This week’s episode was more of a straight up manhunt. The departure from the typical format was intense and, for me, very successful.
Two police officers have been gunned down on the street. The crime scene is eerily quiet. As the ambulances move in to retrieve the bodies, we see the department honor its fallen officers. Watching this sequence, I can’t help but remember the reactions Brenda received when she insisted investigative procedure be followed in order to ensure that murders involving the police be solved efficiently and swiftly.
Once the bodies have been removed the investigation begins. As we learn what information Major Crimes has gathered, we’re treated to the facts of what happened via flashbacks. It was interesting watching Raydor put the pieces of what happened together based solely on the evidence as we’re watching what actually happened. Consequently, we know the answers to the questions the unit is guessing at. Some of their theories are dead on.
They know that the dead officers were transporting a detainee when they were killed. They are able to identify Enrico Fornes and learn that he’s related to a major drug cartel in El Salvador. Provenza presents the theory that the officers died in a gang’s attempt to rescue Enrico. It is a plausible theory but you don’t become part of one of the elite units in LAPD by jumping to the easy conclusion. Apparently it doesn’t stop you from becoming assistant chief though. Chief Taylor demands that they paper the city with Enrico’s picture.
The two police officers we saw commit the murders in the opening arrive at Enrico’s apartment while he and his girlfriend are packing to get out of town. They have a flyer offering a $10K reward. We learn one important thing…the older of the two cops has a wired, violent, moron for a partner. The young cop’s brilliant suggestion for getting information from a pregnant woman is to work her over. Luckily the older of the two is smart enough to let the $10K do the talking.
Meanwhile, Andy tortures a 3-D printer/scanner in order to get Enrico’s address. When they bring in his girlfriend, Emmy Martinez, they push hard in an attempt to get her to give up Enrico. They don’t scare her so much as piss her off enough to tell them about the reward money…which they initially dismiss. But the idea that officers out on the street could kill Enrico before he can explain anything convinces her to tell them where he is. It’s a good thing too, because Brutus and Jughead are minutes away from catching and killing Enrico. Luckily, he winds up in Raydor’s custody.
Enrico tells them the truth about what happened to the two police officers. He wonders how these guys found him so quickly. Provenza, in a moment of awesomness, pointedly lets Chief Taylor know that Enrico almost got killed because he refused to listen to any of his advisors by ordering they plaster the city with Enrico’s face. (Hmm, I just realized that, as they were trying to make Enrico feel something about his victims, they completely ignored the innocent old man who died with them. I’ve done the same thing in writing this review.) They use the reward flyer to set these guys up. The arrest goes pretty easily. Brutus and Jughead were petty ex-cons who robbed elderly people while dressed as cops.
They slipped one message into this script and, IMHO, this is how it’s done. I’ve seen episodes of TV Shows where they spend so much time telling everyone’s side of an issue that the story is lost and ultimately unsatisfying. Here the story took precedence. Enrico grew up in America and was going to college in Arizona when he was deported to a country he knew nothing about. He is disheartened because he’s an American in every way except legally, but he gets to become a citizen because he witnessed a murder. My one question was how could they expect him to speak for or sign that agreement in his parents’ behalf.
This week we saw the lengths to which Rusty would go to solve the Alice mystery. He decides it was too far. The guy who had chased Alice to Las Vegas left Rusty a message, because he wants to meet with him to, it appears, convince Rusty to get a message to her. TJ is, rightly, suspicious. He thinks Rusty is too confident (should we read that: arrogant?) and reckless. He preaches caution and Rusty decides to get a police level background check. He does this by slipping a fake tip sheet into the stack of forms being processed during the hunt for Enrico. But even as Rusty gets the results, he’s feels guilty. He was only pretending to help, and he feels he should really have been there to help. What stuck out to me was Provenza’s saying that he and Patrice should invite both boys over for dinner. Rusty’s too pre-occupied with his guilt to notice that assumption that he and TJ are a couple.
I really enjoyed this week’s episode. I liked watching the team work a little differently; not going for the deal but hunting. With this episode, like the last episode, I find myself wanting a little more from the Rusty storyline. I felt like the scenes could have been a little deeper and these writers are capable of that. I loved that look Provenza gave the Chief when he realized that the news broadcasts had nearly lost them their witness. Also nice seeing Fritz again.
About the Author - Prpleight
Prpleight is a screenwriter and senior software engineer with solid geek cred. When not writing code, screenplays, or watching TV (sometimes she does all three at the same time), she uses her broadsword Bessie to battle evil. She's been a frequent contributor to the SpoilerTV discussion boards for several years now. Currently, she's reviewing Stitchers and Major Crimes.
