Original subtitles

Previously on The Shield.

Teenage resident Lloyd Denton. He's our shooter.

The speculation is Bundy's first murders were committed in his early teens.

Are you saying this kid's a serial killer?

This guy's all I've got.

‐We're targeting Cruz Pezuela. ‐Aceveda's one‐man campaign bankroll?

He's buying up Farmington with cartel money.

Blackmail ‐‐ That's how Pezuela's getting everyone

on board the train to cartel town.

Where's our blackmail box?

I'm now in possession of the box until the time is right to turn it over to Justice.

‐What about the files? ‐The Armenians are making a hard play

for your barrio's sandbox.

This piece of shit Rezian has taken something that belongs to me.

‐You wanna give me a clue what all this is about? ‐The intel box

The Mexicans are using it to blackmail their way up to the top.

You made it look like it was sold on to the Armos.

Which lit the fuse for the blood feud we're starting up

between Rezian and the Mexicans.

We need a quick Armenian political win.

Give me the name. I'll put it in play.

City controller ‐‐ Robert Martin.

He's in the blackmail box?

[GUNFIRE]

‐Robert, oh my God! ‐I need a medic!

Their march turns into a goddamn killing.

That was never part of the plan.

Martin was my colleague, Vic. I did not sign up for this.

Detective Mackey, Amando Rios.

Amando will speak for me.

Give me a name, and I'll run with it.

Rios isn't just some beaner. He's got a face only a cartel could love.

‐If Rios gets spooked, we lose our best shot at Pezuela. ‐Never heard of him.

David Aceveda, federal agent Olivia Murray.

That fed in the Clubhouse. Well I thought I'd seen her name somewhere before.

She's in the blackmail box?

Pezuela got her in his pocket. How much have you told her?

Enough to get us both killed.

[VEHICLE APPROACHES]

[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]

[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]

[CAR DOOR OPENS]

VIC: You look like shit.

What? I'm supposed to get a minute's sleep knowing Olivia

could've ratted us out to Pezuela and gotten us green lit?

Just because Olivia has been Pezuela's eyes and ears

doesn't mean she's been passing along the intel

we've been feeding her.

You think she's holding on to it?

Maybe using it against Pezuela herself?

She's up to her manhole in shit lake.

It's what I'd do.

Dangerous part for us, though, is not knowing.

[SIRENS WAILING]

You two worked closely. Did he have enemies downtown?

A city this size, with the money and power at stake?

But at the end of the day,

Robert was a glorified accountant.

Not a very sexy target.

And your people didn't see anything?

Heard shots, then it was complete chaos.

Why was your team deployed there in the first place?

CLAUDETTE: Detective Vendrell's been working with an Armenian CI

who's given us a couple of wins recently.

We'd been hearing some chatter that there's been

some Armenian‐Mexican friction.

So your assessment,

this is organized crime syndicates squaring off?

Well, Martin was clearly the target.

There's not a banger out there

with a merit badge for marksmanship.

You have to wonder if those shots weren't meant for Mr. Aceveda.

You being a mayoral candidate now.

Um, Vic, do you‐‐? Do you have any change?

You know, this Kouf guy's becoming

a real rock star in the department.

With him leading the investigation now,

and our involvement, this could blow back on us.

Take a deep cleansing breath.

Neither one of us had anything to do with that shooting,

by word or deed.

We damn sure know who's responsible.

‐When you've got a minute. ‐Sure.

And the slightest whisper of impropriety

is a political career‐ender.

Do you know how much she's told Pezuela?

I'll handle her, but it's gotta be gently.

Your problem is you're trying to have it both ways.

You want to take down Pezuela, win a landslide as a reformer.

But not until he pays all your bills.

Oh, sorry, I've only got 50 cents.

And you're about a dollar.

What's [SIGHS]tercup?

Got a situation I could use a little help on.

Ask and ye shall.

I need to run it by your captain first. Make sure it's kosher.

Then I'll hit you with the details.

Anything come back on the intel I gave you?

Nothing so far.

Hope it wasn't a bum steer.

Not like you to be off the money.

Okay, well, give me a shout, it gets you to that bigger fish.

You'll be the first to know. Believe me.

I gotta go, okay? Check yourself up.

[DOOR CLOSES]

Olivia needs us to backstop her on something.

I'm waiting on the details.

Am I, uh‐‐? I'm missing something?

[SIGHS]

Olivia's carrying water for Pezuela.

She's in the box of sins.

What?

Her brother got jammed up with some mob bookies.

Pezuela got wind somehow, got proof.

Could explain why she's become

a fact of life around here all of a sudden.

SHANE: This prick owns a federal agent

who's up our ass collecting intel?

You boys gonna let me in on this?

I just found out myself.

We're still not sure about the size of Pezuela's hook.

It's pretty goddamn clear what we need to do.

