Vic asks Lem and Shane about Sedona. She was supposedly hiding in a hotel she and Gilroy liked, but Lem found out she never checked in. Being a glass half full guy, he says, "Maybe he stashed her someplace else." "Or slashed her someplace else," Shane puts in darkly. Lem always thought of Gilroy as a quiet drunk. "It's the quiet ones you gotta worry about," says Shane. My grandma used to say the same thing.

Vic, more to himself than anyone else, mutters that Gilroy is spooked and needs to calm down and see a way out. Vic's phone rings. At home, Corinne drains spaghetti and says it's almost time for dinner. Vic doesn't think he can make it. "But Ben's already here," his wife informs him. Now Vic is the one who's spooked. In the background, Cassidy chirps at the deputy chief, "Come see the bowl I made in art class!"

Corinne passes the phone to Gilroy. He's all buddy-buddy, but Vic isn't fooled. He, Lem, and Shane head for the precinct parking lot. Vic wants to know why Gilroy is at his house. Gilroy tells him that Tony's case is a dead end. Vic should've left things alone and not gone looking for Sedona. "I'll leave it alone now, Ben," Vic promises, "This is between you and me. You leave my family out of this." When Lem and Shane hear this, they start running for the car.

"You gotta spend more time with your family, Vic." says the deputy chief. With a smile, Corrine says, "You tell him." Gilroy adds, "You'll lose 'em before you know it". Vic tells Gilroy to think about what he's doing. Gilroy hangs up. Vic hops in Shane's truck, Lem already in the backseat. "Sheriffs can get there faster 'n we can," Shane says.

In the Grove, the protesters are chanting: "911 for no one! Where were the cops?" It's taking everything for a few uniforms to hold back the crowd. Karen knows the situation is serious. In the political tradition of making promises you can't possibly keep, Edgar-veda swears there won't be another problem with slow response times again. Claudette implores for them to keep this peaceful. The crowd is unmoved.

Somewhere in the distance, shots are fired. The neighbors duck and scream. Edgar-veda herds himself, Claudette, and Karen to the nearest building and radios for the riot squad. A man breaks out a patrol car's windows with a baseball bat.

When Vic gets home, Matthew and Cassidy are in the living room with two sheriffs' deputies. Corinne is at the kitchen table, clearly scared: "What's going on, Vic? They practically broke in!" Gilroy, it seems, already left. Vic tells the deputies he'll take over, then instructs Corinne to pack suitcases for her and the kids. Their house isn't safe, but he can't explain why. He hugs Cassidy.

The protesters turn over a squad car. Claudette, Edgar-veda, and Karen hear the muffled noise of the continued riot from the basement they've holed up in. Members of the riot squad arrive to escort them to safety behind their shields. The overturned squad car has been set on fire. Edgar-veda is no doubt mentally calculating how much it'll cost to replace. The riot squad leader orders them to pull back. End of episode.

Politics is Full of "Carnivores" (Episode 1.11)

Previously on: Julien TOTALLY isn't gay, okay?! A reporter asked Edgar-veda about him allegedly raping a 21-year-old woman. Vic and Lem locked two feuding rappers in a storage container overnight; only one (Kern) came out alive. Vic is allowing his informant Rondell Robinson to continue dealing drugs.

Rondell asks Kern how he's supposed to get money to pay off a drug debt. Kern suggests that not snorting the profits would be a good place to start. Rondell isn't asking for much, just $50,000. Their argument is cut short by a drive-by.

Vic and Shane are waiting on a corner with guy named Jasper, who gripes that he thought the Strike Team knew what they were doing. He wants his $50,000.

Not THAT Jasper...
(Image credit)

Vic will set up another meeting and drag Rondell to it if he has to. Jasper refuses to sit on the package any longer; he'll sell it to the highest bidder. Vic informs him that drugs in the neighborhood have to go through him. Jasper walks away. "Oh, I'm gonna kill Rondell," mumbles Vic.

Rondell shows Vic all the holes in his ride. He didn't call the police because he has drugs on him. And also, he's short on the $50 K he owes Jasper. Rondell has been losing business thanks to, and I quote: "them bean-sellin', bowtie-wearin', skinny-suited Nation of Islam terrorists." They're also the ones who shot at him and Kern. Yesterday, three Nation of Islam guys interrupted one of his drug deals, so Rondell punched out their leader. He knows this has to be payback. "What you been hangin' around me all day long for, then?" asks Kern. Why, because Rondell doesn't have an armored car. Vic tells them to stay put until he gets back.

Danny and Julien arrive at an apartment where they can hear loud music and a man shouting in Korean. When they kick down the door, they see one of the man's feet are literally nailed to the floor. His wife lies dead nearby. Danny does a quick sweep of the apartment and shuts off the music. She tells her partner to see if he can get the man's feet off the floor without removing the nails from his feet. As anyone with first-aid training knows, pulling an impaled object out can cause the kind of bleeding that can get away from you.

The Korean man screams as Julien pries his feet up and nearly faints. Julien carries the man to his recliner and Danny pulls up the lever on its footrest. The man looks at his dead wife and opens a small chest of drawers beside him. Before the two officers can react, he shoots himself in the head. Julien gets hit by some flying blood. He backs himself against a wall, his eyes wide with fear.

Vic and Shane find the Nation of Islam men hanging around a store. All but one of the men are black. The token white boy asks Shane if he'd like one of their magazines. Vic asks to speak to Xavier Salaam, formerly Xavier Criss, a Chino veteran who did 6 years for manslaughter. Xavier appears and says he's willing to cooperate.

Vic asks about his run-in with Rondell. Xavier was just trying to pass out magazines on the same corner where Rondell was selling drugs. They had a fight, Xavier lost, and he isn't looking to retaliate. "I thought you guys were 'an eye for an eye,' whacking off hands," says Shane. Xavier corrects him, "That's the Jews and the fundamentalist Muslims. The Nation does not murder." Vic reminds Xavier what he did his time for. Xavier says he's a changed man.

