Countdown (2025) s01e01 Episode Script
Teeth in the Bone
1
US Customs,
Department of Homeland Security.
- [Meredith] Good morning.
- Morning, honey.
- Didn't wanna wake you.
- That never bothers me.
No, I know.
Hey, tell Zach… Tell him he's
gonna crush that performance today.
[Meredith] I will.
He's excited about the show today.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm gonna try to make it.
[Meredith] Another long day at work?
- Uh, I just don't know yet.
- [Meredith] Okay, honey.
- Yeah. Okay.
- [Meredith] Love you.
Love you too, honey. Bye.
Gabriel.
What's the matter?
You expecting someone different?
[Gabriel] Actually…
I think you're the one I'm looking for.
[grunts]
[grunting]
[straining]
[grunting]
Shit!
[panting]
["Salute Your Solution" playing]
[both grunting]
- [passersby screaming]
- Go! Go!
[grunts]
- Move, move, move, move, move!
- [grunts]
[passersby screaming]
- [grunts]
- [groans]
Watch out, watch out, watch out!
[yells]
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Off, off, off. Get off, get off, get off.
[yells]
[grunts, groans]
Move, move, move.
[grunting]
[screaming, groaning]
[grunts]
- [groans]
- [music ends]
Fellas.
[horn honks]
[groans]
[pedestrians screaming]
["28 Theme" playing]
[music ends]
Almost to Ops One, sir.
[person] Copy.
[helicopter whirring]
We're approved.
Have you assembled the team?
All but two are incoming.
- Which two?
- Meachum and Oliveras.
- What's the hold up?
- That's just it.
We're not exactly sure where they are.
[inmates chattering]
[inmate 1 exhales sharply]
No, what I'm saying is I was sitting
with Rafa when Perez and, um…
What's that guy's name…
What's that guy's name
with the face tattoos?
How should I know?
[sighs] Whatever, doesn't matter.
So I was sitting next to Rafa,
and these two clowns walk in
and they say, "Tom Simmons is dead."
[inmate 2] Okay.
[inmate 1] I know. I couldn't believe it
either, but look at my face.
I swear on a stack of Bibles.
Not doubting that's what you heard.
Not doubting the two dumbasses said that.
Well, it kind of sounds like you're
doubting me, you know, with your tone.
I'm just saying you was misinformed.
So you know better than Rafa's guys,
is that it?
I do, actually.
- Oh. Oh, fuck!
- [grunts]
[screaming]
[both grunting]
[inmates clamoring]
[choking]
[grunts]
[groans]
- [alarm blaring]
- [guard] Everybody, get down!
Everybody, down! Get down!
LAPD. Sergeant Lambert.
Open the door. Let's go.
[door buzzes, opens]
One minute, please.
[inmate 1] Thank you, Tony.
- A riot?
- [scoffs] No, it wasn't a riot.
It was a fight. They jumped me.
I defended myself.
- The warden said a riot.
- Yeah, well, the warden…
the warden's been up my ass
since I went UC. Okay?
He's a com… Let me
worry about the warden.
Listen, I got Albert Chun this close
to telling me everything.
- Doesn't matter. I'm pulling you.
- You're what?
- You're getting pulled.
- No, no.
Come on, sarge. I've been
in this shithole for nine months,
and I'm this close
to getting everything that I need.
[Lambert] Whatever you've got has got
to work because you're out of here.
You've been assigned
to a federal task force.
[scoffs]
- [groans]
- What's wrong with your head?
Nothing. N… Uh…
I mean, I took a few shots.
[chuckles] But, uh…
Wait. Did you say
I have to report to a task force?
Get your ass cleaned up.
Get back to LA.
Yeah, but it wasn't a riot.
I wanna make that clear.
["Girls Can't Play Guitar"
playing on radio]
Please.
Help.
[shushes]
Please.
Please.
Help. [breathing shakily]
No.
[breathing shakily]
[breathing shakily]
No.
[grunting, gasping]
[breathing heavily, mutters]
[breathing heavily]
[sighs, pants]
[grunts]
[music continues]
- [grunts]
- [grunts]
- [grunts]
- [groaning]
[both grunt]
DEA Special Agent Amber Oliveras.
Cred number D-41213.
I'm at 51 South Kenmore Street
in Koreatown.
- Call EMS and have them send a bus.
- [groaning]
There are some folks here…
- [grunts, pants]
- [grunts]
…who need medical assistance.
Thank you.
- [sighs]
- [phone beeps]
[music ends]
[siren wailing]
What the hell, Oliveras?
[Oliveras] Okay, thank you. Thanks.
You weren't supposed to go in alone.
Things escalated.
What part of "Wait for tactical backup"
seemed optional to you?
The part where 50 kilos of China White
laced with fentanyl hits the streets.
Well, get your ass back
to SOD headquarters.
You've been summoned.
What does that mean?
What does that mean?
[sighs]
I-I understand, Nathan.
But the timing on this is
I can't dictate the timing.
No, no. Yeah, I just… [sighs]
See, I committed to coaching
my son's Little League team.
I get family first. I-I do.
But this jumped off
and it is all hands on deck.
[sighs] How about you
take on assistant coach,
and I'll cut you
as much slack as possible? Fair?
[footsteps approaching]
I can do that.
Everyone's here, sir.
Great. Thank you. [sighs]
Good morning. I'm Special
Agent in Charge Nathan Blythe.
Been with the Bureau 22 years.
This is my fifth task force.
Second to lead.
A task force is unique.
It's an honor.
And it's unlike any unit
you've been in before.
You are the best in your departments
or I would not have selected you.
You're a law enforcement all-star team,
and I expect you to act like it.
Leave the chest thumping at the door.
No lone wolves.
No spotlight heroes.
- Understood?
- Yes, sir.
To my left, Damon Drew.
Office of Intelligence and Analysis,
Department of Homeland Security.
He'll be my second
And I'm competitive as hell,
so bring your A game.
To his left, Special
Agent Amber Oliveras.
DEA. She has 14 years on the job,
undercover in multiple operations.
- Other side of the border?
- Confidential.
[Nathan] Special Agent Keyonte Bell. FBI.
Bell is well-versed in terrorist threats,
homegrown and otherwise.
Special Agent Evan Shepherd to his left.
Also from the Bureau.
She has expertise in cyber investigation,
Internet fraud and computer intrusion.
Call me anything but a hacker please.
Joining us from LAPD,
Detective Luke Finau.
Eighteen years
in the Gang and Narcotics division,
focused on the nexus of guns, gangs,
narcotics and crime.
- Did I say that right?
- You did.
- Didn't you get suspended?
- Which time?
When you stomped
the guy's face into the curb.
- No.
- No?
[Nathan] And, finally,
Detective Mark Meachum.
LAPD Robbery Homicide.
How you doing? Hi.
Just so you know,
the mayor did ask me to be commissioner
but, uh, it's too much money.
Turned her down.
I'm more of a man of the people. Right?
[Nathan] My second task force
with Detective Meachum,
which I'm sure I won't regret
for at least an hour.
- Oh, I'll take the under.
- Hey, hey. Come on now.
All right, Deputy Mission Manager Drew is
gonna take us through why we're all here.
I got the mic?
Good. Follow me.
[Shepherd clears throat]
Yesterday at 8:31 a.m.
Officer Robert Darden
of US Customs and Border Patrol
inside of Homeland Security
was murdered.
By a single GSW to the heart
at close range.
- Cameras?
- Nearby storefronts
plus an ATM across the street,
but none were able
to get a clear shot of the shooter
at the time of the execution.
It's kinda like he knew
he was in a blind spot.
