Post by cellogal on Aug 24, 2008 22:46:55 GMT -5
January 28, 2002
Sweet! An all-U2 episode! We open with “Beautiful Day” playing outside a high school, where the morning bell is ringing. A girl stands alone, leaning against a wall and inquiring of a paper fortune-teller whether or not some guy will ask her out. She gets her answer, frowns at it the fortune-teller, then peers around the corner at, presumably, the guy in question. They lock eyes and she smiles shyly, then returns to studying her fortune-teller. A moment later, she’s looking for him again, but she doesn’t see him. To her surprise, the guy, Michael, has approached her from the other side, and he wants to ask her something. Wow. Her fortune-teller is way more powerful than any of mine ever were. Michael asks, as only an incredibly nervous teenage boy can, if she wants to go to the Valentine’s Day Dance with him, unless, of course, somebody already asked. The girl says no, which he interprets as rejection, but she assures him that she meant that no, nobody asked. Awww. She then asks him if he’s sure he wants to go with her. Well, honey, if he screwed up his courage enough to ask you, I’d say that, yes, he’s sure. He reassures her, she says yes, they grin adorably, and then Michael says he’s late for first period, but he’ll see her later. She then goes back to consulting her fortune-teller, which is one for one on the morning. What else can it tell us? Sports scores? Lottery numbers? I’m suddenly very curious.
The bell rings again, and we cut to a different high school, where the bell is also ringing. As students head to class, the camera zooms in on a clock, and I notice that it’s 8:02 AM. On the playground, a young black man leans against a basketball goal, reciting something, then looks at his watch. Still 8:02.
Suddenly, a shot rings out, and the paper fortune-teller blows out of the bloodied hand of the girl from earlier. We see that she’s been shot in the chest, and is already dead as shocked students pour out of their classrooms and see her body.
Another shot…the guy lies on the basketball court. A woman rushes up to him, screams for help, and then reassures the guy that he’s okay. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say he’s not, and I also can’t help but notice that the woman who’s helping him looks suspiciously like Kat Miller.
At PPD, detectives carry evidence boxes for “Reed, M.” and “Jones, S.” to their resting places on the shelf.
Present Day
Exterior, PPD. Scotty, Lilly, Jeffries, and Vera have gone on a coffee run, and Jeffries informs Scotty that ADA Thomas asked about him. Oh, goody. Scotty seems equally thrilled. “What about?” he asks. Jeffries replies, somewhat teasingly, that she just asked about him. Vera proclaims her hot. Okay, Vera, seriously? “If you like that type,” Scotty replies. Lilly asks him what type that is, exactly, and Scotty replies, “Ball-buster.” “Like I said…smokin’,” Vera continues. Well, well. Guess we know what Vera’s “type” is. Jeffries asks Vera if that ball-buster neighbor is still giving him grief about that basketball, and Vera grins and says they’re way past grief. Lilly presses for details, Scotty proclaims that another one bites the dust, and Jeffries jokingly encourages Vera to get out while he still can. Lilly asks Vera if he’s thinking long-term on this one, and Scotty answers for him: he got tickets to the ballet. Wait…what? Vera? Ballet? Ball-buster, indeed! “Sensitive guy, you like that?” Vera asks somewhat proudly. Jeffries pointedly tells Vera not to be late again, but Vera’s confident that Toni understands the life of a cop.
Lilly suddenly notices that the fifth member of their merry little crew is missing and asks about Kat. Scotty replies that she’s in storage, having spent the morning moping. Lilly asks what’s up. “Probably hormones,” Vera answers. Oh, DUDE. “Hormones?” Lilly asks drily. The others stop and turn around. “Y’know, that female cycle thing?” Vera replies. Lilly stares at him for a moment, then starts to walk off. “Sensitive guy,” she proclaims with a smile. The others walk on, leaving Vera to stand on the corner with his best innocent face, wondering aloud what he did wrong. Oh, jeez, Vera.
Evidence warehouse. Kat is, indeed, moping, when Lilly comes in and asks if it’s a cold job. Kat nods and says it’s Skill Jones, and we see that she’s looking at a picture of the young man from earlier. She then explains that she knew him from her undercover days when she was doing drug buys in North Philly. Lilly takes the photo from her and says Skill looks like a nice kid; Kat explains that he was a dealer, deep in the game, and she was the one who found him. Aha. So that WAS her!
Basketball court. Kat screams for help, then urges Skill to look at her.
