Previously, on The Shield:
My detective found 12 bodies, hacked to pieces.
Machete's the weapon of choice for the Salvadorans.
It supports the tip that Aceveda's cronies gave us
that the killers were Salvadorans.
The victims were all Mexican illegals.
Solving it quickly is the difference between
keeping the Barn open or closing it.
VIC: Salvadoran bangers sponsored this fair.
This looks like retaliation
for the San Marcos house murders.
That's Hernan in the blue shirt.
CLAUDETTE: ICE has an undercover operative
high up the Salvadoran food chain I need to protect.
There's an operative inside the Salvadorans
who can help solve the house murders.
Know who the Salvadorans were
who were swinging the machetes at San Marcos?
It'd be the death of my cover if I started asking.
Salvadorans are closing ranks.
It's getting too dangerous for you.
VIC: Where's Hernan? We lost contact with him.
Any way you guys could have compromised his cover?
Did you talk to Shane? He killed Lem.
I did what I thought had to be done at the time.
If I see you again, I will kill you.
Rick wanted to know how Ben got a hold of cash down in Mexico.
Then Drew came by today. Wanted the same information.
We're not gonna let you get hurt over this.
We gotta get out of L.A...
I'll squirrel enough away so we can go.
SHANE: Just imagine every wrong thing we have ever done.
If anything happens to me, or my wife, or my son...
that lands on lAD's doorstep.
Tell Kesakhian I got a business proposition for him.
I'm a cop. He's gonna need to know.
I'm an associate, Ellis Rezian.
I said wanted to speak to Kesakhian.
It's been a while since we had
a good relationship with law enforcement.
That's funny, I'm a fixer.
There's a new gas station on Talmadge.
The Armenians, did they put you up to this?
Supplier will be here tomorrow to fill up your tanks.
[CHATTER OVER RADIO]
[WHIRRING]
[SOFT MUSIC PLAYING]
Stay.
[CAT MEOWS]
[HEAVY METAL MUSIC PLAYING]
WOMAN [OVER PA]: Respiratory therapist, call CCU.
Respiratory therapist, call CCU.
Thank you.
[MACHINES BEEPING]
The nurse said you are staying strong, Papa.
We need to finish your English lessons.
I can only stay for a few minutes,
but I brought you this
to remind you of the colors in the garden, back in Yerevan.
[SPEAKING ARMENIAN]
Can I help you? I need to speak to Kesakhian.
He's supposed to have an office here.
He's not here. Look, I've squeezed
every food-stamp collecting, Armenian from here to Glendale.
Now, this is where he works out of.
And I'm not leaving till I get a little face time-.
Do we understand each other, sweetie?
This way, please.
Take a seat.
I'm Kesakhian. Look.
I got my nuts in a ringer right now.
And I don't like it when people crank the handle, okay?
I need to speak to the real Kesakhian.
My father's out of town.
But, um, anything you need to discuss with him,
you can discuss with me.
I'm handling his affairs...
Well, then you pass this message along to Pops, okay?
I didn't sign up to be walked into a murder jackpot-.
And he better goddamn well fix it.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Your old man will.
Rezian had me run an errand for you people.
About me drumming up business for your gas delivery operation.
Yes, I manage the books for the fuel company.
Yeah. Well, the owner wound up dead
with a gut full of super unleaded.
That shit blows back on me, for chrissakes.
Please, this is a holy place... Well, Jesus can kiss my ass.
If that faggot Rezian needed a goddamn patsy
to pin a murder on,
he just found himself on the end of a hollow point-.
Are you taking mental dictation?
We should take this conversation across the street.
You know what your daddy and his crew do for a living?
They're stone-cold gangsters.
I know when and what my father was.
He came here from Armenia last year.
He asked me to give up my studies in Berlin
to come here and help.
Translate.
That's how I know
that all our transactions has been legal.
Just because people haven't been getting their feet chopped off,
doesn't get the Armenian mob into the chamber of commerce.
I'll speak to my father.
And I will ask him to look into
what happened at the gas station.
Tell your old man to take care of my problem.
Or I will create a world of problems for him.
You called?
What's up? Why don't you two tell me.
I know what it's like to lose someone close.
The dance you two have been doing is about something else.
I wanna know what.
Not sure I catch your drift.
You've been hounding Nancy Gilroy
about Ben's Mexican hook-ups.
And I threatened to charge her if she doesn't tell the truth.
What's so important about these contacts
in a case that's been closed for over a year?
Shane and I had a conversation.