- Witnesses?
- Suspect is dark-skinned, 5'10",
fired a handgun
and that is literally all we have.
Potential witnesses panicked.
No one got a detailed look.
You don't have to raise your hand.
Oh, right.
I'm just wondering why does the murder
of a Homeland Security officer
merit a designated task force?
- Darden here was already red-flagged.
- For what?
$200,000 deposit popped
into his account 14 days ago.
- [whistles]
- Origin unknown.
We tried to backtrack the banking
transfer, but it's been masked.
We're gonna need your help with that.
[Nathan] A bribe that large
and a customs official murdered,
something big is going on here.
And our mission is to find out
what the hell that is
no matter where the leads take us.
Since we don't know anything,
we don't know who we can trust.
That includes law enforcement.
Wait, so this…
this whole operation's underground?
[Drew] That is correct.
[Nathan] Nobody,
not your friends, not your family,
not your buddy back at the department,
can know anything
about what we're working on.
And that goes for everyone.
What was Darden's purview with CBP?
Monitoring border activity
of Los Reyes Nuevos,
the New Kings cartel in Tijuana.
Plus port activity in Long Beach.
Do you know 'em? Los Reyes?
Rose from the ashes
of Los Mata Zetas around '09.
Killed journalists, politicians, police.
They are a whole 'nother level of nasty.
[Nathan] I wanna know why
Darden was murdered.
Why was he receiving payments?
From whom?
What did it have to do
with his official duties at CBP?
I'm not a sit-on-my-hands boss.
I'm gonna get outside, turn over
every stone, crawl under every rock,
knock on every door until
we have answers. Am I clear?
- Yes, sir.
- Yes, sir.
I want action plans within the hour.
This your first task force?
Yeah.
Well, if you want to partner up
and bang out a plan
I'm gonna pass.
- That was fast.
- It was.
Listen, uh…
- Oliveras.
- Right.
You know, usually it takes me
at least a day to offend somebody,
- and you haven't even heard
- I know Melinda Bates.
Who you dumped two weeks
before the wedding.
Oh. Oh, yes. Okay. That's interesting.
I also know her sister, Rachel.
- [clears throat]
- Sure. Yeah.
Finau, how about a little backup here?
I think I'm getting ambushed.
Mm-mmm.
[Mark] Thanks.
Appreciate that.
Okay. [sighs]
You sure this is how
you wanna get started?
[scoffs]
Okay. All right.
Well, listen, I just want you
to know something, okay?
And I'm gonna be
completely honest with you.
Mmm.
Rachel looks a lot like her sister
at 2:30 in the morning.
Shepherd, with me.
Let's go talk to Darden's widow and
see what she knows about these bribes.
[Shepherd] I wanted to thank you
for selecting me, sir.
I read about… or I studied
Operation Amerithrax at Quantico.
- You were the lead investigator
- Co-case agent.
Craig Captain was the SAC
on that investigation.
Right. Yeah, that's right.
Well, I was just wondering,
when you were closing in on Dr. Ivins,
- did you at all think
- Special Agent Shepherd.
Yes, sir?
The reason you are driving
and I'm not driving
is so that I can examine
Darden's bank transactions
the 18 months leading up to yesterday.
Okay.
Let me know when we get there.
Yes, sir.
[birds chirping]
[Meredith] It doesn't make any sense.
You don't have to say anything.
- [Nathan] You are?
- Her brother.
I-It's okay, Charles.
Can this wait?
She hasn't even had time to process.
Why don't you see if you can put some
of the food away the church brought over?
What did you mean by,
"It… it doesn't make any sense"?
[Meredith] There is no way
Bob was doing anything criminal.
I've been married to him 17 years.
We have no secrets.
Sometimes in law enforcement,
we have to put on masks.
And I'm telling you there was no mask.
Bob served ten years in the Navy,
then worked ten years at Customs.
We have health care. We have a-a pension.
We have a house that's paid for.
We go skiing in Breckenridge
every spring break.
You tell me if that sounds
like someone who…
[crying]
He was a good man.
If you're gonna sit there
and tell me anything otherwise,
I'll say straight to your face,
you don't know
what the hell you're talking about.
Okay, I'm calling it.
That's enough, guys.
[Meredith] Someone out there murdered
my husband like he was nothing.
I wanna know.
I wanna know why someone would
destroy a nine-year-old boy's heart,
just rip it right out of him.
You tell me that.
[breathes heavily]
[sighs] You wanna talk any further
with Meredith,
you do so through her attorney.
You understand?
Blythe said you've done
a few undercover runs.
- [Oliveras] Yeah.
- How was it?
Uh… [chuckles]
You can get lost in it.
- That dark?
- Opposite.
You don't wanna come back.
- You ever work with Oliveras before?
- [Finau inhales deeply] No.
[Mark] She seems a little uptight, right?
I mean, why's she singling me out,
you know?
Can't mix personal with professional.
Everybody knows that.
- How about you? Second-gen Fed?
- [Bell] Uh, third, actually.
Uh, my grandfather worked
the Anglin brothers Alcatraz case in '62.
- Wow.
- Mmm, yeah.
A fellow new agent at Quantico
tried to pin the legacy-hire label on me.
[scoffs] Like I was gonna be ashamed.
You tell him, "Not today"?
I told him something like that.
What? You really
don't have an opinion on this?
- Mm-mmm.
- Okay, fine.
Just leave me here, emotionally hanging.
Come on, brother.
I expected more out of you.
We're here.
[elevator bell dings]
[Mark] How you doing?
LA Homicide,
here to interview Darden's coworkers.
I was ordered by Washington
to give you free rein.
[Oliveras]
How long did you work with Bob Darden?
Oh, I don't know, before the pandemic?
He took over I
at the Port of Los Angeles after me.
Nicest man you'll ever meet.
Any changes in his behavior
the last few months?
Not that I can think of.
Same old Bob.
Give you a card on your birthday,
ask you about your family.
Good egg.
You worked
Los Reyes Nuevos with him, right?
Yeah. Everything you guys know
about that cartel,
you know because of Bob Darden.
He had sources at the border,
sources at the ports. He worked 'em.
I knew something was up with him.
My experience?
You come to the office
all smiles and shoeshines,
you got something on the side you
don't want other people to know about.
- Like what?
- Shooter hits you at 8:30
on a Friday morning.
That sound routine to you?
We are customs officials.
We're not running around town
like Jason Bourne.
You backtracked his incident reports.
Did you find any anomalies?
He kept detailed 202s
every time he went into the field.
He said he wanted
everything on the record
so the higher-ups would know
what he's working on.
Can we see those reports?
Yeah, I've been told
to hand over everything.
I mean, you lie down with dogs,
eventually, you get mauled.
What about you?
- What about me?
- Well, you ever lie down with dogs?
I have been working this department
for 17 years.
That's two decades of financial sweeps,
polygraph tests,
pissing in cups, supervisor ride-alongs,
you name it.
You see any red flags in my file?
Not yet.
Well, get out your magnifying glass,
'cause I'm immaculate.
The one I don't know
about is Jim Talbott.
He and Bob spent a lot of time together.
- A lot.
- [Mark] What do you mean? After work?
After work, during work, multiple
weekends up at Bob's cabin in Big Bear.
Skiing or fishing or something.
What do you know about the unaccounted
for funds in his, uh, personal account?
The Banco Geráneo in Guadalajara
is directly tied to the New Kings Cartel.
Fact.
You get a hit from the BBGA,
it'll raise a few eyebrows.
The thing I don't understand is
why he wouldn't have known better.
Anything else you need,
I am happy to help.