“Kid died in my arms,” Kat says softly, then adds that Skill was 15. Lilly asks if that’s why she came down here, and Kat nods, saying it’s the first time since she made murder cop, and that she always wondered when she’d make it down there. Lilly asks why today, and Kat explains that it’s the fifth-year anniversary of his death, then says she found Madison Reed’s box next to his; she was a Chestnut Hill rich kid, but was shot the exact same day and time as Skill: 8:03 AM. Lilly proclaims this weird, and Kat thinks the jobs could be connected. Lilly picks up Madison’s file and wonders aloud how a rich girl from the burbs and a dealer from the projects could be connected, and Kat comments that seeing someone die “kinda changes you forever.” “Yeah,” Lilly replies. “It does.” Kat says she doesn’t know much about Skill, just his name, and Lilly gently points out that you need a reason to open a job. Kat replies that there’s no one left to speak for Skill and Madison, and maybe that’s reason enough. Lil doesn’t look convinced, but I’m on board.
Credits.
Stillman’s office. Lilly tells him that Madison Reed was shot with a .357 Magnum at close range. Stillman observes that this is a rare weapon, and asks if they’ve had any luck tracking it down. Kat says they turned the school upside down, but have no weapon and no motive, then adds that that kind of crime just doesn’t happen in Chestnut Hill. Lilly says they chalked it up to random violence, and the job went cold after a year. Stillman then asks about Skill Jones, and Kat explains that he was a small-time punk, and the theory was a drug deal gone south. Lilly says the job went cold after a few weeks. Stillman asks about a last to see; Kat says there wasn’t on Skill, but Michael Ellis saw Madison at school before she was shot, and Lilly volunteers to talk to Michael. Stillman, reading the file, observes that Madison was a straight-A student, track star, student government type, and asks what her connect is to Skill. Kat tells him they don’t know yet. He glances at Lilly, but she just smiles slightly and says nothing. Stillman asks Kat if she has any informants left from her Narc days; she does: Toomey Nelson, drug dealer and North Philly 411. Stillman hands her the file without a word.
North Philly. Kat and Vera get out of the car, Vera commenting that Kat can’t say he doesn’t take her anywhere nice. Heh. “At least I don’t go to the ballet,” Kat retorts. Heeee. They spot Toomey, and Kat instantly launches into street-speak, greeting Toomey with a “’Sup, dog?” Vera pats Toomey down as he alerts everyone else to the presence of “Five-O,” then turns to Kat and asks her where her tube top and stilettos are. She smiles and says she’s respectable now. Toomey turns to Vera and asks if he’s Kat’s boyfriend. “Philly Homicide, home slice,” Vera replies. Oh, Vera. You so can’t pull that off. Toomey sings that he’s got something for them, then pulls out a pair of ratty sneakers and tells Vera he’ll give him the “Po-po” discount: two dollars. Vera thinks he’ll pass. Kat notices something shiny on the handle of Toomey’s shopping cart and asks him about the bling; he explains that it’s a dream catcher, and not for sale, then hopes to interest Vera in some tube socks instead. Hee. Handing the thrilled Toomey a five dollar bill, Kat asks him about Skill. Toomey proclaims Skill “good people,” saying he gave him respect, and that doesn’t come cheap on the streets. Vera asks Toomey if he owes Skill, and he does; he didn’t speak his peace back then, but now Champ’s out of the picture. Kat informs Vera that Champ was a dealer who worked the Wilson Projects back in 2002; Toomey adds that Champ was moving in on Skill’s territory, and Skill started moving a new product to take Champ out of commission. Kat asks him who he heard this from, and he says he saw it with his own eyes. He and Kat have a fabulous “conversation in a glance,” and it becomes clear that he needs more money to continue his story, so Kat obliges. She asks when this went down, and Toomey tells her that it was a few weeks before Skill got shot; on New Year’s, of all nights.
Crack house, where we hear “Window In the Skies.” Toomey, wearing a party hat and smoking some crack, overhears voices and peers around the corner to investigate. A gang of thugs has the already-beaten Champ tied to a fence with duct tape over his mouth, and the leader tells Skill that it’s time for him to be a man, then hands him a pair of pliers. Skill looks appropriately appalled; the leader notices his hesitation and asks Skill if he’s a b*tch, too. Skill denies it, so the leader tells him to just do it. Wow. A Nike commercial gone horribly, horribly wrong. Skill takes the pliers, and, after a bit more hesitation, takes them to Champ’s ear as Champ screams.
