01x06 - Point and sh**t

[bunniefuu]

[tense music]

- This wasn't su1c1de,
at least not

in my professional opinion.

The bomber's handwriting
on the su1c1de note

isn't consistent
with his old journals.

Even his signature is off.

Intense stress creates
stroke impulses,

jerking movements when writing.

This note is full of them.

- You think
he was under duress?

- This man wasn't
looking to end his life.

He was forced into the noose.

- He did k*ll 13 people.

That's a lot of guilt
on his shoulders.

- He bombed
that church 20 years ago.

The concept of habituation
says most emotions dissipate

over time, meaning if
guilt was the driving

factor in him taking his life,

he would have done it
back then.

- Maybe he got
when we were coming.

su1c1de made more sense
than going through a trial

and facing life in a cell.

- Look at this.

One of the chairs
has a scuff mark on it,

a small chip at the bottom.

We didn't see it at the scene,
but someone kicked

that chair out from under him.

- Looks like m*rder to me too.

- Which leads to our
third man, the same person

who intimidated Wes Banning
in the parole hearing.

- Now he's tying up loose ends.

- OK, we press it as a m*rder.

What next?

- We talk to his mom.

He was living with her
when he bombed the church.

If someone wanted
to k*ll her son,

maybe she points us
in the right direction.

- Great.
I should look at her file.

We can figure out an approach.

- You can't be involved,
not anymore.

- What do you mean?

- He's a suspect in a bombing
where you were a victim.

Technically you had motive
to k*ll the bomber.

I know that you wouldn't,
but it's optics.

- Was this his idea?

- This is the first
I'm hearing of it.

- Alec, please.

If this case
isn't 100% above board,

the entire investigation
is compromised.

- Understood.

- We'll let you know
what we find.

- Mm-hmm.

- A wrongful death civil trial
is underway in D.C. six months

after three out of four
members of a tactical unit

known as the VIPER Squad sh*t
and k*lled Joshua Hill-Jones,

a local building inspector,
in a police raid gone wrong.

His husband Mason rejected
the city's settlement offer,

and now he's
taking the district

and officers that gunned
down his partner to court.

- I could have sworn there was
a gallon of milk

in here last night.

- I grabbed it in case
I needed to rinse my eyes out.

Did someone forget I was
protesting last night

outside that courtroom?

It was cloudy with a chance
of cops using tear gas.

- Did they?

- No, not yet.

But I got to stay ready.

- I'd stay away
from that coverage.

It's only going
to make you angry.

- Too late.

You know, I don't
get how you always be

so academic about this stuff.

- Come on, Kylie.

You don't think
I get furious, sad?

This keeps happening to us,
to your close friend.

But somebody
got to be the cooler head.

How is Mason?

- Police k*lled his husband.

He's not great.

- Mm.

- I'm sorry.

Mason shouldn't be
grieving his husband.

When we were at Hampton,
Mason was

the life of our marching band.

And he got me through a lot
when you were in the hospital,

so I got to be there for him.

But it's not
looking good, Alec.

His expert witness
bailed on him last minute.

- Expert in name only.

- Look, I know you detest the
whole expert witness racket,

but Mason
won't win without one.

We both know it can
help sway a jury.

Mason says
that they got a long list

of potential psychologists.

Could you at least
help Mason vet them?

- That's not really a request,
is it?

- Mason is taking on the
entire District of Columbia.

I know you won't sit that out.

- I appreciate you helping
us out like this, Alec.

Losing our expert
has been a bit overwhelming.

- I'll do what I can.

But expert testimony
in officer-involved

sh**t is 90% snake oil--

paid actors who use science
to play on jurors' emotions.

- But we still need one
on our side.

There's a list
of potential experts.

- I'd scrap these first three.

They testified for both
sides, and any good defense

lawyer will pick them apart.

These last five
are all convincing,

and they're marginally
more ethical than the rest.

It'll be easier
to recommend one

if I know who
they're up against.

- His name is Dr.--

- Dustin Atwood.

Never met a police sh**ting
he couldn't justify--

dual PhDs in experimental
psychology and neuroscience,

morals of a jackal.

- Well, our expert said he
bailed for personal reasons.

But I don't think
it's a coincidence this

happened after I told him
Dr. Atwood

was on their witness list.

- He didn't want
to take the loss.

If he's on the stand and you
lose, it hurts his pay quote.

And Atwood's tactics
are nearly unbeatable.

