Original subtitles

Did you do anything like this

when you were young?

No.

Things were different back then.

It wasn't so cool to be Indian.

I shouldn't have started.

No smudging in my day school.

No traditions.

No culture.

Sorry, Mom.

Let's just drop it.

What?

What's this?

Oh, it's nothing.

It's almost gone.

Aren't you supposed to be the face of Tribal?

Isn't that the whole point of

why they've got you on the news,

so the world can see how things are changed now?

The whole point?

Psh. Well, that's a little harsh.

But, yeah. I guess.

They like my image.

Yeah, well, you're not just some cop.

You're Chief.

You should be sitting in a desk somewhere.

It's not like that.

You know, next time, it could be a scar...

or worse.

Be right back.

Hey.

Hey.

I didn't know this one was already called upstairs.

It wasn't, I was just driving by.

So, what do we know?

So, I've got two witnesses.

Clerk, the customer, in a middle of a transaction and

suddenly the place just turned into a warzone.

So, we've got 27 rounds, all fired from this area.

Anything yet on ballistics?

Forensics will have to confirm, but I'd say 9mm.

You ask the clerk who might wanna hurt him?

Yeah, he said he had no idea.

I haven't asked the customer yet,

'cause he's busy being patched up by the paramedic.

That's a lot of work for a minor flesh wound.

Maybe someone was sending a message.

Around here?

I don't know, I was just thinking,

like... uh... reckless kids or maybe drunks, right?

It's not the kind of thing that happens on this reserve.

Mm, times are changing.

I don't know, I've just never been

called out for something like this.

It doesn't really make sense, you know?

One sec.

Hey.

I'm Tribal Police Chief Woodburn.

Man... I'm sorry to hear

what happened to you today.

Can you tell me what you saw?

Mostly a lot of glass flying at my face.

But before I got hit,

I did see that there was a white van.

Can you describe the vehicle in more detail?

I can do better than that.

That's the end of the license plate.

I'm not gonna meet you,

I'm gonna dig in here with Mitch, okay?

- Uh-huh... yep. - We're going to look at traffic cam footage.

Not sure that there's anything there.

Sure, I'll check in later.

Alright, bye.

Buke's gonna gather traffic cam footage.

Wow.

They're not even trying to hide it.

This should be interesting.

Why?

I know the family that runs this company.

I played hockey with one of their sons, Phil.

What's his deal?

- He's got more balls than brains.

And an arrest record.

Hey!

My man!

What are you doing here?

It's been a while.

Phil.

Is this your girl?

How do you get any work done?

I'm not his girl.

Yeah, she's the new Chief of Tribal.

So, you could show some respect.

Oh, could I?

Good afternoon, Chief.

What can we help you with?

Who drives the white van that's parked out front?

Those are company vehicles.

What's going on?

I'm Deirdre Thundercloud.

This is my husband, Gordon.

And you know Phil and Tim.

Yeah, those vans haven't left the lot today.

What happened?

There was a shooting at a gas station.

Innocent customer got shot.

Who was driving it this morning?

We didn't send anyone on a run.

You might have the wrong van.

Yeah, that's unlikely.

A witness wrote down a part of the license plate, so...

Yours is the only vehicle that matches

the plate and make within the area.

Huh.

Do you have any cameras in the parking lot?

No, we don't.

We worry more about what goes on in the inside

than the outside, uh, Chief.

Phil Thundercloud?

First arrested, age 15.

Charges were dropped.

Yeah, a lot of charges were dropped in those days.

Doesn't mean you weren't guilty.

Hmm.

You think you're real smart, huh?

Would you say, um, you ran our names?

This shit make you feel like an alpha dog, sweetie?

What did you call me?

Sam, come on.

Wow... Joke of a chief and hard of hearing.

You're lucky you're so hot...

Sweetie.

You're under arrest for assaulting a police officer.

Oh, come on.

Are you serious?

- Easy, bitch. - Hey, come on.

