24x05 - Breakwater

[bunniefuu]

In the criminal justice system,

sexually based offenses

are considered especially heinous.

In New York City,
the dedicated detectives

who investigate these vicious felonies

are members of an elite squad

known as the Special Victims Unit.

These are their stories.

Come on,
you guys wanna be lifeguards or what?

Almost there.
Finish strong.

That's what I'm talking about.
Let's go!

Come on, Worsley,
don't gas out now, man!

You're so close!
Every second counts!

That's what I'm talking about.

- Here. Cover yourself up.
- Oh, thanks.

- Nice swimsuit.
- Thanks.

- What's your name?
- Martina Rodriguez.

Martina, nice to meet you.

Now wait...

don't tell me you're
this guy's little sister.

I met you last year when I came to pick

Diego up from the beach.

Oh. Yeah, right.

Damn, son.

Been hitting the gym
since last year, huh?

Started doing jujitsu.

Well, I haven't seen
your sister's times,

but, she looks like
a real fish in that pool.

All right, people, listen up.

Chief's gonna handle
the CPR portion of the exam.

Hey, Rodney, have you
seen that prop dummy?

- It wasn't in the storage closet?
- No.

Those Water Rescue guys from Queens

must have packed it
in the van by accident.

All right, I'm gonna need a volunteer.

- Uh, what's your name again?
- Martina.

Martina, right.
Hey, can you...

You lay down right here?

Thanks.

Here you go.

- Like this?
- Perfect.

- Okay.
- Just lay back.

Good.

All right, guys, today,

we're gonna be graded on our ABCs:

Airway, Breathing, Circulation,

which means I'm gonna be looking

for the proper head tilt,
rescue breaths,

and the timing of your compressions.

Got it?

Hey, Rodney,
can you ask Rodriguez's sister

to come in for a second, please?

- Yeah, sure.
- Thank you.

You wanted to see me?

Yeah, Martina.

Come on in.

Close the door.

So what's up?

Well, technically,
you did great with your CPR,

but it's your times.

You're on the bubble.

- What? I didn't qualify?
- Relax.

I'm gonna give you a chance
to do it again next week.

But listen, i-it's not about
how often you practice but how.

And if you don't mind my
asking, who's training you?

My brother.

That's the problem.

Kid's too easy on you.

Come here.
Let me show you something.

Give me this.
All right.

Put your arms up, all the way up.

There we go.
Imagine you're in the water.

Speaking of the water,
you're too flat in the water.

You got to move your hips, all right?

There we go.
There we go.

That's the one move.
That works.

And move, and move.
There you go.

- You feel the difference?
- Mm.

Yeah. Feel the water.

All right. That's it.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Martina, hey.

What were you doing in there?

Greco just wanted to go over my scores.

Hey, yo, Chief.

Hey. What'd I do?

Diego! Diego!

Yo, yo, chill! D, get off.
D, get off.

- Get away from me!
- That's enough!

- I mean it!
- That's enough, bro.

If I ever see you here
again, I'll k*ll you, bro.

- Stop! Stop!
- I swear to God.

- Let's go.
- What is wrong with you?

♪ ♪

Dude, what's your problem?

What were you doing in his office?

I told you.

Said he'd help me pass,
but not after what you pulled.

Diego, what'd I say about
drinking under my roof, huh?

Whatever, Ma.
I'm out of here then.

- Qué?
- [SPEAKING SPANISH]

Mira!

You better not walk out that door.

- [SPEAKING SPANISH]
- You better not leave.

No. You better not leave.

You got plans for tonight?

Yeah, gonna put the girls down,

eat my feelings on the couch,

wait for Carisi to come over.

You two don't live together yet?

He has a drawer.

It's a waste of gas, if you ask me.

And by the way,
I got something for you.

Hmm?

A b*llet?

Same caliber as the one
you got sh*t with.

You have to own your trauma,

or your trauma will own you.

Hey, guys.

Just got a call from the - ,

asking for somebody to go down there.

You guys take it?

Thanks.