We give the box to Rezian so that the Armenians

can return it to Pezuela and he lays off.

Not yet.

Are you not understanding

that this master plan of yours is backfiring?

Rezian still has our families in the cross hairs.

Now Pezuela has sicked a fed on us.

I understand the situation.

We return the box, we get credit for brokering a peace deal.

Our money‐train debt is paid in full.

Now, explain to me how that is not

in all of our best interests?

[DOOR OPENS]

Another time.

[DOOR CLOSES]

King rat's Gaytan Echevarria.

Cuban, Miami‐based.

He's visiting L. A.

Doing what?

He's meeting Martin Blez.

Number two denim manufacturer in the world.

Echevarria's looking to clean his drug benjamins

by plowing them into a legit biz: blue jeans.

So how does the Strike Team fit in?

Echevarria's daughter, Noelle. Freshman at SC.

She got carjacked this morning at 8th and Hoover.

Three black males ordered her boyfriend

out of the car at gunpoint, drove off with the girl.

Our surveillance picked up the boyfriend,

telling her old man what happened.

In that neighborhood, it's probably gang‐related.

Hence the Strike Team.

With his daughter missing,

Echevarria's not focused on business.

Bad guys love their kids too.

This meeting with Blez is our one opportunity

to take down the whole network.

It doesn't make, a high‐dollar, 18‐month investigation

goes out the window.

You need the Strike Team to find the missing girl

so daddy will get back to the dirty business.

Without tipping Echevarria the police are involved.

He hasn't reported the kidnapping.

Our surveillance intel's got him

using his own muscle to find her.

Taking matters into his own hands

could get a lot of people hurt.

He knows law enforcement's involved,

and he didn't drop the dime.

He'll figure out he's being watched.

Description of the Echevarria girl's car.

RONNIE: Not like we can put out an APB

if we need to keep this on the down low.

My best recommend to start with the local chop shops.

See if anyone's trying to unload her Nissan.

Let's pull all the files on car thefts for the last six months.

Suspects, arrest records, similar M. O.'s.

Got it.

Your surveillance come up with any intel

on the kind of muscle Echevarria's traveling with?

Four guys, Cuban and Jamaican. Armed, long list of priors.

When's this meet with denim dude supposed to go down?

Blez's jet gets into Van Nuys around 6.

Assuming our Cuban doesn't cancel the meet.

VIC: That doesn't give us a whole hell of a lot of time.

Let me say it again. Echevarria gets a whiff of police

anywhere near this, he will get spooked and bolt.

Understood.

You drop the bomb that Olivia is in Pezuela's blackmail box.

Now she's walking us into a sketchy case

with out‐of‐town players?

You think she's setting us up?

We gotta assume that she's gonna give Pezuela a heads‐up.

Then maybe he decides to strike first.

Or maybe you're just being paranoid

and this is exactly what she says it is.

A random street crime that could possibly wreck

a high‐profile ICE collar.

Either way, we gotta watch our backs.

I pulled the most recent 10851's.

Chop shop on Manzanita specializes in stolen parts

for Japanese street racers.

We'll start there. Ride with me.

SHANE: We didn't get a chance to finish our earlier conversation.

You were about to explain what's more important

than keeping our families safe.

Nothing.

Well, then settle this beef between the Armos and Mexis.

Just let Pezuela have whatever it is that he wants.

Just get us off the hook already.

I can't do that.

If you think you're gonna use this box

to squeeze your way into keeping some detective career‐‐

Look, I don't have to remind you

of the bad shit we've been responsible for.

You're the one who wrote it all down.

Yeah, well, that was Bad Shit Volume I.

The next installment has Ronnie doing Zadofian's murder.

And since we're being honest about things,

it means we're all blood brothers now.

[SIGHS]

Pezuela's a scorpion.

Now, he can and will unleash a level of violence

and corruption in Farmington that'll turn this place

into little Mexico City.

I can't let that happen.

I don't trust anyone else to stop him,

including Robbery‐Homicide.

If it's not Pezuela shitting on the streets,

it's going to be some other asshole.

Putting Pezuela away

is a down payment on me being able to live with myself.

Now, if you can't understand that,

at least respect it.

♪ ♪

CLAUDETTE: Dutch.

I got a call from Beth Insardi, wanting to know if I was

deliberately ducking subpoenas on the Kleavon Gardner trial.

Subpoenas which you have been intercepting. I wanna know why.

Captain, you've been busy and I thought‐‐

It was my call.

Uh, Danny was just following my instructions.

Give us a minute.

Apparently, Kleavon is defending himself pro se

in his murder trial.

And I‐‐ I just didn't think you needed the stress

of being drawn into that circus.

Because of my illness?

Your last encounter with him landed you facedown

on the stairs and in the hospital.

Does Danny know why you had her running interference for me?

Course not. Cops duck subpoenas all the time.