The Nation has started hanging out in this neighborhood because "it needs cleansing." Of what, Xavier doesn't say. Vic says it's his job to clean up Dodge. Xavier thinks he could do a better job.

At the couple's apartment, Danny brings her partner a fresh uniform shirt. Dutch offers to have someone drive Julien home, but Julien insists he's fine. "Murder, torture, suicide, where to start?" asks Claudette. Danny thinks it was a home invasion; the mattress is ripped open and money is spilling out of it. Neighbors reported hearing a conversation followed by arguing and loud music. They didn't recognize the voices.

Kern's car is loaded onto a flatbed. Vic tells Rondell he doesn't think Xavier was behind the shooting. Rondell admits there are some rivals trying to take over his business. Vic will take care of that and thinks Rondell should be worrying more about the $50,000. Rondell can't get the cash until Jasper gives him the drugs he's supposed to be. Vic says he better think of something. Shane gets assigned to find Rondell's new competition. He does with an assist from Ronnie.

Shane thinks it's pretty ballsy of a fellow dealer to be selling Rondell's dope behind his back. Vic and Shane are sure he shot Kern's car and that's what they plan to tell the rapper. The dealer tried to tell Rondell the Nation of Islam was bad for business and thought it'd take a smarter man than Rondell to deal with them. Things are about to dangerous on the streets. Lucky for him, he'll be in the cage.

Dutch gripes that he and Claudette weren't given commendations for the serial killer they caught last episode. Claudette tells him to get over it. They enter a Korean nail and hair salon; all conversation in the place instantly stops. They tell a middle-aged employee Rhee-Soo that they need to talk about her father, Yung Ho. Terrible name in English. She doesn't seem to understand them. Dutch asks if anyone speaks English. Judging by the response, I'd have to say no.

Danny advises Julien not to spend too much time thinking about why Yung shot himself. Vic has told Dutch and Claudette it probably wasn't an Asian gang; they would've tagged the scene. There's no telling how much money the thieves got away with. Yung and his wife didn't have a savings account, just checking. Yung owned a butcher shop in the neighborhood for decades.

Dutch stops Officer Dai, asking if she can translate for a victim's family member who doesn't speak English. Officer Dai would if she spoke Korean. Claudette tells Dutch not to worry; she already called for a translator.

Edgar-veda pays a visit to his ex-girlfriend from college, Maureen. She's also the woman who accused him of rape, which makes this an even worse idea. (FYI: His claim was that she liked it rough but he ended things when it got too kinky, so she stalked him and cried rape). It appears she has some kind of art studio set up in her house.

Maureen recognizes Edgar-veda and is surprised to see him. She knows why he's there and it's too late; the reporter interviewed her two days ago. Maureen gave her quite a different version of events: "The ambitious Latino pursued the rich white girl, got her drunk, tied her up, subjected her to sexual acts against her will. He continued to stalk her obsessively. Until one night, she was forced to fend him off with a penknife." I honestly can't tell which one of them is telling the truth.

Maureen wants him to apologize and admit to the reporter what he did. "I did nothing wrong," the captain insists. He knows people at the Spanish-language newspaper and could bury the article with one phone call. He had been hoping they could make peace. She tells him to get lost.

Outside the store seen earlier, a paramedic is tending to one of the Nation of Islam members. Xavier says they were just standing there when someone started shooting at them. The only casualty was a guy who split his head open on the curb diving for cover. Xavier saw Rondell do it and chased after him. "We didn't catch him, but we will," he says. Vic counters, "No, I will." He warns Xavier to stay out of his way.

The Korean officer translates Rhee-Soo's explanation of why her father killed himself: The family's life savings were stolen and he failed to protect Rhee-Soo's mother; it was an act of shame and self-punishment. Rhee-Soo doesn't know  who'd want to hurt her parents. Claudette tells Dutch she can tell by body language that Rhee-Soo is lying. Dutch scoffs that it's a completely different culture.

The principal of Glenridge has bad news for the Mackeys: Matthew was wait-listed. "But you said we were in." Vic is working not to sound angry. The school interviewed another family last week. "I thought you said the deadline was 3 weeks ago." Vic is definitely irritated. Some of the admissions board trustees saw the newspaper article in which Vic was accused of stealing drugs. "If I really did that, do you think I'd still have my job?" he asks.

The principal tries to fob them off by saying there are plenty of other good programs in the area. Vic wants to know how long of a wait list they're talking about. It'll be 9 months-1 year. "Matthew's behind already," frets Corinne, "He's drowning socially." The principal lies about how sorry she is.

A uniform brings in a crackhead named Linda. She likes to keep her drugs in personal places. Danny, as the only female patrol officer on duty, is the only person legally allowed to strip-search her. Danny takes Linda into the women's room and emerges carrying something that is most definitely not a heavy-duty tampon.

Xavier walks up to the desk, asking to speak to the person in charge. Edgar-veda asks how he can help. Xavier made a citizen's arrest of some crack dealers. The captain says he'll have to stick around to make a formal statement. "This is my statement. We will not rest until these drug dealers and the police who give them comfort are brought to justice," says Xavier. Behind the glass, Vic looks slightly worried.

Xavier and the captain talk in the office, the former saying the dermis of Farmington is infected. "Could you be more specific about the dermis?" asks Edgar-veda. Xavier thinks the drug dealers had no fear of being arrested, but were just soldiers: "The captains and the general are still at large."

Downstairs, Rondell has arrived. He wants to hide out in the Barn so the Nation can't find him. Vic shoves him into the clubhouse and tells him that's not happening. He asks if the Muslims know about their little pact. "What kinda good is police protection if nobody knows about it?" Rondell wants to know. Oh shit. Vic tells him basically you don't have to go home but you can't stay here. Rondell shouts that Vic is coming with him if he goes down. A few uniforms overhear.