Toomey says Skill took half of Champ’s ear off with those pliers, and that it was cold. Kat asks if Champ ever went after Skill, and Toomey explains that Champ tried to, but Skill went underground. Vera asks him where, and Toomey says that Skill’s only family was his grandfather up in the projects. Vera asks what turf they were warring over, and Toomey tells them it was a shooting gallery at Sixth and MLK: “a cookhouse for a little bit of hell called methamphetamine,” he explains. Kat shakes Toomey’s hand and tells him to holler if he thinks of anything else, and he sings something that sounds like agreement.
Madison’s high school. Lilly reminds Michael that he was the last to see Madison alive, and Michael says he asked her to some stupid dance that morning. Scotty asks if the two were boyfriend and girlfriend, and Michael explains that they grew up together, but they weren’t really a couple. Lilly asks if anyone had a beef with Madison, and Michael denies it, saying everyone loved her. Scotty asks if Madison was dabbling in drugs at all, and Michael avoids Scotty’s eyes and says no way, but Scotty notices this and requests eye contact. Michael doesn’t answer, and Lilly suggests that perhaps Michael will feel more comfortable talking downtown. Michael asks if they’re arresting him. “Not if you stop lying,” is Lilly’s reply. Michael finally tells them that it was a few weeks before her death; Madison’s mom had a book club, and one week, it met at Madison’s house. He explains that Madison’s father had just taken off, leaving them basically penniless, and in Chestnut Hill, money’s everything.
Reed house. Madison’s sitting at the kitchen table doing homework when Michael appears with a casserole, awkwardly explaining that his mother sent it; she couldn’t make the book club, he says. “She had another engagement,” Madison finishes for him, then comments on how busy everyone is since her dad left. Michael asks if Madison’s okay; she tells him she got a D in Orman’s English class. Michael reassures her, saying that “munch” gives D’s to everyone. I had an English teacher like that. He was a munch, come to think of it. Madison thinks that maybe, if she hadn’t gotten that D, her dad would have stayed. Awww, Madison. Michael tells her that her dad didn’t leave because of her D; she gets up and asks him how he knows, then takes the casserole from him. Michael tells her that it’ll burn her if she doesn’t put it down, so she does, and in the process, knocks some vials of what definitely appear to be drugs out of her bag. She hastily scoops them back in, then whispers a plea for Michael not to tell anybody. Madison’s mom comes in just then, telling Michael she thought she heard him come in, and asking if his mom came, too. Michael says she had something to do, and Mrs. Reed smiles and tells Michael it’s good to see him; he grows an inch every time she does. She then gently scolds Madison to clean up her stuff, and Michael pipes up by saying that it’s Yearbook stuff. Mrs. Reed leaves the stuff on the table alone, then comments that Madison never stops, and Michael, growing more and more uncomfortable by the minute, says he should go. He and Madison smile and exchange farewells, and then he leaves.
Michael says he didn’t tell anyone, but maybe he should have. Scotty thinks the vials sound like crack or meth, and Lilly thinks they’ve got their connect. She then shows Michael a picture of Skill and asks if he’s ever seen him; he hasn’t, and asks who he is. Scotty tells him that Skill was a drug dealer from North Philly, and Michael doesn’t think Madison ever went to that part of town, like, ever. “No kidding,” Lilly replies skeptically.
Street, where Toni’s sitting on the front steps. Uh-oh. Vera approaches her, apologizing for being late and using his standard “life of a cop” excuse. He’s still got those tickets, though, in case someone’s interested, but Toni thinks it’s too late for that. Vera assures Toni that it won’t happen again, but Toni points out that he said that the last time. Vera explains that they’ve got this case with a kid not much older than Andre, and Toni smiles and says she’s never seen Andre take to someone the way he does to Vera. Awww. Vera smiles and says Andre’s a good kid, and Toni replies that he’s hers, and she doesn’t want to make promises she can’t deliver. “Who’s sayin’ I can’t deliver?” Vera asks, but Toni points out that he can’t even make it to a date. Vera asks her what this is really about, and she tells him that she never intended to settle down with a cop, wondering every night if he’d walk through that door. Vera argues that he never planned on being Insta-Dad, but sometimes life throws you a curve. Uh-oh, Vera. Sure enough, Toni’s annoyed, asking if he’s saying her son is a burden. He’s not saying that; he’s saying give him a shot. She stands up, and Vera grins, but, near tears, Toni tells him she can’t, and she’s sorry. Awww, snap. Vera’s grin fades as she turns around and heads back inside. Sniffle.