I'd think with your appeals hearing coming up,
you'd be more helpful, if you're interested in saving your job.
What were you after?
Lem's killer. Lem was on the run.
Knew about Gilroy's underground railroad to Margaritaville.
I thought something might've gone sideways in that regard.
Coyote pullin' a double cross, I don't know.
It's a bit of a stretch.
Aceveda's had you detailed to his dead-Mexican-hat-dance.
It's not like you and Dutch have clone a whole hell of a lot
of finding Lem's killer.
Don't ever use a tone like that to me again.
Transfer comes through soon, won't be an issue.
My operative's been dark for 36 hours.
Since you debriefed Hernan without authorization,
I have to assume that his cover's been compromised.
We don't know that with any certainty.
He called in distress. He didn't show up to a meet.
What are you people doing to locate him?
Well, we've been sitting on his girlfriends place
for the last 24 hours.
Also, we're running surveillance on his Salvadoran associates.
My status report to the bureau chief
assigns accountability to you and your personnel.
Consider yourself notified. It's 10:42 a.m.
In case you need a time-stamp for your ass-cover memo.
If Hernan's still in play,
you will report any and all contact
with him to my office immediately.
[DOOR SLAMMING]
I see now why Hernan reaches out to us
instead of his handlers.
Shouldn't have inserted ourselves in a long-term
federal investigation in the first place.
Hernan can help us break the San Marcos killings.
Who else besides our team knew about Hernan's cover?
Just Dutch, me. That's it.
Listen, Hernan can take care of himself.
Still, we need to be able to throw him a rope if necessary.
Now, right now he's MIA.
Stir up the waters looking for Hernan,
we risk putting him in a worse spot.
We gotta run a passive search.
Make some bank shots,
see what bounces off of what.
Anything turn up at Hernan's girlfriends?
Sat on her house all night and morning. She was a no-show.
RONNIE: It wasn't a complete waste.
She does do yoga in the nude, with blinds open.
Now, that really worries me,
Hernan not showing up at home for that.
I say we work the other side. Talk to the Byz Lats.
Truce isn't holding.
It's possible Hernan got caught up in retaliation.
VIC: Ronnie and I'll have a sit-down with Santi.
Take Shane to back you up. No. We don't need him.
Uh, Shane has a history with the Byz Lats, could get in the way.
Okay, Julien and I, we'll... We'll go pester the Salvadorans.
Spread the love around.
Hey, Vic? I gotta worry about you and Shane?
No. Thanks for your concern, though.
[PATS ARM]
Look, man.
I can't forgive Shane for what he did.
But, taking this beef public... I know, I know.
It's just tough keeping a poker face
with Shane playing off Lem's murder
like he's trying to solve it.
Then you need to keep your anger in the cut.
We're not clean in this either.
And I'm not spending the rest of my life
wearing state property.
Makes two of us.
♪ Just another day ♪
♪ Come on ♪
IDay ♪
[WH ISTLES]
Santi in his rat hole? Thought I smelled bacon.
That keen rodent sense of smell.
Came by to make sure you ain't misbehaving.
Still making good on the truce with the Salvadorans?
Byz Lats ain't sittin' down with no pinche Salvarenos,
on account of you trying to play us.
[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]
Heard about the rat you got
undercover with those fools.
I ain't stupid, homes.
You're full of shit.
If we had someone under with the Salvadorans,
we'd have taken you and them down by now.
Well, what my source tells me is la verdad.
There'll be no sit-down with my crew until the Salvas
take care of the snitch in their own house.
'Cause we ain't walkin' into no trap.
You need a new Ouija board
'cause you're channeling some bad intel.
Hey, I'm all about the peace.
But you brought it upon yourself, homes,
trying to double-cross us.
Plus, you haven't come through like you promised,
handing over the esses from the San Marcos whack.
We're working on that.
Yeah? Where?
On the way.
[SPEAKS IN SPANISH]
Shit. They found a body.
Hernan?
We got a male Hispanic, 20s, 30s, Salvadoran ink.
Hacked to pieces.
Looks like a fresh dump-job. No l.D.
Well, that's not him.
We just dodged a machete- it's not Hernan-.
Good news. Doesn't mean they're not
going through the ranks till they find him.
Get a canvass going. Spot like this, decent shot,
somebody saw something. Sure.
My son didn't lie on purpose. He just didn't say what he saw
on account of the girl he was with being too young.
I thought she was 18, until she invites me to her Quinceafiera.
Tell them what I heard you telling your brother.