As far as she's concerned, we were sparing you

some unnecessary aggravation.

I can handle my own affairs.

This guy's had it in for you from the beginning.

He killed a woman who looked like you just to make his point.

I want this prick to get the justice he deserves.

And if it means giving a deposition‐‐

Kleavon is a confessed serial killer

facing the death penalty.

What better way to spend his final days

than lobbing shit balls at you?

Let's not humor him.

He's coming in this afternoon.

I'll get it over with.

Fine.

[RAP MUSIC PLAYING]

RONNIE: See if this guy's part of the chop shop.

Yo.

Got a rabbit. Got a rabbit.

Hey, watch it.

[HORN HONKS]

[HORN HONKS]

Ronnie, get in front of him.

We're moving to intercept.

[HORN HONKS]

[HORN HONKS]

Get out of the car, let me see your hands. Get out.

Get out, get out. Get down.

Don't move.

Llewellyn Wang?

Farmington Grand Prix means you know why we're here.

I had nothing to do with it, man.

I never even heard of this missing chick.

[YELPS]

W I don't know. l?

Neither did those dead homeys

but those gusanos kacked them anyway.

You lost me.

We was kicking it.

I went out back to take a leak,

and that's when the shit jumped off.

What kind of shit?

Four Caribbean dudes showed up, man

Sweating everybody about some Cuban girl they looking for.

My friends were like, "What the hell you talking about?"

Dudes went at 'em with knives and shit.

You're gonna take us to where this gangster party went down.

The back. There.

Vic.

RONNIE: Zorro wannabe?

From this angle, I'm reading an N.

Missing girl's name was Noelle.

They weren't wishing him an early merry Christmas.

We are on the record in the matter of

People v. Kleavon Kwame Gardner.

The witness has been sworn in. All parties present

have been advised this deposition is being videotaped.

Please state your name.

Claudette Wyms.

Would you describe your relationship to the defendant?

I investigated the murders you committed

and arrested you for them.

You say I committed these murders.

What you are expressing is a personal, very biased opinion.

Enjoy this charade while you can.

Because you are gonna be sentenced to death

for the murders of Pauline Walker,

Mary Simpson, Lana Gregory

and all those women you killed back in Texas.

At any point during investigation,

did you interrogate any other suspects besides me?

I didn't have to.

So you made up your mind from the jump.

Which means that this so‐called investigation

is really just a exercise in closed‐mindedness.

Mr. Gardner, the purpose of a deposition is to ask questions.

Not put words in the witness's mouth.

I'm just trying to see how she developed this theory.

Accusing a black man when everybody knows

that serial murder is a white man's crime.

Shade's got nothing to do with it.

The evidence pointed overwhelmingly

to you and only you.

And let's not forget you confessed.

We've got it on videotape.

Are you currently taking any prescribed medication?

Don't answer. That's completely irrelevant.

Have you ever seen this before?

Let the record show I am holding a prescription bottle

recovered from a trash barrel

at Miss Wyms' home.

Label reads:

Corticosteroid, 60 milligrams.

Three refills. Patient's name, Claudette Wyms.

You son of a bitch.

[DOGS BARKING]

Echevarria's crew

conducting a Q and A about his missing little girl.

What's the next move?

Ronnie and Julien are out

talking to the local shot‐callers on the DL.

Los Mags, One‐Niners, Spookstreet.

There's a get‐out‐of‐jail‐free card

for anyone who dimes the car.

Hollered at a buddy of mine in Robbery‐Homicide.

Third carjacking in a month involving sexual assault.

So M.O. is they steal a fresh whip,

take it and mommy for a joy ride.

Every boy's dream twofer.

SHANE: ICE surveillance capture any of this on videotape?

They're focused on Echevarria.

All you should be thinking about right now is finding this girl.

I don't need you or anybody else managing my thought process.

I think maybe we should have a talk with Deena.

Doesn't feel like her stilo.

No. But grand theft auto, she knows all the players.

And we need all the information we can get.

We'll be in touch.

Deena.

[GUN COCKS]

[GUNSHOTS]

[DOGS BARKING]

[MOUTHING WORDS]

[YELPS]

Put the gun down. Drop the gun.

Drop the gun, goddamn it.

You stupid bitch.

Goddamn it, Deena.

Sorry.

Now, were you taking this steroid medication

at the time of my interrogation?

You are way over the line.

Goes to her state of mind.

Now, my reading of the law books says that this is relevant.

Were you on drugs at the time

of this alleged confession you mentioned?

Please keep in mind you are under oath.

I need a bathroom break.

Not surprised.

Goddamn it.

Now, frequent urination is one of the less dangerous

side effects of this stuff.

Claudette.

Okay, okay. You need to shut this down right now.

He's entitled to conduct discovery.

What is she on meds for?

You need to talk to her about that. How serious?

