01x08 - Skin

[bunniefuu]

[Music playing]

Bill.

Mark.

You a, uh, breast or a thigh man?

Oh, he knows better than to answer that in public.

It doesn't matter. Thank you.

Yeah.

So they took out the whole passenger window?

Did they take anything?

No. Nothing was taken. Heh.

Just busted the window.

Just random vandalism?

Did you call the police?

Why bother them?

He fixed the window himself.

He's actually pretty handy, this one.

He's good to have around, you know?

You better watch that smack.

It's funny.

[Motorcycles approaching]

Get Landon. Let's head home.

Landon, come on, baby.

Hey. Come on. Let's go inside, buddy.

Who was that?

Let's just go home.

Come on.

What is going on?

Can we not right now, honey?

It's OK. Let's go in your room, OK?

"The Emperor's place was the most gorgeous palace in the world, built entirely of fine porcelain, so precious but so brittle, so delicate to the touch that you had to be very careful indeed."

[Water running]

[Woman screams]

Christina?

Christina?

Christina?

[Men shouting]

Christina: Mark!

Christina, Landon. You OK?

Yeah.

[Indistinct chatter]

Call if anything happens.

Thanks.

[Knock knock]

The Richards are on their way up.

Great.

Former skinhead and his Latina wife are being stalked by skinheads.

Sounds like a woman who likes a project.

I will talk to the wife, you interview the husband. We'll compare later.

Why? You don't think the guy's completely reformed?

I just want her perspective free of her husband.

You tell us if he's reformed, Jack.

People can change.

Yes, but it's a process and requires a lot of rewiring.

I find that it's two steps forward.

And 10 steps back.

Thanks, Beth. Good luck.

This group of skinheads is targeting you because of your past affiliations with them?

I don't know these guys.

They're local.

I was with a group out in riverside years ago, but they must know that I left the movement, and in their book, that makes me as bad or worse than any minority.

How do you think they found you?

I don't know. I left that life behind a long time ago.

I changed my name, I moved out here, started over.

Getting them lasered off.

21 sessions and counting, and it hurts like a bitch.

What's the 88 mean?

The eighth letter of the alphabet is "H."

Heil h*tler.

Look. Why are we being questioned separately?

Isn't that something you guys do to suspects?

It's how we get the clearest understanding of events.

Mark said that they've been following him around for 3 weeks, but they've never come to our home or our neighborhood before.

Mark said we'd be safe.

Often, groups are bound by code.

There are certain boundaries gangs won't cross.

That's what Mark said, but they have crossed them.

Janice: What is it?

Ex-Neo-n*zi skinhead, claims he's being g*ng stalked.

Why the attitude?

You ever mess with these guys?

They're bad news.

They att*cked my brother back in high school just for looking in their direction.

Which brother, the tall one or the younger one with the cute butt?

Younger one.

There's nothing cute about him.

Don't worry. Your butt's cute, too.

Jack: So why are these guys harassing you?

Do they feel betrayed by you?

Well, yeah. They have to, or they'll have to face the truth of who they really are.

You spend all your time pissed off, hating people because of stuff you've been told or because things just suck and it's got to be someone else's fault.

What's changed in you?

I met Christina.

How much has he told you about his past?

He's honest.

What he told me didn't fit with the guy that I fell in love with.

He had a lot of issues with his father.

His hate was learned, but I knew that it could be unlearned.

He really wants to be a better man, and he's proving to me every day that he's changed, but I can tell that this is taking a toll on him.

Can you help us?

Mark: Who's she talking to in there?

My boss Lieutenant Davis.

She's Asian.

Vietnamese American.

Is that a problem?

Could be.

How so?

I don't think many people are gonna be too sympathetic to who I was, where I been.

You can't expect people to be OK with your past, Mark.

Honestly, I'm not, but that doesn't mean I won't do everything I can to help you and your family.

Janice: Neo-Nazis in Southern California run the gamut from loosely organized skinhead groups... assaults, hate crimes, targeting law enforcement... to organized crime to political organizations that claim to be nonviolent.

Skinheads have their roots in the Aryan nation, which started out of the California prison system, aka the Harvard for skinheads, but today, they're highly organized, coordinated, educated.

Wise to the fact that they're in the minority.

They're more apt to subvert and harass than brazenly att*ck and harm.

You might say skinheads are professional stalkers.

They know how to bend the law without breaking it.

Ben: They grow their ranks by recruiting young, usually troubled teens.

Beth: Give a loner something to believe in, a community to be a part of, it's a powerful thing.

I mean, look at this guy.

Jack: I know he was a white supremacist and a r*cist, disgusting, but he's gone to great length to change his life.