All right, her parents was gone.
And we're up in the bedroom.
Um, Tricia was on top.
Anyway, sh-she's bouncing a-and she looks out the window.
And this... This load pulls up into the alley. Camaro-.
What color?
Uh, dark green, with... With grey primer on the front.
Um, this guy gets out. He dumps a couple trash bags and splits.
What's he look like?
Vato, regular dude, you know.
License plate was One-B-J-something.
But I-l didn't get the rest.
You're sure? Yeah. Yeah.
One-B-J. That's what I told my chavala I needed.
Like it was a sign, you know?
I spoke to my father.
He asked me to let you know he's concerned about your situation.
His "concern" doesn't help me one goddamn bit.
Gonna take names of people who killed
that gas-station owner to clear my ass.
He knows that. And he asks for your patience.
And, for me, in the meantime,
to give you this for your troubles.
Can I also ask you a favor?
Doing favors for you people is how I got my ass in this sling.
We own several apartment buildings.
There have been robberies.
Well, report it to the police.
We have.
But you people have not been very helpful.
Might have something to do with the property owner's last name.
There's not a lot of love there.
The tenants are getting nervous.
It's getting harder to rent out vacancies.
Crimes like this make it very difficult
to get a good price if we were to decide to sell.
Could you find out who's responsible, please?
Finding out who did it, and getting them off the street's
two different things. Anything you can find.
I know it's a lot to ask, but I need help.
Are you a mob daughter or a damsel in distress?
Give me the addresses.
You pay me for my time.
I'll pull out my shovel, and start digging.
DANNY: Leave it by the file cabinet.
I'll fill out the paperwork when I get over there.
TINA: All right. Hey, Tina.
You and, uh, Julien responded to a call
a couple weeks back,
I don't know, did we? It's your report.
The Russian chicks. Yeah, I remember.
Neighbors called in a noise complaint.
One of the girls said that her drunk ex-boyfriend
tore up the place and then took off.
It wasn't a 2-11?
She didn't mention anything about him stealing anything.
She wasn't real cooperative though.
Got the feeling she didn't wanna talk to cops. She was working.
It's like that, huh? Any citizen chilling
at the crib in the middle of the day in fishnets and garters,
it's either a pro or a cross-dresser.
Thanks. All right.
Any luck l.D.'ing the car used to dump the body?
Partial kicked back five plates.
One registered to one Leticia Cepedo.
Hernan's girlfriend? Yeah.
I'll put out an APB on the car.
No, no. It'll attract too much attention.
Vehicle description, information broadcast only.
Stake and notify us.
Suppose it was Hernan our witness saw dumping that D.B.
How do we spin that?
We don't until we have to.
[BUZZES]
WOMAN: Yes. Who is it please?
Uh, it's... it's Matthew. I called you from the airport.
Who are you here to see?
Well, after hearing that sexy voice,
I'm hoping it's you, darling.
[GATE BUZZES]
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
HEY-
Hey, there.
WOMAN [ON TV]: Answer me, David.
Are you a police officer? Are you kidding?
Sounds like you're Russian. That's hot.
Let me see your cock.
Did you want the full hour?
I'm in no kind of rush.
Donation's 300.
Money exchanged is for time and companionship only.
Anything else is a matter of personal choice
between consenting adults.
Get comfortable. You're under arrest.
You let me touch your dick.
That's entrapment. I know the law.
It's my word against your magic little fingers.
Now zip me back up. Put your hands behind your back.
DAN NY: Do you know who did this to you?
Get me out of here.
Okay, we're gonna take care of you.
In the meantime, can you describe your attacker?
No. DUTCH: What do we got?
White female vic, stab and grab. Definitely not from this hood.
Hey, hey, I know you.
I saw you last night, Sunset and Vermont.
Thirty-feet tall,
You know, you're a lot prettier in person.
Department just put up a billboard.
Guess I'm a celebrity now. Well, congrats.
Excuse me, ma'am. I'm Detective Billings.
This is Detective Wagen... She's asking for a lawyer.
Why? Cedars.
Take me to Cedars. Dr. Clebanoff.
Why I don't work the west side. Entitled assholes.
Anybody have a Sharpie?
Guy wants an autograph.
Ma'am, I'm Detective Wagenbach. This is Detective Billings.
You're aware a woman was attacked out here this morning?
I no see nothing. You go.
She may have been a customer. No customer.
Where does that go?
WOMAN: Locked door. No have key.
Ma'am, please, a woman was... You no have warrant.
Um, you... You go.
