S.W.A.T. (2017) s04e05 Episode Script

1
- Previously on SWAT
- You passed.
Two cadres in two months?
He's making the TLI
competition a real contest.
CHRIS: Just heard you're
going for master gunner.
I am not mad at you and Tan
for entering the competition.
Just treating you guys like what
you are, for the moment anyway.
You're the ones that I need to beat.
Didn't you tell me, if I want
things to change, be the change?
What have we seen change, son?
This generational wound that just keeps
getting picked at every few decades,
because we refuse
to learn the lesson.
HONDO: Maybe we
learn the lesson this time.
DANIEL: I saw Watts burn.
You saw it in '92.
What's this boy gonna see?
(CLINKING)
I think this one's yours.
Ended up on my belt by mistake.
Toss it here?
(SOFT RATTLING)
Sounds expensive.
Maybe this one never made it on truck.
- (LAUGHS)
- Thanks, buddy.
- All right.
- (BEEPS)
(DOOR SQUEAKS OPEN, CHRIS SIGHS)
7.31 seconds.
That's a new personal best, right?
- Let's go again, please.
- Come on. It might be good
to end on a high.
I need to get it below 7.3.
You will get there on game day,
what with the adrenaline
and, you know, the use of your eyes.
The last five master gunners only won
- by a couple tenths of a second.
- Yeah, but
you're beating yourself up
over a couple hundredths.
There's no choice.
A month from now, Hicks is
gonna choose the TLI liaison.
Tan just qualified for another cadre,
Street's had a gold star by his name
ever since his undercover
work last year.
I got to step it up.
There's only one
master gunner in all of SWAT.
Winning tomorrow
would give me that edge.
Okay, all right.
Let's go again.
Look, I-I appreciate you helping me,
but I know I dragged you here early.
If you want to grab a nap
before our next shift, I
I won't take it personally.
Chris, I wouldn't even be on
SWAT if it wasn't for you.
I'm not going anywhere. Let's go again.
But when you win this thing,
you and I are gonna have a beer
and talk about your work-life balance.
- Only if I'm buying.
- You're damn right you're buying.
All right, let's go.
ERIKA: What's going on, fellas?
- What's up?
- Hey.
I was just telling Street
that Deac and Becker and I just
finished setting up the master
gunner shoot course last night.
And we did a couple run-throughs.
- What's the word?
- Chris, I ain't gonna lie.
Luca has made the hardest one
since taking over design from Buck.
Says it was his parting gift
before leaving for Berlin.
Trust me, you, Tan and Street
got your work cut out for you.
ERIKA: My girl here
has got it locked up.
You are looking at the first P-III
- to win master gunner in SWAT history.
- Ooh.
Definitely got room for improvement.
Master gunners is all about
transition and reload times,
and Tan's got the fastest hands on SWAT.
Not sure I'll catch him tomorrow.
- We'll see how it goes.
- Listen.
I expect to see each of your
names at the top of that list.
But don't sleep on Sergeant Stevens.
He's won master gunner
three years running,
and he ain't about to
give up that crown easily.
- Stevens is yesterday's news.
- Yeah, okay, Street.
Okay, look, look, I'm not one to brag
- Since when?
- But
I was practicing with Stevens last week,
and I smoked him,
just in case you're wondering
- who you're chasing.
- Okay, that's real big talk, Street,
but just know it's been eight years
since anyone from 20-Squad
has held the title.
One of you needs to make that happen.
Oh, hey, Chris, by the way,
I was practicing my HK assembly
a couple nights back,
and I found a little trick,
shaves off about
three-tenths of a second,
- if you're interested.
- I'm good.
- Thanks, though.
- Come on.
Look, on the off chance
that I don't win tomorrow,
I'd want it to be you or Tan
bringing it home for 20-Squad.
Truth is, uh, training
hasn't been going that well,
and I'm not gonna lose any more sleep
practicing for something
Stevens probably has locked up.
STREET: Well,
let me know if you change your mind.
What was that about?
If Tan and Street know
how hard I'm going,
they're gonna go that much harder.
Underpromise, overdeliver. Nice.
Now I just need to overdeliver.
Lieutenant?