Squad room. A night to think things over doesn’t seem to have improved Vera’s mood, because he looks adorably, huggably sad. Lilly’s busy theorizing that Madison got into meth to pull all-nighters, and Kat agrees that it starts that way for a lot of people, and next thing you know, you’re hooked to the grave. Scotty observes that there’s no tox report from Madison’s autopsy, but with a goody-two-shoes like her, there wouldn’t have been any need. Lilly thinks perhaps Skill was Madison’s dealer, but Scotty’s got another possibility: Gibby Hanes, a senior at Madison’s high school, who was arrested for misdemeanor meth-slinging and pleaded out as a minor. Gibby? Seriously? What in the world can that possibly be a nickname for? While I’m pondering this, Lilly and Kat are still talking about the case, determining that Gibby’s meth-slinging was a first-time offense. Meanwhile, Scotty seems to have noticed that Vera isn’t his usual jovially obnoxious self and sits down next to him, studying him carefully.
Lilly observes that bling talks in Chestnut Hill, Kat adds that it doesn’t in North Philly, and Scotty suggests bringing Gibby, and Mrs. Reed, in for a chat. Lilly asks if there’s any 411 on Skill, and Kat reluctantly says that the number one suspect, Champ, bit the big one a few months back. Scotty asks Vera for confirmation, and he gives it, briefly commenting on the shelf life of that particular occupation, and Kat says that leaves them high and dry, except for Skill’s grandfather, who’s still alive. She’s in the middle of suggesting having a chat with him when Madison’s mother storms in, demanding to know if they think her daughter was a drug addict and declaring that they’re dead wrong. She insists that Maddie was a good girl, and Michael had no right to tell them that. Lilly suggests that they talk in private, but Mrs. Reed’s not done yet. It’s bad enough that they never found her killer, but now they’re blaming her? She tells them she thinks they’ve done enough already, then storms out. Well, well. Looks like someone’s hormones aren’t exactly on the level. (Sorry; I have to make Vera’s snarky remarks for him today, it seems. Poor guy.) “What a parent doesn’t know,” Kat laments.
Skill’s grandfather’s apartment. Grandpa explains that Skill lost his father to the needle and his mother to the pipe. “You might say white powder is the family curse,” he says wryly. Grandpa explains that he was all Skill had left in the world, and he loved that boy like he was the sun and the moon. Jeffries points out that Skill was in the game; Grandpa says that he tried to stop Skill, but then, gesturing with the worn Bible he has in hand, explains that the Word showed him the error of his ways. Kat asks him to elaborate, and Grandpa starts talking about New Year’s Eve, a few weeks before the Lord took Skill, and she realizes that’s the same night they worked over Champ. Jeffries asks Grandpa what happened on New Year’s Eve. “My grandson finally came home,” he replies proudly.
Grandpa’s apartment, where we hear “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of.” He’s drinking eggnog and watching the ball drop when Skill slams the door and heads straight for another room. Grandpa calls for him, but doesn’t get an answer, so he goes in to investigate. In the bathroom, he sees Skill frantically washing away blood. Grandpa thinks Skill’s bleeding and moves toward him, but Skill orders Grandpa not to touch him, then yells that he can’t get the blood off. In tears now, he gives up and sinks to the floor, and Grandpa asks him what he did. “I hurt a kid,” Skill replies. Grandpa sits down next to Skill and tells him he has to get out of the game; Skill asks who’s going to take care of the bills, who’s going to take care of Grandpa. Grandpa merely taps the gun Skill’s carrying, telling him it isn’t the answer, never was, and never will be. Skill laments that all he knows is banging, and Grandpa urges him to dream bigger dreams, go back to school, make something of himself. Skill tearfully says he just wants to find peace, and Grandpa pulls him into a hug. Wow. What a great scene.
Grandpa says that Skill got off the streets and went back to school, but then he died. Jeffries asks what kind of gun Skill carried, and I don’t think anyone is surprised when Grandpa says it was a .357 Glock, which Kat recalls is the same type of gun that killed Madison. Kat shows Grandpa a picture of Madison and asks him if he’s ever seen her, maybe with Skill, and Grandpa doesn’t think so, then asks who she is. Jeffries says she was killed the same day Skill was, and Grandpa just shakes his head sadly. Jeffries hands Grandpa his card and asks him to call if he thinks of anything else, and Grandpa asks, with a touch of bitterness, if they care about Skill now because a white girl died. Kat explains that she was the one who found Skill on that playground, and Grandpa’s silent for a moment, then asks if Skill found peace. “I don’t know,” Kat replies sadly.