You wanna be next?

Where are the keys to the van?

Now I've got cause to search it.

This isn't good for any of us.

I'm sure my son didn't mean to offend you or...

Unless you wanna be arrested too,

get me those keys.

Daniel wouldn't have ever pulled this shit.

You know I'm right, Nate.

This is some bullshit.

I told y'all that...

- SAM: Nate, shut him up. - Stop making it worse.

So, uh...

You good and everything?

Sure.

I hear you're, uh, charging some guy with assault?

I'm fine.

I heard he just slapped your ass.

Still...

Drugs were in a company vehicle.

You don't know that he had anything to do with that

or the shooting, either.

You're really gonna...

Yeah. I am, Buke.

Fine, your call.

Sam.

Okay, you know what?

Let's go for a walk.

If you're too ashamed

to complain about a little ass slap

in this room full of people,

maybe you shouldn't be complaining about it to start with.

Seriously, complaining?

He assaulted a police officer.

A native man, who's been racially profiled

his entire life, gets a little heated with two officers

who invaded his family's property.

Woah, invaded his property?

You gotta let it go.

Nobody got hurt.

We don't know who he hurt

or who he's gonna hurt next.

He's an impulsive asshole.

You're making judgements when

you don't even know he did anything.

Whatcha doing in here?

He fits the description a witness gave

of a mugger that nearly killed a woman tonight.

We're just asking him a few questions.

Maybe I have a few questions.

When we're finished with him.

No.

A few questions for you.

Was this description anything more than being Indian?

He was in the area at the time of the crime.

Oh, he was in the area.

Well, throw him in the cell then.

Look at his shirt... red.

Hard to miss.

Did your witness describe that?

Did he get a phone call?

Offer him maybe a glass of water.

How about some medical attention?

Which brings me to the big question...

How did he get the black eye?

I'll let you figure that out.

This kinda shit happens everyday.

It's just not right.

Are you really gonna play the victim here?

This is my call, not yours.

Talk some sense into her, will ya?

Relax.

Sit.

Take a breath.

Lucas.

Hey, Daniel, what's up?

I've been looking for you.

Have you heard this bullshit about Woodburn?

You should be careful these days,

a guy can get in trouble just for calling it bullshit.

And she's taking advantage of that.

She wants to punish this guy who hasn't done anything.

And she could do it, because today's world says

a little pat on the ass can get a guy put in jail.

And I know that doesn't sit right with you.

It's got nothing to do with me.

But you get that it's wrong.

And you know Sam's a problem.

She's on a war path.

All about making a name for herself.

And right now, Phil Thundercloud

is gonna pay the price.

But sooner or later, we all will.

She needs to be taken down a peg.

Daniel, you're talking to me like I'm her superior,

and I'm not.

No.

But you have the ear of the guy who is.

So, this is how Tribal works now?

Government in control.

Little girl in power.

None of it's up to me.

Then change it.

I'm working on it.

Does this mean you can get the charges dropped?

I'm doing everything I can.

That's not good enough.

There's only so much I can do.

She's a problem.

She's your problem.

You take care of this or not?

Say it.

I promise.

I'll figure it out.

For Phil.

I'm not saying the guy should be drawn and quartered.

But he crossed the line legally.

Sam can charge him for that...

Which is not a bad thing for us.

For who?

The system.

We've still got a lot to prove.

It doesn't bother you at all that this guy's life

is gonna be ruined

because for a second he lost his cool

and did a dumb thing that hurt no one?

No.

'Cause things are gonna be run a little differently now.

I mean, come on... Lucas...

There's not a guy in this planet who doesn't know

they're under a microscope right now.

If guys like Phil Thundercloud

are too stupid not to do things like this,

then that's their problem.

She's good for us.

Let it go.

Is this round two?

'Cause I got nothing new to say.

Then listen.

You're right.

There is nothing I can do about the fact

that this is your call.