She doesn't need her medical history to become an issue.

I could get the judge to seal the transcripts.

They'll be unsealed when this goes to trial,

used to attack her credibility in all cases.

That's our system, isn't it?

All right, who is this guy?

Just a guy I've been working with lately.

Accomplice, in other words.

I came back from a run and I found him like that.

Busted out the shotgun when I heard you rolling up.

I did say sorry, right?

People responsible are looking for a silver Nissan 300.

You know anybody who traffics in a load like that?

Could've been anyone. There's a lot of demand for Jap cars.

The jackers have been targeting females.

They grab the car, help themselves to the cooch.

You know anyone who rolls like that?

Ghost Town Piru's been boosting for initiation lately.

So has Hollis Lane.

I liked him.

He could've been the one.

We were talking about getting out of the game.

I'd think about sticking to that plan,

even without him.

You became quite ill during my interrogation, as I recall.

Disoriented, unsteady on your feet.

It was not serious.

Well, you started bleeding heavily from your nose.

Had to leave the room.

I saw you fall down a flight of stairs.

Or don't you remember that?

Sixty milligrams.

That's a high dosage of a very powerful drug.

INSARDI: You're not a medical expert.

Well, I'm not a lawyer either, but the court says

I am competent enough to argue my case.

Are you aware some of the side effects

of long‐term steroid use include:

"Confusion, hallucination, paranoia, psychosis"?

Do you suffer from any of these side effects?

No.

Just before you were taken ill,

before the blood started pouring out of your nose,

you had told me that my sister Fatima‐‐

I'm reading from the transcript here.

‐‐"was found strangled and dumped in an alley."

But that wasn't the case, was it?

It's a standard interview tactic used to mislead a suspect

with disinformation in order to get the truth.

Was that a tactic or were you having a hallucination?

Because I saw Fatima downstairs a little while later.

INSARDI: What you're doing is more prejudicial than probative.

I don't know what that means.

It means that you're gonna stop

this irresponsible line of questioning.

I was told by this woman

that my sister had been murdered.

I was overcome with grief.

I might've said some things I didn't mean

because I wasn't in my right mind.

Now, if my emotional distress

was caused by a mentally‐disturbed person

on drugs, that's something the jury needs to know.

You attack my credibility all you want.

It still won't get you off,

not with all the other evidence we got against you.

Evidence collected

by a heavily medicated police detective

in a station now under the command

of that same paranoid, delusional psychotic,

who's now been promoted to captain.

You gotta ask yourself how credible

that evidence really is.

Can we go off the record?

You are putting on quite a show.

Thank you.

You think you're gonna get acquitted, think again.

You're gonna go down for those murders no matter what.

Might as well take some folks down with me.

Or not.

It all depends.

On what?

I want the death penalty off the table.

CLAUDETTE: You drag me through the mud all you want.

I'm gonna live to watch you die.

Word of your unstable mental condition gets loose,

they'll have you out the door

faster than you can say Mark Fuhrman.

Job you're in, it's all about credibility.

You deserve the same fate

as all those women you put in the ground.

I'm a different man now.

Fallen in love with a woman

that I've been in correspondence with since my incarceration.

I'm looking forward to spending

the rest of my natural life with her.

Even more reason to put you down like a sick animal

now that you got something to lose.

Another potty break?

[DOOR OPENS]

You're not gonna cave in to this stunt.

Slightest whiff of doubt,

juries back off capital punishment in a heartbeat.

He's got a story to tell.

Don't do this, Beth.

It's not your call to make.

I gotta use your phone, run this past the bosses.

WOMAN: Lyor Chotzen left a message.

He'll meet you at Los Perditos.

Thanks.

Chotzen, the FBI profiler

who worked the Kleavon Gardner case for you?

Yeah, with Kleavon back in the house, got me thinking

I should talk to Chotzen about the Lloyd Denton shooting.

We already went at that brat once.

You keep hauling him in here, his mom's gonna figure out

you suspect him as Jack the Ripper, Jr.

See, that's where you're wrong, I'm not trying to arrest the kid

I'm just trying to help him.

You wanna beat a dead horse, do your thing.

I've got enough paperwork to wipe my ass for a year.

Hey, Vic, did you sign that document for me?

The quit claim on paternity for Lee.

Oh, I haven't had a chance to read it.

Could you make the time? My lawyer wants to file it.

What's the rush? [DOOR BUZZES]

I just wanna get it done, okay?

What now?

Cassidy's been suspended from school. I give up.

Suspended for what?

She and her friends were at some pimps‐and‐hos party.

All the girls had to wear lingerie.

Pimps‐and‐hos?

Yeah, some kid posted their pictures on the Internet.

These girls were dressed in their underwear

traipsing around in front of the boys. It was revolting.

VIC: Where's Cass now?

Home.

There were drugs involved.

Jesus Christ.