Okay.
Unis found the Camaro. Fifth and Virgil.
Hiatt know?
Yeah. He and Julien are en route.
VIC: Hernan or his girlfriend will have to come back
for the car eventually.
RONNIE: Shane's wound pretty tight.
He starts unraveling one of these days, what then?
There's something you should know.
He generated a document.
Remembrances of things past, Strike Team style.
All the shit we've ever been into in black and white.
You're in it too.
Jesus.
How do you know? He gave me a copy.
To let me know he has a suitcase nuke
he can use against us if he had to.
What did you do with it? I burned it.
Mara knows everything too.
[PHONE BEEPING]
It's a text message.
"Shitters' Alley. Right now."
Hernan must've seen us watching.
Let's go find out. No.
I'm gonna go in alone. Keep it low-key.
Could be a setup.
Or another dead body.
Everybody hold your position. HIATT: Copy that.
[FLIES BUZZING]
Who the hell are you?
Too dangerous for Hernan to come. H-he sent me instead.
H-he says not to worry. He...
If you're lying, or this is some kind of a trick,
your own mother won't recognize you when I'm through.
Please stop, you're hurting me. Please. Please.
Who sent you? Hernan, I swear.
I swear. On my baby sister's eyes. Please.
He told me to give you a message.
He... He and a couple of soldiers,
they're doing a job tonight.
Where and when?
Alvarado, near the park.
Robbing that gun store.
Six o'clock. Hernan says to let it go down.
But to get the innocents out of the way.
How much of what he's into do you know about?
Just that he's some sort of cop.
And that he trusts you to have his back.
Have you told anybody else about any of this?
N-no. No one.
No, it'd get us both killed.
Yeah, like that guy your boyfriend dumped
in that vacant alley with your car.
Hernan didn't have no choice, all right?
That guy was a snitch. Octavio had him executed.
All right? Ordered Hernan to get rid of the body.
To prove his loyalty.
Can you get a message to Hernan?
All right. You tell him that he's giving his bosses in DC
a bad case of the nerves.
They want him to come in.
Also, leave the car parked where it is.
I'll... I'll figure out a plan to deal with this robbery.
I'll leave any instructions
in the right front wheel-well of the car.
By 4:00.
[DOG BARKING]
All right. I want to speak to my attorney.
I don't give a shit if you've got
an illegal fish market running out of your bedroom.
I just wanna know what went down at your condo two weeks ago
you didn't want to talk to cops about.
You do that, you streetwalk out of here a free woman.
All right, you just bought
you and your moneymaker 30 days in county.
We got jacked.
How much? Twenty-five hundred.
This guy called for an appointment.
Sounded white. Like a regular business John.
I answered the door, three black men pushed their way in.
They made us lay face-down on the floor.
Said if we made any moves or look at them they'd shoot us.
Who you tricking for? The deal was I tell you
what happened, you forget about the rest of what I do.
[KEYS JINGLING]
Your bosses know about the burglary?
Me and the girls been working double shifts ever since.
No days off until the money's paid back.
I need you to try and remember what these guys looked like.
How long's this gonna take?
I got a golden-shower client this afternoon. Big tipper.
I gotta start drinking iced tea to get it the way he likes.
I'll be right back with those mug books and a... ASnapple.
A least Hernan's alive.
Assuming his girlfriends telling the truth
in any of this.
My strong sense and her brown panties
lead me to believe she's on the level.
If we interdict this robbery, we blow Hernan's cover.
And whatever big win he's about to hand us.
We're not letting that heat get into the hands of these thugs.
Look at the damage they did with a couple of machetes.
Gotta be a way to keep those guns
off the street and still keep Hernan in play.
The longer he stays under, better the chance he'll give us
who did the San Marcos killings. Look, screw his cover.
Our instructions are to notify ICE as soon as he makes contact.
Technically, he didn't. The girlfriend did.
Can we hold off notifying ICE until we scoop him?
Gettin' the feds involved with their situation reports
and their bureau chiefs will fubar the whole thing.
Your orders are to head off this robbery,
and arrest the people involved.
And get Shane in on this.
He's with a hooker in interrogation.
I don't want him freelancing for vice
while he's still under my command.
We gotta protect Claudette from herself, here.
That fed ragging on her this morning
has got her taking the path of least resistance.
Reel in Hernan and turn him over to ICE.
Come here.
It's one hell of a risk disobeying an order,
and going behind her back when we don't even know for sure.
You wanna stay in this job, win on the street?
You don't do it by listening to upper management.