But you need to start seeing the bigger picture.

If you charge Phil,

he's gonna have a record in our system.

Be marked for life.

Just be another statistic

they keep throwing in our faces.

We're gonna keep losing our rights

and you're gonna be part of the reason.

So, you need to pull your head out of your ass

and figure out where your loyalties stand.

I'd say that's laying it on a little thick.

Well, it doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong.

Still... that's a hell of a word to throw at ya.

Loyalties.

Look... take it from a guy who's been around the block.

Mostly, there are no right choices.

Especially for you.

I mean, you got the cop thing, the woman thing,

the Indi... Native thing.

Is this supposed to make me feel better?

Is this some kind of pep talk?

No. That's not really my thing.

Here's a thought, though.

If we can get Phil on the shooting,

you got no issue, right?

So, you wanna hear what I got?

You've been holding out on me?

No.

Just getting my ducks in a row.

Come here.

So...

I spotted something on the traffic cam footage,

from a highway transponder.

There were two people in that van when it drove

back into the city.

Now, I can't make out the faces,

but I don't think we're looking

for a single shooter here.

Maybe a couple of brothers, then.

That's where my head went.

So, I did some digging.

The other son...

Tim...

He was arrested twice.

Both times, drug related.

Both times, he got off.

Why?

No reason on the record.

There's nothing suspicious about that, right?

Not sure what you want me to say.

I'll do my job.

If he's innocent, he'll be fine.

Of course he's innocent.

He was arrested by the Metro Police.

You think they suddenly got fair?

I've heard stories, you know,

about charges being dropped,

evidence disappearing.

Sometimes things are misplaced.

Human error.

There seems to be a lot of human errors around you.

What's that supposed to mean?

I was just thinking, you know,

that once you've crossed the line,

that it'd be easier to cross it again.

I don't know if we ever properly thanked you

for what you did for Phil.

All I did for Phil was argue on his behalf,

and... you did thank me.

Yeah, well, not well enough.

We should have offered you a token of our gratitude,

like a reward.

We still could.

I bet this job doesn't pay you what you deserve.

Taking on a lot of stress.

Dealing with Metro cops.

I mean, you're like most of us, right?

Working too hard, making too little.

I do all right.

Yeah, so do the many, many people

that my wife and I employ.

Imagine what would happen to all of those people

if our businesses went under.

You seem to be doing fine.

Yeah, sometimes one scandal is all it takes.

Our workforce is almost entirely native.

If hundreds of jobs disappear,

what's gonna happen to those people, then?

If I didn't do everything in my power to avoid that,

I don't think I could live with myself.

Could you?

So, I talked to Lucas.

He said, "It's all Tribal business.

It's Daniel's thing.

Justice and Metro had nothing to do with it".

So, it's possible that all those drug offences

were dropped by Daniel.

So, the shooting could have been drug related.

Huh.

Another thing that always bugged me was...

that customer...

that white guy from the city...

why was he out on the reserve?

I mean, he said that he was out there

to drive around and grab a root beer,

but, that doesn't ring true.

Yeah, not to me either.

There's something bigger going on, drugs or not,

and I think those boys are right in the middle of it.

I'm dropping the charges.

Not that you deserve it.

If I find out you've done anything worse...

The shooting's or anything else,

I'm not going to look the other way.

And I'll be around.

So, watch yourself.

With an attitude like that,

you might wanna watch yourself too, sweetheart.

What are you doing?

Picking my battles.

Did you guys check out the new chips there today?

I didn't say anything, man.

Really?

That was a cop.

The Chief, actually, who's got a hate on for us.

Maybe it's because you got arrested before.

What did you tell 'em?

Nothing. I swear.

I promise I'm not that stupid.

I know better now.

I'll do anything you say.

Anything.

I think you're probably telling the truth...

But...

I've gotta be sure.

Keep your head.

Don't tell me what to do.

You think going in there worked up is a good thing?