- Why is that?

- Atwood is a master
at cherry-picking

psychological principles
to support cops.

No one on this list
has a chance against him.

- You know anyone
who can b*at him?

- Only one person, me.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

all: Justice for Joshua!
Justice for Joshua!

Justice for Joshua!
Justice for Joshua!

- The atmosphere is tense
outside this D.C.

courtroom today.

Protests,
as you can see behind me,

are mounting as Mason
Hill-Jones's civil lawsuit

looms over the city.

all: Justice for Joshua!
Justice for Joshua!

Justice for Joshua!
Justice for Joshua!

Justice for Joshua!
Justice for Joshua!

Justice for Joshua!

- This is where we part ways.

Good luck in there today.

- The facts of the case
and psychological data

speak for themselves.

You go out there
and make some noise.

all: Justice for Joshua!
Justice for Joshua!

Justice for Joshua!
Justice for Joshua!

Justice for Joshua!

[camera shutter clicks]

- Mercer.

Hey, it's been a while.

- Dustin, long time.

- Too long.

Well, looks like we
are a pretty big deal.

- I got to say, I'm
surprised to see you here.

You know, I certainly
hope they paid you a fortune,

because taking an L on such a
high-profile trial would not

be good for your future quote.

- I'm more concerned with the
case than my batting average.

But if I get in trouble,
I could do what you do--

twist the science
and sound folksy.

- Folksy?
- Mm.

- Hmm.

See you inside, Mercer.

[laughs]
"Folksy."

That's a good one.

.

[light upbeat music]

- Hey.

We need to go.

Hello?
- Sorry.

Could you hold a second?
Hey.

I just got ahold
of the witness list

for the Hill-Jones case.

Joy Reid wants Alec and Atwood.

- That's really exciting.

Only, the professor
said he's not

doing interviews
about this trial,

and he's not giving
Atwood free press.

- But aren't these
cases won in the media?

- It's not my call.

Let him down nicely.

We have work to do.

- [sighs]

- All rise.

Docket number 125432,

Mason Hill-Jones versus
the District of Columbia,

Judge Jane Yuun presiding.

[gavel bangs]

- District Attorney Navarro,

your office requested
the no-knock warrant.

Why was that necessary?

- We received a tip
that an illegal g*n dealer

was working out of a house
on the same street

as Mason and Joshua.

I filed for a no-knock warrant.

The VIPER squad was tasked
with a high-risk arrest.

- But they ended up
at the wrong house.

- Correct.

- Why was that?

- There was a typo
on the warrant.

- Judge Haynes,
you signed the warrant?

- Yes.

After reviewing
the warrant from DA Navarro,

I believed a no-knock
raid was necessary given

the target's thr*at level.

- So how did
the VIPER squad end up

at the plaintiff's house?

- I wish I could tell you.

It appears to have been a very
tragic case of human error.

- Miss Styles,
you're the court clerk

who processed the warrant,
correct?

- Yes.

- Can you explain how
this human error happened?

- Our systems had been down
for over a week,

so we were processing
warrants manually.

I must have made a mistake
when I wrote it up.

- And you were the only one
reprimanded for this incident?

- Yes, I was fired.

- See, Miss Styles may have
been the only one fired,

but she wasn't the only
person to make a mistake--

more than a mistake,
a dereliction of duty.

Now, let's take a look
at who exactly

was sent to this wrong address,

basically a k*ll squad.

- My husband was up late
working in his office.

I went to bed around midnight.

It was about 2:20 a.m.
when I hear

this loud crash downstairs.

[loud rattling]

The force was so strong.

I could feel it in our
bedroom, like a car had just

run through the front door.

Stay here.

The next thing I heard
was g*nf*re.

[rapid g*nf*re]

I didn't think
it would ever stop.

- Your husband
was a building inspector.

Is that right?
- Yes, he was.

- And you said your husband
was working at 2:00 a.m.

Is it typical for a building
inspector to be up so late?

- Sometimes.

What kind of question is that?

- Court records state the
two of you had been fighting.

Is that correct?

- Objection, Your Honor.

Relevance?

- I'm getting to
Joshua's state of mind

when he encountered
those officers.

- I'll allow it.

- He'd been working late,
and it was causing

some issues between us,
but it wasn't a big deal.

- So there was tension
in the home?

- No.
- You had been fighting.

He'd been staying up all night.