You asked to see me?
Actually, the mayor asked me to see you.
Step in here?
It's a sensitive subject,
and I'd like to ask you respectfully.
Okay.
You remember after
the '92 riots, the LAPD tried
to improve relations
with the Black community,
made a big push to recruit
more Black officers?
I remember that it was
a PR stunt that didn't do much
to improve the gap
between Black and blue.
And there's a reason
that Black recruitment
fell back down after that initial push.
'Cause people didn't see any real change
in how the LAPD
approached the community.
No arguments here.
In any case, turns out,
if you hire all at once
They retire all at once.
The number of Black officers
will drop 50% in the next five years.
And considering recent events,
that's not a good look.
- Or good policing.
- So now the mayor wants my help.
She'd like you to be the face
of an outreach campaign
to rehabilitate the LAPD's reputation
in the African-American community.
Do some interviews,
pose for some photos,
show people the positive change
they can make with a career at the LAPD.
She wants me to be a mascot.
Lieutenant, you talk about
change, but yet here we are,
dealing with the same
damn problems from 28 years ago
with the same weak-ass
temporary solutions.
The irony isn't lost on me.
But until we find something more
permanent, it's a stop-gap.
Do you have any other solutions?
Yours is a Band-Aid on a knife wound.
You can't really think that
a couple of quotes in a profile
or a billboard with my face
on Normandie and Florence
is gonna convince
some Black kid to sign up,
especially after everything
that just went down in May.
Well, this is, hopefully, just step one
of a multi-pronged approach.
Right, right, and step two is wondering
what the hell went wrong with step one.
We're on the same side, Hondo.
Your voice, your image
could go a long way.
And this isn't just about optics.
The mayor and I really do
want to make things better.
We're going to need help
from people like you to do it.
I'm glad we're recruiting, I am.
But pandering to the community
ain't the answer, Lieutenant.
You tell the mayor
Respectfully
I ain't about to be her poster boy.
(VEHICLE DOOR OPENS)
Hey, hey, Izzy.
Hey. Good weekend?
I can't complain. You?
Son had a bad dream last night.
Barely slept,
which means I barely slept.
Been there before. See you tomorrow.
Have a good one.
(PHONE RINGING)
Morning, Mr. Gates. Gates Realty Group.
Mm-hmm.
(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER)
HONDO: How bad is it?
It's two dead, four injured.
Looks like it was a package bomb
delivered to Gates Realty Group.
- Any motive?
- Not yet.
Still waiting to talk
to the owner, Jeff Gates.
That's him right there, right?
He wrote that Times op-ed
a few months ago
- supporting reparations.
- Pretty public move for one of L.A.'s
- most prominent realtors.
- Yeah, well, he was lucky
he wasn't in the room
when the device went off.
Still caught some shrapnel
through the wall, though.
Hey, Davis? Davis? This is Tim Davis
with the bomb squad.
Davis, Commander Hicks,
- Sergeant Harrelson.
- This ain't our first rodeo together.
- Good to see you again, Tim.
- Good to see you, Hondo.
Wish it didn't always have
to be around explosives.
Walk 'em through what you found.
My team's still collecting fragments,
but first impressions we're
dealing with a pipe bomb rigged
to blow as soon as the victim
opened up the package.
Judging by the volume of the shrapnel,
it was chock-full of nails.
The bomber wanted to
cause maximum carnage.
How sophisticated a bomb are we talking?
You think the bomber had prior
experience with explosives?
It's unlikely. Pretty
crude setup, homemade.
Unfortunately, step-by-step
guides for these package bombs
are a dime a dozen in the
darker corners of the Internet.
- (PHONE RINGING)
- What do you got?
Tell me RHD has a warrant and
a door for SWAT to kick down.
No suspects yet. The
package was delivered by
a TransSend driver on his usual route.
Tracking number shows
that it was shipped two days ago
from a TransSend store
in University Park,
near USC's campus.
Good news is, the parking
lot has a security camera.
- You find a name
- You'll be the first to know.
HICKS: That was Lynch. FBI's
waiting to brief us on the bombing.
- The Feds?
- Yeah.
Day just keeps getting more interesting.
