Original subtitles

Previously on East New York... We've increased the number

of patrol cars.

Cars don't do us any good.

We're also putting more cops on foot posts.

SHARKY: All due respect,

seeing five officers reading their phones

on a street corner don't make us feel safe.

If you want to know how I'm doing,

you should ask me.

I do ask you, all the time.

I don't want to be asked all the time.

QUINLAN: What can I do? BENTLEY: Nothing.

You know, some of us work regular hours.

That means you have your nights fee.

Um, I got to go.

QUINLAN: My mother was arrested

for drug possession for the fourth time.

I guess you could say

it left a mark.

Pastrami on rye from Gottlieb's.

Bon appétit. CORINNE: This isn't about him.

It's about you.

The only reason you had

for dragging him out of here is

that you wanted to be right.

You're a bully, Tommy.

I don't want to be with you anymore.

Your brother's church is being sold.

Compel the sale of that church to go forward,

and you're gonna have detectives

from Brooklyn North to Manhattan watching your every move.

All right, Chief.

♪ We don't pretend no more ♪

♪ We don't got minutes to spend no more... ♪

(indistinct chatter)

♪ Almost put a hold on rap ♪

♪ But they need that new Saint Holy ♪

♪ The little big homie... ♪

Okay, I get it, I know. But keep it peaceful, all right?

Okay? All right?

(clamoring)

WOMAN: Leave our streets alone!

♪ 'Cause they don't trust the police ♪

♪ We don't pretend no more ♪

♪ We don't got minutes to spend no more... ♪

Did you know him?

It's Marcus Powell.

He was one of the last two hold-outs.

He decided he wasn't selling

and he'd make himself as much a pain in the ass as possible.

AYERS: You two cops?

Uh, yes, Councilwoman Ayers.

Detective Killian, Detective Morales.

This ought to be good.

Best make sure those storm troopers

don't make off with any evidence.

I'm not a storm trooper, Ms. Ayers.

I'm just trying to do my job.

You're part of a whole

engine of displacement

forcing our people out of their homes. SANDEFORD: Ms. Ayers,

I'm gonna have to ask you to step on this side

of the tape, please, thank you.

It is every day with these people

trying to stop construction.

Did you know Marcus Powell?

I most certainly did know him.

He was a righteous man

and a courageous man.

That's why they got rid of him.

Who got rid of him?

Who are the change agents in East New York?

Who's doing the gentrifying?

Are you aware of any actual dispute

Mr. Powell was in?

All day and every day, young lady.

All day and every day.

We don't want you here! Get out!

Oh, look out!

SANDEFORD: Hey! You with the yellow cap!

(clamoring) WOMAN: Gentrification...

(shouting)

No! No violence.

Stay calm, stay calm.

MAN: We live here.

(clamoring continues)

All right. Where is he?

Come with me.

Detectives.

This is Marcus's widow and their neighbor Byron.

Where is he? She wants to see her husband

before they take him away. MORALES: I'm sorry,

now wouldn't be the time for that.

Oh, come on. Just give her a moment.

Okay, I'm sorry... (gasps)

Marcus!

No! Marcus!

Marcus! Okay, come on, come on.

BYRON: Come on, come on. Be strong.

(crying) Be strong. Be strong.

JAKE: You in charge here? Yes.

Is there any chance we could at least get started trenching?

As long as this is a crime scene, you can't.

(exhales sharply)

This is what they do to us.

They drive us wild with grief

while you and your officers stand guard.

Councilwoman, I need you to stand

on the other side of the tape, okay?

Please.

Hey.

Wrap some fence up around where the body is

and get to work.

The cops said not to. Who?

Which cop? Me.

(chuckles): Oh, Inspector Haywood.

Forgive me, I didn't see you.

Another Lustig building, another dead body.

That is four I know of.

You have a rooting interest

in me being guilty of something, don't you?

I have a rooting interest in people being held accountable

for their actions.

This is what I'm accountable for, Inspector.

What I create.

Places for people to live,

raising families.

I create jobs.

I don't want your workers on-site

until we wrap up our investigation.

What, you're gonna push me out?

Like your boss Chief Suarez did?

I don't know what you're talking about.

Well, he decided that a project of mine was, um,

not to his liking,

so he assumed the power of a despot

and convinced me-- for the sake of expediency

and my own personal safety-- that I abandon that project.