- Be my guest. - Please tell me something good.

I wish I could, you know.

Broken ribs, punctured lung,

four other broken bones,

and they're worried he might have a ruptured spleen.

He's in surgery.

Did you talk to him?

Yeah, but I don't think we're gonna get anything out of him.

You know, he's too scared.

The most he said is, "Look what happens when

they even think someone might talk".

Was he referring to the brothers?

I asked about them, so, yeah.

But, it's not enough for a warrant, you know.

Great.

So, we know it was them

and we still can't do a damn thing about it.

Yeah, we can. We can question them.

We can get a look at their knuckles.

I said he was kicked, actually.

Then we get 'em talking.

Maybe they talk themselves into a corner.

Or, if we're lucky, they give us an alibi

we can poke some holes in.

Point is, we have options here.

Yeah, all right.

You know, I could stay here.

You know, give it another shot

if you'll let me talk to him again.

Two attacks on the same guy in one day.

No comment.

You know,

Either he has the worst luck in the world,

or they're connected.

The shooting wasn't random, was it?

You understand "no comment"?

This is bigger than that, isn't it?

What are you doing here?

I think there's been a mistake.

There's someone here who wants to talk to you.

It's okay.

You can go ahead and tell them what you told me.

I took the van.

I shot the store.

And I beat the clerk up a little while ago.

You're confessing to these crimes?

Yes, ma'am.

Tell me, what kind of gun did you use?

An unregistered, 9 mm handgun, sir.

He's right.

Can I see your hands?

That's funny.

After a beating like that,

you don't have a scratch on you.

I kicked him, sir.

We need a minute.

He didn't do it.

No shit.

But they gave him all the right answers,

so, we're gonna have to arrest him.

If he's scared enough to go to jail for the Thunderclouds,

what does that say about this family?

Nothing good.

I'm not letting them get away with it.

Cuffs.

Put your hands behind your back, please.

Not much of a tree hugger, are you?

Well, I needed hard copies.

There's way too many documents

to keep straight on the screen.

What are you looking at?

The Thunderclouds.

All their businesses.

Have you been here all night?

Yes.

Look.

They're all intertwined.

Look.

Holding companies.

Hedge funds supporting numbered companies.

They own way more than chartered airlines.

They have furniture stores,

construction companies, small convenience stores,

a shipping and trucking company,

and... huge plots of land.

And they have this whole enterprise

and they just keep adding to it.

But here's the thing.

Several of the businesses have been reporting losses.

Okay, so then the question is,

if the businesses are losing money,

how did the Thunderclouds keep expanding?

And why do they keep the dying companies running?

Serving another purpose.

Money laundering, maybe.

Or the physical locations, the buildings.

What if they're all fronts?

Then forget the corner store drug deals.

This could be a major distribution operation.

Exactly what I was thinking.

You know, I may have a contact for that.

Patricia Miller, she's a fed.

She works in drug enforcement.

If there's anything to corroborate your theory,

she'll know.

Great.

So, reach out to her.

But I might have another idea.

What?

Seems like a strange place to meet.

Unless you actually plan on interrogating me.

We just thought with a little privacy,

you might be honest with us.

What haven't I been honest about?

Well, you were the guy in charge

when Phil Thundercloud got off on drug charges

with no good explanation, several times.

Why'd that happen?

Do you know how many cases I've dealt with

over the years?

You expect me to remember that one?

SAM: Yeah, I do.

'Cause Phil Thundercloud was talking

like he knew you when I arrested him.

He said, "Daniel wouldn't pull this shit".

I think you know them.

Everyone knows them.

No.

Everyone knows of them.

I think this case is way bigger than it seems and

I'm pretty sure you know exactly how much.

Hey, don't forget to change

the registration number on this one, okay?

I kinda thought you might end up here.

Ever since the boil water advisory went back up.

This was supposed to be over,

with the new treatment plant.

We were supposed to be able to trust the water.