We pull this off, we keep the guns out of the wrong hands,
and we preserve Hernan's cover long enough
to find out about San Marcos.
[CHUCKLES]
No guts, no glory, right?
These boost jobs in your pop's buildings-.
It's part of a string of a dozen or more
over the last six months.
Interesting thing, this crew only targets places
that escort services operate out of.
A whole gang of Russian hookers call your pop's buildings home.
He's not involved in that kind of thing.
We are real estate investors.
Specializing in Cossack cooch.
It's called the Natasha Trade.
Girl gets a place to live.
One-third, two-third split with the boss,
who also holds onto their passports for safekeeping.
Now, whatever legit business your father's gotten into,
it's just window-dressing
wrapped around the same old school gangster shit.
And the robbers?
I got a tentative l.D. on one of 'em.
Still needs to be verified.
I'll be in touch when I get something
a little more definite.
Thank you. And, uh, I'm sorry for the troubles.
These gentlemen have agreed to immunity, Eleanor.
You can tell them everything you remember.
I know these guys. It's okay.
My best friend told me about this place
that has incredible replicas.
I bought three.
A little overboard. But those prices, I couldn't...
You have a habit of roaming the barrio for cheap handbags?
Nurses here do it all the time.
He knocked me down, stabbed me, took off running.
There wasn't even time to grab my mace.
So you lost the three purses you bought plus the one you had?
They're not purses. Two were evening clutches.
The other was a keepall.
And what did this keepall bandit look like?
Mexican, Puerto Rican. Smelled awful.
Like when we had a dead rat in the wall at the Montecito house.
Probably thought the knockoffs were real.
Figured he struck a gold mine.
Knockoffs are what they sell in Times Square.
These are quality replicas. There's quite a difference.
She said for $60 you can't tell
the difference from the real thing.
These replicas are that amazing.
Well, it's all about the quality of hardware,
embossed, well-sealed, good weight.
Men have Hustler Magazine, I have the Marc Jacobs look book.
I'm a classic Gucci girl.
Medium hobo with the single, non-adjustable buckle strap.
I keep thinking, some day. But not at these wages.
I got my diaper bag from Old Navy.
I've seen those. They're pretty stylish.
All right, I've coordinated with the unis.
Hey. SHANE: What's going on?
HIATT: The Salvas are knocking over a gun store. We let them do it.
Vic's walking everyone through the details.
Danny and Tina are gonna be running
the checkpoint over on Vermont.
Are they in the loop on our plan?
No, our priority needs to be watching their backs
in case this thing goes sideways.
That's not gonna happen, as long as Hernan
sticks to the playbook that we hid on his front wheel.
Problem is, we've been communicating
by carrier pigeon essentially,
so we gotta be ready for anything that jumps up-.
HIATT: Everyone clear on their assignments? Yeah.
What do you want me to do?
I'll fill you in on the way.
Right on time.
Julien, you're about to have company.
JULIEN: Copy that.
VIC: Alive and upright.
RONNIE: He's taking point.
Good.
Take it easy. Just be cool man. Be cool.
Keys, homes, keys.
My pocket.
VIC: Here they come.
RONNIE: Jesus, nice haul.
Suspect vehicle is on the move. Julien, you okay?
Affirmative. All good here.
Got a visual. Eastbound on Sunset.
Coming up on Echo Park.
H IATT: Copy that.
VIC: Okay, we're moving into second position.
We see you up ahead. We're five car lengths behind.
All right, don't get too close to him now.
Hang back, hang back.
Buckle up, Shane.
He's turning into the check point.
Insurance ready, please. This is a routine check.
Need your license, registration,
proof of insurance ready, please.
VIC: He's telling his buddies the car registration expired.
RONNIE: They don't look too happy.
VIC: What to do?
Go for it. Pray nobody asks to pop the trunk?
Or risk going away for a few decades?
Me, I'd vote with my feet.
Let's hope Hernan makes the case.
And he's the only one who pulls a gun.
We've got rabbits.
Shane, go.
[SPEAKING IN SPANISH]
Easy, easy.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey buddy.
Take it easy. Take it easy, all right?
DANNY: Shane, you okay?
Okay, we're clear. It's good.
It's all right. No worries.
It's okay, Danny.
Running a surveillance op. What happened?
Got what we wanted.
It's okay.
Exploratory committee allows you to put a finger in the air,
find out what the public wants to hear.
Why not just announce my candidacy?
Let me tell you why that's a shit awful idea.