It's possible,
due to a lack of sleep,

while in a state of rage,

Joshua Hill-Jones
charged those officers

leaving them no choice.

- Objection, Your Honor.

The defense is speculating.

- Plaintiff will
answer the question.

- Joshua was afraid, OK?

You may not think that Black
men gets scared, but we do.

Those cops came into
our house at 2:00 a.m.,

and they never
announced themselves

like they were supposed to do.

We did nothing wrong.

They were looking
to k*ll somebody,

and they k*lled my husband!

- Please state your name
and title for the court.

- I'm Sergeant Lawrence Powell,
team leader

of the Violent Incident Person
Evaluation and Response Unit.

- Can you explain
to the court the events

that led to your team
sh**ting an unarmed man?

- Objection, Your Honor.

- I'll rephrase.

Please detail what transpired
once the VIPER Squad arrived

at the Hill-Jones residence.

- The resident charged at us.

We were told we were
walking into the home

of a dangerous arms dealer.

We thought he had a w*apon
and opened fire

to protect ourselves.

[rapid g*nf*re]

- [breathing deeply]

- You didn't fire
your w*apon, correct?

- I didn't need to,
because the rest of my squad

had neutralized the thr*at.

- And by neutralized
the thr*at,

you mean
they had k*lled Joshua?

- We followed protocol
and immediately

sought medical attention
for Mr. Hill-Jones,

but it was too late.

- There's a widely held
psychological misconception--

a false belief contradicted
by scientific evidence--

that cops constantly
get into firefights.

But 73% never fire their g*n
once in their entire careers.

- Why is this important
to note, Dr. Mercer?

- One of the things
this data shows is,

there are many ways
to de-escalate

a dangerous situation.

- Dr. Mercer can
trot out sh**ting stats

all he wants, but we have
to look at this incident

from the perspective
of the officers.

They walked into that house
expecting an armed criminal

who might k*ll them.

And yet three out of the
four officers entering Joshua

and Mason's house fired
their g*n at an unarmed man.

Why is the VIPER Squad
so much more violent?

They have the
highest sh**t rate.

In three years, they've sh*t


- Research shows
that once a person fires

in the line of duty,
the psychological barrier

to doing so
drops significantly.

It becomes easier
for them to sh**t again.

And do these no-knock raids
push the statistical risk

even higher?

- Yes, given every
member of the VIPER squad

had fired multiple times
in the past, that raid was

a disaster waiting to happen.

- The VIPER squad
is a tactical unit.

Is it possible
their sh**t rate is higher

because they encounter
more dangerous situations?

- The VIPER squad's record
is such an outlier

it's hard to justify
simply by the situations

they find themselves in.

- Sounds to me like you're
cherry-picking the data.

- Objection.

- Can you explain
what happens to the brain

in such an intense experience?

- It's a fight-or-flight
response.

We've all felt it.

In emergencies,
the amygdala sends

a distress signal
that floods the body and brain

with survival hormones.

Under those circumstances,
any officer

could have taken the sh*t.

- Is it true there is no
specific research studying

an officer's brain chemistry
during a sh**ting incident

to back up your testimony?

- Well, there's simply
no plausible way

to gather that information,
even in simulation.

- But you have
used your position

to block any attempt
from researchers to gather

that data and run those tests.

Isn't that right, Dr. Atwood?

- Well, the fact is,
we haven't really

needed those studies, because
there's plenty of research

on humans under stress.

And the last time I checked,

cops are humans who are willing
to risk their lives

to protect you and me.

- Atwood recovered,
but we got a jab in there.

What do you think?

- Hard to tell.

I was tracking
the jurors' body language.

They went cold during
Mason's testimony,

often avoiding eye contact.

And they didn't even seem
fazed by the cops' haste

nor the mistakes made
processing the warrant.

- So we're screwed.

- Everything OK?

- No, everything's not OK.

- Alec's testimony didn't help?

- I don't think it was
enough to win over the jury.

- This jury won't be
swayed by science.

Start with juror
preconceived bias.

- What's that?

- In a lot of trials,
jurors walk in irrationally

predisposed to a particular
verdict-- in this case,

one that favors the cops.

- Then how do you
persuade a jury whose

minds are already made up?

- We need to find a new
approach or Mason loses.

[tense music]

.

- I haven't even made
funeral arrangements yet.

And here you are digging
up stuff from the past.

Peter was a good boy.

- He blew up a church,
Mrs. Shelby.