Come on, Jack.

You really think that kind of embedded bigotry goes away?

I believe him.

Shocker.

Ben, start with gangs and narcotics.

Janice, pull up all the hate crimes in the last year.

I want a list of skinhead groups, affiliations, names, addresses.

Let's find out who's doing this.

[Door opens]

[Cartoon sounds on TV]

Dad?

Oh. Hey. You OK?

I couldn't sleep.

I wanted to watch TV.

Well, now let me tell you what.

You want to sleep with your mom and me?

Why don't you go crawl in bed with your mom, OK?

[Creak]

[Phone ringing]

Man: It's been a long time, Mark.

You look good.

Who's this?

A friend.

You think you're safe?

We can get to you whenever we want.

Yeah? Well, I've already called the cops.

They won't make it in time to save your family.

Mark, Mark, someone's outside.

Honey, get away from the window.

Man: She moves, she dies.

Wait, wait, don't move!

Please. Don't do this.

Your wife or your half-breed kid.

Dad!

You choose.

No! Just stop!

Your life belongs to me.

Aah!

Down, down!

You OK?

I'm OK.

Landon? Landon.

Are you all right?

[Indistinct chatter]

Mark: His name's Chad Hewitt.

Chad Hewitt. OK.

I know it was him. That was his voice.

Thought he was still in prison.

I'll have Ben run him down.

We'll keep a presence here today.

We spoke to your neighbors, explained the situation.

Christina: What neighbors?

They hate us now, think I'm married to a skinhead.

This is what stalkers do.

They isolate you, they remove your sense of safety.

It's easier to terrorize you if you're vulnerable and alone.

They were gonna k*ll us last night.

But they didn't, and that tells us volumes.

They're not trying to k*ll you, or they would have.

Not them. Him.

One guy's behind all of this.

[Knock on door]

Chad Hewitt did 11 years in Corcoran, released 8 months ago, settled in the valley.

Not much of an online presence, but it looks like he started his own group, the Southern California Confederated Socialists.

A political organization.

Our self-reformed skinhead is being stalked by a prison-reformed skinhead.

Let's check him out.

How well do you know Chad?

I recruited him.

Guy was just a teenager when I brought him in.

Saved him from some bullies.

I taught him how to fight, gave him confidence.

I taught him loyalty and one truth above anything else... you are nothing without family.

OK. Got it.

Ben and Beth are checking out Chad Hewitt.

S.I.D. has the brick that came through the window.

They're tracing the cell, which will inevitably lead to a burner because these guys are careful.

What?

Security cameras on the neighbors' houses.

What are the chances one of them was actually working and caught the skinheads on camera?

[Knock on door]

[Dog barking]

[Deadbolt clacks]

Can I help you?

Did you see or hear or anything last night?

Nope, and I'm not gonna be the one helping out a skinhead.

Are you referring to Mr. Richards?

[Doorbell rings]

I never felt the need for security cameras.

This is a good neighborhood, or... or was.

[Dog barking]

Shut up, Marty.

I'm here about the security cameras on your property.

Looks like one in particular might have recorded our crime scene last night.

I don't want to get caught in skinhead on skinhead v*olence.

I don't want them coming for me.

Look. I'll look back through the footage myself and let you know.

As soon as possible, if you would.

I'd appreciate it.

Look. I get your hesitance... go get a warrant, and we'll talk.

[Dead bolt clacks]

[Horn honks]

Not what I expected of wannabe h*tler.

Well, his father d*ed of cancer and no other family.

Chad inherited the house and some money.

Also owns a bike shop in Pacoima.

[Music playing]

[Indistinct chatter]

Hey. It's the police.

Chad: You got some bad Intel.

No skinheads around here.

Full heads of hair everywhere I look.

You're the leader of a white supremacist group, correct?

White separatists.

There's a difference.

How does one separate the races in L.A., sir?

Beth: You're not a skinhead. Got it.

We're investigating you on suspicion of stalking Mark Richards.

Did you call him last night?

Hey. Go help your mom. Go.

That's my girlfriend's kid.

He's not used to unfriendlies.

The Richards family has been targeted by skinheads.

You clearly associate with them.

We're a nonviolent political organization.

Most of us have families, kids.

We... we just want a better world for them.

When was the last time you saw Mark Richards?

You mean Mark Evans?

Changing your name doesn't change who you are.

Beth: So you know who we're referring to.

Yeah. Mark recruited me out of high school now he was a skinhead.

He taught me about the world, its injustices.

He really wanted to change society and its wrongs, and I believed that we could do it.

I was his proud soldier.