Sweet! An all-U2 episode! We open with “Beautiful Day” playing outside a high school, where the morning bell is ringing. A girl stands alone, leaning against a wall and inquiring of a paper fortune-teller whether or not some guy will ask her out. She gets her answer, frowns at it the fortune-teller, then peers around the corner at, presumably, the guy in question. They lock eyes and she smiles shyly, then returns to studying her fortune-teller. A moment later, she’s looking for him again, but she doesn’t see him. To her surprise, the guy, Michael, has approached her from the other side, and he wants to ask her something. Wow. Her fortune-teller is way more powerful than any of mine ever were. Michael asks, as only an incredibly nervous teenage boy can, if she wants to go to the Valentine’s Day Dance with him, unless, of course, somebody already asked. The girl says no, which he interprets as rejection, but she assures him that she meant that no, nobody asked. Awww. She then asks him if he’s sure he wants to go with her. Well, honey, if he screwed up his courage enough to ask you, I’d say that, yes, he’s sure. He reassures her, she says yes, they grin adorably, and then Michael says he’s late for first period, but he’ll see her later. She then goes back to consulting her fortune-teller, which is one for one on the morning. What else can it tell us? Sports scores? Lottery numbers? I’m suddenly very curious.
The bell rings again, and we cut to a different high school, where the bell is also ringing. As students head to class, the camera zooms in on a clock, and I notice that it’s 8:02 AM. On the playground, a young black man leans against a basketball goal, reciting something, then looks at his watch. Still 8:02.
Suddenly, a shot rings out, and the paper fortune-teller blows out of the bloodied hand of the girl from earlier. We see that she’s been shot in the chest, and is already dead as shocked students pour out of their classrooms and see her body.
Another shot…the guy lies on the basketball court. A woman rushes up to him, screams for help, and then reassures the guy that he’s okay. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say he’s not, and I also can’t help but notice that the woman who’s helping him looks suspiciously like Kat Miller.
At PPD, detectives carry evidence boxes for “Reed, M.” and “Jones, S.” to their resting places on the shelf.
Present Day
Exterior, PPD. Scotty, Lilly, Jeffries, and Vera have gone on a coffee run, and Jeffries informs Scotty that ADA Thomas asked about him. Oh, goody. Scotty seems equally thrilled. “What about?” he asks. Jeffries replies, somewhat teasingly, that she just asked about him. Vera proclaims her hot. Okay, Vera, seriously? “If you like that type,” Scotty replies. Lilly asks him what type that is, exactly, and Scotty replies, “Ball-buster.” “Like I said…smokin’,” Vera continues. Well, well. Guess we know what Vera’s “type” is. Jeffries asks Vera if that ball-buster neighbor is still giving him grief about that basketball, and Vera grins and says they’re way past grief. Lilly presses for details, Scotty proclaims that another one bites the dust, and Jeffries jokingly encourages Vera to get out while he still can. Lilly asks Vera if he’s thinking long-term on this one, and Scotty answers for him: he got tickets to the ballet. Wait…what? Vera? Ballet? Ball-buster, indeed! “Sensitive guy, you like that?” Vera asks somewhat proudly. Jeffries pointedly tells Vera not to be late again, but Vera’s confident that Toni understands the life of a cop.
Lilly suddenly notices that the fifth member of their merry little crew is missing and asks about Kat. Scotty replies that she’s in storage, having spent the morning moping. Lilly asks what’s up. “Probably hormones,” Vera answers. Oh, DUDE. “Hormones?” Lilly asks drily. The others stop and turn around. “Y’know, that female cycle thing?” Vera replies. Lilly stares at him for a moment, then starts to walk off. “Sensitive guy,” she proclaims with a smile. The others walk on, leaving Vera to stand on the corner with his best innocent face, wondering aloud what he did wrong. Oh, jeez, Vera.
Evidence warehouse. Kat is, indeed, moping, when Lilly comes in and asks if it’s a cold job. Kat nods and says it’s Skill Jones, and we see that she’s looking at a picture of the young man from earlier. She then explains that she knew him from her undercover days when she was doing drug buys in North Philly. Lilly takes the photo from her and says Skill looks like a nice kid; Kat explains that he was a dealer, deep in the game, and she was the one who found him. Aha. So that WAS her!
Basketball court. Kat screams for help, then urges Skill to look at her.