But right now, I got double the workload
and nobody upstairs is exactly
lighting a fire under their ass
to get me a new hire.
[Oliveras] All right.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- [chuckles]
- Hmm.
[Mark] How did that go?
[Oliveras] Mixed bag.
Darden's either the greatest guy
who ever lived,
or shadier than a pinewood forest.
Hmm. Yeah, well that's why
you wanna do a deep dive on folks
before you make snap judgments.
[sighs]
We definitely need to dig into Darden's
CBP colleague, Jim Talbott.
- Yeah, he was off.
- Yes, he was.
Apparently, he and Darden spent regular
weekends up at Darden's cabin in Big Bear.
- Do you guys know that?
- We got an address?
I didn't see anything
listing vacation properties.
Yeah, I'm on it.
I need detailed 302s of your interviews.
Hey, uh, Chief Officer said
that someone in Washington is backing us.
Is there a question there?
Well, it's just you seem to have
a lot of muscle for a task force
- that just got put together.
- [Shepherd] Hey, guys.
Okay, so I was frustrated
that we had so much coverage
of the time of the shooting, but no
angle on the shooter's face, right?
But then I saw this at 8:31.
You see that? Right there.
That's a panel truck carrying mirrors,
which got me thinking, if I sync up
the footage from the ATM next door,
and I…
and I pause it at 8:31…
Boom. [chuckles]
Wow. [chuckles]
Run that image through every US database
to find a match.
And I mean every one,
both classified and unclassified.
We need a positive ID
on this guy yesterday.
Yes, sir.
- [typing]
- [computer beeps]
[Bell] Suspect is Cesar Murillo.
Upstairs apartment.
[Mark] All right, let's go.
All right, we'll take the front.
You hit the back once we breach.
Wait, why are you taking the front?
Because we got the big key.
You don't get to make that…
[grunts]
[whispering] Hey. You good?
[whispers] Yeah.
Cesar Murillo!
Police! We have a warrant…
Fuck. [grunts]
- [breathes heavily]
- Yeah, yeah.
I'm hit! I'm hit!
[grunts] Officer down!
[imitates grunting]
Go, go, go.
Stay down. Stay down.
- Hey, come here! No, no, no, no.
- [gasps]
- [speaks Spanish]
- Hey!
Put it down. Put it down!
- [yelps, grunts]
- Oh, fuck.
On your back!
Stay down.
[grunting]
Not Murillo?
What's your name?
[in Spanish] What's your name?
Eat yourself, whore.
Listen idiot… what are those?
You might as well have a label on.
I'm gonna know your name
before you get to holding.
We're looking for Cesar Murillo.
We know he's a cartel hitman.
His last known address was here.
Lawyer.
[in English] He'll never talk.
No one rats inside Los Reyes Nuevos
or you end up stuffed in a garlic barrel.
[Bell] All right, let's go.
Oliveras.
Thanks for the backup in there.
That was nice work.
You should've let us take the front.
What can I do for you, Ray?
I don't like putting things in emails.
[chuckles]
You made a big mistake
adding Agent Oliveras to your team.
There is a DEA informant
making credible reports
that she's an addict.
Testing?
[Ray] Yeah, we've randomly tested her,
and she has, uh,
figured out how to game the system.
- So she's clean.
- You're not listening.
Sometimes agents, they get in too deep.
End up with a needle in their arm,
forgetting who the bad guys are.
I have no idea
what operation you're running
or what your task force mission is,
but you have a ticking time bomb
on your team, Nathan.
[chattering]
Cesar Murillo's in the wind.
We collected fingerprints inside
the apartment, but could be months old.
Hey.
- Look up Meachum's last UC assignment.
- Why?
When you get a chance.
Where are we at with Darden's finances?
Going back to 2015.
I filtered all personal expenses,
backtracked all deposits,
and the only anomaly is the six figures
from Banco Geráneo three weeks ago.
You check for any CH flags?
Any hidden files?
Of course. Clean.
What about property payments
in Big Bear or tax records?
No. No indication he or his wife
owned any property
outside of their home in Belmont Heights.
And the 302 of your interview
with Darden's colleague?
A Maurice Spellman, yep.
You said he mentioned
Banco Geráneo in Guadalajara?
- He did.
- Well, did you mention it first or did he?
Uh, he did. Why?
Well, when I put the red flag on Darden,
I held that information back.
Spellman couldn't have known
the specific bank unless Darden told him.
Which is highly unlikely.
Shepherd, grab me Spellman's address.
Text it to me.
[engines revving]
[Spellman] Oh, shit.
He's running. He's running.
We got a runner.
- Oliveras, stay on him.
- Where are you going?
- Hang on.
- [tires squealing]
["Fuel" playing]
[tires screech]
[Mark] Stop where you are!
[Finau] Get up, you piece of shit.
[groans]
[music ends]
[Mark] …we had him pinned.
I know. It was stupid.
Yo, you know, you shouldn't
have plowed into the back of him.
- I shouldn't have
- You could've pushed him into us.
You know? We already had him pinned.
You shouldn't have driven
down a fucking hill.
- Well, Mr. Henry told me.
- Mr. Henry?
Mr. Henry, my sixth
grade science teacher,
said the shortest distance
between two points… What is it?
- [blows raspberry] Straight line.
- [Nathan] Hey.
[scoffs]
Is there a problem?
- No.
- [Oliveras] No, sir.
I want both of you
in that interview room.
- Break him.
- Got it.
- Seriously?
- [Nathan] Both of you.
Of course, yeah. Makes sense.
[door buzzes]
Why were you running, Maurice?
[stammers] I thought… I thought you were…
After what happened to Bob,
you could've been anyone.
Fight or flight, I flew.
If you'd identified yourself
You know, Meachum here
knows about running.
[chuckles] He ran away from his fiancée
- two weeks before their wedding.
- The fuck?
[Oliveras] Now, as a running expert,
do you think Spellman was running
'cause he was scared,
or 'cause he was guilty?
Little something you should know
about Oliveras here,
I heard from my drug enforcement buddy,
that nobody wants to work with her.
- Like, nobody.
- Oh, is-is that what you hear?
- Yeah, that's what I hear.
- That's a bunch of shit.
- Yeah, or you're in denial, huh?
- [Oliveras] Okay.
But you can relate, can't you, Maurice?
- Relate?
- Yeah. Liars can spot other liars.
How'd you know about Bob Darden's cabin
in Lake Arrowhead?
- I thought… He said that's
- [Mark] Wait.
Where was it?
- [Oliveras] His cabin in Lake Arrowhead.
- [Mark] Oh, no, no, no.
You said Big Bear.
Yeah. Sure. [stammers] I got
He doesn't own a cabin.
Or any property outside
of Belmont Heights.
- [Spellman] I don't I-I…
- You made it up.
[Mark] How'd you know the bribes
were coming from Banco Geráneo?
How'd I…
Oh, so this is why
you sent them in there together.
They either murder each other,
or they get the suspect's head spinning.
We know you received those bribes because
we have your fingerprints on his keyboard.
We know you tried to pin it on Darden
'cause he was onto you.
And then we tracked your sister's
bank statements in, uh, where was it?
- Indio.
- Indio.
That's right. That makes her
an accessory to a federal crime.
She's looking at 15 years in Victorville.
- What?
- [Mark] You know what that time's like?
- Hmm.
- Let me tell you. That's three to a cell.
One sink, one toilet.
They get about 30 minutes a day.
Rest of the time, they're just trying to
survive. Day after day, night after night.
[Oliveras] I hope you sister
likes her hair cut short
so it doesn't get yanked
down to the ground
while they are smashing
her chin into the cement.