For the last few months, I've
been working with Agent Carr
and the FBI's Counterterrorism
Division to monitor a new crop
of white supremacist groups
popping up in L.A.
Hate crimes have been on the
upswing the last few years.
We're trying to get ahead
of their darker urges.
You think the bombing this
morning was a hate crime?
It's a working theory.
You can imagine the garbage
these groups spewed online
about Jeff Gates
after his reparations op-ed came out.
But it's still a big step for
a bunch of keyboard gangsters
to mail an actual pipe bomb. I
mean, who would take that leap?
There's one group that keeps me
up at night. Fairly new.
Branches all over Southern California.
A more radical, more
militant offshoot of the KKK.
They call themselves
"the Imperial Dukes."
This thread was created on their forum
moments after the news of
the Gates bombing broke.
We're still working
to verify its legitimacy.
"Gates got what was his.
I've done my part
"to protect what's rightfully ours.
Who has the courage to join me?"
Let's hope nobody.
- RHD sent a name?
- STREET: Security camera
at the TransSend parking lot
caught a suspect
exiting his vehicle
with the package in hand.
They ran the plates. Car's registered
to Ronald Coogan from
Scottsdale, Arizona.
Ron's son, Harry, is
an engineering student at USC.
- Address?
- RHD's still working.
Scratch that. Just came in.
He rents a house in University Park
about a half mile
from the TransSend store.
All right, I'll tell Hicks and Hondo.
You two grab Chris and Stevens.
Let's be ready
when that warrant comes in.
- LAPD! Don't move!
- LAPD! Two, two, two, two!
- Clear! Clear right!
- Hands on your head!
- Closet only, clear.
- What's-what's going on?
Deac. Look.
Doesn't really scream
- Klan member, does it?
- Klan member?
Does this have something to do
with Shawna?
Can somebody please tell me
what's going on?
HONDO (OVER RADIO): Upstairs is clear.
Roommates aren't home.
No sign of explosives.
CHRIS: Same. Rest of the house is clean.
Where'd you stash the explosives, Harry?
- Ex-Explosives?
- LAPD has you
on camera delivering a package bomb
to Gates Realty Group.
You want to explain?
Package bomb?
Oh, no, no, no. Easy.
I work for Choreable The app
Doing odd jobs and errands.
Two nights ago I got a gig.
I met up with this weird guy.
He was rambling, he was panicked.
He paid me a hundred dollars
just to drop off some packages,
no questions asked.
I-I figured they were just drugs
Hold on, hold on. Packages?
There was more than one?
The Choreable customer instructed Harry
to drop off the second package
to a separate TransSend store.
Luckily, he kept the receipt
with the tracking number.
The package was delivered this morning
to the office of a defense attorney,
Megan Brown.
We tried calling her office,
but the machine picked up.
The rest of the team is en route
with Davis and the bomb squad.
Patrol will meet you there.
Tan, work with them
to set up a perimeter
while Hondo finds the package.
Meanwhile, we'll track down
Megan Brown's cell number
and try to reach her.
- Just get there quick.
- Roger that!
(SIREN WAILING)
Mom, you got something.
Oh, probably those new
business cards I ordered.
Finally. You mind opening it for me?
Just need to grab those papers,
and then we can grab some dinner.
Howlin' Ray's?
You got it, kiddo.
(PHONE RINGING)
We're closed.
(TIRES SCREECH)
Set the perimeter.
Start clearing civilians.
On it!
Hey, little man. I'm a police
officer. I'm not gonna hurt you.
I need you to be extremely
careful with that box in your hands.
Jack, are you talking to somebody?
Ma'am, ma'am, stay right there.
I'm LAPD.
Jack.
Listen to me, all right?
That box you're holding
is very dangerous,
and I need you to put it down.
Jack, listen to the officer.
No. No, no, slowly, Jack, Jack, slowly.
Slowly.
Okay, watch my hand.
I'm gonna lower my hand
And I want you to match my speed, okay?
Let's do it together.
Slowly, Jack.
Slowly. Really slow,
really slow. Slow, slow.
Keep going, keep going.
Slow. There you go.
Almost there. Come on.
Slow, slow, slow.
There you go. Good job.