She wouldn't even have admitted to me it if I hadn't threatened

to drag her down here for a urine test.

What kind of drugs?

Ecstasy. She claims it was her first time.

Okay, who gave it to her?

She won't tell me. I just don't know what else to do.

I sure as hell do. Who organized this party?

I'm not sure, but I spoke to one of the other mothers

and she said it was at this boy Mickey Dightman's house.

There are pictures of him

on the same website, and he's smoking a joint.

All right, listen, I got this. I'll call you later, okay?

Unintentional or not,

that was live ammo Deena directed our way.

No way Olivia could've orchestrated that.

So if Deena would've blown our brains out,

you telling me that would've just been dumb luck?

This Cuban's one‐day body count's gonna

cut our car‐theft numbers in half.

But I want him in custody or on a plane back to Miami.

You need to decide how much collateral damage

you're willing to accept to preserve this ICE investigation.

The sooner we get the missing girl,

the sooner the streets settle down. Tick‐tock.

JULIEN: Hey, Vic.

Unis took a statement from a domestic victim up in observation.

We should follow up.

Couples counseling isn't on my to‐do list right now.

Her boyfriend's a gangbanger. Priors for car theft.

And he was bragging to someone

about running a train on some Latina.

What set's the BF claiming?

Ghost Town Piru.

[WHISPERS] Ghost Town Piru.

[SOBBING]

I can take a beatdown about as tough as any bitch.

But I'm done.

This nigga came home smelling like badussy.

I asked him, "What's up with that?"

He talking how I must be on crack.

Only then I hear him loud‐talking to his boy

about how they was running Alabama Anaconda

up in ole girl all day long.

Happen to mention if ole girl was Cuban?

Cuban, Mexican, it's all reggaeton to me.

I told him you think a sister gonna be 'bout it, 'bout it,

when he got taco stank up on his black ass.

Think again.

Gave me the fist.

Girl's gotta draw a line somewhere.

Any idea where he is right now?

He's probably at his job. He work around the way.

You know, stealing cars.

I've been dreaming about tacos for the last two weeks.

Hard to come by in Beijing.

You over there on vacation?

Paid consultant to the People's Republic of.

Thirty‐seven dead females autopsied pre‐mortem.

Wow. Yeah.

Chinese law enforcement is strangely proud

to finally have one of their own up on the world stage

alongside John Wayne Gacy and Andrei Chikatilo.

What's the profile?

Organized killer, male, 20s.

But with a billion Chinese,

they're looking for a needle‐dick in a haystack.

What about you?

I got a suspect, a kid. Shot an intruder.

You wouldn't be talking to me if this was a one‐time thing.

Not sure, it's not something I wanna be wrong about.

He's 16, no obvious killer symptoms.

What about the obvious precursors?

No arson, cruelty to animals or bed‐wetting

that I know about.

What's got your antennae twitching?

I think he killed him just to kill.

And if he can do that at 16, what's he gonna be doing at 25?

Want me to talk to him?

Prove me right, prove me wrong.

I just need to know what I'm dealing with.

Don't let him know you're a cop.

I need him to think

that I've moved off the criminal investigation.

You bet.

So what? You gonna show me those ink blotch things,

ask me what I see?

If you want. Mostly I'm here to listen.

I sat in this room for like 97 hours

answering the same questions

over and over and over again.

I'm pretty talked out.

DUTCH: That was a police investigation.

This is an opportunity for you to conduct one of your own.

Into your feelings.

I'm gonna give you some room, keep your mom company.

Can I get you anything to drink? Water, tea?

Oh, no, thank you.

I wonder if I should be up there with him.

This therapy works best when you're talking to a stranger.

Easier to vent those feelings to a blank screen,

rather than to someone who knows everything about you.

Makes sense. I don't know the first thing about psychiatrists.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

How's, um‐‐? How's Lloyd been doing since all this happened?

Surprisingly well, under the circumstances.

Not acting out? Anger, depressed?

No.

Has he wet his bed, anything like that?

No, my son is 16.

Only reason I ask, sometimes the body wants to, uh,

rid negative feelings the way it does other waste products.

No, Lloyd's never had that problem.

How long is he going to be up there?

All these shrinks seem to think an hour's 50 minutes long, so...

[CHUCKLES]

Maybe I will have that tea.

Silver Nissan 300 parked inside. Three guys downstairs.

One guy up in the loft poking on something.

I'm guessing that's our girl.

All right, Ronnie, nice work. Come on down.

Kick down the door, go in guns drawn and badges out,

Noelle's gonna know it was the police to the rescue.

Yeah, so will big poppa.

That's why we'll make it look like a robbery by a rival gang.

Choreograph it so the girl escapes.

JULIEN: No disrespect.

The only set you guys can claim is Aryan Nation.

No, no, I got an idea.

Only I'm gonna need you to sell it to Claudette.