He's moved on.

Maybe you should, too.

Is that why you're here, to give me that pearl of wisdom?

Look. I've moved on.

Mark sidelined my life.

I went to prison because of him.

You went to prison because you put a man in a coma.

Look. I don't appreciate you coming here, guests in my home, waving your g*ns and your badges around the kids and leering in judgment of the very people who pay your salaries.

We'd be happy to discuss this downtown.

You two sit in judgment of me and my beliefs, but they come with integrity.

Do yours?

So you're a good skinhead?

Hey. Watch it!

That word... these kids already get enough torment for their beliefs, and now they have to hear that word from the colorful LAPD at their own barbecue?

For instance, Detective, if I were to tell you to go back to where you came from... what, Mexico, China... would that hurt your feelings?

So what gives you the right to judge me and what I stand for?

That tattoo on your neck does, sir.

It tells me you stand for hatred and bigotry and believe in a world of separation.

I'm OK with judging that.

Ben. Mr. Hewitt, this is your only warning.

Stay away from Mark and his family.

Let's go.

[Door slams]

I let you out of the bullpen for 5 minutes...

I'm sorry. Was I too much back there?

No. No, you were good.

Janice: Do you believe him?

He's all abandonment issues wrapped up in carefully concealed rage.

I don't think this is about the group wanting revenge on Mark because he left.

This is about Chad and Mark.

Chad's clearly got daddy issues.

Who doesn't?

He saw Mark as AF father figure, impossible bond to break.

Not impossible.

"You're nothing without family."

What?

Something Mark said.

He left the Brotherhood, he marries outside his race, he rejects everything he taught Chad to believe in.

It's like Dr. Frankenstein turning his back on the monster he created.

And what does the monster want?

Beth: He's a resentful stalker.

He feels rejected, but more than that.

He feels personally wronged.

Discovering what Mark did with his life must have been a real blow for Chad.

It's probably why he started the group in the first place.

Now he wants to use that army to destroy the life that Mark created for himself.

The monster wants Mark to return to the Brotherhood.

He doesn't believe he's reformed.

Guys, submit an emergency protective order against Chad to the judge today.

I want him served tonight.

So he can't come within 100 yards of them.

What about the rest of his g*ng?

Hey, Beth. You got a sec?

Yeah. Detective Wilkes, come on in.

I, uh, understand you paid a visit to Chad Hewitt this morning.

That's right. How'd you know that?

Well, I'm part of a task force that's been surveilling him for a couple of months now.

Hewitt's been building a group of Neo-Nazis in the valley successfully.

He keeps the violent members compartmentalized from the political, but, yeah, he's building an army, and we want to take it down.

He's using that army to stalk a family.

We're trying to protect them.

The task force is trying to protect an entire community.

Isn't your guy a skinhead anyway?

He's reformed. He's not that guy anymore.

Well, people only change so much, don't you think, Jack?

Are you telling us to stay away from Chad?

I don't think this has to become adversarial.

Then stay out of it.

I'm trying to cut the head off this beast, not get Hewitt on some misdemeanor so he can just get back out in 6 months, and if you spook him now, he may pull back from his plans.

Well, good because that's what we do here, and hopefully we stop him from k*lling someone.

Anything else?

Always a pleasure.

Christina: I had to get out of the neighborhood.

I was starting to feel all cooped up, so I just brought him to the playground.

Well, he seems fine. I mean, he's already made a few friends.

I don't know. I don't know.

I might talk to my sister, see if we can stay with her.

Mark wants us to. Yeah.

Landon: I got it!

Hey. You looking for this, little guy?

Christina: Yeah. I'm trying to figure out what to do.

Yeah.

Um, I got to call you back, OK?

OK.

Landon? Landon? Landon?

My dad has one of those. He says it means a bad thing.

Aw, it's not bad. It's a symbol of strength and power just like your dad.

Ah. Don't be in such a hurry, buddy.

Do you like motorcycles?

Because, you know, if you want to ride a motorcycle, you should tell your dad to come see me.

Landon, get over here!

You got a brave boy there.

What do you want?

I was just keeping him company.

He was here all alone.

Society is full of unsavory people.

As a mother, you should be more careful.

Leave us alone.

It was nice to meet you.

You, too, buddy.

Beth: The protective order's in effect.

If he comes near you or your family, we can arrest him.

I want to talk to Chad.

Look. Maybe he and I can just hash this out.

Nothing good can come from that meeting, Mark.

Listen. He wants me.

And contacting him would be tacit encouragement.

He'll only keep coming after you and your family.

No, no, no. He's using my family to get at me.

Look. I taught him that.