And, now, 19 people are sick.

No. 18 people are sick.

June Gladstone just died.

You know the kind of resources we have.

I have an idea.

Not asking for details.

But you are here asking for the money to fix the plant.

Yes.

Okay.

But this isn't a favour.

I understand.

Yeah.

I've crossed paths with them over the years.

And I'm not an idiot.

I know there's probably something there.

But I don't know about the whole organization,

'cause I never wanted to.

So, you just stuck your head in the sand.

And you should, too.

Even if they are up to something,

do you even realize how much good they do for us?

Hmm?

Jobs, donations, the lawyers they paid for

when we're losing more of our land...

So, what if they cut a few corners to do it?

Shooting up a store, beating up a guy half to death.

That's what you call cutting corners?

We don't know they did that.

Actually, we do.

We just can't prove it yet.

Don't punish everyone else

just so you can tell yourselves you did the right thing.

Sam Woodburn.

Tribal Chief.

Special Agent Patricia Miller.

Thanks for coming.

Look, we have no record of any investigation

against the Thundercloud family,

drug related or otherwise.

If they are dirty, they do a good job of hiding it.

I said I'd buy her lunch if she'd hear us out.

Well, we've been tracking the businesses physically and financially.

And they're spending way more on new businesses

than they're making on the old ones.

And, when you look at the physical location

of the stores, they could form a shipping corridor.

Cross border.

But only on the reserves.

Look, these guys are involved in something

worth shooting up a store over.

And one of their sons has been arrested

more than once on intent to distribute.

Was he convicted?

The charges were dropped.

And that's another thing.

Every case this family has come up against...

it's been dropped.

You've been doing this job too long to think that

could be a coincidence.

Still... none of this adds up to a search warrant.

But you have jurisdiction over border security.

Agents can suspect any vehicle

they find suspicious, right?

And the Thunderclouds have trucks

crossing the borders all the time.

I mean, we could catch them in action.

We're just asking for a tip off

to the right border agents.

Think I could do that, for old friends' sake.

Thanks.

Just one more thing.

What's that?

We want to be there.

Open it up.

Cigarettes?

And bags of raw tobacco.

That's big business, right?

It's massive... and complicated.

So, catch me up, then.

Last I heard, native people were allowed to

sell cheap tobacco.

They're allowed to sell tax-free tobacco products

to their own people.

Meaning people recognized as status Indians.

Price differential's huge.

Around seventy percent of the cost

of a non-native cigarette is tax.

You're looking at 100 bucks a carton versus 30.

So, unless we can prove they were planning

to sell to non-natives,

they're not doing anything illegal.

Not necessarily.

Native tobacco products are still part

of a government system.

And there's a regional quota on tax-free cigarettes.

Yeah, but that's controversial, though.

Not everyone thinks the government should have jurisdiction.

All the same.

It's the law.

And the cigarettes are labelled and monitored.

I took pictures.

Is this a proper government label?

They did a nice job,

except for one important detail.

There's no serial number.

They're illegal then.

We've got them.

Okay, so what are we talking about... fines?

Smuggling operation this big,

they could be looking at jail time.

Yeah, we could shut them down.

Exactly.

It's not just the tobacco itself.

Do the math.

You said thirty bucks a carton.

On average.

Those boxes on the truck held, what,

maybe eight cartons each?

Something like that?

Boxes stacked five by five, maybe 15 rows.

You said they run the trucks almost every day.

So, ballpark, five days a week.

That's like, 19 million dollars.

And that's only one of their businesses.

That's not nothin'.

Which is why you've got a problem.

People making millions will do anything

to protect their operation.

Like shooting a store.

Or nearly beating a man to death.

And before you get too excited,

on a Federal level,

there may be hesitation to prosecute.

Like you said, this whole issue is controversial.

They just let the Thunderclouds keep doing

what they're doing?

Unless someone forces their hand.

Makes a splashy arrest.

I gotta go.