Why don't you go home?

No.

I got this.

But, um, I'm driving.

Diego Rodriguez, ,

picked him up in a bar in Midtown,

drunk, picking fights,

talking about some guy

- who had a run-in with his sister.
- What kind of run-in?

How the hell would I know?

Sergeant had me call you guys.

- Heard that before.
- Hmm.

Hey, there.
I'm Detective Rollins.

This is Sergeant Tutuola.

So what's going on, man?

What happened with your sister?

You know, when my, my pops was dying,

he said to look out for her.

And I was just trying to protect her.

Protect her from what?

From Paul Greco.

He's the head of the lifeguards.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

So what, he r*ped your sister?

No.

He r*ped me.

♪ ♪

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

♪ ♪

Am I under arrest?

Your arrest was voided.

Good, because I want to go home.

I didn't have dinner last night.

You're free to leave, but,

I got you a sandwich,
something to drink.

Have this first.

We wanted to talk to you.

Diego, do you remember
telling us last night that,

your boss sexually assaulted you?

No, no, no, no, no.

I was just wasted last night, man.

Greco's going after
my sister, Martina, okay?

Martina's a lifeguard too?

She wants to be.

Greco has the power
to make it happen or not.

Okay, yeah.

Can you tell us more about that?

At the pool yesterday,
we both took the qualifying test.

Later, I saw her coming out
of Greco's office upset,

and I snapped.

And what did she say
happened in that office?

Nothing. She's innocent.

Martina doesn't see Greco
for what he really is.

- And you do.
- Of course.

- Where's my brother?
- What do you think Greco is?

Do you know that girl?

- Diego!
- Martina!

- Are you okay?
- What are you doing here?

- Hey, hey.
- I told her not to come.

- She don't listen, apparently.
- You know what?

- Are you okay?
- Martina, what are you doing?

I told you not to come.

I'm gonna go talk to her.
Everything's okay.

Come with me.
Come with me this way.

- Look, man.
- She don't listen. I'm sorry.

Your sister's got your back.

Can you just tell
her that I'm all right,

that I'm okay, everything's good?

Look, man.

I know how hard it is to talk
about this, but what happened?

Nothing happened.

You don't understand that, or what?

Even if something did,

doesn't make you any less of a man.

[SOLEMN MUSIC]

I heard lifeguards make bank.

I needed money for college, so I test.

With Greco?

Yeah, with Greco, last year.

He called me into his office after,

said I didn't qualify,

that I picked up some bad
habits on the school team.

I could pass if I let him retrain me.

It was craziness yesterday.

I came out of Greco's office,
eyes leaking, because,

I didn't qualify, and...

Diego saw the tears.

He flew into a roid rage.

Why?

Did Greco press charges?

No.

Then why is my brother here?

One day...

Greco...

Says the only reason

he hooked me up with the job was,

'cause of my...

This was before I started
learning how to fight.

It's okay, man.

He forced me down on his desk,

face down.

And he...

He did it to me.

After that, I cleaned up.

From that point forward,
I got all the posts

and all the OT I wanted.

And he never tried nothing again.

You ever tell anyone?

♪ ♪

And when your sister
wanted to be a lifeguard,

you never warned her?

Nah, man.

I didn't even realize it.

I just thought he was into guys.

So talk to me about this Chief Greco.

He works for the lifeguard division

of Parks and Recreation,
Bronx County, administrator.

He oversees all the
public pools in the Bronx,

some of the beaches.

- He's been there for ten years.
- Okay, any priors?

Not in the system.

The job pays double the average salary

for teens and -somethings,
plenty of OT.

You get paid a lot to sit on a beach.

Sign me up.

We called around the Parks Department.

They all say Greco's friendly,
smart, single,

got a bit of a rep
as a player but nothing

like what Diego's saying.

All right, so what do we know
about Diego

and the sister Martina?

Good kids from the projects,
straight A's.

Diego had a massive stress reaction

when he told me what happened.

He's got no reason to lie to me.

Well, that's not good.