Well...

I won't be abandoning this one.

♪ ♪

(De Staat's "Who's Gonna Be the GOAT?" playing)

♪ Who's gonna be the GOAT? Not me ♪

♪ Ain't gonna train for the UFC ♪

♪ You're protein shaking the money tree ♪

♪ On a 12-step plan to meet Jay-Z ♪

♪ You're busy, busy bees, I'm free ♪

♪ Resisting, whistling "J'aime la vie" ♪

♪ You have a dream, I get sleep ♪

♪ I guess the best... ♪ What, are you stalking me now?

Mm. It seems that way, doesn't it?

♪ Who's gonna be the GOAT? ♪

I know I haven't returned your calls or texts...

Mm. What's going on?

I like you, Sean, I do, really.

Um... But?

I don't know if I'm ready to get serious.

I'm not just serious.

I can also be funny. Stop.

Hey, these things don't always keep.

I didn't have a timetable when we met,

I don't have a timetable now.

I just don't want us to miss our moment, you know?

I don't want to look back and feel like it's passed.

I don't want that, either.

I'm sorry for disappearing on you.

But I do, I...

I have to get back inside right now.

Yeah, I got you.

Here you are.

Thank you. Mm-hmm.

Have a good day. You, too.

♪ Who's gonna be the GOAT? ♪

♪ Who's gonna be the GOAT? ♪ (indistinct chatter)

Keep it moving, come on.

Hey, can I just, like, talk to you for a sec?

Yeah.

So, I-I meant to call you last night,

but it was kind of late

when I got back from track practice.

Yeah, it-it's okay.

Are you mad at me?

I'm just... Honestly, I'm mad at myself.

Why?

'Cause I waited for you to call.

Uh... I'm sorry.

No, I don't, I don't want you to be sorry.

Okay? And I don't want to be angry, but most of all,

I just, I don't want to keep waiting.

Look, I...

I think that we got hot and heavy

a little too quick,

and I need us to take a step back.

Uh, I hate that.

I'm not saying that we're not gonna start back up again,

but, Andre, you've got a lot going on,

and I don't think

it's good for either one of us to be involved right now.

Okay.

Okay.

♪ ♪

Front page of the New York Post.

I know.

Stabbing on the subway.

"Crime on Public Transportation,"

leads every time, which is why this election

will be won or lost

on people's perception...

Thanks. ...on who will be

the most likely to keep them safe.

Which will allow me to speak to why it is

some locations are violence-prone

and how a high-visibility police presence

can best address that. SUAREZ: All right.

So, Brooklyn North is

composed of ten different precincts.

And I'd be happy to have someone

give you a breakdown of all the statistics.

Uh, that would be immensely helpful.

Not as helpful as being in the car with you.

SUAREZ: Well, I don't think

you're gonna find riding in the car all that interesting.

If I get bored, you can drop me off.

♪ ♪

My father-in-law bought this place in 1958.

He worked at the Navy Yard,

saved up, and when no bank would give him a mortgage,

he managed to buy it for cash.

Understandable that your husband didn't want to sell.

And were there any threats made against your husband

if he wouldn't sell?

No one who knew him would've bothered.

Ah, he didn't scare easily?

He didn't scare period.

He had principles and beliefs, and that's what he lived by.

The preliminary report from the medical examiner

puts your husband's time of death

at between 10:00 and midnight.

Were you home at that time?

I had gone out to dinner

with my neighbor Byron.

Probably...

got home around 8:30.

And did you see your husband after you got home?

Uh-huh.

He was sitting in this big corduroy chair

he liked to sit in.

Uh, he was reading The Guardian.

And was that the last time you saw him?

I went to sleep around 9:00.

The next thing I knew, it was early morning

and, uh, cops were knocking at my door.

MORALES: Do you have any idea why your husband

would go out at that hour?

The developer was trying to drive us out.

He would bring junkies

and mentally ill people to camp out

on our doorstep.

Marcus might've gone out to try to reason with them.

I mean, he'd never blame them for being there.

Instead he'd...

bring them food

and talk to them about Karl Marx.

YENKO: Victim's name was Marcus Powell.

HAYWOOD: And this was his house? Yeah.

One of the founders of the East New York Food Co-op.

One of the founders of the People's Free Clinic.

Arrested in 2020,

following the social justice demonstrations.