Edgar-veda asks which officers Xavier believes are protecting Rondell. Xavier doesn't want to say until he's 100%, but is sure it won't be long until he is. He'll be downstairs in the lobby until he feels the situation is resolved. Xavier and the Nation stand across the lobby in two columns.

Julien's ex-boyfriend Tomas has been picked up for stealing CDs. With his record, he could go to prison. "You abandoned me," Tomas accuses. Another cop told him not to call Julien and maybe Julien was told the same. Tomas needed Julien, but now it's too late. He's scared of prison. He really should've thought of that before he ripped off the music store.

Vic gets some dirt on the family who bumped Matthew off the Glenridge list: a banker and his second wife with a house in Brentwood and a ranch in Telluride. Vic is upset about the other family buying their way in, as I think any parent would be. Ronnie didn't find anything Vic could use against the principal, Ms. Emerich. The only record of her as far as the police are concerned is a burglary report she filed 3 weeks ago.

Edgar-veda drags Vic up to his office. He tells him what Xavier said about Rondell trying to kill him and Vic's relationship with said drug dealer. Uniforms went to Rondell's house to pick him up, but he wasn't home. Vic taps his fingers against his leg. "You doing okay?" the captain asks mildly, "You don't look so hot." "I'm fine," Vic lies.

Claudette found out that Rhee-Soo has a son with a record. Dutch asks, "You really think the kid went from loitering and shoplifting to strangling Grams and nailing Grandpa's feet to the floor?" Claudette doesn't think anyone else but family would know about tens of thousands of dollars hidden in a mattress. "You rarely see that level of sadism in family members," says Dutch. Several dozen episodes of Deadly Women and Snapped would tend to disagree with that statement. Officer Dai comes in with a tip: 3 Korean teenage boys were spotted blowing wads of cash on jewelry.

The jewelry store owner says the kids spent $7,000 on chains: men's and women's styles. Claudette shows him an array of mug shots. The store owner picks out Rhee-Soo's son, remembering that he bought the biggest bracelet. "Probably Christmas gifts for the rest of the family," Claudette speculates.

They need to take the money as evidence. The store owner is reluctant when he learns he won't get the $7,000 back right away. Dutch tells him they're investigating a murder and will return the jewelry if it turns up. "So I never get my jewelry back either, right? Why did I even call the police?" says the frustrated store owner. Claudette suggests, "Because you're a good citizen?" "Not anymore. Too expensive," he states firmly.

Linda the crackhead makes a crude remark at Danny about the strip-search. "Show her some respect!" Julien barks. Danny isn't happy about this...or the blanket party she heard about. The transsexual prostitute was hurt badly enough to be hospitalized. "Why would you do that?" I'm sure Catherine Dent asked herself that same question when Michael Jace was arrested. Danny thought she could count on Julien having a good heart. He watches as Tomas is led out to the transport van.

Tereza the reporter confronts Edgar-veda about her editor killing her story. It may still see print, however, because she left the Spanish-language paper and is now freelancing for the L.A. Times. Her first piece is about how Edgar-veda uses "aggressive tactics to hurt people and squelch the truth, just like 15 years ago." She hands over her first draft.

Up on a rooftop, Vic and Kern are looking for Rondell, who takes a shot at them. Rondell protests he didn't know who they were. Vic punches him in the face, grabs him by the jacket, and backs him over to the edge of the roof: "You shoot at me, you die!" Kern tries to pull Vic off, so Vic draws his gun. Kern convinces Vic there are too many witnesses around for him to get away with throwing someone off a roof; for his part, Kern will keep an eye on Rondell. "Next time, you'd better grow wings!" Vic threatens.

Vic goes to the interrogation room and immediately unplugs the camera, something Shane should've thought about when he got friendly with Tulips. He asks the unnamed drug dealer why he should deal with him and not Rondell. Dealer #2 doesn't use his own product like Rondell. The problems with the Nation of Islam started when Rondell was high; Dealer #2 would've just moved to another corner. Peaceful resistance is something Vic can get behind. For $50,000, he can start protection right away.

Edgar-veda is in bed with Aurora but having, um, performance issues. He tells her about Tereza interviewing Maureen. "Oh God," says Aurora. Maureen still believes Edgar-veda raped her and the article may end up in the Times. He visited her to try and reason with her and it went about as well as you'd think. She huffs and turns over.

Machado, Edgar-veda's financial backer, heard the Metro section editor likes the article but isn't sure it'll run. But what if it does? "Change your name to Kennedy, you move to Massachusetts, and you'll be fine," shrugs Machado. Edgar-veda has a case for libel, but by the time it gets through court, the damage to his political reputation will be done. The best thing he can do is get Maureen to recant before the article is printed.

Edgar-veda tried that, but she wants a public apology and he won't admit to a crime he didn't commit. Machado thinks he should just give Maureen what she wants.

Vic goes to Glenridge to talk to Ms. Emerich. He knows she had an heirloom ring stolen during a break-in. "Can I be brutally honest with you?" asks Vic. She nods. "Hollywood Division's never gonna get your ring back." The police have the resources to solve just about anything, but the case has to be a priority. Stolen jewelry doesn't qualify, but "maybe I can do something for you."

Ronnie talked to a pawn shop owner that Vic knows. Felipe hasn't seen Ms. Emerich's ring, but he's asking around. He also bet Ronnie $50 that he could find it in less than 12 hours. Vic thinks taking him on it was a bad idea.

Claudette knows Rhee-Soo's son Nam has been in trouble before. Rhee-Soo will only talk to Dutch. "Why?" he asks. Claudette pointedly taps her skin. "Oh no! You tell her we don't do that," he says to the interpreter. Claudette is okay with it as long as she's willing to cooperate. Dutch wants the interpreter to ask Rhee-Soo about Nam's relationship with his grandmother. "If she thinks you're prying into her family's business, she'll shut down completely," the interpreter warns.

Dutch is frustrated. Claudette tells him to just roll with it. He asks Rhee-Soo where Nam liked to hang out with his friends Paul and Kenny. Nam slept over at Kenny's. However, Kenny's mom was told that Kenny was staying over with Nam. Officer Dai comes in to report there's been another home invasion.