Yeah, you know why?
'Cause they love a fist full of hair
when they are beating the shit
out of new inmates.
[stammers] She didn't do anything.
- You had Darden killed.
- No.
Okay, then why don't we just
put that time on your sister?
- No!
- You ended Darden, and you're ending her.
No! I didn't know
they were gonna kill him! [stammers]
[Mark] And he said the cartel
was looking for a window of time
when the customs and DHS
would vacate a facility
in order to make an
exchange unencumbered.
- Exchange of what?
- [Oliveras] Drugs, I'm guessing.
Darden found out that Spellman
was in their pocket,
Los Reyes took care of that problem.
[Mark] Yeah, but Spellman said
he didn't know where it went.
Says it never got that far.
He's full of shit.
Here's a burner cell and his work phone.
Both found in his car.
Work with CART to crack him.
Let's see who his contacts are
and what he's been communicating.
Oh, sir, I can handle that.
I need you to run an errand with me.
Um, boss.
Uh, if that's what you want, yeah,
I can work on 'em,
- but, um, I actually think
- That's what I want.
What you did with the mirror truck
and the financial reports, solid work.
Thank you, sir.
In the field, you're gonna see
a lot of things you can't unsee,
and you'll have to deliver the worst news
to people on the worst day of their lives,
but every now and again
you get to see something like this.
I can confirm your husband
was not doing anything illegal.
In fact, he was standing up
to a dangerous cartel.
He was a hero, Meredith.
- [whimpering]
- [Zach] Mom?
Thank you.
[sniffles]
- [coach] Turn two!
- [children exclaiming]
[coach] Go, go, go, go!
[children exclaiming]
[coach] Yes!
Oh, Damon.
[chuckles] I didn't think you'd…
- You didn't have to
- I wanted to be here, Frank.
- Yeah.
- [child] Uh, Mr. Drew?
- Hey, Bruno. Hey, guys.
- Uh…
We just wanted to say
that we know Noah can't be here anymore,
but he's still gonna be with us
on the team.
- It was their idea. I… I hope it isn't
- It's… It's beautiful.
[chattering]
[laptop closes]
[zipper closes]
You say the headaches are worse?
Just more frequent.
I don't know about worse.
But no lack of balance,
dizziness, uh, vomiting?
- Drop your arms.
- Not yet.
Hmm.
Any of this hurt?
- No.
- Okay.
I'm not telling you anything that I
didn't already tell you nine months ago.
With this aggressive form
of glioblastoma multiforme,
the risks of surgery or radiation are…
they outweigh the benefits.
Yeah, no, I know. I'm just, uh…
just looking for a little relief.
I will up the dosage of your medication.
I will continue with regular MRIs
to assess the progression of the tumor.
But I don't think we can tell…
[speaks indistinctly]
Why don't you find a beach somewhere,
put your feet up and take
as much relief medication as you can,
and live out the time you have left
in as much comfort as you can?
Wish I could, doc.
[sighs]
[breathes heavily]
[footsteps approaching]
Something on your mind, detective?
[Mark] Yeah. I, uh…
Why do you want me
for another task force?
[sighs]
You surprised?
Well, I did call you a, um… [smacks lips]
…a son of a bitch
to your face last time, so, yeah.
My father told me once you don't
define a hero by what he can do,
what his skills are,
but by how much punishment he can take.
I made you do a year with the Aryans
and their camps in the hills,
bunking with them, cooking with them,
going to their goddamn rallies…
[sighs] …all undercover.
No contact,
no help from the outside world.
If you had failed,
if you had gotten yourself killed,
that would've been the end of my career.
Like that.
And when it was over
I wanted to knock your fucking teeth in.
You got me a name,
and Abby Arend is alive today
because of what you endured
with those Nazis.
I'll put up with anything
if you do work like that again.
[Mark] You were already on this,
weren't you?
This?
[Mark] You put a federal task force
together within a day of a local homicide.
You get Homeland Security access
without so much
as a stiff arm from anybody?
You were already on this?
[inhales sharply]
I heard from an informant
that a foreign player
was trying to buy off DHS officers.
Twice I tried to open
an official investigation.
Twice I was rebuffed. I don't know why.
When Darden was murdered,
I was sure it was related.
- Who rebuffed you?
- Unclear.
Well, who let you open a task force?
I went to the Director personally,
which is why we're underground.
I don't know who I can trust.
Including inside the Bureau.
That's why you picked me.
Isn't it?
So you picked Oliveras,
Finau, Bell, Shepherd…
Not because of this hero,
punishment, all-star bullshit.
Because we're the green files.
It's 'cause nobody in our departments
will miss us when we're gone.
Our lieutenants, our chiefs.
Yeah, we're all just a bunch
of middle fingers to them, you know,
bunch of goddamn mosquitoes
biting at their neck.
They're happy to get rid of us.
Or maybe I think the best investigators
are the ones
who keep their teeth in the bone
no matter who or what
tries to shake them off.
You're full of shit.
Am I?
[Bell] Hey!
I got into the phone.
[sighs] Spellman was lying
about not arranging the window.
He's ordered all Customs and Border
Patrol clear of Pier 31 at the port.
- And when's it going down?
- One hour.
[sirens wailing]
[in Belarusian] Move! Now!
[speaking Belarusian]
- [Finau, in English] Meach, you good?
- [Mark] Good!
[speaking Belarusian]
We're taking heavy fire at Pier 31.
I need all security, over.
- Cover me!
- [Mark] Yep!
[grunts]
[grunts]
[grunts]
[sirens wailing]
[Nathan] Where the hell is he going?
Come on.
[sirens wailing]
[gun clatters]
[Oliveras] Is it Murillo?
[Mark] Yeah.
["The Next Curse" playing]
[chattering on radio]
[officer] All clear!
Wait, wait, stop.
Everyone back!
- Get back!
- What is it?
[breathes heavily] I know why
they wanted this area cleared.
[device beeps]
[device crackling]
[crackling intensifies]
It's what I thought.
[music continues]
These were gamma tongs.
They carried an exposure to five
thousand millisieverts of radiation.
Okay, I only went to two years
of Santa Monica College,
so could you please
translate that for normals?
Enough missing fissile material
to fuel a Chernobyl-level event
right here in Los Angeles.
[music continues]
[music ends]
Whirlybirds at 50 feet?
All right.
When we're in a firefight,
you stand right next to me.
Done.
[Nathan] All right. Here's what we know.
Somebody is using the cartel
to bring fissile material into the US.
We got a mission here
that can save thousands of lives.
So we dig and we dig and we keep digging.
LAPD, open the door!
[Oliveras] They don't
play by a rule book,
why should we?
Sometimes the lines,
they're gonna get a little blurry.
I'll ride or die
with blurred edges all day long.
If you've got another angle? I'm game.
All right. Plan A: Truck gets through.
Plan B: All hell breaks loose.
[speaking Spanish]
- I'm gonna need a receipt for that.
- [scoffs] Tell Uncle Sam.
We're working to stop
a weapon of mass destruction.
I gotta know you're 100%.
I'm 100%.
- Being under…
- Oh!
[Mark] It's about improv.
- You almost shot me.
- Yeah, but I didn't.
- I thought it looked really good, man.
- Yeah, I know, right.
[Valwell] Maybe putting together
a team of agitators
- from their various departments…
- [Mark] Get down! On the ground now!
…wasn't such a great idea after all.
[Oliveras] One mistake, you're dead.
Get your head better. I need you.
- Aw.
- No.
- You care about me. That's very sweet.
- No.
[Nathan] A guy with unlimited wealth
has enough fissile material
to turn Los Angeles into Hiroshima.