It was good to see you, Chuck.

Hey, how is your wife?

Oh, um...

Yeah, she moved out.

I am sorry, man.

I'm gonna hold you to that lunch, or drinks, maybe.

See ya.

Bye.

We should run this up the chain.

Talk to Connie.

Please tell me you saw that.

Saw what?

Chuck.

She was totally into you.

Ha-yeah, right.

Yeah, I mean this, this waistline, this hairline.

How could she resist?

I'm telling you.

I know what an interested woman looks like.

Yeah, well, your instincts need some work.

We gonna go talk to Connie?

Oh, speak of the devil.

He wants an update.

So, um...

What's this I hear about your liaison

with border security?

Well, we think we know why the store was shot up and

the clerk was beaten.

The Thunderclouds were trying to force him to

sell contraband cigarettes.

Cigarettes?

I know, but it's bigger than it sounds.

They seized a huge truck load.

We did the math. They're making millions.

And they're willing to kill for it.

The native tobacco situation's always messy.

People get emotional.

Becomes a major publication.

We're only talking about cigarettes.

We're talking about what organized crime leads to.

Still, I... I think we should leave it with them.

I've got a fed contact

who doesn't think they're gonna act.

Which means more people could get hurt.

Look.

You're both doing good work.

You're making arrests. You're making this office look good.

You're making cooperation between the government

and native people look possible.

Why would you want to rock the boat?

Well, with all due respect...

No, it's not up for discussion.

Just, let them handle it.

You didn't have to come over.

What did you think I was gonna do?

You sounded awful on the phone.

Well, it's a shitty situation.

Now, does it have to be your problem?

Mom.

Seriously, 'cause... and don't give me that,

"I'm the chief, thing". You have a boss.

He told you to drop it.

You should be glad it's out of your hands.

Except it doesn't have to be out of my hands.

You'd defy him?

More like go around him.

You know, I can't arrest them for the smuggling,

but if I could get that clerk to talk,

I could blow the whole thing up that way.

And what would that do to you?

Well, it's not about me.

Oh, really?

'Cause you would be the cop that was known for

taking down the family that provides

half the jobs to our people.

How are you supposed to serve and protect people

if they can't trust you to put them first?

What, their jobs first, or their lives first?

'Cause those guys didn't care who they were hurting.

They were firing blindly into that store so why

should they get away with it?

Yeah, well, if we're gonna talk about

the right thing to do, I need to refill.

Do you remember when I was 16...

My friends were passing around that math test

they stole from the teacher's lounge?

I remember that was a conversation

about what was right, too.

And you wanted me to keep quiet.

'Cause too many of your friends' kids were involved.

So I dropped it.

And after the test,

Dad came into my room and asked

how I was feeling about it, and I said,

"I could live with it... because no one got hurt".

And if I thought the Thunderclouds

would just keep selling their tobacco

and making their millions,

and the only one losing was the government,

and that nothing like the shooting

and beating would ever happen again...

You'd let it go.

Yeah.

We know this isn't easy.

And I wish we didn't have to push you.

But you're gonna push me anyway.

Well, think about what could have happened.

What if your wife hadn't found you so quickly?

What would that have meant for your punctured lung?

Not to mention, your ruptured spleen.

You could have died.

And these guys?

They're not going to stop.

They are gonna stop.

There's not gonna be a next time.

Yeah?

And what about the next guy?

If we figured that this whole thing was happening

because you refused to sell their cigarettes,

I figured there were two reasons why you might refuse.

Worrying about getting caught.

Or wanting to do the right thing.

And I'm hoping it's the second one.

Sucks, doesn't it?

The whole conscience thing.

If you testified,

we could bring down their whole organization.

And without you, they're gonna walk.

And there will be a next guy.

So, what really happened?

You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be used against you

in a court of law.

You have the right to an attorney,

and to have your attorneys present during any questioning.

What she said.

Don't call this a win yet, sweetheart.