Coming from any of us, it'll be a no‐go.

Done.

[DIALING PHONE]

It's questionable tactics,

high risk to my personnel and civilians.

The fresh hell you're proposing

must have come from the mind of Mackey.

This operation's got a high degree of difficulty.

We're running out of time and I don't have a better idea.

I sign off on this insanity, here are my terms.

Echevarria's hit squad

gets charged here in Farmington ahead of any federal case.

I need a win after the shit rain these bastards caused today.

Okay. And any blowback

from Vic Mackey's voodoo law enforcement

is on you.

[SIREN WAILS IN THE DISTANCE]

How am I supposed to trust you

after the shit you pulled with my Escalade?

Hey you ever wanna feel those fine leather seats on your ass again or not?

No one's gonna see your face. You won't have to wear your own colors.

No one except the people in this room

will know you were involved.

It's bad enough we down with One Time,

but taking flight on a band of brothers...

Spare me the Pan‐African bullshit.

you guys are out there killing each other all day, every day.

You get a little taste of black pussy,

and now you an expert on Africa?

Streets is watching, homey.

We supposed to be strapped, right?

You can take your own heaters.

But just for show. No ammo.

Officer Lowe will be embedded with you and he'll be armed.

The rest of us will cover you from the perimeter.

Our targets have been on the bong all day.

You go in fast and hard, they won't know what hit 'em.

No one gets hurt.

I mean, now that we undercover brothers now,

don't you think we need to be deputized?

You know, make this shit official.

VIC: All right. Raise your right hands.

Now do this while you do this.

[ALL GROAN]

She's great. She's like Supermom.

You know, she's like a mom and dad rolled all into one.

It's just‐‐ I feel like I let her down.

See how he's shifting the focus away from him to his mother?

Consciousness of guilt?

Possibly.

I don't know, I should've like

dove headfirst through the window to get away.

I'd like you to close your eyes‐‐

See, I gave him a guided

image‐transference exercise here.

Now watch what he does.

Tell him what you were feeling when you pulled the trigger.

This is‐‐ This is on you, you stupid shit.

And this is all your fault.

Only I'm the one messed up over it and I don't even know you.

Blaming the victim to generate sympathy.

Yeah, but he's also speaking to his own shadow‐self.

Could be interpreted as an admission of guilt.

CHOTZEN: Is there anything else you'd like to say to him?

LLOYD: Yeah, I'm sorry.

I'm just‐‐ I'm really sorry.

[SIGHS]

Affect and emotional responses

are consistent with post‐traumatic stress.

Remorse, grief, guilt, anger.

What if it's all an act?

Well then we're dealing with a sociopath

with a well‐constructed mask of sanity.

But the stats are against it.

Most serial killers don't come online

until they're in their 20s or 30s.

You think I'm pissing in the wind here?

There's something off with this kid.

I just can't tell you what it is.

Death penalty's off the table.

Contingent on you pleading guilty to all charges

and stipulating to life without parole.

I can live with that.

If there's a God in heaven,

you'll catch a shank to the throat

choke to death on your own blood,

miserable and alone.

When I get back to my cell,

I'll call my girl, pop the question.

We all understand what we're doing here?

Look, ain't no thing. This is how we ride 24‐7, my nig.

Throw it out, now.

Just trying to cover up the smell of bacon.

Hey, do what he says, homey.

Look, I need your mind right on this one.

And I'm trying to hang on to this car.

Okay, Vic, we're all in position.

All right, let's get this done.

Wes, wes, y'all.

Hey, my man, how you doing?

Hey, look, how much I gotta drop

if I wanna floss the load with sprewells on dubs?

Burnout. Burnout.

[TIRES SCREECH]

Don't move, stay down. Stay down, stay! Hey, come on.

[ALL CLAMORING]

BURNOUT: Yo, black, where the scrilla and the cush at?

My man asked you a question.

Hey. Hey, look, load up them rims. Load 'em up.

[RAP MUSIC PLAYING]

[WHIMPERING]

Pull 'em out.

[GRUNTS]

Get dressed, bitch.

♪ Anything goes

♪ I got boys in the hood ♪

JULIEN: Yo, look at what I found. Ha‐ha.

Oh, sugar walls found us some new BBC.

Let me see what I'm working with here.

Stupid nigger, you denting the rims.

BURNOUT: Let me hit that.

That's money. That's money over there.

Let me crack that bitch. Come on, man, let me crack her.

[WHIMPERING]

Help me, please. You okay?

Go, go, go.

[TIRES SCREECH]

VIC: Danny's got the girl.

All right, move in, move in.

[GUN COCKS]

[ALL CLAMORING]

VIC: Hands in the air.

Head down on the ground. On the ground right now.

You stay where you're at.

♪ What you do with that bag? ♪

Counselor, a moment of your time.