But, no outcry at the time,
and no r*pe kit.

You want us to keep digging?

It's a bit of a risk,

right, having Greco find
out that we're onto him?

Yeah.

So we'll go straight to him,
see if he blinks.

Diego said that
I sexually assaulted him?

He did.

We're here to get
your side of the story.

[EXHALES]

So...

Did you?

Of course not.
No.

Diego was upset yesterday,

because I was talking with his sister.

It's retaliation?

Why didn't you report
the physical as*ault?

Because I like the kid.

He was so sweet last year, then...

This year, he comes in.
He's all jacked up, he wants to...

Start a fight, I don't know.

It's none of my business, but...

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised,

if the kid's on some kind
of steroids or something.

Those muscles are armor.

Armor for what?

You tell me.

[TENSE MUSIC]

So what exactly,

happened between you
and Martina in your office?

She didn't qualify.

I told her.
She cried.

I felt bad.

These are, these are hardworking kids

from a really poor family.

She got so close,

so, I offered to train her.

You can ask my second-in-command,
Ronnie Volpe.

He's at Jonas Bronck Beach today...

with Diego.

So you're telling me
Diego went to work?

I care about the kid,

and I'm short-staffed.

Diego was a little late today, so...

Now I understand why.

I'm sorry.
None of this makes any sense.

If I assaulted the kid, why...

Why would he come to work?

So you never had any
sexual contact with Diego?

No.

♪ ♪

I had to pull Diego off Greco.

Look, I don't know what happened
between last year and now,

but the kid's like a
totally different person.

You sure nothing happened
to his little sister?

- Oh, I'm sure.
- All right, so when he showed up

for work this morning,
what was that like?

Were you surprised at all?

After he tried to kick
the chief's ass, yeah.

But to be honest,

I was more taken
aback by how he looked,

when he clocked in.

I could smell the booze.

Where is he now?

Out swimming laps between the buoys.

Pinsky's rules.

Any time one of these kids shows up

after a late night of partying.

Quick way to sober up.

Thank you.

Say what you want about Fin and Benson.

At least they don't make us swim laps.

What do you think this
little trip to the beach is?

What, you think kid's lying?

I mean, you hear Volpe.

The kid came to work
like nothing happened.

Maybe Diego figures if he acts normal,

everything might actually be normal.

Would you go out partying, and,

in the same day,
you accused somebody of r*pe?

No, but I'd sure as hell be drinking.

You Pinsky?

Yeah.

- Who wants to know?
- NYPD.

What can I do for you?

Pretty far out there, no?

Yeah, he'll be all right.

You sure?

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

Sure looks like he's in trouble.

[WHISTLE TRILLS]

Diego!

[WHISTLE TRILLS]

Diego!

Diego!

Yo, you gonna go in?

Give it a minute.

What are you doing?

What are you doing?
Hey, Velasco!

[WHISTLE TRILLING]

♪ ♪

- [WHISTLE TRILLS]
- Diego!

♪ ♪

They're gonna take him to Montefiore.

Maybe he's got a chance.

Velasco, they just did CPR
on him for minutes.

We just watched a kid drown.

No, you didn't.

That lazy scumbag did.

Hey, look, I understand
I had a duty to act.

But I stepped in,

I observed that
the conditions had changed

and there was now a rip current.

I feared for my life and safety.

Captain.

Trauma docs just called it.

Oh, Fin.

I'm so sorry.

Me?

Velasco.

Muncy said Diego was limp in his arms

when he pulled him out of the water.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

That Diego was sent into the water

to teach him some other
lesson that had nothing

- to do with the hangover?
- Yeah.

After we told Greco about
Diego's allegations?

Yeah, that thought crossed my mind.

Means the allegations are true.

We can't prove it.

Our only witness is dead.

Even Carisi couldn't make that stick.

A predator like Greco just
doesn't pop out of nowhere.

He's had that position for ten years.

Find his other victims.

Diego loved the water,

even as a young boy.

All the swimming he did,

it healed his heart

after losing his father.