Say you're running for mayor,
you immediately trigger a financial disclosure event
under the statute.
Know our supporters, how much they're giving.
Information our enemies can use.
Exploratory Committee also allows you to investigate
the feasibility of running for another office.
State Assembly, for instance.
Would we even have a shot at that?
With some massaging.
You have a Korean problem.
Conservative, less sympathetic to our populist Latino platform.
But any election can be won
by cracking, stacking, and packing.
You're talking about redistricting?
Crack the Korean constituency,
stack it over three or four other districts,
you nullify their influence.
Pack the new boundary with Latinos.
Yeah, then focus our resources on getting out the core vote.
But I would also annex these folks here.
Our message doesn't fly with black folks either.
Doesn't matter. They don't vote.
Represent more people,
the more influence you have in Sacramento.
And even though they don't support us...
They don't hurt you, either.
Best part of all this is you can spearhead
the redistricting of your future office
right now from your councilman's seat.
Redrawing these lines is going to cost
a great deal of money.
Mother's milk of politics.
For the exploratory committee.
Thank you.
It's only for 100,000.
You'll get the other half when the people responsible
for the San Marcos killings are brought to justice.
There will be closure. I promise you.
Before I plough any more money into a war zone,
I need to see a demonstration of the rule of law.
Not the law of the jungle.
Should have denied her request for immunity and booked her.
Yeah, especially after she slammed Dutch boy
for being too lowbrow to appreciate the finer things.
Trademark infringement's a serious deal.
So is assault with a deadly weapon.
Find the guy with the knife.
At least expedite a search warrant
for the knockoff emporium.
Is this really a pressing issue?
This place as this place stays in business,
it'll attract upscale clientele to a shitty neighborhood.
Could lead to more stabbings.
I'll get to it. But make an arrest.
Last thing I need is a well-connected,
pampered socialite breathing down my neck.
That's what I have Aceveda for.
If you're hovering for a San Marcos update,
no news to report.
Well, I'm sure you're doing everything you can.
I actually came down to see what else you need
in the way of resources.
Additional overtime, tech support.
All of the above.
What can you tell me about this latest homicide?
Is it connected?
I'm already in hot water for briefing you
about the ICE agent we went after in the warrant search.
Then he went missing.
Claudette, this is me.
You're not suggesting... Of course not.
But I shouldn't have been
discussing secure intel with anyone.
Not even you. It's a note to self.
Well...
Put together a memo detailing the things you need
and I'll get right to it.
Never hit the streets of Farmington.
But Hernan's in the wind,
and the other perps are still at large.
How did that happen? I called an audible.
Wiser course of action
was not to intercept them at the gun store,
where these could have been used against my team.
Safer to wait until they were locked in the trunk.
At the checkpoint, the suspects read the play
and were able to elude capture.
But we'll get 'em.
Give us a second, will ya?
That man's in the mix.
You think my bullshit detector isn't already on high?
Now listen, I made this call, okay? Not him.
Were the unis in on this?
In on what?
My understanding was they were operating
a routine insurance check.
Authorized by whom? Because it wasn't me.
I go through that paperwork,
I bet I'll find your signature or Vic's.
You knowingly put department personnel in harm's way,
without even giving them a heads up?
"Harm's way" is part of the job description.
I brought you in because I thought you could be trusted.
Because you're not Vic Mackey.
Now you're lettin' him pull you by the nose
right in my crosshairs.
This entire city is breathing down your neck and mine
over those 12 dead Mexicans.
Hernan can close that case for us.
This isn't about Hernan.
You wanna follow Vic out the door? Keep it up.
Choice is yours.
Hey, Juneteenth Freeman.
Parole officer said I'd find you out here beautifying America.
Still got about 400 hours left, right?
What the hell you want?
Hey, who are you?
He's cooperating with a police investigation.
Okay.
Look, I'm all over the game
you and your boys been running on the working girls.
I don't know what you're talking about, ossifer.
Pick up enough garbage and kick this felony to misdemeanor.
Unless I start coming after you, bunch of B and E's,
"ag assaults" and whatnot.
You can't prove shit.
Try me.
'Course, you could play this another way.
Cut me in on these jobs you're doing.
I run interference.
I monitor dispatch so you don't get all gaff led up
like almost happened at that condo on Widmer.
I'm gonna need 500 up-front, earnest money.
And an equal split between you and the other two.
I gotta ask my nigs.
You mean Pancake and Squeeze?
How do you know it was Pancake and Squeeze doing it with me?