I understand you're an attorney now.

Not sure if that's a step up or step down from doing murder.

You got jokes.

Was wondering if you'd be willing to help me out

on another matter.

What's in it for me?

Spoken like a true lawyer.

So this 16‐year‐old kid has got himself into a situation.

I could use your expertise, help me figure out

what I'm dealing with.

Or I could just ship you back to County in time for dinner.

I'm just‐‐ I'm really sorry.

If anybody reached out to you when you were his age

with an arsenal of help and understanding,

you think you might've channeled your energies

in a different direction?

Don't get it twisted, man.

Everybody's born into this world with their own set of gifts.

You grow up, find what you're good at and you roll with it.

It's why you're a cop and I took a different path.

We all gotta ride or die

with what the good Lord meant for us to do.

You, me and him.

So if killing is this kid's shot in life, there's no stopping it.

Sure there's stopping it. You all stopped me, didn't you?

All it takes is a pair of cuffs and a cage to throw him in.

Yeah, he's got the look. I seen it before.

Where?

In the mirror.

Which one of you fine young men is Mickey Dightman?

Hands behind your back, WMickey.you want?

Hey. Hey, what's going on?

I'm taking you in for questioning. Screw!

What did I do?

That's what you're gonna tell me, big pimpin'.

And you better not leave out a thing.

You can't arrest me for smoking.

A picture doesn't prove anything.

I can arrest you for scratching your tiny little nuggets.

By the time you're done with booking,

fingerprints, mugshots, transport to juvie,

it'll be 18 hours before they release you to your mommy and daddy.

They're gonna love being in and out of court rooms

for the next year, trying to clear their baby boy.

So, who supplied the drugs?

I brought one joint with me.

Where did you get it?

There's a weed patch behind the school. It grows wild.

What about the ecstasy?

I don't do ex.

That's not what I asked you.

Who brought it to the party?

[KNOCK AT DOOR]

I need a name.

[KNOCK AT DOOR]

VIC: What?

Kid's father's here.

Can you give me a second?

Vic, he's a juvenile. He has to have a parent present.

What's going on here? Are you okay?

Your son is involved in a drug investigation.

I had to make sure he was in a secure environment

for his own safety before I could notify you.

You are involved with drugs?

VIC: Marijuana and ecstasy.

If you can get him to cooperate, it'll go a lot easier on him.

Mickey, you tell this man what he wants to know.

Now.

Th‐this girl in my grade‐‐

Okay, the pimps‐and‐hos thing was her idea.

She planned everything, scored the ex.

The only thing Cassidy asked me to do

was put together a mix tape and a couple of mashups.

Look, you've always been the logical one,

I see the whole picture.

With what you did to Lem center‐foreground.

And I always know where you're coming from.

Look, I'm appealing to your good judgment.

Even if I know I will forever be on the wrong end of it.

You got that right.

Vic is gonna land you, me and him in jail

for the rest of our lives if he keeps going in this direction.

Well, he's doing what it takes to protect his family.

That's only one part of the equation.

The other math goes like this.

Vic takes down someone who's done worse deeds than him

it balances accounts for Terry.

In that big old box of sins God keeps on all of us.

I do Oh, you will. God.

Because praying's the only thing that gets you

out of a jail cell twice a week.

Hey, look.

Vic still thinks the world's worth fixing

and he's the only one that can do it.

Now, you and me, we're not like that.

This joint's broke for good, and we both know it.

And taking down Pezuela will not make

one goddamn bit of difference on the streets.

Now, he'll listen to you.

Get him to settle this beef. Hand over the box.

Give everybody a moment's peace.

[SIGHS]

You may hate me,

but you know what I'm saying.

You know what's right.

Short of a confession, I'm not gonna make this case.

I can't sweat one out of him

without alerting the mother he's a suspect.

In which case, she circles the wagons

around her sweet teen killing machine.

Sounds like you've done everything you can.

What if everything I've learned in my career,

everything I've been through,

is meant to bring me to this exact place in time?

This kid, this case.

CLAUDETTE: Then what happens to the higher power who put you here?

Why wasn't he there to stop Lloyd from pulling the trigger?

I mean, who's the better detective?

Someone who arrests the bad guy after he's killed 30 people?

Or the one who prevents 30 murders from happening

in the future?

None of us can see the future.

We can give it a shove in the right direction.

Hey, uh, sorry your deposition went sideways.

In retrospect, burying those subpoenas was, uh, prudent.

Kleavon would've tracked you down sooner or later.

What's the final word?

Insardi cut the deal, she gave me the only deposition tape.

She protected me.

DA's locking in the best win they can.

It's not just about protecting you.

Yeah, well, this is the shape of things to come for me.

More a liability every passing day.

What were you just saying about seeing the future?

All I have to do is look at the present.

If Kleavon can suss this out,

what happens when a real lawyer decides

to tear me apart on some other case?