In the Bible, it says,

"When you pass through the waters,"

"God is with you."

And now they're together at peace.

We're so sorry for your loss.

Mami, why don't you go lay down?

Okay.

Thank you.

I drove Diego to work this morning.

He told me what Greco
did to him last year,

but he made me promise our
mother would never find out.

We understand.

She doesn't need to know about it,

at least not right now.

You're gonna arrest Greco
for raping my brother.

That's what we're trying
to do, Martina.

Greco suggested he mentored you.

That's called grooming.

With all the other candidates,

he had to make that
same offer to someone.

Maybe last year?

I might know someone.

Please come in.

I heard Diego drowned.

How'd you two meet?

From the neighborhood.

He was my first love.

I was his too.

Guess now his last.

Daniela, we're investigating
something Diego told us,

and we think that happened
while you two were together.

Is this about Paul Greco?

Diego mentioned that he
was inappropriate with him?

What?
No.

They were really close.

Diego viewed him as a father figure.

Just curious, w-why would you think that

we're here to talk about Greco?

Because Greco r*ped me.

I never told Diego, but I
suspected he might have known.

That's why I broke up with him.

I needed to be held.

Diego didn't even want to touch me.

I thought he was just loyal to Greco.

Daniela, I hate to say this, but...

It's likely Diego
didn't want to be touched

because the same thing happened to him.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

I thought Greco was just into girls.

I mean, there was always rumors
about him being a dog.

On the beach, I'd hear them, at parties.

Diego pulled some strings

and got me an interview with Greco,

halfway through summer,
when I got laid off.

Greco said it was offseason,

so he'd have to qualify me privately.

He took me into his office
and pinned me down.

I had no business being
a lifeguard anyway.

Why is that?

Because I can barely swim.

Did you tell anyone about
what Greco did to you?

I reported it to the precinct
here in the Bronx.

Did you do a r*pe kit?

Yeah...

But they never called me back.

♪ ♪

Pool's closed.

Paul Greco, you're under arrest,

for the r*pe of Daniela Cruz.

I have no idea who that is.

She knows you.

Paul Greco, on the charge
of r*pe in the first degree,

how do you plead?

Not guilty, Your Honor.

- People on bail?
- We request $ , .

The defendant is
facing serious charges,

and he has the resources to flee.

Chief Greco is a
well-regarded civil servant,

no record, who only wants
to defend his reputation.

We request ROR.

Sorry, Counselor Carisi,
I'm granting ROR.

Bailiff, next case.

Docket number A .
Please approach.

Braun's being a prick.

He flat-out refused
to even discuss a deal.

The eighth floor really wants
to plead this out?

And the mayor's office.

Nobody wants a long-term
city chief on trial.

It shows incompetency on their part.

It makes them look bad, dirty laundry.

Oh, please, McGrath's been chewing

the end of my phone for days.

Counselor, Captain,
can I have a moment?

Assemblywoman Diane Garcia.

How can we help you?

I just wanted to put
in a word for Paul Greco.

He's a decent man.

Well, we have evidence
of r*pe one, Miss Garcia.

We're going to the grand jury.

I'm just asking that you think about it

before you ruin a respected
city official's reputation

and put the city in danger
of civil litigation.

Well, thank you for the heads up.

You just made a friend.

Well, she just oversees
judicial appointments,

bail reform, court procedure,
and district attorney budget.

So yeah, nothing to worry about.

How much you want to bet,

Greco's a campaign contributor?

Ah, good news.

Daniela's r*pe kit came back.

DNA's a match.

- The Bronx actually came through?
- Well, kicking, screaming.

Well, the Bronx doesn't do
anything by the book.

Yeah, especially their SVU.

- Daniela's still not here?
- No, she's not.

The grand jury convenes
in five minutes.

- I thought you prepped her.
- I did.

She knows when and where.
Let me give her another call.

Yeah.

Daniela, it's Detective Rollins.

We're at the court, waiting for you.

Please give me a call back.

Don't tell me that
we're getting ghosted

by our star witness...

