"Don't make me choose."
Daddy's Girl
The episode begins in the aftermath of Stahl killing what's-his-name (we know it's not Linklater but we never learned the real one) with Woz and Harlee getting rid of the body. There's a case about two teenage kids who od'ed in a ditch-day party, and it gets personal for Woz since his own daughter died of an overdose. Woz says if underage girls are getting drugs, someone isn't following his rules, he goes to a barber shop to talk to someone who might know what's up and tells Loman to hurt the guy for information, but Loman's hesitant. Woz does it himself and the guy says it's all about some new guys who never got the playbook.
Later Woz scolds Loman for not following his orders, he tells him the only way they're able to control the streets is because the people believe it. Loman asks why he was picked for the team, thinking maybe he doesn't fit in all that well, and Woz says they had his back in the beginning and he had theirs later, and that's all that matters.
When Harlee goes to confront Stahl he plays dumb at first about who he shot, but tells Harlee why he's after Julia, he was working with an undercover in Bianchi's crew and Julia sold him out. Harlee says she trusted Julia way back, but if she finds out she's changed, she'd be willing to turn her in. She follows the lead to a bar where the mafia money is laundered and used for Julia's campaign, so she confronts Julia and they agree to meet up later.
Cristina was creating all kinds of mess this episode, there were many references to her having a keen investigative mind, and she does, what she doesn't have is the knowledge to keep her mouth shut on some occasions, trying to help with Miguel's search, she tells Stahl about the money Harlee gave him and later she talks to Tess about the money, assuming Tess had gotten a cut, which makes Tess suspicious of Harlee.
Tess's drug test was inconclusive, though it's not clear if it was just luck. Verco keeps snooping around but they're giving him nothing, no one's getting rattled. They even block his investigation right in his face, in a scene that's half jaw dropping, half hilarious. It turns out one of the girls that had od'ed was still alive in the hospital but was brain dead now, so Woz decides it's time to stop playing nice to the drug dealer they caught with some of the supply.
He feeds him sleeping pills, in a very violent way, until the guy is on the brink of death and he confesses, all of this happens right in Verco's face with Harlee and Tufo running interference, literally blocking his way. It was a bit weird, how easy they got away with it, being that they were in a police precinct in the middle of the day with dozens of people around, it made me wonder it it's just bad writing or if there's actually some truth to it, which would be much scarier.
Suken up by his own loss of control Woz goes to see Nate, crying on his doorstep he says he didn't hear Annie's cry for help, and that after she died he wasn't able to be a good father to Nate or a good husband to Linda. He apologizes for everything but it doesn't seem to be clear why he's there, even for him.
Wozniak: You'll never forgive me for what I did to your sister will you?
Nate: I don't think you want to be forgiven.
This scene was utterly heartbreaking, both Ray Liotta and Cameron Scoggins were amazing, and we finally got to meet Nate's boyfriend, Jay (Alexander Quiroga), even if it's just for a second, but I have a feeling the story of Nate and his father reconnecting is just starting so I hope we get to see a lot more of them. I'm really glad they decided to explore Matt's past this season, since he's a very interesting character, and the fact that he's portrayed by such an amazing actor doesn't hurt either.
Harlee goes to see Nava to make sure he doesn't think less of her after witnessing Woz's interrogation, he doesn't seem to have a problem with it, which is a little bit surprising (same problem here as with what happened with Verco).He consoles her as she tells him she feels like she can't catch a break, she can't protect the people that she loves without hurting other people, things start to get steamy until the doorbell rings and Caroline, Nava's ex fiance (Mimi Michaels), is announced and says she wants to talk to him. Harlee is not jealous and leaves them to it.
Right before she goes to meet up with Julia we see a guy doing something to her car, I'm not completely sure what, but she doesn't realize anything and goes on with her plans. She has a recorder in place, Julia seems to be under the impression they're all on the same boat, doing some bad to do a lot of good, but right when Julia is about to talk about Bianchi, Woz stops it all and sends her home. He tells Harlee that when Annie died he tore city apart in search of the dealer who sold her the drugs, he says Nate found him and took a bat to his head, leaving him dead in the street but Julia covered it up.
Wozniak: Don't make me choose.
Harlee gets home and destroys the recording. She interrupts Cristina's investigation, but doesn't realize it since Cristina plays it well, later she gets a text from Stahl pretending to be Miguel, and it's so creepy! I mean, "It's daddy", "I'll reach out soon", "Don't tell your mother"? Ugh, my skin crawls. I don't think I can stress enough how disgusted this episode left me, though I'm sure some of you feel the same way, I don't know what Stahl is thinking buy it can't be good, I honestly hope he's thinking about kidnapping her rather than anything even close to sexual, ugh, I just can't.
So, what did you guys think of this episode? Do you think the situation at the precinct made sense? Are you interested in Woz's storyline? What do you think Stahl is planning? Ugh. I'd love to read your thoughts.