“Kid died in my arms,” Kat says softly, then adds that Skill was 15. Lilly asks if that’s why she came down here, and Kat nods, saying it’s the first time since she made murder cop, and that she always wondered when she’d make it down there. Lilly asks why today, and Kat explains that it’s the fifth-year anniversary of his death, then says she found Madison Reed’s box next to his; she was a Chestnut Hill rich kid, but was shot the exact same day and time as Skill: 8:03 AM. Lilly proclaims this weird, and Kat thinks the jobs could be connected. Lilly picks up Madison’s file and wonders aloud how a rich girl from the burbs and a dealer from the projects could be connected, and Kat comments that seeing someone die “kinda changes you forever.” “Yeah,” Lilly replies. “It does.” Kat says she doesn’t know much about Skill, just his name, and Lilly gently points out that you need a reason to open a job. Kat replies that there’s no one left to speak for Skill and Madison, and maybe that’s reason enough. Lil doesn’t look convinced, but I’m on board.
Credits.
Stillman’s office. Lilly tells him that Madison Reed was shot with a .357 Magnum at close range. Stillman observes that this is a rare weapon, and asks if they’ve had any luck tracking it down. Kat says they turned the school upside down, but have no weapon and no motive, then adds that that kind of crime just doesn’t happen in Chestnut Hill. Lilly says they chalked it up to random violence, and the job went cold after a year. Stillman then asks about Skill Jones, and Kat explains that he was a small-time punk, and the theory was a drug deal gone south. Lilly says the job went cold after a few weeks. Stillman asks about a last to see; Kat says there wasn’t on Skill, but Michael Ellis saw Madison at school before she was shot, and Lilly volunteers to talk to Michael. Stillman, reading the file, observes that Madison was a straight-A student, track star, student government type, and asks what her connect is to Skill. Kat tells him they don’t know yet. He glances at Lilly, but she just smiles slightly and says nothing. Stillman asks Kat if she has any informants left from her Narc days; she does: Toomey Nelson, drug dealer and North Philly 411. Stillman hands her the file without a word.
North Philly. Kat and Vera get out of the car, Vera commenting that Kat can’t say he doesn’t take her anywhere nice. Heh. “At least I don’t go to the ballet,” Kat retorts. Heeee. They spot Toomey, and Kat instantly launches into street-speak, greeting Toomey with a “’Sup, dog?” Vera pats Toomey down as he alerts everyone else to the presence of “Five-O,” then turns to Kat and asks her where her tube top and stilettos are. She smiles and says she’s respectable now. Toomey turns to Vera and asks if he’s Kat’s boyfriend. “Philly Homicide, home slice,” Vera replies. Oh, Vera. You so can’t pull that off. Toomey sings that he’s got something for them, then pulls out a pair of ratty sneakers and tells Vera he’ll give him the “Po-po” discount: two dollars. Vera thinks he’ll pass. Kat notices something shiny on the handle of Toomey’s shopping cart and asks him about the bling; he explains that it’s a dream catcher, and not for sale, then hopes to interest Vera in some tube socks instead. Hee. Handing the thrilled Toomey a five dollar bill, Kat asks him about Skill. Toomey proclaims Skill “good people,” saying he gave him respect, and that doesn’t come cheap on the streets. Vera asks Toomey if he owes Skill, and he does; he didn’t speak his peace back then, but now Champ’s out of the picture. Kat informs Vera that Champ was a dealer who worked the Wilson Projects back in 2002; Toomey adds that Champ was moving in on Skill’s territory, and Skill started moving a new product to take Champ out of commission. Kat asks him who he heard this from, and he says he saw it with his own eyes. He and Kat have a fabulous “conversation in a glance,” and it becomes clear that he needs more money to continue his story, so Kat obliges. She asks when this went down, and Toomey tells her that it was a few weeks before Skill got shot; on New Year’s, of all nights.
Crack house, where we hear “Window In the Skies.” Toomey, wearing a party hat and smoking some crack, overhears voices and peers around the corner to investigate. A gang of thugs has the already-beaten Champ tied to a fence with duct tape over his mouth, and the leader tells Skill that it’s time for him to be a man, then hands him a pair of pliers. Skill looks appropriately appalled; the leader notices his hesitation and asks Skill if he’s a b*tch, too. Skill denies it, so the leader tells him to just do it. Wow. A Nike commercial gone horribly, horribly wrong. Skill takes the pliers, and, after a bit more hesitation, takes them to Champ’s ear as Champ screams.