Just like Yung, these burglary victims are Korean. Dutch talks to the teenage son/grandson away from the arguing older members of the family. The burglars stole the family's cash, along with the teen's XBOX and games. He recognized the robbery crew as his cousin and his cousin's two friends.

Danny and Julien arrive at a house. A hysterical woman meets their car, talking in rapid Spanish. She's hosting a graduation party and one of the guests has a gun. Danny immediately calls for backup, then sends Julien through the house while she checks the side yard.

Julien finds the suspect out back. The guy fires a few shots that don't seem to hit anyone, then jumps the backyard fence. Julien chases him, ignoring his partner's warning to wait. The suspects trips himself up and ends up with his back against a chainlink fence. He looks all of 16-17 years old. Drawing his revolver, he warns Julien, "Get back. I'll shoot." Julien holsters his gun and takes a step closer, calmly intoning, "Go ahead."

Backup arrives not a minute too soon. Julien takes the kid's gun away. When he and Danny get back to the Barn, they're greeted with applause from their fellow cops and oily words of praise from the captain. Danny takes Julien into the bathroom and confronts him. She knows he isn't wearing a vest: "Did you wanna get shot? Julien, did you wanna die? Why? You can tell me." Julien feels guilty about being gay. He leaves before he can start crying in front of her.

Vic knows who tried to kill Kern: Rondell's friend Tio AKA Dealer #2. Rondell is a liability and will no longer be under Vic's protection. He almost got Vic in a lot of trouble. "He got one of my acts high, ruined the whole session," fumes Kern. Tio is willing to make up for the money lost on her studio time. Kern doesn't like the idea of turning on Rondell; they grew up together.

Dutch and Claudette find Nam, Kenny, Paul, and company having a party involving XBOX and a lot of weed. "When I was a kid, we just tipped cows," says Dutch.

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Claudette wonders why Nam and his friends are robbing their own relatives. Simple, they wanted things like video games and jewelry, but they didn't want to work for them. Nam didn't kill his grandma; that was Kenny, but he still blames Grandma for not telling them where she hid the money. Kenny also nailed Grandpa Yung's feet to the floor because the old man wouldn't sit still while his house was being robbed and his wife murdered. The Korean officer translates his confession and Rhee-Soo starts to cry.

And will ya look at that? Vic found Ms. Emerich's ring. She doesn't know how to thank him. "You know how to thank me," says Vic. He knows the Mackey family will be an asset to Glenridge.

When Vic leaves work, he has to walk the Nation of Islam gauntlet. He tells Xavier that he won't be having anymore issues with Rondell. Xavier doubts it. He wants Vic to admit he's evil. "I'm outta here," says Vic, "Sure you don't wanna wait this out at the Best Western?" Xavier tells Vic to go ahead and rest: "Peddlers of illegal drugs can hide, but we know where to find you."

Edgar-veda stupidly goes back to Maureen's house alone. He knows she's still upset, but she needs to tell the truth. "You need me?" she murmurs, stroking his arm. Oh boy. He tells her that he's married. Maureen wants him to admit to what he did. She leans in for a kiss. Edgar-veda reaches into the back of her jeans and pulls out a small recorder.

Maureen says he knows damn well what happened. She was young and wanted to explore her sexuality. Edgar-veda enjoyed until he got bored and started telling his friends about "the crazy white bitch who liked to be tied up and choked." Given what a manipulative asshole he is now, her version of the story is sounding a lot more plausible. Two of Edgar-veda's friends came to Maureen's dorm and raped her because "they heard I liked it."

It's obvious this is the first time Edgar-veda has heard about that detail. "Oh my God," he says softly, "Who?" "Mark and Peter," she replies. Edgar-veda says he barely knew them. Maureen accuses him of sending Mark and Peter to rape her. He didn't know they would rape her and he's sorry about what they did to her. She slaps him across the face, growling, "You are responsible. You tell that slut you married I feel sorry for her." Wow.

At home, Corinne tells Vic that Matthew got accepted to Glenridge and asks how he pulled it off. Vic pretends it's news to him. "What did you do?" she asks again. Vic shrugs, "Nothing that any dad wouldn't do." Corinne hugs him ecstatically, then wonders what'll happen to the other family. "They missed the deadline, broke the rules," but they're also rich and he's sure they'll find another place for their kid.

A young black man's body is found on a sidewalk, more specifically, Rondell's body. Dutch sums it up: multiple gunshot wounds and no witnesses. End of episode.

"Dragonchasers" Aren't a Pokemon Go Team (Episode 1.10)

Previously on: An underage prostitute nicknamed Sally (as in Struthers) was murdered, one of a string of other "working girls" killed. Dutch is obsessed with finding the guy responsible. Julien is totally not gay. Crack Whore Connie stabbed a john in not-quite-self-defense. She was afraid of losing her son, so Vic agreed to hit to make the story that the john attacked her more convincing.

At a strip club, Vic gets a lapdance from a woman in purple glitter pasties and matching G-string. She suggests they move their party from the VIP room to the alley behind the club. The stripper leads him outside to a conveniently placed pleather couch. She tells him they have to make it a quickie; she doesn't want her boss to find out.

Elsewhere, the rest of the Strike Team listens in from their van. The stripper asks the age-old question, "How do I know you're not a cop?" "If I were a cop, would I do this?" asks Vic before doing something that makes the stripper moan. The guy laughs. Lemming, the true professional, has a more important concern: How will they know when the muggers try to jump Vic? They need to bust her now. "Oh, and ruin a good thing? He'd kill us." says Shane.

Danny and Julien catch a man masturbating in an alley. Danny orders, "Get your hands out of your pants and put 'em up!" The guy repeats that he can explain. No, I really don't think you can. Julien checks his ID and finds the guy is from Pasadena. Danny makes it sound like he's a long way from home. Google Maps says more like 20 minutes. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever done," says the masturbator.