By our only witness.

I'll send Muncy and Velasco.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone,

but I can't do it.
I can't testify.

What's going on, Daniela?

My father's on parole.

Greco must have gotten to his officer

because he threatened
to have my father violated.

We can get the DA to call his PO.

We can get it all straightened out.

No, I can't risk my dad
going back to Rikers.

Daniela, Greco's the one
who sent Diego into the ocean.

I went in after him.
I pulled him out.

He d*ed right in front of me.

You're gonna let Greco
walk around free?

I hate Greco, too,
for what he did to me.

But Diego's dead.

Nothing's bringing him back.

I have to protect my father now.

- I'm sorry.
- Diego...

♪ ♪

I'm assuming you
asked us here to tell us

you're dropping the charges.

I understand you lost
your only witness.

Yeah, because your client
used political clout

to have someone thr*aten her.

I have no idea
what you're talking about.

Would you like us to open
a witness tampering case?

Without the girl's cooperation?

We're also investigating
the circumstances

around Diego's death.

- Hold on.
- No.

I am devastated by Diego's death.

Any drowning is a tragedy,
but a lifeguard,

that's a supervisor's worst nightmare.

Yes, Diego and I had our issues,

but I never wanted this to happen.

And yet it did.

And a -year-old is dead,

directly because of you.

I did not give that order.

There were two qualified
lifeguards on duty.

Why don't you talk to them?

Trust me, we will.

I'm not the monster you think I am.

I've devoted my entire
career to saving lives,

not destroying them.

You know, men like you,

become so good at lying,

they even start to believe
the ones they tell themselves.

♪ ♪

You cannot let this bastard
back on the job.

Yeah. I agree.

But we don't have a r*pe case anymore.

There were two lifeguards on duty
when Diego drowned, right?

Velasco had to go in.

The way Muncy tells it,

Daniela admitted to not
even knowing how to swim

when Greco tried to hire her.

If Greco knowingly hired
unqualified lifeguards

in exchange for sex...

We may have a manslaughter case.

The first step, let's find out

how many drownings
happened at that beach

with lifeguards Greco qualified.

They all drowned at Jonas Bronck Beach.

All involving lifeguards
qualified by Greco,

no other risk factors,
no dr*gs, no intoxication.

Well, what about these lifeguards?

Are any of them willing to talk?

Not without a subpoena.

They all lawyered up,
they're all afraid of Greco.

What about Volpe,

the one who takes the timings
for the qualifications?

You think he might have
helped fake them?

Greco is facing manslaughter.

Let Volpe know,

that if he's complicit,

he is too.

Manslaughter.

Wait, what?

Ten counts,

including Diego.

You were there.
I went in after Diego.

It's not about you not
going in the water.

It's about these lifeguards,

and Greco fixing their scores,

with help from you.

Why don't you talk to us about Pinsky?

- You took his initial timings, right?
- Yeah.

Greco had you doctor his score?

[TENSE MUSIC]

I came in to talk to you guys

because I felt sick about Diego.

But maybe I need a lawyer.

That's up to you.
But if you get a lawyer,

we can't help you.

And you'll sink or swim right
next to your boss in court.

Look, I only became a lifeguard

to pay my way through college
and meet chicks, all right?

I'm not an accomplice to anything.

So you're saying, it's all Greco?

Yeah, he changed the scores.

And you went along with it?

I didn't even notice it at first.

I'd write down the scores.

Then when I put them in the system,

I saw that they changed by
a few seconds here and there.

So I started taking
pictures on my phone.

Look, it's all right here.

♪ ♪

You didn't report it?

No.

I like my job.

Have you heard enough?

Forget manslaughter.

If Greco knowingly hired
incompetent lifeguards

in exchange for sex and money,

and then those lifeguards
failed to save drowning victims,

that is depraved indifference
to human life.

That's m*rder two.

Take him down.

Can you state your
name and title, please?

Anna Callas.
I'm an investigator

for the New York City
Department of Health.