Toomey says Skill took half of Champ’s ear off with those pliers, and that it was cold. Kat asks if Champ ever went after Skill, and Toomey explains that Champ tried to, but Skill went underground. Vera asks him where, and Toomey says that Skill’s only family was his grandfather up in the projects. Vera asks what turf they were warring over, and Toomey tells them it was a shooting gallery at Sixth and MLK: “a cookhouse for a little bit of hell called methamphetamine,” he explains. Kat shakes Toomey’s hand and tells him to holler if he thinks of anything else, and he sings something that sounds like agreement.
Madison’s high school. Lilly reminds Michael that he was the last to see Madison alive, and Michael says he asked her to some stupid dance that morning. Scotty asks if the two were boyfriend and girlfriend, and Michael explains that they grew up together, but they weren’t really a couple. Lilly asks if anyone had a beef with Madison, and Michael denies it, saying everyone loved her. Scotty asks if Madison was dabbling in drugs at all, and Michael avoids Scotty’s eyes and says no way, but Scotty notices this and requests eye contact. Michael doesn’t answer, and Lilly suggests that perhaps Michael will feel more comfortable talking downtown. Michael asks if they’re arresting him. “Not if you stop lying,” is Lilly’s reply. Michael finally tells them that it was a few weeks before her death; Madison’s mom had a book club, and one week, it met at Madison’s house. He explains that Madison’s father had just taken off, leaving them basically penniless, and in Chestnut Hill, money’s everything.
Reed house. Madison’s sitting at the kitchen table doing homework when Michael appears with a casserole, awkwardly explaining that his mother sent it; she couldn’t make the book club, he says. “She had another engagement,” Madison finishes for him, then comments on how busy everyone is since her dad left. Michael asks if Madison’s okay; she tells him she got a D in Orman’s English class. Michael reassures her, saying that “munch” gives D’s to everyone. I had an English teacher like that. He was a munch, come to think of it. Madison thinks that maybe, if she hadn’t gotten that D, her dad would have stayed. Awww, Madison. Michael tells her that her dad didn’t leave because of her D; she gets up and asks him how he knows, then takes the casserole from him. Michael tells her that it’ll burn her if she doesn’t put it down, so she does, and in the process, knocks some vials of what definitely appear to be drugs out of her bag. She hastily scoops them back in, then whispers a plea for Michael not to tell anybody. Madison’s mom comes in just then, telling Michael she thought she heard him come in, and asking if his mom came, too. Michael says she had something to do, and Mrs. Reed smiles and tells Michael it’s good to see him; he grows an inch every time she does. She then gently scolds Madison to clean up her stuff, and Michael pipes up by saying that it’s Yearbook stuff. Mrs. Reed leaves the stuff on the table alone, then comments that Madison never stops, and Michael, growing more and more uncomfortable by the minute, says he should go. He and Madison smile and exchange farewells, and then he leaves.
Michael says he didn’t tell anyone, but maybe he should have. Scotty thinks the vials sound like crack or meth, and Lilly thinks they’ve got their connect. She then shows Michael a picture of Skill and asks if he’s ever seen him; he hasn’t, and asks who he is. Scotty tells him that Skill was a drug dealer from North Philly, and Michael doesn’t think Madison ever went to that part of town, like, ever. “No kidding,” Lilly replies skeptically.
Street, where Toni’s sitting on the front steps. Uh-oh. Vera approaches her, apologizing for being late and using his standard “life of a cop” excuse. He’s still got those tickets, though, in case someone’s interested, but Toni thinks it’s too late for that. Vera assures Toni that it won’t happen again, but Toni points out that he said that the last time. Vera explains that they’ve got this case with a kid not much older than Andre, and Toni smiles and says she’s never seen Andre take to someone the way he does to Vera. Awww. Vera smiles and says Andre’s a good kid, and Toni replies that he’s hers, and she doesn’t want to make promises she can’t deliver. “Who’s sayin’ I can’t deliver?” Vera asks, but Toni points out that he can’t even make it to a date. Vera asks her what this is really about, and she tells him that she never intended to settle down with a cop, wondering every night if he’d walk through that door. Vera argues that he never planned on being Insta-Dad, but sometimes life throws you a curve. Uh-oh, Vera. Sure enough, Toni’s annoyed, asking if he’s saying her son is a burden. He’s not saying that; he’s saying give him a shot. She stands up, and Vera grins, but, near tears, Toni tells him she can’t, and she’s sorry. Awww, snap. Vera’s grin fades as she turns around and heads back inside. Sniffle.