Saw you had priors together,
but I didn't know for sure until just right now.
So thank you.
So look, if my dudes is cool with this,
how am I get with you?
Don't worry about it.
When you said your father was traveling,
I didn't think you meant the highway to heaven.
Ran a data search.
Eleven days ago he was transported here
in full cardiac arrest.
Merciful Jesus heard my prayers.
He's doing much better now.
No, he's not. I chatted up a nurse.
They don't expect him to last the week.
How long do you think you can keep this a secret?
Long enough for a miracle.
And in the meantime you think you're running the show?
I know.
I'm not gonna let everything
my father spent a lifetime building
get picked apart by snakes and vultures who see a weakness.
Seems like you already got people in the organization
freelancing behind your back.
Running whores out of your own buildings, doing murders.
People loyal to my father.
Many of them.
I can count on you, yes?
After you lied to me?
Said he had the gas station whack handled?
When the guy can't even open his eyes?
At the last time there was an Armenian jump-off,
that Old World hitman, Margos, crawled out of the woodwork.
A nice choirgirl like you,
y-you don't want any part of that kind of bloodbath.
And if he could talk, he'd tell you the same goddamn thing.
I would like those names, please.
You paid for 'em.
You got much bigger problems than these idiots.
Eleanor wasn't kidding when she said she had an eye for detail.
She described her attacker right down to the pock mark.
TINA: Yeah, right before she got medivaced to Cedars.
Yeah, said the guy had the b.o. of a cadaver.
If you two can stave off Tina's paparazzi, start on skid row.
I don't get it. This woman could have anything she wants.
Is saving a few bucks worth a couple stab wounds?
When it comes to Louis, Gucci, and Fendi.
Coach, Prada, Chanel.
You know, and if you're on a budget: Dooney and Bourke.
Every time her bag passes off as the real thing,
when her friends pay through the nose on Rodeo Drive, she wins.
You know, it's the thrill of the kill.
Are they hearing themselves?
It's a girl thing. You guys just don't get it.
Like us trying to understand why you guys love your balls
so much that you gotta play pocket pool all the time.
Hernan just texted me.
Everything went smooth on his end.
Got props for getting his people out.
Called for a meet tonight. He's got some intel.
Better be worthwhile, after the ass reaming I just took.
I'll get the team.
No need for everyone. I'll take Ronnie.
Okay.
The check you gave me on Shane today, I heard you.
As long as he's on your team, I'll make it work.
If it was up to me, you'd be staying too.
You're out of here.
It's a done deal.
Claudette's been playing you since the day I showed up.
She figured you'd be easier to handle
if you thought there was a future here.
Meanwhile, orchestrating things so there won't be.
I'm really sorry, man. I wish there was something I could do.
You gave it to me straight.
That's big.
We'll be working together for a while yet.
Claudette's not the only player at the table.
DUTCH: I just don't get it.
You risk your life for something that's a knockoff
of something that's already a knockoff.
Yeah, to haul what?
Tampons and the rest of their girl shit around?
Get a lunch box, whack a mugger, at least you'll draw some blood.
Chicks are nuts.
African American male, twenties, I.D.'d Juneteenth Freeman,
out on parole, found unconscious in an alleyway
with his testicles cut off.
Some ex is probably carting his stundeens around
in her knockoff Louis Vuitton.
Paid for with his money.
It's not the only castration.
There's another one up at Mission Cross.
African American also. I'll need you to follow up.
Missing bags maybe you boys can relate to.
BILLINGS: Women can be the coldest winter ever.
Yeah, no shit.
DAN NY: Thank you, thank you.
Just another dirty day at the office.
That's some perfume you're wearing.
Oh Shit.
Casa Chanel over here
decided to throw homemade shit balls at us.
Not before we had to haul him out of the sewer.
I'll take him. You guys get cleaned up.
No. Don't deny me the pleasure
of throwing his skanky ass into the cage.
Hey, man, wanna swing by a dive, take the edge off?
What, I extend an invite, you throw shade?
C'mon, man, what's that about?
I know what you did to Lem.
So don't "Hey, man" me.
All right?
Vic had to spin what happened like I'm the antichrist.
Because he knows that if it wasn't for him,
Lem would still be alive today.
And that is the God's honest truth.
Vic didn't pull the pin on that grenade, did he?
That was all you.
What happened was a tragedy.
But it was also goddamn inevitable.
You even start any horseshit about how you were
protecting all of us, I will throw down with you right now.
Look, I don't wanna fight with you.
Man, I got no beef with you at all.