We analyze drowning incident reports

for all public beaches.

Can you identify these ten people?

Victims of drownings
at Jonas Bronck Beach

under Chief Greco's tenure,

all cases involving
a lifeguard attempt.

Lifeguard attempts that failed?

That's correct.

The ME report showed none of them

had alcohol or dr*gs in their system.

Now, the lifeguards that
made the failed attempts,

what did they all have in common?

They were all qualified and hired

by County Administrator Paul Greco.

Thank you.

The drownings were ruled accidental?

Yes, but that's standard...

So there was no conclusion that

lifeguard incompetence was the cause?

No, that's beyond our purview.

I see.

Thank you.

I served as chief lifeguard
for the City of New York

for years before I retired.

During that time, I evaluated
thousands of rescue cases,

most of them successful.

Now, I am going to draw
your attention to some

that unfortunately were not.

Julio Vela, years old,
drowned July , .

Lifeguard on duty was Mariel Kemp.

Now, witnesses reported that Kemp

was slow to enter the water and then,

was unable to reach the victim in time.

Now, in your expert opinion,

with conditions calm and flat,
as they were that day,

would that ever have happened,
with a qualified lifeguard?

- No.
- No.

Alea Shihabi, age ,
drowned August , .

Lifeguard on duty was Dylan Marks.

He was observed on his phone,

which delayed him in
sounding the submersion signal.

In my opinion,
that would not have occurred

with a qualified lifeguard.

Greg Turner, age ,
drowned July , .

Lifeguard on duty was Sean Davis...

Who was observed heading into the water,

and turning right around.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

♪ ♪

As head lifeguard
at Jonas Bronck Beach,

I report directly to Chief Paul Greco.

I supervise all on-duty lifeguards,

distribute bay assignments,

and I also administer
qualification tests.

How do you take the timings?

I use a stopwatch,
then write the results

on an application form,

for Chief Greco to evaluate.

How does he evaluate them?

He looks them over.

But, I came to realize that he

sometimes changed the scores.

And what did you do
when you realized that?

I took screenshots of my
initial timings on my cell phone.

People's exhibit three.

Can you read the initial timings

for ocean qualification, please?

Frank Pinsky, : .

Mariel Kemp, : .

Marks, : . Davis, : .

And since none of these four
made the required timing,

how did they all end up assigned

to Jonas Bronck Beach?

Greco adjusted their scores,

said he had requalified them.

Meaning what?

He had sex with the candidates,

or they kicked back
% of their salary.

He called it pay or lay.

And you know this how?

He told me,

when I confronted him,

and recorded the
conversation on my cell.

People's exhibit four.

Hell yeah, she requalified,
on her knees. [LAUGHS]

Come on, what do you care?

Come on, you want a cr*ck
at her, too, huh?

Who is the defendant referring to?

Mariel Kemp.

Her score changed
from minutes, seconds

to minutes flat,

enough to qualify to be
a lifeguard at the beach.

Nothing further.

Mr. Volpe,

you knew about
the scores being changed,

and said nothing?

I did.

And it is with deep regret I didn't...

Did that regret start

before, or after,

the DA's Office offered
you a deal to testify?

♪ ♪

I thought so.

Nothing further.

Hey.

Hey.

You headed home?

Yeah.

How's it going?

It's a lot of data
for the jury to absorb.

I think you're getting to them.

I saw tears.

Want a job as a jury consultant?

Sure...

Less chance of getting sh*t.

You know,
you slept like a baby last night.

It's the first time in uh...

In a while,
that you didn't wake up at all.

Mm.

Fin.

When he retires,
maybe he should be a shrink.

- You gonna be late then?
- Yeah, very late.

Greco testifies tomorrow.

Okay.
Good night.

You got this, Counselor.

Being a lifeguard takes
discipline and integrity.

It's a hard job.

But I'm damn proud of the work we do.

Do you consider yourself a
man of integrity, Chief Greco?

I do.
Now, have I had,

sexual involvements with
lifeguards underneath me?

Yes, all consensual.