Uh, I think you might want to

take a look at my husband's journal.

Yes, we would. Thank you.

(yawns)

How much sleep are you getting,

staying up all night, doing two jobs?

I'm getting enough.

Really? Yeah, you know,

Martha Stewart gets by on three hours a night.

That's a good role model for you.

Maybe in your spare time

you can learn cake decorating.

HAYWOOD: Hey.

What are we thinking?

Well, this guy was something of an activist, you know,

so I'm wondering if that didn't have something to do

with him killed. Mm-mm.

There's a fair amount of theft

in this construction site.

That might be a more likely connection.

YENKO: You'd like Lustig

to have something to do with this, wouldn't you?

Nothing will convince me he didn't have something to do

with a homicide related to

one of his projects in the past.

Someone stands in his way of him getting what he wants,

he has them taken out.

Um...

He wrote in this journal every day.

Uh, here's the date and time that Lustig visited the site

and Marcus confronted him.

MORALES: "Lustig said

"he could have me killed for less than

what he's paying for Sheetrock."

♪ ♪

So, getting your sector cars out,

that's your first priority.

Then you-you have to take care of your-your hospitals posts,

your emotionally disturbed persons.

Your DOA's.

And if the personnel were available,

you'd deploy those cops on foot posts.

Where do we stand on solo foot posts?

Solo? We put them on hold.

For the time being. I think that's wise.

When it comes to police unions, we have to pick our battles.

Hmm.

(brakes squeal lightly)

Pull over, please.

ALLISON: Everything okay?

Will you give me a minute?

(phone chimes)

(indistinct chatter)

What's going on, guys?

Coffee klatch? OFFICERS: Chief.

Put that phone away. So, what?

Your patrol sergeant's already been by, and you figured

you got the rest of the day off?

'Cause you don't. No, sir.

Chief.

Hey. We're handing out crime prevention flyers

to various merchants in the neighborhood.

All of you? Yes, sir.

Had that not been approved by the Borough?

No, no. It has.

Carry on. Yeah.

How you feeling? Good. I'm feeling all right. How you feeling?

(phone chimes)

Hey.

Hey.

Hey.

I wanted to drop off my apartment key

and my share of the rent.

That's... that's really not necessary, Corinne.

Yeah, it is. Hey, hey, hey.

Look...

Hey, how's-how's the bar doing?

Not great. Also, not your problem.

(laughs): What do you mean? It's...

How is it not my problem?

I mean, I'm still your business partner.

Your name's not on the lease.

It's not on the state liquor authority license.

You don't have any obligations at all.

Like we never even knew each other.

I'll see ya.

♪ ♪

I'll see ya.

QUINLAN: Aziz, it's not gonna happen.

AZIZ: Why wouldn't it?

Because they don't make cops

with three years on the job detectives.

Not unless you have a rabbi and that rabbi has pull.

You have Haywood, right?

I don't know who I have.

DISPATCHER (over radio): 7-4, Post 3.

Need an 8-5, no emergency, at Atlantic and Shepherd.

(phone ringing)

AZIZ: 7-4, sector B, we got it.

Hello?

ANN-MARIE (over phone): Hey, baby.

Hey, Ma.

How are you?

I'm-I'm good. I'm at work.

You're still happy living in that place?

You know, Ma, I'm...

I'm not all that happy right now.

Hmm. What's that about?

I don't know, I-I can't really get into it right now.

Uh, how are, how are things going with you?

I-I don't, I don't like the way you sound, Brandy.

QUINLAN: Hey, hey, Ma, I got to go.

Okay? I-I'll talk to you soon.

(doors open)

We just got 10-2'd to the house. (doors close)

How's it going?

Good.

NEWSWOMAN (on video): Police officers in the 7-4

were interrupted by Chief John Suarez today

while drinking coffee and playing on their cell phones.

(video continues indistinctly) Doesn't look too good, does it?

Marvin, this, never supposed to happen.

Why did it?

A consultant to Raymond Sharpe was in the car.

Without my knowledge, she, uh, made a recording

of cops being derelict and me stopping it.

Apparently, they put it up on, uh, Sharpe's website,

which they've taken it down

at my insistence.

Hey, if I had seen it was you,

I would've figured whatever you were doing was legit.

Listen, it's no big thing, Chief.

Really.

SUAREZ: Eh.

Well, that won't be happening again.