You need to show a little patience here, sir.

Who are you?

This is Detective Wilkes from Robbery Homicide.

Homicide?

I know how difficult this is.

Stalking victims can often find themselves in a traumatic cycle where they start to anticipate the next staking event.

The experience, it's not unlike PTSD.

It can lead to irrational acts.

I'm not irrational.

I just don't like sitting around doing nothing.

Trent: Well, there's something that you can do.

LAPD has been investigating Chad, but there's still a lot we don't know about him, his group, how they operate.

You could help us put Chad away for a very long time.

Look. I do that, I'm marked for life, not just by Chad but by every skinhead out there.

You created this problem.

There's something that you can do about it.

You think I deserve this.

No one thinks that.

Uh, yeah, I do.

It is your fault, and you can do something to fix it.

I'm offering you a solution here, Mark.

Detective Wilkes, enough.

Mark.

You got to trust us.

Frank let Tim come over and play.

God bless him.

I want you guys to head over to your sister's.

All right? I packed up some of his stuff.

I'm not leaving you here alone.

We're safer if we're together.

It's not coming off.

We just need a screwdriver.

I'm not supposed to go in there.

Please just do this for me, all right?

I need to know that you and Landon are safe.

Being around me right now, it isn't safe.

[Sighs]

Here we go.

There has to be a screwdriver in here.

Hurry before my dad sees you.

That's weird.

Put it back, and let's go ask my dad.

I'm going to get in trouble.

Hey. Here's one.

[Door creaking]

Then he will just follow me to my sister's house, won't he?

Then what?

I don't know.

[expl*si*n]

Landon!

Landon!

Landon!

Landon!

Are you OK?

Tim, Tim, are you all right?

All right. Let's go. Everybody inside.

Come on, come on.

[Clatter]

[Thump]

Hello?

Unh!

[Grunting]

[Spits]

Mark Evans. Heh.

Hey. I just met your son.

Ugh.

Ha ha ha!

See, I wondered if you'd changed, but I knew you hadn't.

Leave my family alone.

Agh!

There you are.

I knew you were in there.

Leave my family alone.

Mark went after Chad at his shop, turned himself in about an hour ago.

What do we know about the expl*sive?

b*mb squad said it was homemade, amateur hour.

Trigger device was faulty.

Only reason no one was seriously injured or k*lled.

What about the kids?

Landon suffered a few shallow lacerations.

Neighbor's kid's OK.

They're both shaken up.

They were really lucky.

Mark: He planted a b*mb in my backyard.

He could have k*lled my son and his friend.

Mark, we can't prove that Chad had anything to do with that device.

I don't care what you can prove.

You could be brought up on as*ault charges.

Do you know what that means?

Jail time.

Was cold cocking him worth it?

I talked to Christina.

She's worried about you.

Told her to take Landon over to her sister's.

This isn't gonna end until one of us is dead.

It's just how we operate.

We?

It's the Brotherhood's way.

This is going to end when we end it, but you need to be smart, Mark.

Your family's depending on you.

Is Chad Hewitt gonna press charges?

No.

He said he didn't want Mark to go to jail and it was good to see his old buddy.

It's like he's protecting him.

He wants Mark to come back to the Brotherhood.

Mark's att*ck validated his stalking.

It's exactly what he wanted.

So you're talking to me.

That's a good thing.

I'm doing my job.

If you can keep it professional, I can keep it professional.

Tell that to Trent.

I'm not going there, Jack.

But you're not kicking me out of L.A. either.

Thank you.

For what?

Letting me stay.

Beth: We know that Chad's isolated Mark and intimidated his family, but he's been very careful.

He's acted within the law, doesn't leave any evidence, and he's stalked by proxy.

Booby-trapping Mark's house, that seems different to me.

It's an escalation?

It's sloppy.

Ben: Hey. The warrant for the neighbor's surveillance video finally went through.

We've got skinheads.

Can't really make out any faces.

But there's this.

We have a license plate.

The car belongs to Chad Hewitt.

Trent: S.I.D. just finished searching his truck.

No weapons, no lasers, no evidence against Chad.

But we have his truck at the scene.

Ben: Two skinheads just turned themselves in.

They say they were driving Chad's truck and claim they alone are responsible for the att*ck on the Richards.

Trent: You guys are blowing it.

You have no case against this guy.

You realize the stakes of just bringing him in here?

I'll break him.

[Door opens]

You realize you don't have anything to hold me on.

We're just talking, a civil chat.

Would you like your lawyer present?

I'm fine.

Tell me, how'd you get into this life?

Mark was very persuasive.