You're not a lead detective anymore.

All you have to do is manage people here.

Is that what I do now?

Dodged a few bullets today.

Literally.

Just don't know which side Olivia's on.

Which makes sleeping tonight as rough as it was last night.

I'm not putting my head on a pillow until I know for sure.

Shane wants me to have

the come‐to‐Jesus conversation with you about‐‐

About ending the war, turning over the box.

I figured he'd piss in your ear.

He makes sense. He's got a point.

We can stop this all now.

I can't give back something I don't have.

Aceveda's in possession of the box.

And he ain't giving it back to you and me

so we can get cuddly with the Armenians.

Besides, if Olivia's been ratting us out to Pezuela,

we've got even bigger problems.

This stays between us.

It was stand‐up of Dutch

to take responsibility for the subpoena‐gate.

But I Old business.now‐‐

I'm...

[CHUCKLES]

I'm not well.

But I'm not done here yet either.

I, uh‐‐ I need someone I can count on.

Backstop me full‐time, catch my mistakes.

Anything you need, just say the word.

How would you like to be reassigned to me

on a permanent basis?

[CHUCKLES]

From tuna boat to goddess duty?

That would work for me.

How much do you know about lupus?

And we believe this boy?

He was telling the truth.

What are we supposed to do?

Handcuff Cassidy to the bedpost till she's 21?

If we have to.

Or she can learn about consequences the hard way like these people.

CORRINE: Don't say that.

That's not the future I want for our daughter either.

She's a good kid. She just took a wrong turn.

She's gotta start acting like a good kid.

I better go.

Hey, hey, I know how to deal with this, okay?

My lawyer wants to know where we are

with that quit claim.

Tell him I'm not signing it.

Wait a minute, we agreed.

Maybe in your head.

You have no idea what it takes to raise a child.

I knew what I was doing when I decided to keep Lee.

You were never a part of that plan.

I might not have been part of the plan,

but I was 50 percent of the execution.

You wanna see Lee have a good upbringing?

Stay out of his life and sign the damn document.

Hey, just because you've decided

that me being the father's a shitty idea

does not mean that I'm gonna get behind the even shittier idea

of abandoning my son.

[ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]

My mom's in the shower. Good.

'Cause you and I need to talk.

We both know it was your plan all along to kill Luis Alvarez.

You convinced him to break into your house.

You shot him, made sure you had an airtight story

so you could go out and kill again.

Because that's what gets you off.

Might even think you're gonna get away with it again.

But I'm not gonna let that happen.

[DOOR OPENS]

Dutch?

Why do you keep calling him that?

Because he's been so helpful to us.

Am I interrupting something?

No.

Actually, Dutch just came by to let us know

that the investigation's officially closed.

Oh.

Yeah. It's all behind us.

What a relief.

[SIGHS]

♪ With all the evil I've done ♪

VIC: Hands where I can see 'em.

Drop that.

Wanted some late‐night alone time,

could've invited me for a cocktail.

A fed with benefits isn't on my get‐list.

Well, how about that drink?

Already checked your well. You don't stock my pour.

Which is?

Surprising.

You already know everything else about me.

I found that by your bedside.

OLIVIA: Girls need nighttime reading too.

How long has Pezuela had his hooks in you?

You know all the twists and turns.

Do I?

[SIGHS]

I got a federal warrant

on a racketeering investigation two years ago.

Seized documents in a‐‐ In a bookmaking takedown.

And you made those documents disappear,

'cause they showed your brother was in hock

to a cartel‐financed casino.

Without motive,

the grand jury dropped the embezzlement charge against him.

I kept my brother out of jail.

Pezuela followed the treasure trail to you,

and now you're the one serving time.

And his Doberman, Rios, is your warden.

I thought it was a trade‐off that I could live with.

My brother's been putting his life back together.

And the errands they had me running, they were minimal.

Record searches, financials.

They want you to get your fingers really dirty

to set the hook.

[SIGHS]

Rios told me that I had to arrange

safe passage across the border for some people.

So I put in for special‐assignment training

down in San Ysidro.

Picked up four illegals.

Played it off like I was taking them to secondary search,

dropped them at a safe house instead.

He had you dancing with coyotes for a night, so what?

The next day, Rios had me shadowing

the Salvadoran body‐draggings on Kearney.

You think it was done by the guys you brought over?

Timing's hard to overlook.

And then you gave me that intel on the Robert Martin shooting.

You couldn't have known.

They weren't coming here to pick lettuce.

I knew enough.

How much of this have you fed to Rios?

I've kept you out of the mix.

Because?

Because it...

Because I didn't wanna hurt you.

And at some point, you're gonna squeeze me for a favor?

I'm in this so deep.

And I don't know how to get myself out.

You're talking to the right guy.

[DOG BARKING]

♪ ♪