I'm sure you didn't intend it to happen this time, Chief.

No, I definitely didn't.

Seems as though it was out of your control.

Doesn't excuse it.

(knocks)

One of the workers at the construction site

said he recognized a guy named Ochoa casing the place.

Said he told Lustig,

and Lustig didn't want to do anything about it.

Lustig might've been using

Ochoa to do his dirty work.

Let all the sector cars know, I want this Ochoa brought in.

Mm-hmm.

♪ ♪

SANDEFORD: Ochoa works the black market.

Sometimes they sell stolen goods here.

Hey, s-stop right over here.

I'm gonna go and talk to my guy in the office for a minute.

(indistinct chatter)

That's Ochoa!

(tires screech)

(tires screeching)

(beeping) Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

(engine revving)

(groans)

Keep your hands on the steering wheel, don't move.

Got him.

Get out of the car!

Get out of the car! Step out.

Hey, what did I do?

Gonna let you chat with the detectives about that.

Right. (cuffs clicking)

Nice driving, young man.

I like cars.

♪ ♪

So, what was your arrangement with Adam Lustig?

I don't have an arrangement.

MORALES (over comm): We have you on felony possession

of stolen property,

which we don't much care about one way or the other.

What we do care about is the murder of Marcus Powell.

Whoa, I don't know anything about that.

(sighs heavily)

Is it possible you're being set up, Louis?

By who?

Whoever beat Marcus Powell to death maybe.

Unless that was you. All right, look, man.

I'm a thief.

Copper pipe, plywood,

windows and doors, whatever I can haul off and sell.

What'd he have with him in his truck

when Sandeford and Bentley brought him in?

"22 pieces of straight

"three-inch copper pipe, eight copper elbows,

ten five-gallon buckets..."

"...of joint compound, dozen sheets

"of half-inch plywood, one bundle of

25 collapsed cardboard cartons."

Where did you get the cardboard cartons from?

That's not something you usually find at a construction site.

They were outside the front door of one of the houses.

You usually buy bundles of cardboard cartons

when you're moving.

So, then maybe one of the hold-outs was

actually planning on moving.

According to the shipping labels,

the cardboard cartons were ordered from Uline

by Marcus Powell's neighbor, Byron Rice.

KILLIAN: And when we questioned him at the crime scene,

he made it sound like he and Marcus Powell

were dead set against moving.

You know, they were both born in East New York.

East New York was where they'd die.

Powell made good on that.

If Rice was planning on moving,

I'd like to know whether Adam Lustig

had anything to do with it.

♪ ♪

(elevator bell dings)

Did it ever occur to you

to simply ask for any relevant material?

KILLIAN: Not really. LUSTIG: No, of course not.

It's so much more satisfying

to strong-arm someone, even though I would've happily

given you what you were entitled to, voluntarily.

Sometimes there's a discrepancy

between what you think we're entitled to

and what we think we're entitled to.

Uh-huh. The warrant spells it out.

Well, I'm gonna spell something else out.

Anything privileged

or covered by nondisclosure agreements leaks,

I will hold you two responsible, personally.

Straight down to the loading dock, guys.

(indistinct chatter)

Oh, getting famous, Marvin.

Oh, yeah? How's that?

Logged on to Facebook, and there you were.

Hey, hey, come on. I wasn't expecting

to see you holding hands with a bunch of rookies

on the corner. You don't know a damn thing

about what was happening on that corner, do you?

Do you?

It's not worth it, Marvin. It's not worth it.

You're an idiot.

(knocking)

Do I need an appointment?

Since you don't have one, why don't you just come in.

I understand you have a person of interest

in the killing of Marcus Powell.

I'm not at liberty to discuss that,

Councilwoman.

A community organizer

is murdered.

You don't go after

the people of prestige and power

who have every reason to murder him.

Instead,

you go after the property thief.

That way you can wrap up your investigation,

and nobody will be mad at you.

Are you suggesting I'd have someone charged

with a crime I knew he didn't commit?

I'm not saying you'd do it knowingly.

I'm saying it happens.

And I do everything within my power

to prevent it from happening.

There are forces arrayed against us, Inspector.

The man who was killed stood in the way,

and nothing will convince me

it's not what got him killed.

I don't say this with any disrespect,

Councilwoman.

You're a politician, I'm a cop.

I go where the evidence leads me.