And we don't know where he is.
US Customs,
Department of Homeland Security.
- [Meredith] Good morning.
- Morning, honey.
- Didn't wanna wake you.
- That never bothers me.
No, I know.
Hey, tell Zach… Tell him he's
gonna crush that performance today.
[Meredith] I will.
He's excited about the show today.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm gonna try to make it.
[Meredith] Another long day at work?
- Uh, I just don't know yet.
- [Meredith] Okay, honey.
- Yeah. Okay.
- [Meredith] Love you.
Love you too, honey. Bye.
Gabriel.
What's the matter?
You expecting someone different?
[Gabriel] Actually…
I think you're the one I'm looking for.
[grunts]
[grunting]
[straining]
[grunting]
Shit!
[panting]
["Salute Your Solution" playing]
[both grunting]
- [passersby screaming]
- Go! Go!
[grunts]
- Move, move, move, move, move!
- [grunts]
[passersby screaming]
- [grunts]
- [groans]
Watch out, watch out, watch out!
[yells]
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Off, off, off. Get off, get off, get off.
[yells]
[grunts, groans]
Move, move, move.
[grunting]
[screaming, groaning]
[grunts]
- [groans]
- [music ends]
Fellas.
[horn honks]
[groans]
[pedestrians screaming]
["28 Theme" playing]
[music ends]
Almost to Ops One, sir.
[person] Copy.
[helicopter whirring]
We're approved.
Have you assembled the team?
All but two are incoming.
- Which two?
- Meachum and Oliveras.
- What's the hold up?
- That's just it.
We're not exactly sure where they are.
[inmates chattering]
[inmate 1 exhales sharply]
No, what I'm saying is I was sitting
with Rafa when Perez and, um…
What's that guy's name…
What's that guy's name
with the face tattoos?
How should I know?
[sighs] Whatever, doesn't matter.
So I was sitting next to Rafa,
and these two clowns walk in
and they say, "Tom Simmons is dead."
[inmate 2] Okay.
[inmate 1] I know. I couldn't believe it
either, but look at my face.
I swear on a stack of Bibles.
Not doubting that's what you heard.
Not doubting the two dumbasses said that.
Well, it kind of sounds like you're
doubting me, you know, with your tone.
I'm just saying you was misinformed.
So you know better than Rafa's guys,
is that it?
I do, actually.
- Oh. Oh, fuck!
- [grunts]
[screaming]
[both grunting]
[inmates clamoring]
[choking]
[grunts]
[groans]
- [alarm blaring]
- [guard] Everybody, get down!
Everybody, down! Get down!
LAPD. Sergeant Lambert.
Open the door. Let's go.
[door buzzes, opens]
One minute, please.
[inmate 1] Thank you, Tony.
- A riot?
- [scoffs] No, it wasn't a riot.
It was a fight. They jumped me.
I defended myself.
- The warden said a riot.
- Yeah, well, the warden…
the warden's been up my ass
since I went UC. Okay?
He's a com… Let me
worry about the warden.
Listen, I got Albert Chun this close
to telling me everything.
- Doesn't matter. I'm pulling you.
- You're what?
- You're getting pulled.
- No, no.
Come on, sarge. I've been
in this shithole for nine months,
and I'm this close
to getting everything that I need.
[Lambert] Whatever you've got has got
to work because you're out of here.
You've been assigned
to a federal task force.
[scoffs]
- [groans]
- What's wrong with your head?
Nothing. N… Uh…
I mean, I took a few shots.
[chuckles] But, uh…
Wait. Did you say
I have to report to a task force?
Get your ass cleaned up.
Get back to LA.
Yeah, but it wasn't a riot.
I wanna make that clear.
["Girls Can't Play Guitar"
playing on radio]
Please.
Help.
[shushes]
Please.
Please.
Help. [breathing shakily]
No.
[breathing shakily]
[breathing shakily]
No.
[grunting, gasping]
[breathing heavily, mutters]
[breathing heavily]
[sighs, pants]
[grunts]
[music continues]
- [grunts]
- [grunts]
- [grunts]
- [groaning]
[both grunt]
DEA Special Agent Amber Oliveras.
Cred number D-41213.
I'm at 51 South Kenmore Street
in Koreatown.
- Call EMS and have them send a bus.
- [groaning]
There are some folks here…
- [grunts, pants]
- [grunts]
…who need medical assistance.
Thank you.
- [sighs]
- [phone beeps]
[music ends]
[siren wailing]
What the hell, Oliveras?
[Oliveras] Okay, thank you. Thanks.
You weren't supposed to go in alone.
Things escalated.
What part of "Wait for tactical backup"
seemed optional to you?
The part where 50 kilos of China White
laced with fentanyl hits the streets.
Well, get your ass back
to SOD headquarters.
You've been summoned.
What does that mean?
What does that mean?
[sighs]
I-I understand, Nathan.
But the timing on this is
I can't dictate the timing.
No, no. Yeah, I just… [sighs]
See, I committed to coaching
my son's Little League team.
I get family first. I-I do.
But this jumped off
and it is all hands on deck.
[sighs] How about you
take on assistant coach,
and I'll cut you
as much slack as possible? Fair?
[footsteps approaching]
I can do that.
Everyone's here, sir.
Great. Thank you. [sighs]
Good morning. I'm Special
Agent in Charge Nathan Blythe.
Been with the Bureau 22 years.
This is my fifth task force.
Second to lead.
A task force is unique.
It's an honor.
And it's unlike any unit
you've been in before.
You are the best in your departments
or I would not have selected you.
You're a law enforcement all-star team,
and I expect you to act like it.
Leave the chest thumping at the door.
No lone wolves.
No spotlight heroes.
- Understood?
- Yes, sir.
To my left, Damon Drew.
Office of Intelligence and Analysis,
Department of Homeland Security.
He'll be my second
And I'm competitive as hell,
so bring your A game.
To his left, Special
Agent Amber Oliveras.
DEA. She has 14 years on the job,
undercover in multiple operations.
- Other side of the border?
- Confidential.
[Nathan] Special Agent Keyonte Bell. FBI.
Bell is well-versed in terrorist threats,
homegrown and otherwise.
Special Agent Evan Shepherd to his left.
Also from the Bureau.
She has expertise in cyber investigation,
Internet fraud and computer intrusion.
Call me anything but a hacker please.
Joining us from LAPD,
Detective Luke Finau.
Eighteen years
in the Gang and Narcotics division,
focused on the nexus of guns, gangs,
narcotics and crime.
- Did I say that right?
- You did.
- Didn't you get suspended?
- Which time?
When you stomped
the guy's face into the curb.
- No.
- No?
[Nathan] And, finally,
Detective Mark Meachum.
LAPD Robbery Homicide.
How you doing? Hi.
Just so you know,
the mayor did ask me to be commissioner
but, uh, it's too much money.
Turned her down.
I'm more of a man of the people. Right?
[Nathan] My second task force
with Detective Meachum,
which I'm sure I won't regret
for at least an hour.
- Oh, I'll take the under.
- Hey, hey. Come on now.
All right, Deputy Mission Manager Drew is
gonna take us through why we're all here.
I got the mic?
Good. Follow me.
[Shepherd clears throat]
Yesterday at 8:31 a.m.
Officer Robert Darden
of US Customs and Border Patrol
inside of Homeland Security
was murdered.
By a single GSW to the heart
at close range.
- Cameras?
- Nearby storefronts
plus an ATM across the street,
but none were able
to get a clear shot of the shooter
at the time of the execution.
It's kinda like he knew
he was in a blind spot.
- Witnesses?