He showed a kid who got his ass kicked every other day what real power was.

Shaped me into the man I am today.

Seems to me like you still respect him, like you still want him a part of your g*ng.

I never turn my back on family.

His blood is my blood.

Then why'd you try to k*ll him?

I didn't.

If Mark would have found that b*mb, he could have been k*lled, and then you would have lost your mentor.

A b*mb is the tool of a coward.

I have nothing to hide.

I have nothing to run from.

Mark completely rejected everything he taught you.

That didn't create a doubt in your mind that the power he gave you was nothing but air?

Never!

When I'm surrounded by my pure-blood family, I know it's real.

It wasn't real to Mark.

You went to prison, and he left you behind.

[Huffs]

I know what you're doing.

It's what you sub-races try to do... turn us against each other.

Trent: He's not gonna break.

I don't know about that.

Give here a minute.

Beth: All it took was the love of a woman, and you meant nothing to him.

He abandoned you to be with one of those sub-races you hate so much.

That's all it took.

Do you know what I see when I look at you?

I see that scared little kid who got his ass kicked every day at school, and without Mark there to protect him, when push came to shove, he turned right back into that little kid.

You're wrong!

I am stronger than he ever was, and I'm sure as hell smarter than some hab.

Are we done here?

Done.

Back to square one.

Cabeza rapada.

What did you say to me, boy?

You should learn Spanish if you're gonna live in Los Angeles.

Adios, skinhead.

I'm gonna k*ll your Mexican ass.

You're dead!

We need backup now.

Here you go. Yeah.

Got him?

Beth: You're under arrest for making a thr*at against a police officer.

Get him out of here.

Let's go! This way.

Jack: Criminal thr*at gets him 4 years.

All you've done is bought your victim a little breathing room.

There's something else.

I think Chad was telling the truth about the b*mb.

He didn't set it.

Then it was one of his skinheads.

No. Chad wouldn't have authorized that.

He was contemptuous about the b*mb, like it was beneath him.

Right. He doesn't want to k*ll Mark.

He wants him back.

Exactly.

OK. So who set it?

The neighbors' security cameras didn't catch anyone.

The b*mb was planted by someone who knew how to get in and out without being noticed.

Someone who knew about those cameras in the neighborhood, how to avoid them.

So it was someone from the neighborhood.

Everyone thought they knew Mark.

Maybe finding out about Mark's past triggered something.

Ben, pull Janice. We need to focus on the neighbors, anyone with priors or a history of mental illness.

Jack, go get Mark, get him out of there.

I'll go with him.

No. Not necessary.

Come on, Jack. It will give us an opportunity to bond.

I'm good.

Come on.

Yeah. Where is it?

OK. I'll grab it.

Yeah. All right. I'll see you soon.

I love you, too, sweetheart. Bye.

Unh!

[Tires squeal]

[Cell phone vibrating]

I'll get Mark.

Larsen.

Do you have Mark?

Just landed. What do you got?

Howard Granger. Lives across the street at 10331 Sutter.

Janice: No criminal record, but he did file a police report 10 years ago.

He was att*cked by a group of men.

It was racially motivated, Jack, classified as a hate crime.

They never found the suspects.

Victim of a hate crime living across the street from a reformed skinhead?

He could be experiencing a psychotic break, Jack.

He could be delusional.

Be careful.

Gone. Looks like there was a struggle.

Get some units out here. Mark's missing.

[Knocks on door]

Howard Granger? LAPD.

There's someone moving around in there.

[Turns doorknob]

Go cover the back.

Police!

[Groan]

[Groaning]

[Groaning]

You OK?

Yeah.

He came out of nowhere.

Ohh!

Unh!

Why are you protecting him?

Put the w*apon down.

He's a skinhead!

He's no better than me!

Get off him.

Why are you protecting him?

He deserves to die.

They all deserve to die.

I'm not gonna ask you again.

Drop your w*apon.

He's no better than me.

He's no better than me.

[Groans]

You OK?

It's not deep. I'll live.

[Music playing]

Hi.

Man: Excuse me, Detective Larsen.

[Mouths] Thank you.

[Music continues]

Beth: Hey, Ben.

Really nice job today.

Thanks.

Good night.

[Beeping]

Hey.

Thank you.

Mark's agreed to work with us.

Looks like he's gonna help put Chad away for good.

How's your wound?

Fine. I got pain pills and wine.

That scares me.

I know you and Jack have a past.

You don't want to talk about it, that's fine, but don't you think Ethan has a right to see his father?

Did Jack tell you that?

No.

But it is true, isn't it?

Yeah, it's true.

And it's complicated.

[Music continues]