Is anyone else in there?
- Uh, just the cleaning crew.
- Okay, grab them,
head out the back entrance.
- I'll send someone for you. Go!
- Okay.
Package is secure,
with robot moving to containment vessel.
Package delivered.
DAVIS: Three,
two, one Fire in the hole!
(MUFFLED EXPLOSION)
(STEAM HISSES)
Code 4.
Bomb successfully neutralized.
HONDO: Davis and the bomb
squad are pulling an all-nighter,
piecing together
as much of the bomb as they can
to see what they can find.
Commander, why does it feel
like this has nothing to do
with guys in white hoods?
Maybe 'cause it doesn't.
Lynch and the FBI traced
the comments this morning
to an IP address in Pushkin.
It's nothing more than Russian
trolls trying to incite violence.
All right, so if it's not the Imperial
Dukes, who is behind these bombs?
What about college stoner dude?
He dealt with the bomber directly.
RHD get anything from him?
HICKS: A description. But it looks like
the suspect used a fake name
and a Visa gift card
for his Choreable account.
Meanwhile, Burrows is looking
into any connection
between the intended victims:
Jeff Gates, Megan Brown.
Nothing so far.
A tech just pulled this voice mail
off Gates' destroyed office phone.
The call was made last week
from a pay phone.
MAN (RECORDED):
I know what you're doing.
I see right through you.
Your-your "friend" on the radio.
The woman on the bus.
What did she tell you about me?
You only sent them because
I knew what you did with my phone.
Following me.
Always following me!
But I know, you-you and Brown
and the others, I know
exactly what you're doing.
Either you stop it, or I will.
Guy's off his nut.
"You, Brown and the others."
Sounds like he's far from finished.
Stoner dude said the guy who hired him
to deliver the package
was rambling, paranoid.
It could be mental illness.
Disorganized speech.
Persecutory delusions. It
all tracks with schizophrenia.
If he targeted Gates and Brown
based on delusion,
that means his next target
could be absolutely anybody.
Officer Alonso, ready?
Welcome to the 38th annual
master gunner competition.
This is a time trial.
Fastest time wins.
Each target is either a suspect,
a suspect holding a hostage,
or a civilian.
Assess the threats.
Eliminate the suspects.
There are 14 suspects on this course.
Use your primary for the first six,
reloading after three.
Switch to your secondary.
Dominant hand after six. Reload.
Nondominant for the last two.
You will receive time penalties,
for any of the following:
Reloading too early,
reloading too late,
hitting targets outside critical zones,
and improper technique.
You hit a civilian
or a hostage, automatic DQ.
You got it? Time starts
on the buzzer and ends
when you hit the last target.
Good luck.
And remember smooth is fast.
In three,
two, one.
7.14 seconds.
Not bad.
On to the course.
Weapon ready at the start line.
DEACON (OVER RADIO): Course complete.
Nice job, Chris.
(PANTING)
49.55 seconds.
That's the fastest time so far.
I probably shouldn't have told you that.
Wha-What about Tan
- and Street and Stevens?
- Well, I can't say much.
Stevens and Tan, they went this morning,
and Street's up in the evening group.
But that was damn near perfect,
and it's gonna be tough
for anyone to beat that time.
(TAPPING HOOD)
You good?
Master gunner?
Listen, don't beat yourself up about it.
Luca designed a beast of a course.
I was off my game.
Couldn't sleep last night.
This have anything to do with
the voice mail from the bomber?
Hondo mentioned you seemed
a little rattled by it.
Yeah, it brought back some old memories.
My dad
got diagnosed with schizophrenia
just after I was born.
Oh, man. I'm sorry. I didn't know that.
That must have been really tough.
It was under control most of the time;
Other times, it wasn't.
And hearing that guy
on the call, his anger,
his paranoia, reminded me
of some of those other times.
I don't mean to dump this on you.
No, no, it's all good.
And if you want to talk about it more,
I'm around.
I appreciate it.
I just want to get my mind off it.
Listen, while we're waiting
for the location
of that mail bomber, I was, uh
gonna go pound a bag.
If you think it'll help,
I could use a sparring partner.
Yeah. I'll meet you in the ring.