Squad room. A night to think things over doesn’t seem to have improved Vera’s mood, because he looks adorably, huggably sad. Lilly’s busy theorizing that Madison got into meth to pull all-nighters, and Kat agrees that it starts that way for a lot of people, and next thing you know, you’re hooked to the grave. Scotty observes that there’s no tox report from Madison’s autopsy, but with a goody-two-shoes like her, there wouldn’t have been any need. Lilly thinks perhaps Skill was Madison’s dealer, but Scotty’s got another possibility: Gibby Hanes, a senior at Madison’s high school, who was arrested for misdemeanor meth-slinging and pleaded out as a minor. Gibby? Seriously? What in the world can that possibly be a nickname for? While I’m pondering this, Lilly and Kat are still talking about the case, determining that Gibby’s meth-slinging was a first-time offense. Meanwhile, Scotty seems to have noticed that Vera isn’t his usual jovially obnoxious self and sits down next to him, studying him carefully.
Lilly observes that bling talks in Chestnut Hill, Kat adds that it doesn’t in North Philly, and Scotty suggests bringing Gibby, and Mrs. Reed, in for a chat. Lilly asks if there’s any 411 on Skill, and Kat reluctantly says that the number one suspect, Champ, bit the big one a few months back. Scotty asks Vera for confirmation, and he gives it, briefly commenting on the shelf life of that particular occupation, and Kat says that leaves them high and dry, except for Skill’s grandfather, who’s still alive. She’s in the middle of suggesting having a chat with him when Madison’s mother storms in, demanding to know if they think her daughter was a drug addict and declaring that they’re dead wrong. She insists that Maddie was a good girl, and Michael had no right to tell them that. Lilly suggests that they talk in private, but Mrs. Reed’s not done yet. It’s bad enough that they never found her killer, but now they’re blaming her? She tells them she thinks they’ve done enough already, then storms out. Well, well. Looks like someone’s hormones aren’t exactly on the level. (Sorry; I have to make Vera’s snarky remarks for him today, it seems. Poor guy.) “What a parent doesn’t know,” Kat laments.
Skill’s grandfather’s apartment. Grandpa explains that Skill lost his father to the needle and his mother to the pipe. “You might say white powder is the family curse,” he says wryly. Grandpa explains that he was all Skill had left in the world, and he loved that boy like he was the sun and the moon. Jeffries points out that Skill was in the game; Grandpa says that he tried to stop Skill, but then, gesturing with the worn Bible he has in hand, explains that the Word showed him the error of his ways. Kat asks him to elaborate, and Grandpa starts talking about New Year’s Eve, a few weeks before the Lord took Skill, and she realizes that’s the same night they worked over Champ. Jeffries asks Grandpa what happened on New Year’s Eve. “My grandson finally came home,” he replies proudly.
Grandpa’s apartment, where we hear “Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of.” He’s drinking eggnog and watching the ball drop when Skill slams the door and heads straight for another room. Grandpa calls for him, but doesn’t get an answer, so he goes in to investigate. In the bathroom, he sees Skill frantically washing away blood. Grandpa thinks Skill’s bleeding and moves toward him, but Skill orders Grandpa not to touch him, then yells that he can’t get the blood off. In tears now, he gives up and sinks to the floor, and Grandpa asks him what he did. “I hurt a kid,” Skill replies. Grandpa sits down next to Skill and tells him he has to get out of the game; Skill asks who’s going to take care of the bills, who’s going to take care of Grandpa. Grandpa merely taps the gun Skill’s carrying, telling him it isn’t the answer, never was, and never will be. Skill laments that all he knows is banging, and Grandpa urges him to dream bigger dreams, go back to school, make something of himself. Skill tearfully says he just wants to find peace, and Grandpa pulls him into a hug. Wow. What a great scene.
Grandpa says that Skill got off the streets and went back to school, but then he died. Jeffries asks what kind of gun Skill carried, and I don’t think anyone is surprised when Grandpa says it was a .357 Glock, which Kat recalls is the same type of gun that killed Madison. Kat shows Grandpa a picture of Madison and asks him if he’s ever seen her, maybe with Skill, and Grandpa doesn’t think so, then asks who she is. Jeffries says she was killed the same day Skill was, and Grandpa just shakes his head sadly. Jeffries hands Grandpa his card and asks him to call if he thinks of anything else, and Grandpa asks, with a touch of bitterness, if they care about Skill now because a white girl died. Kat explains that she was the one who found Skill on that playground, and Grandpa’s silent for a moment, then asks if Skill found peace. “I don’t know,” Kat replies sadly.