I hope so.

(knocking) Come in.

SHARPE: Thank you.

(chuckles softly)

You're not returning my calls, John?

After what your consultant did,

I'd say we're both better off if I don't.

She made a mistake.

She held a cop with 26 years on the job

up to public ridicule,

not to mention significantly corrupting my authority.

You know we've been running focus groups.

I don't care!

(sighs)

One of the things that has been consistently viewed

as negative has been cops just hanging out

in groups, cops on their phones.

I don't need a focus group to tell me that, Raymond,

any more than I need a consultant

to tell me how to do my job.

Sorry.

Do you know that Regina Haywood

is going after Adam Lustig again?

You tell him to take it up

with the Civilian Complaint Review Board.

(sighs) Okay, look.

I get it.

Now's not a good time to be asking for anything,

whether it's legit or not.

And since you seem to feel

that a grievous error has been made,

whether or not I agree with it,

I'll make it right.

♪ ♪

(door closes)

DR. SORENSON: What's going on with your friend Sean?

Oh, I, um, I talked to him yesterday.

You still thinking about taking the next step?

I am still thinking, which is part of the problem,

Dr. Sorenson.

The more I think, the more I worry.

What are you worried about?

I worry that he is not who he seems to be.

I...

Do you worry that you'll be hurt by that?

I don't know about hurt, I don't...

I don't hurt all that easily.

Your father managed to do a pretty good job of it.

I was a little younger then.

So what's stopping you?

Uh, stopping me from... what?

Enjoying this guy's company.

Oh. Enjoying the sex.

Allowing yourself to do what gives you pleasure,

without worrying.

(chuckles)

I don't know.

(scoffs) I don't know.

(sirens wailing)

(indistinct chatter)

QUINLAN: Ma?

What are you doing here?

I didn't like the way you sounded on the phone yesterday.

Okay, well, you could've just called.

You didn't have to come here.

I wanted to, okay?

I mean, I just got on the bus and came.

The same way people show up for me, I showed up for you.

♪ ♪

Thank you.

So, you still living in Boston?

I guess I never told you,

I got this really cute place in Fall River.

You got to come up and see it.

BENTLEY: Hey, hi. Hey.

Uh, this is Ann-Marie, my mom.

This is Andre.

Hey, Andre.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

(clears throat)

He's handsome.

So, what do you plan on doing

while you're here?

Uh, I just wanted to spend some time with you.

I work, Mom. I work all day.

I know. I know.

So, what are you gonna do?

(scoffs) I used to live in New York, you know?

Yeah.

I know, that's what worries me.

♪ ♪

Phew. Wow. Lustig spent $8,000 at Bergdorf Goodman

on one suit. (scoffs)

Ah, Lustig Pointe Capital, the LLC developing this property,

this is a list of their relocation fees.

I can't imagine what it's like to spend eight grand on a suit.

Lustig acquired the deeds

to 14 brownstones, which they demolished,

and bought the leases for 20 apartments,

which they also demolished.

Hey. What do we know?

According to these records,

Lustig's LLC spent a million-six

to get the tenants and homeowners

out of the buildings he wanted to demolish

to build Lustig Towers.

Even if it meant building around

Marcus Powell's house and building around

Byron Rice's house.

Also, there was a $50,000

wire transfer from Lustig's LLC account

to Byron Rice's account.

When was that? Last week.

Maybe Rice changed his mind about selling.

Guys, this may or may not be of interest,

Bettina Powell applied for a real estate license

in North Carolina last month.

How would you know that?

Well, something popped out at me when we were at the house.

Their bookshelves reflected

two distinct areas of interest.

One, political books,

Autobiography of Malcolm X,

Rules for Radicals, that kind of thing.

The other were workbooks for real estate license exams.

How did you know it was in North Carolina?

Well, you start close, you expand outward.

I was still on the East Coast

when I hit pay dirt.

Byron Rice ordered cartons, likely for moving.

Bettina planned on moving to North Carolina, so...

We're on it. HAYWOOD: Okay.

Thanks, guys. Thanks.

KILLIAN: Sorry to bother you, Mr. Rice,

we just have a couple of things we need to go over.

Do we have to do it now?

We kind of do. Oh, no.

Now, the place is a mess.

Mm, we promise not to hold it against you.

Byron, I was

think... Ms. Powell.