All right.
Hey, Hondo, you got a sec?
I want to pick your brain
about something.
- Sure. What's up?
- I just had a really interesting talk
with Lieutenant Lynch
about a recruitment campaign
to try and pull in more Black cops.
I was hoping to get your opinion
about whether I should do it.
- (SIGHS) Wow.
- What?
She already asked you, didn't she?
Yeah, and it looks like
she's going down the list.
(LAUGHS): Which is not very long.
Why'd you say no?
(TAKES DEEP BREATH)
Honestly?
Because I'm exhausted.
Where were you in '92
when things popped off?
Um, we were still living in Houston.
I'd just turned six.
Hmm.
I remember my parents were glued
to the TV that whole week.
Well, I was right here in South L.A.
And I didn't have to turn on my TV,
'cause I could watch it all
from my backyard.
And this summer it was like
I was watching a rerun.
Watts and Rodney King,
and now George Floyd,
Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor.
It's the same old show,
and it doesn't stop.
And the gap between Black,
and blue is even wider now.
Erika, I turned down Lynch
because I don't know how I can
look a Black kid in the eye
and tell them
they can make things change
by joining the LAPD.
Because it's not true.
What is the truth, then?
That your friends
might stop talking to you.
Even your own father
might be ashamed of what you do.
Or there could be days when
you don't feel like wearing
this uniform because it's the same color
that some bastard wore
in Louisville and Minneapolis.
Before I joined SWAT,
I read this article.
It was a profile about Raymont Harris.
It talked about how his life
was spiraling out of control
until a SWAT sergeant
named Daniel Harrelson
pulled him out of it
and got him back on the right track.
Where's Raymont now?
He's a junior at UCLA.
Chemical engineering major.
See, I remember reading
that article and thinking,
"That is the kind of cop
that I want to be."
And I get it. You've been
fighting all of this
a lot longer than I have.
But what is the alternative?
We just throw up our hands?
Let the number of Black cops
drop to zero?
What does the world look like then?
Who's there for the next Raymont?
(PHONE BUZZES)
Looks like RHD has a lead on our bomber.
- I got to run.
- Yeah, go get him.
BURROWS: Davis, and the bomb
squad managed to piece together
enough bomb fragments
to pull a partial print.
Charles Pierce. We rushed a subpoena
for his medical records
from L.A. Regional Hospital.
Well, Tan was on the money.
Pierce has been in and out of treatment
for schizophrenia for several years.
A whole host of paranoid delusions,
but no priors, no history of violence.
Well, then, what triggered him
to mail a bunch of pipe bombs?
He was living with his brother,
Leo, and Leo's wife, Brenda.
Seems like the only family that he had.
Leo Pierce died six months ago.
DEACON: Up until two months ago, he was
still living in their garage,
and then he just vanished.
Brenda Pierce
filed a missing persons report,
- but still no sign of him.
- HONDO: Let's pay
the sister-in-law a visit.
- See if she knows anything.
- No need.
She's already on her way over.
When Leo and I got married,
Charlie was such a happy guy.
He was, like, carefree.
But I guess he hasn't been
that Charlie in a long time.
When did you notice something off?
Just after his 24th birthday. We
couldn't reach him for three days.
And it turned out Charlie had
um, destroyed the battery in his phone.
He swore the mailman was using it
- to gather evidence against him.
- Evidence of what?
Nothing. He never did anything wrong.
He was He was hearing voices.
He was seeing things that weren't there.
But he absolutely refused
to see someone.
Well, asking for help,
that can be the hardest part.
BRENDA: Yeah, I mean,
I wish that were true for Charlie.
Eventually, he missed so much work
that he lost his job,
so Leo let him move in
to the garage on the condition
that he see a doctor,
so he finally agreed.
The diagnosis was schizophrenia.
And the doctor put him on medication,
and a-actually,
it helped for a little while.
Eventually, he would go off the meds,
and then we'd repeat the whole cycle.
And that's been our lives
for the last seven years.
And then Leo got sick.
How did Charlie react
to your husband's death?
He was devastated.
But, I mean, he seemed
to be holding it together.
He was even making some money
through an app.
He was shopping for people,
and, you know, he was running errands.