If he had good intentions,
help us understand.

- I don't know
what you're talking about.

- Are you aware
that your son belonged

to a t*rror1st organization?

- t*rror1st?
[scoffs]

You government types only
labeled the New Apostles

t*rrorists after 9/11.

Thanks to you people, I
haven't seen him for 20 years.

- Your son ran
because he set off

a b*mb that k*lled 13 people.

He's no martyr.

He's a m*rder*r.

- Don't talk about him
like that.

- He was a sinner who
desecrated the House of God.

- It was an accident.

All he wanted to do was return
this country to its roots,

to make us moral,
God-fearing people again.

- So you did speak to him
about the church bombing?

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- Let me ask you something.

Do you think the justice system
treats all Americans equally?

- There are two systems,

one when you are poor or Black,

another when you are
middle class or white.

And there might be a third--

another for the super-rich.

They get away with everything.

- What would it take
to convince you otherwise?

- A word from God Himself.

Otherwise, those are the facts.

- That's the crux
of our problem.

Not everyone
grows up being profiled

or constantly pulled over.

Those same people want
to believe in equal justice.

- People need
to open their eyes.

- Harder than you think
because of motivated reasoning.

When people have a belief,
they usually connect

to ideas that support it.

That's the headspace
most of the jurors are in.

- So there's nothing we can do?

I'm out there
protesting every day,

and you're saying none of that
will make things better?

- Better.

That might be the key.

A person can believe
in something,

like I believe in science,
but there's

always room for improvement.

What if I tell the jury that
they can make things better,

we find one thing that they can
improve by siding with Mason,

make the whole case about that?

Broken is too hard a sell,
so we sell better.

- I'd buy that.

What are you doing now?

- I'm calling Phoebe
and Rizwan.

I got an idea
for an experiment.

Yesterday Dr. Atwood's
testimony

appeared fair and unbiased.

The problem is,
with paid experts

like Dr. Atwood,
that's never the case.

Introducing money creates bias.

I wanted to better understand
how this bias works,

so I conducted an experiment
where I paid experts

to give their opinion
on a fictional case,

a slip and fall in a hotel.

All of them had the
same facts in the case.

The only difference?

Which side the person
was on paying them.

Almost all the experts argued
for the side paying them.

If the defense paid,
the expert's opinion

sided with the defense.

Same for the plaintiff.

That's bias.

And it makes you
question the motivation

behind Dr. Atwood's testimony.

- Objection.

- I'll move on.

In your scientific opinion,
how do we remedy this bias?

- We have a wonderful system,
in theory--

equal justice for all,
but it's not perfect--

yet.

People tend to say
it's only a few bad apples,

but those bad apples
spoil the whole bunch.

Juries like this one
have the chance

to get rid of the bad apples
and protect the bunch.

- Dr. Mercer,
you work as a consultant.

Is that right?

- I'm a professor first.

But yes, sometimes I work
as a consultant.

- And when you do consult,
you're paid

upwards of $100,000 a day?

- Depending on the client.

For this,
I'm not making a dime.

- [laughs]

"I'm not making a dime."

Boom.

[laughs]
I wish I could have seen it.

- We need five jurors.

We have four
with two possibilities.

- That's one juror closer
to a win.

[laughs]

Cop's behind me.

He's going to pull me over.

[sirens wailing]

I knew it.

- Pull over to the side
of the road.

- Stay calm.

Let me talk.

- I don't need instructions.

I know the damn drill.

♪ ♪

[loud tapping]

♪ ♪

- License and registration,
ma'am.

♪ ♪

.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- You drifted over
the solid white line.

You been drinking tonight?

♪ ♪

- Nope, just Diet Coke.

- So you wouldn't
mind submitting

to a field sobriety test then?

♪ ♪

- Nothing would make
my evening more complete.

♪ ♪

- I'm going to need you
to walk in a straight line,

one foot behind the other,

counting down from 1,001
by 3s.

♪ ♪

- 1,001,



is this really necessary?

♪ ♪

- Keep counting.

♪ ♪

- No part of this
calls for a g*n.

She's shaking with adrenaline.

He's going to make
her count backwards

until she stumbles forward.

- No one is talking to you.

He's dealing with your sister.

- You know she's my sister?

This wasn't random?

You're targeting us?

- She crossed the lane
divider without signaling.

- We both know
what this is about.

She's got nothing
to do with it.