And no, it's not this guy.
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Vic gets back in the van with a sigh and the other guys pats him on the back. He guesses Purple Pasties isn't part of the mugging ring. "You nailed her, didn't you?" asks Shane. Vic replies, "Like I'd tell you 3." Oh, come on, you would. Vic's phone rings and it's Connie. Whoops, gotta run. He says to wait half an hour before sending the next guy in and keep rotating out until somebody gets jumped. Whenever it's Lemming's turn, I imagine the conversation going something like this.

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In a convenience store, Connie is kneeling on the ground next to an unconscious woman while a paramedic packs up his gear. Connie's baby son is screaming. Connie is in tears muttering that she's sorry. Vic asks what happened. Connie says the dead woman is her mom.

Ronnie is next to run the gauntlet. He uses his own name to introduce himself to the stripper. "Amateur," scoffs Shane. The stripper asks what Ronnie is "into." He dumbly tells her that he plays golf. Ronnie stammers, asking her to "tease him...not really take it off but almost." Lemming seems to be enjoying this far too much. Shane can't stand to listen to this anymore; he's going in. Lemming shakes his head: "Ronnie, Ronnie, Ronnie."

Couldn't help it.
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Vic brings Connie a jar of baby food and a plastic spoon, asking what she plans to do. Her mom had been the one who mostly took care of Baby Brian. Connie says she'll get clean and won't need help with the baby. "You can barely take care of yourself," Vic points out. If he offers to adopt the kid, Corinne will probably kill him. "They can't take Brian. He's all I got left," Connie whimpers as the medics take her mother's body out on a stretcher, "Help me, Vic. You can get me through this."

Vic doesn't think that's a good idea; she needs a professional. Connie is afraid that if she goes to rehab, the court will use that to take away Brian and her welfare checks. She hasn't gotten high in 12 hours and the next 48 will be the worst. She has to get clean; she's Brian's mom.

At the Barn, a reporter from a Spanish-language newspaper interviews Edgar-veda. He brags about how much the crime rate in Farmington has declined since he took over. She thinks it's ironic they're using an old church: "God moved out, the cops moved in." Edgar-veda, trying to be clever, answers, "God's still here. We just sublet." The reporter wants to interview some of his officers for background. Hopefully, she doesn't talk to Vic.

Around the vending machines, Danny tells some other uniforms about the Koreatown alley masturbator. "Wasn't even homeless, just a regular Joe from Pasadena," adds Julien. This piques Dutch's interest. Which alley? Next to the laundromat that keeps getting robbed. "He's not horning in on your territory, is he, Detective?" jokes a uniform. Dutch wants to know what the guy's name was; it had to have been on the ticket. They just gave him a verbal warning, but Julien remembers it was Sean Taylor.

Vic checks Connie's mother's apartment for drugs and warns, "If you put yourself or this kid in harm's way, DCFS isn't gonna take him away; I am." He advises her to stay hydrated and eat bananas. One of the guys from the Strike Team is coming to sit with her. My money is on Lemming; he gets all the fun jobs. Vic will take Brian home with him so he doesn't have to watch his mom go through withdrawal.

Shane gets a lap dance from a girl in a purple sequined bikini top. Seriously, does this place have a dress code or something? She calls him hot and gives him the old "I don't usually do this, but let's have sex in the alley." Outside, Shane puts her against the wall of the club and starts kissing her. In the van, Lemming can't believe Ronnie tried to talk to a stripper about golf. He hears sex noises through the headphones and chuckles, "He shoots, he scores!"

The microphone on Shane's wire squeals, wiping the smirk off Lemming's face in a hurry. He and Ronnie jump out of the van in time to stop the guy from kicking Shane's ass any further. Lemming asks his loudly groaning pal the stupid thing: "Are you all right?"

Dutch shows Danny a DMV photo of Sean Taylor and she confirms that's the guy. Julien is bringing a struggling transsexual prostitute to the cage; 'she' has been charged with soliciting a police officer for sex. "I'm not going in there!" the hooker protests. When Julien takes the cuffs off, the hooker knocks and Danny over and starts biting her arm. "Get him off!" Danny shrieks in a panic. Julien and another officer get 'her' under control.

Danny stands up and sprints for the bathroom. The skin on her forearm is broken. She runs it under hot water. Julien checks on her. Danny asks him to drive her to the hospital for a blood test and PEP (Post-Exposure Prevention) in case the prostitute has AIDS. "You think he does?" Julien asks worriedly. Danny replies, "You saw the guy."

Shane gripes to Lemming about the mugger breaking up his magic moment with the stripper. He knows it wasn't an act and "she really felt something." Lemming thinks it was probably the roll of $20s Shane had in his pocket. "She was rubbing her ass all over my hands. They don't just do that for everyone," Shane insists. All righty then.

Dutch visits Sean Taylor at the garage where he works. Sean has a calendar on display with pictures of Chicago landmarks on it. He explains that he's from Rockford, Illinois. Dutch explains that he's there because Sean should've been given a ticket. Sean says he's embarrassed about it but doesn't quite look it. Dutch tries to get the guy's guard down by asking if there might be something wrong with his car radio; all the stations are in Spanish. "That's just Los Angeles," says Sean.

When Vic walks in the house carrying Brian, Corinne remarks, "Some husbands just bring home flowers." She asks who the baby is. Vic tells her that Brian is Connie's son: "This hooker, I'll explain later." "You brought a prostitute's child home?" Corinne gasps.

Vic fills her in on the situation: Connie's mother died of a stroke and Connie is trying to kick her drug habit so the state won't take Brian. Wisely, he leaves out the part about Connie potentially losing her welfare. It's only for one night and Vic doesn't trust anyone else with Brian. "I hate you," hisses Corinne. Vic says he loves her too.