That kind of thing.
- Choreable.
- Yeah.
The whole thing started again.
The delusions, the paranoia.
Um
I-I promised Leo
that I would look after Charlie,
but, um
- It just wore me to the bone.
- Mrs. Pierce,
is there anywhere that you can
think of that Charlie might be?
Or anyone that he might have
reached out to for help?
BRENDA: I have no clue.
After he disappeared, I put
all of his things in boxes.
There's
They're in the back of my truck.
Maybe you'll find something there.
She sounded like
she's had a rough go of it.
For some time now.
This thing can tear families apart.
Almost destroyed mine.
Dad had trouble holding down a job.
Mom was working three gigs
just to make ends meet.
Lot of times, it was up to
me and my brother, Jacob,
to look after him. Towards
the end, it was just me.
- How old were you?
- When he passed? 16.
Jacob was 20. He was at college.
Visited Dad three times in two years.
Found any excuse to avoid seeing him.
My father and I have got our issues,
but I can't imagine
cutting him out like that.
Yeah, I never held my dad's
worst days against him.
He was just sick.
But Jacob would never look past it.
It's a big reason we don't talk anymore.
DEACON: It's crazy to
think that's the same person
that we heard
on that voice mail last night.
It's like a switch just flipped.
Here we go.
A burner phone.
Probably thought his cell
was being tracked again.
Yeah, well, the number's
still listed on the SIM card.
Burrows. Hey, it's Deacon.
Hey, listen, I think I know
how we can find Charlie.
Just finished going through
the patient information
in Charlie's medical history.
Unfortunately, it sounds like
the one person who might have
gotten through to him
died six months ago.
His brother, Leo. If we do find him,
- how do we resolve this nonlethally?
- (PHONE VIBRATING)
Excuse me. Yeah?
I mean, I guess we try
to convince Charlie
it's all in his head, right?
No, that's only gonna
aggravate him more.
Charlie might be hearing
things, seeing things,
but in his mind,
those things are as real
to him as you and me.
For whatever reason, he's
convinced that Jeff Gates,
Megan Brown and the others
are out to get him.
Best way to buy his trust?
We make him feel safe.
That was Burrows. RHD's been
camping on that phone number
we found from Charlie's burner.
He briefly turned it on.
They tracked it to an apartment
in North Hollywood. Bad news.
He used it to contact Choreable.
He's gonna mail another bomb.
- LAPD!
- LAPD!
Police! Give me two! Give me two!
Kitchen clear!
- Bathroom clear. Give me two!
- STREET: 26-David
to Command. No
movement on the fire escape.
- Bedroom clear!
- CHRIS: Perimeter's clear.
20-David to Command. It
looks like Charlie already left
to drop off the package
to the Choreable worker.
Anything in here to
tell us where he went?
Hold on a second.
Guys, check this out.
CHRIS: 24-David to 20-David.
Patrol just found something
at the bus stop down the block
you might want to look at.
Sending photos now.
TAN: That's why Charlie
thought he was being watched.
So, Megan Brown is staring
at him through his window.
Jeff Gates is at his bus stop.
HONDO: All right,
split up. Collect any images, any ads,
anything Charlie would see
on a daily basis
that could point us to his next target.
HICKS: Command to 20-David.
Burrows just got off the phone
with the Choreable worker
who met up with Charlie.
When he saw
a suspicious-looking package,
he tried to stall, call police.
Charlie must have realized.
He ran off with the bomb.
Charlie might be looking to
deliver the package himself.
HONDO: Did the worker mention where
Charlie wanted him to mail the package?
HICKS: Negative. But he
did give us a description
of Charlie's clothing.
- Sending it over now.
- Roger that.
Hey. Found something.
This was in the trash.
- Valdez Brothers Auto Repair.
- HONDO: I think
I saw a stack of these by
the mailboxes when we entered.
Hey, Tan! Let's roll!
This is 20-David to Command.
We might've found Charlie's next target.
CHRIS: 24-David. Just
got to the repair shop.
- Cleared out civilians.
- Hold up. You see this guy?
STREET: Clothes match
the description Hicks sent us.
TAN: I can't see his face,
but he's holding something. 25-David.