- Suspect is dark-skinned, 5'10",
fired a handgun
and that is literally all we have.
Potential witnesses panicked.
No one got a detailed look.
You don't have to raise your hand.
Oh, right.
I'm just wondering why does the murder
of a Homeland Security officer
merit a designated task force?
- Darden here was already red-flagged.
- For what?
$200,000 deposit popped
into his account 14 days ago.
- [whistles]
- Origin unknown.
We tried to backtrack the banking
transfer, but it's been masked.
We're gonna need your help with that.
[Nathan] A bribe that large
and a customs official murdered,
something big is going on here.
And our mission is to find out
what the hell that is
no matter where the leads take us.
Since we don't know anything,
we don't know who we can trust.
That includes law enforcement.
Wait, so this…
this whole operation's underground?
[Drew] That is correct.
[Nathan] Nobody,
not your friends, not your family,
not your buddy back at the department,
can know anything
about what we're working on.
And that goes for everyone.
What was Darden's purview with CBP?
Monitoring border activity
of Los Reyes Nuevos,
the New Kings cartel in Tijuana.
Plus port activity in Long Beach.
Do you know 'em? Los Reyes?
Rose from the ashes
of Los Mata Zetas around '09.
Killed journalists, politicians, police.
They are a whole 'nother level of nasty.
[Nathan] I wanna know why
Darden was murdered.
Why was he receiving payments?
From whom?
What did it have to do
with his official duties at CBP?
I'm not a sit-on-my-hands boss.
I'm gonna get outside, turn over
every stone, crawl under every rock,
knock on every door until
we have answers. Am I clear?
- Yes, sir.
- Yes, sir.
I want action plans within the hour.
This your first task force?
Yeah.
Well, if you want to partner up
and bang out a plan
I'm gonna pass.
- That was fast.
- It was.
Listen, uh…
- Oliveras.
- Right.
You know, usually it takes me
at least a day to offend somebody,
- and you haven't even heard
- I know Melinda Bates.
Who you dumped two weeks
before the wedding.
Oh. Oh, yes. Okay. That's interesting.
I also know her sister, Rachel.
- [clears throat]
- Sure. Yeah.
Finau, how about a little backup here?
I think I'm getting ambushed.
Mm-mmm.
[Mark] Thanks.
Appreciate that.
Okay. [sighs]
You sure this is how
you wanna get started?
[scoffs]
Okay. All right.
Well, listen, I just want you
to know something, okay?
And I'm gonna be
completely honest with you.
Mmm.
Rachel looks a lot like her sister
at 2:30 in the morning.
Shepherd, with me.
Let's go talk to Darden's widow and
see what she knows about these bribes.
[Shepherd] I wanted to thank you
for selecting me, sir.
I read about… or I studied
Operation Amerithrax at Quantico.
- You were the lead investigator
- Co-case agent.
Craig Captain was the SAC
on that investigation.
Right. Yeah, that's right.
Well, I was just wondering,
when you were closing in on Dr. Ivins,
- did you at all think
- Special Agent Shepherd.
Yes, sir?
The reason you are driving
and I'm not driving
is so that I can examine
Darden's bank transactions
the 18 months leading up to yesterday.
Okay.
Let me know when we get there.
Yes, sir.
[birds chirping]
[Meredith] It doesn't make any sense.
You don't have to say anything.
- [Nathan] You are?
- Her brother.
I-It's okay, Charles.
Can this wait?
She hasn't even had time to process.
Why don't you see if you can put some
of the food away the church brought over?
What did you mean by,
"It… it doesn't make any sense"?
[Meredith] There is no way
Bob was doing anything criminal.
I've been married to him 17 years.
We have no secrets.
Sometimes in law enforcement,
we have to put on masks.
And I'm telling you there was no mask.
Bob served ten years in the Navy,
then worked ten years at Customs.
We have health care. We have a-a pension.
We have a house that's paid for.
We go skiing in Breckenridge
every spring break.
You tell me if that sounds
like someone who…
[crying]
He was a good man.
If you're gonna sit there
and tell me anything otherwise,
I'll say straight to your face,
you don't know
what the hell you're talking about.
Okay, I'm calling it.
That's enough, guys.
[Meredith] Someone out there murdered
my husband like he was nothing.
I wanna know.
I wanna know why someone would
destroy a nine-year-old boy's heart,
just rip it right out of him.
You tell me that.
[breathes heavily]
[sighs] You wanna talk any further
with Meredith,
you do so through her attorney.
You understand?
Blythe said you've done
a few undercover runs.
- [Oliveras] Yeah.
- How was it?
Uh… [chuckles]
You can get lost in it.
- That dark?
- Opposite.
You don't wanna come back.
- You ever work with Oliveras before?
- [Finau inhales deeply] No.
[Mark] She seems a little uptight, right?
I mean, why's she singling me out,
you know?
Can't mix personal with professional.
Everybody knows that.
- How about you? Second-gen Fed?
- [Bell] Uh, third, actually.
Uh, my grandfather worked
the Anglin brothers Alcatraz case in '62.
- Wow.
- Mmm, yeah.
A fellow new agent at Quantico
tried to pin the legacy-hire label on me.
[scoffs] Like I was gonna be ashamed.
You tell him, "Not today"?
I told him something like that.
What? You really
don't have an opinion on this?
- Mm-mmm.
- Okay, fine.
Just leave me here, emotionally hanging.
Come on, brother.
I expected more out of you.
We're here.
[elevator bell dings]
[Mark] How you doing?
LA Homicide,
here to interview Darden's coworkers.
I was ordered by Washington
to give you free rein.
[Oliveras]
How long did you work with Bob Darden?
Oh, I don't know, before the pandemic?
He took over I
at the Port of Los Angeles after me.
Nicest man you'll ever meet.
Any changes in his behavior
the last few months?
Not that I can think of.
Same old Bob.
Give you a card on your birthday,
ask you about your family.
Good egg.
You worked
Los Reyes Nuevos with him, right?
Yeah. Everything you guys know
about that cartel,
you know because of Bob Darden.
He had sources at the border,
sources at the ports. He worked 'em.
I knew something was up with him.
My experience?
You come to the office
all smiles and shoeshines,
you got something on the side you
don't want other people to know about.
- Like what?
- Shooter hits you at 8:30
on a Friday morning.
That sound routine to you?
We are customs officials.
We're not running around town
like Jason Bourne.
You backtracked his incident reports.
Did you find any anomalies?
He kept detailed 202s
every time he went into the field.
He said he wanted
everything on the record
so the higher-ups would know
what he's working on.
Can we see those reports?
Yeah, I've been told
to hand over everything.
I mean, you lie down with dogs,
eventually, you get mauled.
What about you?
- What about me?
- Well, you ever lie down with dogs?
I have been working this department
for 17 years.
That's two decades of financial sweeps,
polygraph tests,
pissing in cups, supervisor ride-alongs,
you name it.
You see any red flags in my file?
Not yet.
Well, get out your magnifying glass,
'cause I'm immaculate.
The one I don't know
about is Jim Talbott.
He and Bob spent a lot of time together.
- A lot.
- [Mark] What do you mean? After work?
After work, during work, multiple
weekends up at Bob's cabin in Big Bear.
Skiing or fishing or something.
What do you know about the unaccounted
for funds in his, uh, personal account?
The Banco Geráneo in Guadalajara
is directly tied to the New Kings Cartel.
Fact.
You get a hit from the BBGA,
it'll raise a few eyebrows.
The thing I don't understand is
why he wouldn't have known better.
Anything else you need,
I am happy to help.
But right now, I got double the workload
and nobody upstairs is exactly
lighting a fire under their ass
to get me a new hire.