Dutch shares a theory with Claudette: Sean the alley masturbator is the serial killer he's been hunting. He just finished interviewing Sean's aunt, who raised him; his early childhood fits a serial killer's profile. Also, the alley where Danni and Julien found him was 2 blocks from the corner Sally usually worked. "You never established Sally was killed in that alley," Claudette points out.

Dutch goes on that Sean is an opportunity offender, only killing when presented with the right victim under the right circumstances. In the absence of an opportunity, he might fantasize and relive an earlier crime. Sean has a cozy little apartment in Pasadena. Why drive to one of the worst parts of Los Angeles to masturbate outdoors?

At Connie's place, she's sweaty and complaining about cramps. She tries to get out of bed. When Ronnie tries to get her to relax, she slaps him in the face. Then she immediately leans over the side of the bed and pukes on the floor. "She hit me!" Ronnie shouts as Vic comes in. Vic sits next to her on the bed and helps her drink some water. "I love you, Vic," sobs Connie.

The stripper, now in an interrogation room, asks Shane if his head is okay. "No, it hurts," he answers. The stripper apologizes; she didn't know he was a cop. Like it would be totally fine if he'd just been an average citizen? She wanted to stop Carl from hurting Shane because she thinks he's sexy. She guesses that he's Southern. "Atlanta, thereabouts," Shane confirms. The stripper purrs, "Hot-lanta." I've seriously never understood the origin of that nickname. I was in Atlanta last summer and didn't find the temperature that bad. In fact, the hottest place I've ever been during summer is a toss-up between DC and Chicago.

Anyway, Shane asks about Carl. Carl introduced her to the club owner and that's when she started--"Stripping?" Shane supplies. The girl gives him a snotty look and says, "I'm a dancer."

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Carl had the idea to start robbing customers. He was supplying her with epilepsy medicine, so she felt like she owed him. Yeah, right. A strip club is one of the worst possible places for an epileptic with all the strobe lights and whatnot. Shane doesn't ask why she can't just see a doctor and get a prescription like the rest of the epileptic population. The stripper knew it was wrong, but Carl is just so darn sweet. "He hit me in the head with a tire iron," Shane disagrees.

Sean asks why Dutch has been bothering his aunt. She told them all about the house fire that killed Sean's parents. Claudette gives his aunt credit for taking him in. Dutch flatters Sean, telling him that "excelling in the face of tragedy speaks volumes about your character." Sean, it seems, graduated from college magna cum laude and turned down a full ride to law school. Who does that and starts installing car stereos for a living?

Sean chuckles. He wishes they'd just write him a ticket for public lewdness and be done with this whole thing. Dutch asks if Sean likes to hunt. He talked to a detective in Rockford. When Sean was 15, he went out hunting with his best friend Mike and only one of the boys made it out of the woods alive. "It was an accident," Sean insists, adding that psychoanalyzation seems out of Dutch's league, "I know a lot more about you than you'll ever know about me."

"Either this guy is innocent or he doesn't scare easily," Claudette surmises in the squadroom. They need to find some physical evidence or they can't hold Sean.

Connie is shouting that she wants to go home. "You are home, honey," Vic soothes. Connie begins crying, shrieking that she wants to die. Then she starts to ramble: "We had sex. I told him it was time to pay. He said that he didn't have to pay. That's when he started hitting me! He pulled out a gun! I took it and I shot him!" Ronnie, now sporting a flowered Band-Aid, asks what she's talking about. Connie orders Vic to hit her.

Tereza the reporter asks Claudette about Edgar-veda. Relationships? Effectiveness? People skills? Claudette sums it up: he does fine with people "and our relationship is he's my boss." Tereza asks if people resent that he rose through the ranks doing desk jobs rather than being on the street. Claudette doesn't. They're one big, happy family aside from occasional arguments. "You're talking about the Strike Team," says Tereza. Claudette asks, "Am I?" Tereza knows about the excessive force complaints, investigations, and civil lawsuits.

"Carl totally rolled on Tulips," Lem tells Shane. Shane says that she also rolled on Carl: "He's like this Svengali guy that got a buncha the dancers to go along with his little bait and bash scheme." Carl told Lemming a different story; Tulips organized the muggings. "She's an epileptic hottie, not Amy Fisher," says Shane. Amy Fisher is better known as the "Long Island Lolita" who at the age of 17 shot her lover's wife.

Vic asks who the ringleader is. Lemming and Shane talk over each other: "Her!" "Him!" Vic puts his hands on his hips and says, "This is the easiest case we've had all year. Are you telling me I have to get involved?" Basically. "No," the dynamic duo says in unison. Vic tells them to get to the bottom of it or just arrest both "for kicking Shane's ass." "I didn't get my ass kicked. I got sucker-punched," Shane argues.

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Danny is back from the hospital. Until they can subpoena the prostitutes medical records, she has to take antiretrovirals and get her blood tested every 30 days. I have a paramedic friend who accidentally stuck himself with a needle at work and had to take those pills, so I feel for Danny. I'd never seen my friend crankier or sicker. Fortunately, he didn't get HIV.

Julien feels guilty for taking his eyes off the biter; hitting him with the baton sent blood into his partner's cut. She tells him not to worry about it. Another uniform says to Julien, "You let loose on that queer pretty good last night, huh? You did the right thing." The unnamed uniform wants to send a message by way of a blanket party. Danny tells them not to do it. They shrug that she can always change her mind. Julien asks, "What's a blanket party?"

Dutch and Claudette come back to find that Sean has written a profile of Dutch on the interrogation room whiteboard: "Craves respect, fantasizes about being well-liked yet shows no outward manifestation of  his low self-esteem, feels ignored and unappreciated, and inadequate with women."

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Claudette suggests he can read her palm. "Look at him. Tell me I'm wrong," says Sean. Obviously, Claudette can't let him know he's right. Sean thinks Dutch became a cop thinking that a badge and gun would make people respect him. The uniform didn't make him less of a joke; Dutch is the same lonely kid from high school who doesn't like what he sees in the mirror, "a lowly civil servant."