Possible eyes on our suspect
at the shopping plaza on Alamo.
That's Charlie. He's got the package.
25-David. Confirmed sighting
of suspect at our location.
(HORN HONKS)
He make us?
26-David. We got a rabbit. Let's go.
(BOTH GRUNT)
LAPD!
(BOTH GRUNT)
(CLATTERING)
Check it out.
MAN: Whoa.
Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa.
Is he back there?
All right. Get out of here, man.
Get out. Go, go, go.
LAPD.
Hey. You need to leave now.
No, my coworker Sophie's down there.
We'll get her out. Go, go, go.
Stop! I got a bomb!
You come one step closer,
I'll open the box,
and we all get blown to hell.
And the girl, too.
Charlie's got himself barricaded
in the service hallway,
and he's got a woman trapped with him.
He's threatening to open the box
if we come any closer.
Spoke to the manager
of the shopping plaza.
There's a staircase
that can get us close
to where Charlie's barricaded himself.
Said we can access it from the roof.
Hey, won't he see you coming?
Not if he ain't looking our way.
Even if we can get down those stairs
without him noticing, he's got
eyes 15 feet in every direction.
You got any idea how to diffuse
a bomb from that far?
Yeah, the Disruptor Jet.
It'll shoot a bolt of water,
soak the explosives in an instant,
neutralize the bomb if
I can get close enough.
Hey, hey, hey.
Slow your roll, tough guy.
Ain't nobody getting close but us.
- Can you teach me?
- Yeah.
It's basically a Super
Soaker on steroids.
Set.
Roger that. Just made entry.
- TAN: Charlie.
- Stop!
Leave me alone.
Please, just leave me alone.
We're not here to hurt you.
You're lying!
TAN: I promise.
Okay? I'm just here to listen.
I didn't want to do this.
I swear I didn't,
but they wouldn't leave me alone.
They wouldn't stop staring.
I told them to stop.
Tan, we need him to lower the package.
Hondo needs a clear shot.
I get it, Charlie. It must be scary.
I'd be scared, too.
You know what I do when I'm scared?
I listen to music.
Charlie, it calms me right down.
(PANTING)
You play guitar, right?
Yeah.
I saw a picture of you
and Leo playing together.
You looked real happy.
Charlie, what would you play?
Clapton.
He loved Clapton.
Clapton.
He's good.
Which song was his favorite, huh?
(VOICE BREAKING): I miss him so much.
(CRYING)
I miss him so much.
- You lied!
- Stop!
TAN: On your stomach!
Give me your hands!
Give me your hands, now!
(GRUNTS)
(CHARLIE PANTING)
HONDO: Lieutenant?
Are you busy, or do you have a minute?
Sure thing.
It's about our conversation yesterday.
Any chance you've changed your mind?
No, not even a little bit.
But you asked me
if I had another solution.
I think I might.
Hit me.
A series of recruitment meetings
throughout the county
South L.A., Inglewood, Ladera Heights
and other Black communities,
hosted by Black officers,
where we can speak openly
and honestly about the
challenges of being a Black cop.
Lieutenant, the people who
come out to these meetings
They're taking a big first step.
They want to make a difference,
but they want to hear us be honest
about the mistakes we've made,
and if we're committed
to really doing it better.
And if all we do is give
them a glossy pony show,
then we've lost yet another generation
of potentially good cops
because they know it ain't real.
- They want the truth.
- And what's the truth?
It's tough being a Black cop.
Real tough. And some days,
it feels impossible.
But then, there's other days,
you win these little victories,
and you actually get
to make a difference.
Those little victories
They mean something.
Let me run it up the flagpole,
see if I can't pull together
some funding for you.
All right, and I'll put together a list
of potential venues and officers.
You'll have it first thing
in the morning.
You know, Hondo?
Sometimes I think you're underutilized
as just a SWAT sergeant.
I'll take that as a compliment.
It was meant to be.
Good night.
All right, bring it in.
Let's go! Bring it in.
Just finished the last
run on the course.
Final results are in.
The 38th annual master gunner is
Come on, Deac. Hurry it up.
All right, all right.
With an official time
of 49.37 seconds,
Jim Street!