What about this journal?
You write all this shit down.
Everything on paper that we have done.
And you're trying to blackmail us, and that is no beef?
No, no, no, no. What am I missing?
Did Vic tell you about it?
Or did you actually read it?
Are you telling me he's lying to me?
No. No, I wrote it down.
All 24 pages.
Every God-awful thing.
Why don't you ask Vic to show you page one.
He burned it.
You know why?
Because he doesn't want anyone reading the first paragraph.
About how he shot and killed Terry.
While I stood there and watched.
Look, I have been lying, covering up,
bleeding out of my goddamn anus, man,
for three years, trying to protect him.
If you ever get tired of Vic walking you around on a leash,
and you wanna hear the real and the raw...
call me.
This building here.
Are you sure this is right?
The Captain's applied for a warrant.
This place is gonna get shut down tomorrow or the next day.
It's the last chance.
Hello? Hi.
What are you looking for?
My friend said that you might know of a place
that might have Fendi clutches?
You come.
Wait.
You come.
Please, please.
I'm not sure about this.
Just keep thinking Louis.
Besides, I'm packing.
[LAUGHING]
Look, we deserve it after the day we had, right?
Hell, yeah.
We got pelted with shit balls this afternoon.
Meth-head puked all over me first thing this morning.
We deserve this every day.
I get new Prada next week.
You come back. I give you good deal.
Next week might not work.
Hernan was a no-show.
Did he pass along any intel through the girl?
Why the Salvas are lookin' to beef up their firepower?
No specifics.
Only that something major was about to go down.
Salva captains and the Byz Lats set a meet for tomorrow night.
Negotiate terms.
And now Hernan will have a seat at the table.
No. He's on a plane to El Salvador right now.
I don't know when he's coming back.
Well, there goes our best lead on the San Marcos case.
Which means we went through all that gun shop bullshit
for no goddamn reason.
Hiatt got in a jam with Claudette.
We're no closer to breaking the San Marcos murders,
or knowing what the Salvadorans were gonna do with those guns.
Why would he jerk us off like that?
They sent him to El Salvador until the heat dies down.
Way I see it,
Hernan fingered that chopped-up guy as the snitch.
Framed the guy, to throw suspicion off of himself.
Salva bosses had him killed, made Hernan dump the body?
Hernan did more than just set this guy up.
He did the chopping.
[SIGHS]
He's in all the way now.
Nothing else makes sense.
The guy he got dead chose the life.
Probably had it coming.
Yeah. But Hernan's gotta live with what he did now.
No different than why you shot Terry.
Had to be done. Right?
Shane tell you that?
Page one of Shane's memoirs wasn't exactly new information.
It's difficult to prove. Fortunately for you.
I wish you'd have been straight with me,
instead of living a secret every day.
I could have looked out for you better.
What I need to know... is when we can finally
leave this all in the past...
where it belongs.
That's quite a cut job you did on those two black dudes-.
I bet the other one, Pancake, and his jewels
are halfway to Alaska by now.
It was maybe too much?
[SIGHS]
I didn't have time to make a better decision.
I'm certain you got your point across.
You'll also find the names and addresses of the men
responsible for what happened at the gas station.
Rezian's people.
Doesn't do me much good
without evidence implicating them in a crime.
They're prepared to provide any details you need.
They're gonna confess, just like that?
Yeah.
For the sake of their families and their children back home.
They know, the Armenian way, they suffer first.
That's an Armo first, giving up your own tribe.
Even if it's your worst enemy,
differences get settled in-house.
You want to cure cancer, you cut it out.
It's only a matter of time before Rezian finds out
your father's out of the game.
If he hadn't already.
When he does, he's gonna come after you
with everything he's got.
You're not ready for that.
I don't care how many balls you got
dangling from your rearview mirror.
You think this is what I want?
This is for my father. Oh, come on.
Just 'cause your father was in the life,
doesn't mean you have to be Daddy's little gangster.
My father is not a gangster.
He's a man who survives.
Who taught me history at the dinner table every night,
about Armenia, about the promises of freedom.
All these promises that were always broken.
He made me understand the difference between
the future and the past.
Everything was taken from my people.
He taught me never to let that happen to us again.
So I won't. I won't let that happen to him.
My father still has a lot of men loyal to him.
And now I have you.
IDay ♪
♪ Come on ♪
IDay ♪
♪ Come on ♪
IDay ♪
♪ Livin' the good life ♪
♪ Throw your hands up ♪
♪ Just another day ♪