Uh, I was just giving Byron a hand.

Uh, would you mind

stepping into the other room?

Why?

Uh, lets us keep straight who says what

when we're filling out our reports.

Standard detective stuff.

Oh...

KILLIAN: So, you decided to move after Marcus

was killed, I guess. BYRON: Yeah.

I didn't want to be here anymore.

That's understandable.

(footsteps)

When was it that you and Byron fell in love?

What are you talking about?

I see two side-by-side pillows, both of which

have been slept on, I smell your perfume

on one of them, and it gets me to thinking

the two of you are more than just neighbors.

It's none of your business.

MORALES: I'm not judging you for it.

The heart wants what it wants.

You don't know the first thing about my heart.

So, what was the $50,000

you got from Adam Lustig for, Mr. Rice?

I told you, after Marcus passed,

I decided to sell.

MORALES: How much did you stand to make

from the sale of the house?

The longer Marcus held out,

the more they increased the offer.

Well, your house is worth a lot more than $50,000.

You're right,

but I signed a nondisclosure agreement.

So, either you can tell me or I can get a subpoena

and go through your bank accounts.

$50,000 was ten percent down.

By the time Marcus died,

the offer was up to half a million.

Okay, so what he was offering was $500,000?

Mr. Lustig does not want that getting out.

Now, getting half a million dollars is something

of a life-changing event, I'd think.

MORALES: That must've been tempting.

Marcus wasn't tempted by money.

What about you?

(grunts)

Whoa.

You already got a place in North Carolina?

See what it's like down there.

Uh, see, 9122

Oberlin Drive. That wouldn't

belong to Lustig's company, by any chance, would it?

It's a condo.

I'm just subletting it.

I don't know who it belongs to.

I just...

figured maybe Lustig wanted to sweeten

the deal by throwing in

a rent-free place to live.

MORALES: Did your husband know you were having an affair?

Yeah, he knew.

Is it possible your husband refused to take that

half a million dollars because he knew

his friend next door, who his wife was cheating on him with,

also stood to make a half a million dollars?

He didn't turn down their offer for spite.

He turned it down

because taking their offer meant abandoning

his principles.

(sighs)

KILLIAN: So where were you two nights ago, Byron?

(scoffs)

I met Byron for dinner that night.

I stopped off for dinner with Marcus and Bettina

on my way home from work.

Where'd you go? Where'd you go?

We went to Junior's.

Gage Tollner.

Here's what I think you might've done,

you told your husband that you heard someone

prowling around outside,

maybe one of the drug addicts Lustig enlisted.

Your husband goes outside

where Byron is waiting for him,

hits him over the head with a shovel,

and kills him.

The plan was Bettina's idea.

The plan was Byron's idea.

MORALES: But you knew,

when you sent your husband outside,

that Byron was waiting out there to kill him,

and that's why you sent him.

Yeah.

I went along with it.

I didn't mean to kill him.

Well, that definitely counts for something, Byron.

When you write your statement,

put down what you did mean to do.

Well,

the good news is they solved a homicide today.

And the bad news is that Lustig

had nothing to do with it.

♪ ♪

Wow.

So, you managed to

talk your way past the station house security downstairs

and my assistant just outside. (scoffs)

What-what is it you want to tell me

that was worth doing all that for?

I wanted to let you know that Raymond fired me.

What, am I supposed to feel guilty about that?

You've made too many difficult decisions in your career

to let guilt be a factor. So why are you here?

Because Raymond Sharpe could be the next mayor,

and you could be his police commissioner.

You're both well-suited for the job,

and I don't want one dumbass move on my part

to derail the whole thing.

So why did you do it?

What did you think you were gonna get out of it?

I wanted people to see you in command

and feel reassured,

feel like you would

keep them safe.

You-you have

the authority. God knows

you have the looks. (sighs)

I wanted to make you a hero.

Whoa. I-I probably, uh...

No, I-I made a mistake

getting involved in a political campaign. No.

John, I am sorry.

I'm sorry I embarrassed you and your officers.

I tend to justify my behavior by whether or not it helps me win.

It makes me a very good

political consultant,

but not a very good person sometimes.

Well, for what it's worth,

I'm sorry that, uh, you got fired.

Well, it's not without its upsides.

Which is what?

If we were still working together,

that would be completely

unprofessional.

It still might not be a good idea.