(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)
Oh!
Suck it, Stevens.
Get you next year, wiseass.
Hey, what's up?
Hey.
Hope you're not still
beating yourself up.
You did good today. With Charlie.
How'd you know
he'd let go of that package?
I didn't.
But it's something
that worked with my dad.
One time, I found him in
the kitchen holding a knife,
threatening to hurt himself.
Refused to put it down till
I started talking about cameras.
He loved photography.
I figured if we could get Charlie
thinking about
what made him feel safest,
about music, about his brother
He wouldn't think about the
bomb in his hand. That's smart.
Actually, it's a
trick I picked up from Jacob.
So I guess your brother
wasn't all bad, huh?
Well, me and Jacob, uh
We were only kids.
Maybe he was scared,
didn't know how to deal with it,
but, uh
I don't know.
I was scared, too.
I never once left my dad's side, though.
Yeah, but you're a SWAT officer.
And he makes money
sitting behind a desk.
You don't run when things get dicey.
Not everybody's built that way.
Look, maybe it's not my place,
but before, you said
that you never held your dad's
worst days against him.
Well, maybe you ought to think
about extending that same
benefit to your brother.
Everybody can use a little
forgiveness in their lives.
Jacob.
Hey, it's me.
It's just been a while since we talked.
Sorry it didn't work out.
It's good.
I'm happy for him.
Chris
.18 seconds.
That's it. That was the difference.
- Mm.
- Going over it in my head now,
and-and I I should have
beat him. Just
(SIGHS) I am happy for him.
But?
(SIGHS HEAVILY) But
when I first met Street, he was the guy
with the crazy mom
who then got kicked out of SWA and barely made it back.
And now, he's got it all figured out.
With SWAT, with Molly.
And I'm in my 30s and still
living in my uncle's garage.
Feels like we swapped places somehow,
and
he left me behind.
Were you two ever a thing?
No. Of course not.
Really? 'Cause it seems
like Street has a special way
of getting under your skin.
There were feelings once.
Ah, called it. Going which way?
It was mutual. We're on the same team.
We shut it down.
Well, look, I don't know how
to help you with him, but
as far as living in your uncle's
garage, I've been looking around
for a new place.
Might be able to lock
down something swanky
with a roommate to shares costs.
I thought you were
living with your sister.
Yeah. She's an EMT, she works
nights, which worked great
when I was on late shift, but
now that I'm on Rocker's team,
we are at each other's throats.
So, what do you say?
Are you kidding? Hell yeah!
All right. I'll send over some listings.
Hey, um, thanks for everything.
I don't think
I would have done half as well
as I did today without your help.
Any time.
Last year, Lila started gymnastics,
and, uh, I went to one of her meets,
and there were these older
girls on the balance beam.
It's funny. It's-it's
such a narrow beam,
and they're just launching themselves
three, four feet in the air.
And for a split second, you're not sure
if they're gonna land
on it or fall off.
I mean, they may not
even know themselves.
This Charlie guy,
he was
he was managing, you know?
And then his brother died.
Something completely out of his control.
What Charlie's been going through
and what you've gone through
are completely different.
No, I know. I know. It's
It's just that
Not that long ago,
I was in a really dark place.
What if something comes along
and launches me off the beam,
and-and I don't stick the landing?
I'd be lying if I said you're never
gonna go back to that place.
But that's why we do these sessions.
If you do fall off that beam,
you're gonna have the confidence
to jump right back on.
Yeah, I know.
I know.
So what'd you decide?
- About Lynch's offer?
- Mm-hmm.
Well, I was about to take her up on it,
but then she mentioned your idea
for the recruitment meetings,
and I told her
I'd rather help out with that.
Erika, I don't know if
it's gonna fix the problem,
but I'm not ready to throw my hands up.
But if you're serious about helping out,
planning starts tomorrow morning.
- Yeah, tell me when and where.
- Okay, good.
'Cause if we don't fix
the problem, who will?
At least that's what
some young fool told me.
(LAUGHS)
Thank you.
Thanks for waking me back up.
No, Hondo. Thank you.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Good night.
(CAR DOOR CLOSES, ENGINE STARTS)