You can take me in
if you want and deal

with cleaning up that mess
in the press,

or let her go.

♪ ♪

- Hey.

She clear?

♪ ♪

- I'm not sure yet.

- She seems fine.

Let's get out of here.

♪ ♪

- [sobbing]

♪ ♪

- Hey.

Catch you at a bad time?

- Even if you did,
it wouldn't matter.

Bob Caswood, come in?

To what do I owe
this surprise visit?

Something I can help the
intelligence division with?

- Oh, there's no agenda.

Just stopped by
for a little chat.

- I worked under you
for ten years.

You don't just stop by.

You're a busy man.

So why did you take the time
out of your day to come here?

- Always the investigator, huh?

- Someone taught me well.

- Fine.

Well, I'll just come
right out and say it.

Now, you know
that I like to keep my ear

close to the street,
and there's been

rumblings about you and Jace.

- That was fast.

- We are intelligence.

- It's not like we're the
first agents at the Bureau

to get involved.

We don't have many
opportunities off the job.

- I get it.

I just wouldn't be
a good friend if I

didn't give you a heads-up.

- Everything is a conflict.

Now it's about me dating Jace.

Someone going
to question my involvement

in Alec's case next?

- Maybe.

Hey, it's not my call, but if
you want justice to play out,

I would avoid
doing anything that

would compromise
the investigation,

because
like most things in life--

- It's the optics.

- It's the optics.

- Where you are.

- I don't have the problem.
- Classism. Classism.

You are constantly--

- Someone needs to check her.
- Hey.

- [laughs]

Mm-mm. Mm.

Mm.
- Don't go there with me.

- Excuse you.

I'm watching that.

- You've been watching
this trash since I

went to bed last night.

- OK.

Where's the problem?

- Studies show--

- I'll pass
on the Mercer monologue.

- Fine, no monologue.

But we should talk about this.

- No, we shouldn't,
because I'll scream.

And I don't want
to scream at you,

but you're the only one here.

So I will if you force me
to talk about my feelings

right now.

All I want to do is watch
"Housewives of Potomac"

and focus on other
people's problems.

- You'd rather
suppress your feelings

by watching housewives
throw lettuce at each other.

- [chuckles]

You can't help yourself,
can you?

- It probably isn't
a good idea, but OK.

- Mia, I don't believe
that you called us

broke b*tches
when you walked off.

[phone buzzing]

- Are you serious right now?
- Let's do it.

Let's give a toast
to forgiveness.

[indistinct chatter]

- Hey, Mason.

What's up?

I'll be right there.

- Mason OK?

- The defense made an offer.

They want to settle the case.

- 3 million is a good offer.

- Is it?

It's like they're
forcing me to decide how much

my dead husband is worth.

So what?

It's over now?

Nothing about this
makes any sense.

Alec got through to the jury,

pushed this settlement
to happen.

This is what we wanted.

There's no such thing as
good news in this situation,

but we need to take
this offer seriously.

- Defense makes an offer.

They know it doesn't
look good for them.

- And we could still
be short a juror.

My advice, we don't chance it.

How about we look over
the deal and counter?

We can print it and
review it line by line.

- The printers
in Joshua's office.

I haven't touched
anything there since.

- We can go in with you.

[somber music]

♪ ♪

- That yours?

Kylie said you played
in college.

- I haven't picked it up
in years.

- You miss it?

- Sometimes.

- There's a lot of paperwork
in here.

He worked from home a lot?

- A few weeks before
everything happened,

he brought home all
these files in crates,

said he was doing
important research.

- He say what he
was working on?

- Something about zoning
violations and the city

not doing anything about them.

Joshua was obsessed.

- So he wasn't
always a workaholic.

- No.

He cared about his work,
but not like this.

He was so frustrated.

He kept saying something about
the system working against him

and that he was
going to prove it.

I just thought
he was overreacting.

He said it made him
feel like he was crazy.

- You think it has something
to do with the case?

- I don't know.

But if he had
something to prove,

it's possible he made an enemy.

♪ ♪

It looks like Joshua
was investigating code

violations against
one company in particular,

Ralbern Investments.

- Ralbern
is a huge multinational.

I've done contract
work for them.

- These are building codes.

Next to them are the violations
against Ralbern repeated

multiple times.

- What does this have
to do with my husband?

- Nearly half
of Ralbern's security

staff are moonlighting
D.C. Metro Police,

Sergeant Powell included.