[Oliveras] All right.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- [chuckles]
- Hmm.
[Mark] How did that go?
[Oliveras] Mixed bag.
Darden's either the greatest guy
who ever lived,
or shadier than a pinewood forest.
Hmm. Yeah, well that's why
you wanna do a deep dive on folks
before you make snap judgments.
[sighs]
We definitely need to dig into Darden's
CBP colleague, Jim Talbott.
- Yeah, he was off.
- Yes, he was.
Apparently, he and Darden spent regular
weekends up at Darden's cabin in Big Bear.
- Do you guys know that?
- We got an address?
I didn't see anything
listing vacation properties.
Yeah, I'm on it.
I need detailed 302s of your interviews.
Hey, uh, Chief Officer said
that someone in Washington is backing us.
Is there a question there?
Well, it's just you seem to have
a lot of muscle for a task force
- that just got put together.
- [Shepherd] Hey, guys.
Okay, so I was frustrated
that we had so much coverage
of the time of the shooting, but no
angle on the shooter's face, right?
But then I saw this at 8:31.
You see that? Right there.
That's a panel truck carrying mirrors,
which got me thinking, if I sync up
the footage from the ATM next door,
and I…
and I pause it at 8:31…
Boom. [chuckles]
Wow. [chuckles]
Run that image through every US database
to find a match.
And I mean every one,
both classified and unclassified.
We need a positive ID
on this guy yesterday.
Yes, sir.
- [typing]
- [computer beeps]
[Bell] Suspect is Cesar Murillo.
Upstairs apartment.
[Mark] All right, let's go.
All right, we'll take the front.
You hit the back once we breach.
Wait, why are you taking the front?
Because we got the big key.
You don't get to make that…
[grunts]
[whispering] Hey. You good?
[whispers] Yeah.
Cesar Murillo!
Police! We have a warrant…
Fuck. [grunts]
- [breathes heavily]
- Yeah, yeah.
I'm hit! I'm hit!
[grunts] Officer down!
[imitates grunting]
Go, go, go.
Stay down. Stay down.
- Hey, come here! No, no, no, no.
- [gasps]
- [speaks Spanish]
- Hey!
Put it down. Put it down!
- [yelps, grunts]
- Oh, fuck.
On your back!
Stay down.
[grunting]
Not Murillo?
What's your name?
[in Spanish] What's your name?
Eat yourself, whore.
Listen idiot… what are those?
You might as well have a label on.
I'm gonna know your name
before you get to holding.
We're looking for Cesar Murillo.
We know he's a cartel hitman.
His last known address was here.
Lawyer.
[in English] He'll never talk.
No one rats inside Los Reyes Nuevos
or you end up stuffed in a garlic barrel.
[Bell] All right, let's go.
Oliveras.
Thanks for the backup in there.
That was nice work.
You should've let us take the front.
What can I do for you, Ray?
I don't like putting things in emails.
[chuckles]
You made a big mistake
adding Agent Oliveras to your team.
There is a DEA informant
making credible reports
that she's an addict.
Testing?
[Ray] Yeah, we've randomly tested her,
and she has, uh,
figured out how to game the system.
- So she's clean.
- You're not listening.
Sometimes agents, they get in too deep.
End up with a needle in their arm,
forgetting who the bad guys are.
I have no idea
what operation you're running
or what your task force mission is,
but you have a ticking time bomb
on your team, Nathan.
[chattering]
Cesar Murillo's in the wind.
We collected fingerprints inside
the apartment, but could be months old.
Hey.
- Look up Meachum's last UC assignment.
- Why?
When you get a chance.
Where are we at with Darden's finances?
Going back to 2015.
I filtered all personal expenses,
backtracked all deposits,
and the only anomaly is the six figures
from Banco Geráneo three weeks ago.
You check for any CH flags?
Any hidden files?
Of course. Clean.
What about property payments
in Big Bear or tax records?
No. No indication he or his wife
owned any property
outside of their home in Belmont Heights.
And the 302 of your interview
with Darden's colleague?
A Maurice Spellman, yep.
You said he mentioned
Banco Geráneo in Guadalajara?
- He did.
- Well, did you mention it first or did he?
Uh, he did. Why?
Well, when I put the red flag on Darden,
I held that information back.
Spellman couldn't have known
the specific bank unless Darden told him.
Which is highly unlikely.
Shepherd, grab me Spellman's address.
Text it to me.
[engines revving]
[Spellman] Oh, shit.
He's running. He's running.
We got a runner.
- Oliveras, stay on him.
- Where are you going?
- Hang on.
- [tires squealing]
["Fuel" playing]
[tires screech]
[Mark] Stop where you are!
[Finau] Get up, you piece of shit.
[groans]
[music ends]
[Mark] …we had him pinned.
I know. It was stupid.
Yo, you know, you shouldn't
have plowed into the back of him.
- I shouldn't have
- You could've pushed him into us.
You know? We already had him pinned.
You shouldn't have driven
down a fucking hill.
- Well, Mr. Henry told me.
- Mr. Henry?
Mr. Henry, my sixth
grade science teacher,
said the shortest distance
between two points… What is it?
- [blows raspberry] Straight line.
- [Nathan] Hey.
[scoffs]
Is there a problem?
- No.
- [Oliveras] No, sir.
I want both of you
in that interview room.
- Break him.
- Got it.
- Seriously?
- [Nathan] Both of you.
Of course, yeah. Makes sense.
[door buzzes]
Why were you running, Maurice?
[stammers] I thought… I thought you were…
After what happened to Bob,
you could've been anyone.
Fight or flight, I flew.
If you'd identified yourself
You know, Meachum here
knows about running.
[chuckles] He ran away from his fiancée
- two weeks before their wedding.
- The fuck?
[Oliveras] Now, as a running expert,
do you think Spellman was running
'cause he was scared,
or 'cause he was guilty?
Little something you should know
about Oliveras here,
I heard from my drug enforcement buddy,
that nobody wants to work with her.
- Like, nobody.
- Oh, is-is that what you hear?
- Yeah, that's what I hear.
- That's a bunch of shit.
- Yeah, or you're in denial, huh?
- [Oliveras] Okay.
But you can relate, can't you, Maurice?
- Relate?
- Yeah. Liars can spot other liars.
How'd you know about Bob Darden's cabin
in Lake Arrowhead?
- I thought… He said that's
- [Mark] Wait.
Where was it?
- [Oliveras] His cabin in Lake Arrowhead.
- [Mark] Oh, no, no, no.
You said Big Bear.
Yeah. Sure. [stammers] I got
He doesn't own a cabin.
Or any property outside
of Belmont Heights.
- [Spellman] I don't I-I…
- You made it up.
[Mark] How'd you know the bribes
were coming from Banco Geráneo?
How'd I…
Oh, so this is why
you sent them in there together.
They either murder each other,
or they get the suspect's head spinning.
We know you received those bribes because
we have your fingerprints on his keyboard.
We know you tried to pin it on Darden
'cause he was onto you.
And then we tracked your sister's
bank statements in, uh, where was it?
- Indio.
- Indio.
That's right. That makes her
an accessory to a federal crime.
She's looking at 15 years in Victorville.
- What?
- [Mark] You know what that time's like?
- Hmm.
- Let me tell you. That's three to a cell.
One sink, one toilet.
They get about 30 minutes a day.
Rest of the time, they're just trying to
survive. Day after day, night after night.
[Oliveras] I hope you sister
likes her hair cut short
so it doesn't get yanked
down to the ground
while they are smashing
her chin into the cement.
Yeah, you know why?