"I hope you're here to pick him up," Corinne says to Vic as she carries Brian through the kitchen. Vic is filling a grocery bag with bananas and bottled water. He can't bring him back yet; it's too ugly. Connie threw up all over her clothes. "It's pretty ugly around here too," Corinne says testily, "Why can't you just take this crack whore to detox?" Vic tells her again that Connie will lose Brian if she gets treated through official channels.

Corinne asks Vic, "Are you sleeping with her?" "Jesus, the kids!" Vic hisses. Corinne stares intently at the baby's features, trying to find something resembling Vic. Vic tells Corinne that he's not Brian's father and explains his sense of personal responsibility for Connie.

2 years ago, Connie got beaten up in another neighborhood for stealing the locals' johns. Vic gave her his number if she needed anything. One night, she called. Vic found her "cracked out on the floor of a hotel bathroom, 6 months pregnant, crying, screaming, begging for forgiveness." Connie had tried to force herself to have a miscarriage. Vic rushed her to the hospital, where the doctors did an emergency C-section. Brian was 10 weeks premature and positive at birth for crack.

This story gives Corinne a change of heart. She offers Vic a box of old dresses that's in the garage.

Shane tells Tulips that Carl is blaming her. Of course, Shane doesn't believe this was her idea, "but who knows how a jury would see it?" He asks if she knows anything that can prove it was Carl: mugging victims' names, dates, anything. The D.A. is only offering one deal and he wants Tulips to get it. "There must be something I can put on the table," she says. I think I know where this is going...

Julien visits the transsexual prostitute in the cage, asking why he/she attacked Danny. "Because I wanted to give her what I got," the transsexual replies. Julien doesn't think HIV can be passed through biting. "Aren't you the expert?" sasses the transsexual. Julien asks, "So you were trying to kill her?" The transsexual got HIV in jail: "Cops put me in jail. So why shouldn't I give it to cops?" Julien growls, "You're the reason why people hate faggots." The prostitute thinks he/she should've bitten both of them.

Vic is giving Tereza the reporter a tour of the Barn. He takes her to the observation room and explains they use it for people to safely identify suspects and monitor interrogation techniques. He flips on one of the closed-circuit TVs. We're treated to the sight of Shane having sex with Tulips. Vic hurriedly jabs the button to change the channel; Dutch is still interviewing Sean.

Tereza tells Vic that people call the precinct's tactics "harm on the Farm." Vic says it's just a rumor; it never hurts to have suspects scared. She asks if Edgar-veda encourages that. The captain knocks on the door, asking if he can borrow Vic. In the office, he demands, "What are you telling her?" Vic shrugs that reporters are always looking for dirt. "So she goes where it's dirty," Edgar-veda says.
Vic and the boss may not like each other, but they both agree that the reporter snooping around can only bring trouble. Vic asks how they can get rid of her.

In the breakroom, Julien tells the two uniforms from earlier that Danny had to go home; the AIDS drugs made her too nauseous to work. They hope she doesn't end up like Officer Watson, who got AIDS from being stuck with a dirty needle. Julien's never heard about it. They explain that being shot in the line of duty, fatally or not, is seen as heroic, but: "Some queer in a dress gives you AIDS, you end up unemployed and the city's dirty little secret." Danny may not want them to give the transsexual a blanket party, but he/she deserves it. "Count me in," says Julien.

Vic asks how the bait-and-bash case is going. Shane got Tulips to agree to testify against Carl. "I was doing a little channel surfing up in Observation," Vic says casually, "I didn't know we got the Spice Channel." I'd say more like Skinemax, but whatever. "You saw that," says Shane, not looking the least bit embarrassed. Vic warns him that he better not see any reruns.

Lemming joins them. He talked to the rest of the strippers; all of them said Tulips was behind the whole thing: "Carl was just like her sexual pawn she totally manipulated." Seeing how she played Shane like a fiddle, I believe it. Shane walks over to the cage. Tulips asks when she's getting out. Shane isn't sure; Carl and the girls say she's the shot-caller. The lightest sentence he can get her is 2 years.

Tulips scowls and folds her arms: "How much time are you getting for sexual misconduct?" It appears that she has the, uh, DNA evidence to back her claim. "So am I getting out of here or do we need to call your supervisor?" she asks.

As Planned Parenthood so eloquently put it, sometimes you don't want to "catch 'em all."
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Somehow, Shane doesn't call her a bitch right to her face. Too much of a Southern gentleman, I suppose.

Connie, now past the worst of the withdrawal, is wearing one of Corinne's old dresses. She asks Ronnie how she looks. "Beautiful," he lies. Connie says she's dizzy. Ronnie thinks she should lie down and offers to bring her some tea. While Ronnie is in the kitchen, Connie takes his wallet out of his jacket and steals all his cash. He really should've known better than to leave his wallet sitting around with a junkie. She slips out of the apartment.

Up in the observation room, Lemming is munching on a donut. Dutch is on CCTV, still talking to their suspected serial killer. Sean is sick of talking about his own family and asks what Papa Dutch thinks of his son's career. "He's proud of me," Dutch replies. Sean smiles, "Sure, that's what he says to your face." Lemming chuckles.

Shane calls in a group of passing uniforms to come watch the show: "Dutch is getting hammered by this civvie." "It's brutal!" Lemming cries. Shane adds, "It's like watching a train wreck, only it's more horrific."

In the office, Edgar-veda tells Tereza to just tell them what kind of information she's really after. Tereza asks about the upswing in brutality complaints. Ever the politician, Edgar-veda says, "We're a very proactive force. Bad guys don't like to be arrested. Allegations are all they are." Vic actually defends his boss. Tereza's next question to the captain catches both men off-guard: "What about your alleged rape of a 21-year-old white girl?" Edgar-veda sends Vic outside.