Joshua was building
a case against them

issuing the same violations
against them over and over.

- That must have
pissed them off.

- You're saying they
targeted Joshua?

- You said that Joshua
felt like the system was

against him,
and the system k*lled him.

- You think
Sergeant Powell deliberately

took his team to our home
to take him off of Ralbern?

- I'm saying I think
your husband was m*rder*d.

[tense music]

.

[knock at door]

- Anything from Ralbern yet?

- I've been on hold
for over two hours.

I still haven't spoken
to anyone in legal.

- You're not going
to get through.

They have
a 100-person legal team.

This trial will be
long over before we

navigate that legal minefield.

- We need a way to
approach the VIPER team.

- Maybe there's a way to get
one of them to come to us.

Rizwan,
call Joy Reid's producers back.

Tell them I'm going to
give them what they want,

a sit-down with Atwood.

- Moving on
to the Hill-Jones trial,

an unarmed innocent man was
sh*t in his own living room.

It should never have happened,
but was it negligence?

We've got not one
but two distinguished expert

witnesses here tonight,
Dr. Dustin Atwood

and Dr. Alec Mercer.

Dustin, you say no.

- No, it was not negligence.

Now, of course,
I wish this tragedy had

not happened, as we all do.

But when you consider the
information the officers had,

they had every
reason to believe

their lives were in danger.

- Alec, you say yes.

As police officers, their job
was to assess and reassess

that danger moment by moment.

- There was no time
to reassess.

Any good cop
would have taken a sh*t

under those circumstances.

- Any cop?

Wiggins didn't sh**t.

Officer Wiggins
didn't even draw his g*n.

If any good cop
would have taken that sh*t,

is he not a good cop?

- I didn't say that.

- Was he the negligent one?

- Are you criticizing
an officer for not sh**ting?

- I'm just trying to
understand your point of view.

You've said over and over that
those cops did the right thing.

Well, that must mean
Wiggins did the wrong thing.

No?

- You raise a very interesting
question there, Alec.

- Obviously, my friend
here is being hyperbolic, Joy.

- Would you say Wiggins
isn't VIPER squad material?

Does he need more training?

I don't know.

Maybe Wiggins should
find another job.

- I-- I told you.

I don't know anything.

- Withholding information
about the bombing--

that's obstruction
on 13 murders,

arson, and terrorism.

Could get you
a lot of jail time.

- He said no one
was supposed to die.

He only wanted
to get the church.

It was six months after 9/11.

And those Methodists
were loaning

their church to a mosque.

- So what happened?

- I only know what he told me.

He said he was supposed to set
the b*mb timer for 60 minutes,

and he accidentally
set it for 60 seconds.

- Wait.

So you're saying that
the m*rder of 13 people

was a mistake?

- Peter was in
way over his head.

He didn't build the b*mb.

He got it from some guy
he met on the internet.

- What guy?

Was it Wes Banning?

- Not him.

This guy was
a fancy-looking professional,

called himself Mathias.

- So if what the bomber's
mom said was true,

Wes made the b*mb.

Peter planted the b*mb.

But the third guy,
Mathias, was behind it all.

- That's who was
at Wes's parole hearing.

- Finding him will not be easy.

- Pamela said he's white,
fancy,

fedora, wears a flashy gold
watch, probably a Rolex--

not much to go on.

- Maybe not yet.

But the bomber met Matthias
in an online chat room.

That site might be gone,
but there's

a company that maintains
a database of old websites.

We start there.

[tense music]

♪ ♪

- Is this about my interview?

- I didn't sh**t anyone.

Why the hell did you
crucify me on TV?

- Would you have come
to confront me otherwise?

♪ ♪

I want to know why you
didn't fire your g*n.

- I made a judgment
call in the moment,

no different from anyone else.

- Let me ask you something.

Are you familiar
with Ralbern Investments?

- Yeah.

A lot of officers do work
for them on the side.

- Like Powell?

- Yeah.

So?

- Could Powell have changed
the address to Joshua's house?

- No way.

I was there when
we got the warrant.

He pinned it to
our planning board.

If someone changed it, it
wasn't him, wasn't any of us.

- Who else could have
touched that warrant?

♪ ♪

- I don't know.

Ask the clerk.

♪ ♪

[bell jingling]

- You said that you might
be able to get my job back?

- There may be a way
to clear your name.

Looks like the victim
was keeping records

on overturned code violations.