'Cause they love a fist full of hair
when they are beating the shit
out of new inmates.
[stammers] She didn't do anything.
- You had Darden killed.
- No.
Okay, then why don't we just
put that time on your sister?
- No!
- You ended Darden, and you're ending her.
No! I didn't know
they were gonna kill him! [stammers]
[Mark] And he said the cartel
was looking for a window of time
when the customs and DHS
would vacate a facility
in order to make an
exchange unencumbered.
- Exchange of what?
- [Oliveras] Drugs, I'm guessing.
Darden found out that Spellman
was in their pocket,
Los Reyes took care of that problem.
[Mark] Yeah, but Spellman said
he didn't know where it went.
Says it never got that far.
He's full of shit.
Here's a burner cell and his work phone.
Both found in his car.
Work with CART to crack him.
Let's see who his contacts are
and what he's been communicating.
Oh, sir, I can handle that.
I need you to run an errand with me.
Um, boss.
Uh, if that's what you want, yeah,
I can work on 'em,
- but, um, I actually think
- That's what I want.
What you did with the mirror truck
and the financial reports, solid work.
Thank you, sir.
In the field, you're gonna see
a lot of things you can't unsee,
and you'll have to deliver the worst news
to people on the worst day of their lives,
but every now and again
you get to see something like this.
I can confirm your husband
was not doing anything illegal.
In fact, he was standing up
to a dangerous cartel.
He was a hero, Meredith.
- [whimpering]
- [Zach] Mom?
Thank you.
[sniffles]
- [coach] Turn two!
- [children exclaiming]
[coach] Go, go, go, go!
[children exclaiming]
[coach] Yes!
Oh, Damon.
[chuckles] I didn't think you'd…
- You didn't have to
- I wanted to be here, Frank.
- Yeah.
- [child] Uh, Mr. Drew?
- Hey, Bruno. Hey, guys.
- Uh…
We just wanted to say
that we know Noah can't be here anymore,
but he's still gonna be with us
on the team.
- It was their idea. I… I hope it isn't
- It's… It's beautiful.
[chattering]
[laptop closes]
[zipper closes]
You say the headaches are worse?
Just more frequent.
I don't know about worse.
But no lack of balance,
dizziness, uh, vomiting?
- Drop your arms.
- Not yet.
Hmm.
Any of this hurt?
- No.
- Okay.
I'm not telling you anything that I
didn't already tell you nine months ago.
With this aggressive form
of glioblastoma multiforme,
the risks of surgery or radiation are…
they outweigh the benefits.
Yeah, no, I know. I'm just, uh…
just looking for a little relief.
I will up the dosage of your medication.
I will continue with regular MRIs
to assess the progression of the tumor.
But I don't think we can tell…
[speaks indistinctly]
Why don't you find a beach somewhere,
put your feet up and take
as much relief medication as you can,
and live out the time you have left
in as much comfort as you can?
Wish I could, doc.
[sighs]
[breathes heavily]
[footsteps approaching]
Something on your mind, detective?
[Mark] Yeah. I, uh…
Why do you want me
for another task force?
[sighs]
You surprised?
Well, I did call you a, um… [smacks lips]
…a son of a bitch
to your face last time, so, yeah.
My father told me once you don't
define a hero by what he can do,
what his skills are,
but by how much punishment he can take.
I made you do a year with the Aryans
and their camps in the hills,
bunking with them, cooking with them,
going to their goddamn rallies…
[sighs] …all undercover.
No contact,
no help from the outside world.
If you had failed,
if you had gotten yourself killed,
that would've been the end of my career.
Like that.
And when it was over
I wanted to knock your fucking teeth in.
You got me a name,
and Abby Arend is alive today
because of what you endured
with those Nazis.
I'll put up with anything
if you do work like that again.
[Mark] You were already on this,
weren't you?
This?
[Mark] You put a federal task force
together within a day of a local homicide.
You get Homeland Security access
without so much
as a stiff arm from anybody?
You were already on this?
[inhales sharply]
I heard from an informant
that a foreign player
was trying to buy off DHS officers.
Twice I tried to open
an official investigation.
Twice I was rebuffed. I don't know why.
When Darden was murdered,
I was sure it was related.
- Who rebuffed you?
- Unclear.
Well, who let you open a task force?
I went to the Director personally,
which is why we're underground.
I don't know who I can trust.
Including inside the Bureau.
That's why you picked me.
Isn't it?
So you picked Oliveras,
Finau, Bell, Shepherd…
Not because of this hero,
punishment, all-star bullshit.
Because we're the green files.
It's 'cause nobody in our departments
will miss us when we're gone.
Our lieutenants, our chiefs.
Yeah, we're all just a bunch
of middle fingers to them, you know,
bunch of goddamn mosquitoes
biting at their neck.
They're happy to get rid of us.
Or maybe I think the best investigators
are the ones
who keep their teeth in the bone
no matter who or what
tries to shake them off.
You're full of shit.
Am I?
[Bell] Hey!
I got into the phone.
[sighs] Spellman was lying
about not arranging the window.
He's ordered all Customs and Border
Patrol clear of Pier 31 at the port.
- And when's it going down?
- One hour.
[sirens wailing]
[in Belarusian] Move! Now!
[speaking Belarusian]
- [Finau, in English] Meach, you good?
- [Mark] Good!
[speaking Belarusian]
We're taking heavy fire at Pier 31.
I need all security, over.
- Cover me!
- [Mark] Yep!
[grunts]
[grunts]
[grunts]
[sirens wailing]
[Nathan] Where the hell is he going?
Come on.
[sirens wailing]
[gun clatters]
[Oliveras] Is it Murillo?
[Mark] Yeah.
["The Next Curse" playing]
[chattering on radio]
[officer] All clear!
Wait, wait, stop.
Everyone back!
- Get back!
- What is it?
[breathes heavily] I know why
they wanted this area cleared.
[device beeps]
[device crackling]
[crackling intensifies]
It's what I thought.
[music continues]
These were gamma tongs.
They carried an exposure to five
thousand millisieverts of radiation.
Okay, I only went to two years
of Santa Monica College,
so could you please
translate that for normals?
Enough missing fissile material
to fuel a Chernobyl-level event
right here in Los Angeles.
[music continues]
[music ends]
Whirlybirds at 50 feet?
All right.
When we're in a firefight,
you stand right next to me.
Done.
[Nathan] All right. Here's what we know.
Somebody is using the cartel
to bring fissile material into the US.
We got a mission here
that can save thousands of lives.
So we dig and we dig and we keep digging.
LAPD, open the door!
[Oliveras] They don't
play by a rule book,
why should we?
Sometimes the lines,
they're gonna get a little blurry.
I'll ride or die
with blurred edges all day long.
If you've got another angle? I'm game.
All right. Plan A: Truck gets through.
Plan B: All hell breaks loose.
[speaking Spanish]
- I'm gonna need a receipt for that.
- [scoffs] Tell Uncle Sam.
We're working to stop
a weapon of mass destruction.
I gotta know you're 100%.
I'm 100%.
- Being under…
- Oh!
[Mark] It's about improv.
- You almost shot me.
- Yeah, but I didn't.
- I thought it looked really good, man.
- Yeah, I know, right.
[Valwell] Maybe putting together
a team of agitators
- from their various departments…
- [Mark] Get down! On the ground now!
…wasn't such a great idea after all.
[Oliveras] One mistake, you're dead.
Get your head better. I need you.
- Aw.
- No.
- You care about me. That's very sweet.
- No.
[Nathan] A guy with unlimited wealth
has enough fissile material
to turn Los Angeles into Hiroshima.
And we don't know where he is.