When we were at dinner that night...

...you wanted to kiss me, didn't you?

Yes, I did.

And why didn't you?

Because, uh, our association

was supposed to be, uh, work-related.

Now it's not.

And now you can.

(meows) (scoffs)

How late you working tonight? Probably till midnight.

I don't know how long you can keep on doing this.

I was actually thinking you might want to pick up

a quick 500 yourself some night.

Mm, no thanks. Ah.

Anyways, tonight's a private party, should be pretty quiet.

Come on. Oh...

Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna straighten him out.

You're not gonna straighten him out. You're not gonna

straighten anyone out. NELSON: I'm gonna go back

in there, and I'm gonna straighten him out. Yeah, uh, hey.

Sir, I have a situation here,

if you could just stay put for a second, you'd be

really helping me out. Whoa, whoa, where you going with that?

I told you, I'm gonna straighten this guy out.

No, you go in there with that, it's a felony.

I don't care.

And you're gonna have to

beat me unconscious with it first.

I'm not going down without a fight, bro.

(sighs)

Thanks, man. I appreciate it.

Oh, thank you for waiting, sir.

You can come on in. What do they

pay you to do what you do here?

That's highly classified information.

Well, figure out whatever lie it is

you want to tell me, and I'll triple it.

To do what?

Threat assessment, personal protection,

pretty much what it is you do here,

only it would be just for me.

Yeah, who are you?

Bobby Azeroff.

(dance music playing inside)

Hi, honey.

Hey.

How long have you been waiting out here?

Oh, about an hour or so. How was work?

It was, um... it was good.

Come on in. Nice.

You have dinner plans?

Uh, no. I was just gonna pull something out of the freezer.

How about you?

I have a 9:00 meeting at a Baptist church

on Sutter Avenue, which I have no idea where that is, but

other than that, no plans.

So, you, um...

you still going to AA meetings?

(soft chuckle)

If I wasn't, I don't think I'd be here talking to you.

No, you see, Ma, but...

you would be.

And that's what worries me.

That you would be here saying the same stuff

in the same sort of way, and it would just all be a lie.

I have a year and nine days, Brandy.

I mean, my home meeting, they gave me a cake and everything.

Yeah.

♪ I was wine drunk... ♪

So, were you figuring on staying here?

I don't have to. I have, uh...

a friend Cookie who's got a place on Staten Island

where she said I could stay.

♪ It was beautiful... ♪

You don't have to go to Staten Island.

You can just stay here.

(sighs)

♪ Devoid of our emptiness... ♪

I'm sorry, baby.

For what?

For everything.

(crying)

I love you.

Love you, too, Ma.

Okay, thanks.

Yeah?

I heard arrests have been made in the Marcus Powell

investigation, and I just

wanted to come by and say congratulations.

You must be breathing a sigh of relief.

Notwithstanding your best efforts to make me culpable,

once again, I'm not culpable.

By the way,

you may not be aware that I have doubled

the number of low-income housing units

I'm providing at Arcachon Towers East,

my mixed-use development in Bushwick.

The one with the poor door?

Oh... I find that term offensive.

It used to say "For Coloreds."

So now we're gonna make this racial?

Is that what I'm doing?

From everything I hear, those folks are grateful.

I mean, through no fault of their own,

they have to go through a separate entrance,

in return for which, they get to live

in a building they couldn't afford otherwise.

I mean, why... why wouldn't they be grateful?

That you would even think that,

leaves no question in my mind

whether you're capable of murder.

One day, I'm going to be able to prove you're also guilty of it.

Well, as long as that day isn't today.

I bid you good night

and, seriously,

congratulations.

(footsteps retreating)

Where are you right now?

♪ ♪

So...

It's freezing. Can we talk in the car?

Sure.

Get some heat going.

Regina, you got me on the edge of my seat.

What is it you're about to tell me?

Sean Dryden.

I've been doing some thinking...

Uh-oh. I know.

That's not always a good thing. I mean,

depends on the conclusion you reach. My conclusion

is the sight of you makes me happy.

But nervous.

Uh-huh. Let me guess,

you think it might be a mistake

that we're getting more involved than we already are.

You've got all kinds of insight

into what I'm thinking, don't you?

I have no idea what you're thinking.

I'm thinking

maybe we give

thinking a rest.

♪ ♪

Captioning sponsored by CBS

Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org