Are you familiar with
Ralbern Investments?

- The property
development conglomerate?

- These are all the
violations against Ralbern.

Do you know who would
have overturned them?

- Oh, that's easy.

Judge Haynes handles
all those kinds of cases.

- The same Judge Haynes who
signed the original warrant?

- A quirk of living in D.C.--

the same judges
do criminal and civil.

♪ ♪

.

[light music]

♪ ♪

- All right,
so what's this about, Mercer?

- I talked to Mason.

He doesn't want
to take the settlement.

It could look like
a loss for you.

- Yeah, I guess we'll see.

- But I think I know
a way I could convince him,

but turns out,
I'm going to need your help.

- So I've got this
multifamily development

that I'm renovating
in Southeast,

but I keep running
into these BS citations

over gas line hazards.

- Everyone whines there isn't
enough affordable housing.

But they make building
codes so costly,

you can't build a damn thing.

- Because the politics
always get in the way.

- This country was built by
businesses, not regulations.

- That's for sure.

That's why I say,
thank God for capitalism.

- [chuckles]

You know, I golf with
Thomas Wilson over at Ralbern.

And he says you are
a free thinker,

that you don't allow
corporate bureaucracy

to get in the way of building
the American dream.

- I do what I can.

- And he said I should
talk to you about possibly

expediting the process.

You know, I'd love to make
a hefty campaign contribution,

but those limits and all--

- You're telling me.

Listen.

Why don't we avoid
all that red tape?

Put me on retainer.

- Retainer?

Sounds good.

How much?

- For you, $5,000 a month.

- Fair enough.

Let's say I transfer
a good faith deposit.

Offshore account?

- I have it all.

- Judge Thaddeus Haynes,
there are some people here

who want to speak to you.

- What the hell is going on?

- You have been taking
bribes for years

and getting away with it.

You believed you
were invulnerable,

especially after
k*lling a man and almost

getting away with it.

- That's insane.

I didn't k*ll anyone.

- You had a nice little
side hustle taking bribes

from companies like Ralbern to
help them skirt around onerous

building regulations.

But there was a fly
in the ointment--

Joshua.

He caught on
to your side hustle.

You weren't about to go down

because of some over-dedicated
building inspector.

But he wouldn't let up.

And then the DA
hands you a request

for a no-knock warrant.

And you realize that the
location of the suspect

was on the same
street as Joshua.

Computers had been
down over a week,

so any mistakes could be
blamed on human error.

Everything just
fell in your lap.

Must have felt like
divine providence,

and you seized the moment.

A court clerk
gets the warrant,

processes it manually,

and hands it back to you
to sign.

That's when you change
the address.

You made sure the VIPER squad
went to the wrong house,

where Joshua was m*rder*d.

[tense music]

[handcuffs clicking]

Whew.

I never thought we'd see
eye to eye enough

to work together.

Thank you.

- Hey, got to protect my stats.

- Most humans, when reminded,
will do the right thing.

Last I checked,
you are human, right?

- You're welcome, Mercer.

- Here you go.

- Thank you.

Wingo called.

Hey says they are
dismantling the VIPER squad.

- Well, that's more good news.

[door clicks open]

- Mason.

- Hey, Dr. Mercer.

I just came over
to see Kylie and to say--

thank you.

- No need.

I'm just glad you got
some semblance of justice.

- Strange.

I've all these feelings--

anger, shock,
guilt, but never peace.

- It may never go away.

But you can move past it.

- How?

- There's no one answer.

I don't know
what's best for you, Mason.

That'll be for you to explore.

- That's it?

No profound Mercer monologue?

- I'm fresh out
of monologues, young'un.

Nothing profound to say today.

- Then I'll recycle
an old one,

one that I know by heart.

Maybe start
with finding something

that reminds you of happiness.

- I could dust off the trumpet.

- Ooh.

- [laughs]

- I think I can still fit
in my majorette outfit.

[laughter]

- I know I should go home, but
I don't want to face it yet.

- Mm,
hang here until you're ready.

We can stay up all night
like old times.

[laughs]

- You know, I hear that there's
a reality show set in Potomac

that'll help you forget
all your problems,

even if it's only for an hour.

We should tune in.

- Mm.

Hell yeah.

[chuckles]

- So you guys think
there's something up

because of her relationship
with [indistinct].

- Absolutely.

[all screaming]

- [laughs]
- Oh, my God. We made it.