Tereza doesn't think it's a coincidence that someone who's been violent himself is commanding a district with a high rate of police violence. Now he wants to be a councilman. Edgar-veda says the incident occurred 15 years ago. Tereza has a hospital report from the victim, Maureen Wilmore. She was bruised and even had minor burns. Edgar-veda is all "I can't talk about it, I have a family." Tereza asks, "And how would you like it if their rapist wanted to be their representative?" She leaves.

Sean is half-asleep on the interrogation room table when Dutch and Claudette come in. Dutch erases the psychological profile Sean wrote up. He starts off by poking the bear; the detective may not have been Mr. Popularity in high school, but "I got laid...more than a few times." If his current personality is anything to go by, I don't think so. Dutch goes on, "I'm getting laid now too. And guess what? She's hot."

Vic joins the crowd around the CCTV. "Sherlock Holmes here is getting smoked," says Shane. Now it's Dutch's turn to write on the whiteboard. Sean can sense vulnerability, has access to other people's cars, and is meticulous. Dutch asks if Sean put a CD player in a green Taurus about 5 weeks back. Sean works on a lot of cars. Dutch adds in another detail: the customer complained because the right taillight was broken when they picked it up. He erases the whiteboard again, wanting to know if Sean knows Sally.

"Oh my God, someone stop it," Shane laughs in observation. Dutch writes LIAR on the whiteboard. Sean wants to leave. They tell him that isn't happening; from the earlier conversations, they got enough evidence for a warrant to search his house. Sean knows they won't find anything. Well, other than some bondage porn. Dutch and Claudette also got a warrant for his aunt's house. "You can't do that," says Sean. They can because Sean co-signed the mortgage.

Lemming has finished his donut and moved on to popcorn.

Actual still from the episode.
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A uniform gripes that he thought Dutch was getting destroyed. Dutch draws a kindergarten-quality rendering of a house with a front porch. He informs Sean that the Pasadena police just dug 2 bodies out of the crawlspace. Dutch asks how many more bodies they'll find. "17," Sean replies matter-of-factly. The crowd in observation is no longer entertained. Lemming even seems to have lost his appetite. "That's just under the crawlspace, you know," Sean chuckles. He dumped some of his victims when he ran out of room under Auntie's house.

Dutch thinks Sean is so typical it's pathetic: "As soon as you're caught, you try to be special." Sean stands up. He's killed 22 people, 23 counting the "hunting accident" in high school: "I'm special, all right." Dutch counters, "If you're so special, how come a lowly civil servant like me just caught you?"

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What happens next is something I doubt Dutch has experienced before. When he walks out of interrogation, he's greeted with cheers, applause, and slaps on the back. "Told you we'd get this guy," says Vic, looking like a proud father.

Vic sees Tulips being let out of the cage and hunts for Shane. He doesn't have to go further than the clubhouse. He shuts the door, clapping, and says, "Way to go, Ron Jeremy." Hold up. Walton Goggins may not be the best looking man in the world, but comparing him to this?

Yeah, that's not cool.
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"A simple investigation and you cage everyone except for the evil stripper," Vic goes on. Shane says, "At least we got the guy who hit me. And she's a dancer." And I'm Mary, Queen of Scots. Vic doesn't think Tulips will have problems finding "another loser with a tire iron." Shane rolls his eyes: "So everyone else here is free to just bang away. Lem here's nailing Chiquita Banana--"

Lemming throws a basketball in the direction of Shane's face, but Shane's got quick hands. He's all "come on, I didn't mean nothin' by it." Lemming is tired of hearing it. "Oh, so once again, I'm the asshole?" asks Shane. Yeah, pretty much. Lemming tells Shane to leave Tigre out of this. "Oh, come on, this whole West Side Story thing's got a lifespan of 2 weeks, tops," scoffs Shane. Lemming throws the basketball at him again. The door opens, immediately cuing them to start acting like adults. It's Ronnie, here to let them know he lost Connie.

Edgar-veda has decided the best place to talk to his wife is in the cozy atmosphere of his office. He wants to explain his side of things before Aurora reads about it in the paper. Maureen, a publishing heiress, dated Edgar-veda when they were in college at USC. She liked it rough. One night when they were both drunk, Maureen asked him to tie her up and pour hot wax on her body. He complied, but he drew the line at choking. Edgar-veda broke up with her the next day.

Maureen didn't take the end of the relationship very well. She stalked Edgar-veda, followed him home one day, and grabbed his roommate's pocketknife. Edgar-veda points to his shoulder: "I didn't get this scar from rock-climbing." Then Maureen accused him of sexual battery and attempted rape. Aurora can't believe it. Edgar-veda wants to fight the story and clear his name, afraid the public won't trust him.

Connie shows up downstairs. Vic can tell she's high. "I'm sorry, I tried," she says. Lemming walks over, carrying Brian. He looks scared to death of dropping the kid. Connie is glad they took good care of her baby. "You need help," says Vic. Connie dazedly says, "I can't...be helped." Brian starts to cry. Lemming the bachelor doesn't know what to do.

Connie knows someone will love Brian. "He's your boy," Vic reminds her. Connie sure couples would fight over a happy white baby. I don't think "happy" is the word I'd be using right now. "He needs his mother," says Vic. Connie basically says she's not mom material and heads for the door. Lemming passes the screaming baby off to Vic. Vic's expression clearly reads "My wife is gonna kill me when I get home." Brian reaches his chubby arms toward the door as Connie walks out. Both men look saddened.

Julien loads the transsexual prostitute into a paddy wagon. A line of uniforms appears. One of the uniforms opens the door and throws a blanket over the prostitute. Two officers hold him/her down while Julien avenges his partner with his baton. This is really disturbing to watch in the wake of Michael Jace's recent murder conviction. They pull Julien off before he goes too far and kills him/her.

Julien and the others climb out of the paddy wagon, leaving the transsexual a sobbing heap on the floor. They grab the blanket, shut the doors, and signal for the driver to leave. Dutch walks out to his car. He finally comes down the adrenaline high from earlier and sits with the radio on, crying his eyes out for Sally and the rest of Sean's victims. End of episode.