But, I have never hired someone,

who was unfit for the job.

You were sure that your
lifeguards could do the job.

But in these ten drownings,

they underperformed, didn't they?

Even the most experienced
lifeguard can lose a swimmer.

It's always a tragedy.

A tragedy?

Let me ask, do you lose sleep over it?

Objection. Relevance.

A little latitude, please, Your Honor?

I'll allow, but move this along.

I'm understaffed.

My budget is cut,

and every year, it gets worse.

I got drunks on the beach,

people letting their kids
wander around,

people with no business
getting in the water.

And you know what happens?

Then we need to get in,
we need to risk our lives.

Yeah, but that is your job, isn't it?

Oh, look at you,

your suit and tie.

You have no idea,

what it's like to have
people's lives in your hands,

do you?

[SCOFFS]

♪ ♪

Well, people don't think
about it like this.

The ocean is a wilderness.

And men like me are the breakwater,

the only single barrier,

between a fun day at the beach,

and some out-of-shape
stupid person becoming

a part of the food chain.

And rarely...

Rarely do those life-or-death moments

come down to a matter of seconds.

Most of the time, it's IQ
points and common sense.

Is that why you sent Diego Rodriguez
into the water that day?

Because you thought
he lacked common sense?

Objection.

Sustained.

Diego was a drunk,

who showed up hungover,

and I can't have that on my beach.

And so you gave the order
to send him out

to swim laps to and from a buoy

a quarter mile out in a rip current?

- Your Honor!
- You're damn right I gave that order.

But I didn't know there'd be a rip

any more than I wanted that kid dead.

But that beach,

and the lives on it,

are my responsibility.

All mine.

It's my ass on the line.

I'm the boss,

and all my lifeguards know it.

♪ ♪

So Pinsky was on the beach
when Diego drowned.

Yeah, he dipped his toe in.

It's hard to say
what he was scared of more,

the riptide or Greco.

Find out.

What's up, Frank?

My lawyer says I shouldn't talk to you.

Well, you're not a suspect.

Let me ask,

why have you been coming to court?

Show support for Chief Greco.

He made it clear
we all needed to show up.

I...

I didn't know Diego was gonna go under.

I thought he'd be okay.

He was a strong swimmer.

And you're not.

I'm all right, but...

That's not why I didn't go in.

Greco told me not to,

no matter what.

You listened.

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]

I should have gone in.

What does Greco have on you, Frank?

Whatever it is,

it's not on you.

You know what he did to other guys.

He's got pictures

of me and him and a couple
of the other guys doing...

Stuff.

And he sent them to me,
and he said that

if I didn't do what he said,

he was gonna show them to everybody,

you know, m-m-my family,

m-my girlfriend.

He's right, what he said in there.

He's the boss.

He's got all the power.

So take it back.

♪ ♪

That coward Pinsky is lying.

When I put him on the stand,
the jury will have to decide.

Hold up.
Let's slow this down.

What am I paying you for?

To tell you when to shut up
and accept you've lost.

Where's all that common sense

you were bragging about having, huh?

Jury's never gonna convict.

If they do, I'll just appeal.

No, no, no. It's over, Greco.

The political clout
you bought, that has limits.

Pinsky's got the photos
you used to blackmail him.

Now, I'm giving you a chance,

to serve out your time

without everybody knowing
the truth about you.

Oh, yeah?

[TENSE MUSIC]

What's that?

That you are a manipulative,

little big man,

with a fiefdom built on sand,

and it's all coming down.

What are you offering?

♪ ♪

Thank you, Carisi.

Yeah.

Greco will plead
to ten counts of manslaughter.

Served consecutively,

he'll be in prison till he's .

Yeah, good work,

both of you.

We'll tell Martina.

There's a memorial
for Diego at the beach.

Yeah.
I'll send my condolences.

Velasco.

You lost someone,

and it's easy to take that personally.

So you feel sorry,

but not for yourself.

You did everything right.

[SOMBER MUSIC]

Thank you.

Mean it.

♪ ♪