Previously on "Shades of Blue"...
Wozniak framed Miguel Zepeta ten years ago,
and I want to know why.
I'm innocent.
I need you to find somebody.
A parolee named Frank Kovach
killed this woman and got away with it.
Are you sleeping with my daughter?
No.
You won't want to upset her by telling her about this.
Woz is convinced that Saperstein's the mole.
You've been talking to the Feds.
I had no choice. Whoa!
Sap! He's still breathing!
Saperstein sold us out.
Federal immunity contract.
Bomb threat just called in.
They located a suspicious package.
I thought I heard you.
What happened?
Matt?
Saperstein's gone.
He's gone.
I'm sorry, Matt.
You don't understand.
Try me.
I've been a cop's wife a long time.
Give me a little credit.
The results that we get on the job...
We have to...
I...
I have to push the boundaries of what's acceptable.
You don't think I know that?
I think Saperstein...
was talking to the people that would...
take issue with that brand of justice.
Do I need to worry about losing you?
That's the thing.
We get to keep on living our lives,
but only because he's dead.
David's dead.
Sweet, funny boy.
Lead your unit.
The beat you set is the one they'll follow.
Mom?
I told you.
She's still at the hospital.
What do I do if she rolls up?
That's not exactly the first impression I want to make.
You'll have to meet her soon, just not tonight.
She'll stay in that waiting room as long as they let her.
Can I get out your back window?
Manny.
This isn't your fault.
It's... it's bad.
Like, stitches bad.
It's deeper than I thought.
The guy had one of those monogrammed wedding rings.
They're not gonna get away with this.
That's exactly what they're gonna do.
Manny, the cops in my mom's unit are like family to me.
They're gonna make this right.
You'll just have to trust me.
You, I trust.
The police, I don't.
When's the autopsy?
Medical staff already determined cause of death
as hypoxia secondary to pulmonary embolism.
A big blood clot in his lung, basically.
Saperstein suffocated.
He died from his injuries?
I don't think we'll ever know that.
Please tell me you can tie the plastic explosives
you logged and photographed
from Wozniak's storage unit to the ones in that bag.
Not unless they started tagging C-4 with serial numbers.
There's no cameras in the ICU.
It's a malpractice safeguard.
All we have is the circumstantial timing
of the bomb scare.
And Wozniak's admission to Harlee.
What admission?
The one your girl is gonna secure for us.
You promised.
- You promised me! - Keep your voice down!
Linda's sleeping. Quiet, please.
"We'll let God decide, Harlee."
I saw his immunity papers, Harlee.
Saperstein's name typed neatly across the top.
Did you ever consider
that maybe Saperstein didn't have a choice?
You don't know what they were threatening him with,
what kind of noose they were hanging around his neck.
He should have just come to me.
What do you think he was doing at the construction site?
Admitting betrayal.
He should have come to me
as soon as the Feds first approached him.
I would have found him a way out.
You promised me you wouldn't hurt him.
Harlee, I loved Saperstein too.
I miss him already.
Did I lie to you?
Yes.
But that only means it's entirely on me.
No, no, I promise.
I'm sorry. It's not about me.
I just can't tell her.
I just don't want her to get mad at me.
30?
Talking to someone?
Yeah, yeah... Um, Michaela.
I left my calc book at her house.
Did you sleep in your clothes?
Uh...
To call it "Sleep" Would be an overstatement.
What time did you get home last night?
Late.
Mom, what is it?
Um...
I, uh...
He...
Mom, I'm so sorry.
God, I just keep thinking...
What if it would have been you on that rooftop?
It wasn't.
I know how torn up everybody is
about what happened with Saperstein.
And I know it's even harder
wondering whether or not Saperstein was an informant.
But we can't trade everything that makes sense about the guy
for the one thing that doesn't.
He died a hero.
He died our friend.
Remember that.
What if the Feds are still onto us?
Just because Sap is gone,
doesn't mean we don't still have heat.
We don't know if there ever was heat.
None of us have been pinched.
And if the Feds reach out, then smile, nod, and come to me.
Only way through this is together.
Our job right now, today,
is to just get our heads straight.
Do whatever you got to do
to get on the other side of this.
He was a rat.
I'm not sure there is another side to that.
Like I said, do whatever you have to do.
Hey, Tufo.
Saperstein's body is being prepared for burial.
I need you to go to the morgue and hold his mother's hand.
She's gonna be looking for answers.
Answers I don't have, myself.
Just tell her that her son died a hero saving a kid.
All right.
Tess, come on. You're with me.
How you holding up?
A friend of mine died last night.
He didn't just die, Harlee.
He was murdered.
Twice.
By Wozniak.
I need you to confirm that for me.
Help me understand this misguided omertà
that compels you to protect a murderer.
I killed him.
You told me you weren't on that building when it happened.
No, but Saperstein was.
And if I hadn't agreed to be an informant,
if I would have just gone to Wozniak
right after you arrested me,
he wouldn't have been, either.
And you'd be in jail.
Or dead.
Beginning to wonder if that's not where I belong.
You didn't push him off.
No, but I got him there.
Okay?
This all begins and ends with me.
No. It began with Wozniak.
He's the reason I picked you up.
But, yeah, you're right, Harlee.
This is going to end with you.
And this will all end for you when we finally nail him.
Telling you what you want to hear
isn't gonna make it true.
You know it's true.
He's way beyond the larceny and intimidation
you've been justify as policing.
Ten years ago, he put an innocent man in jail.
I want to know why.
Why did Wozniak frame Miguel Zepeda?
You have proof of this,
or are we down to jailhouse conjecture?
I wouldn't call an eyewitness to the murder "Conjecture."
What witness?
This is a waste of time.
Five minutes longer. They'll be here.
Said every kid in Bed Stuy who ever tried to report a crime.
Look, here they are.
Hey, gorgeous.
- Hi. - Hey.
I'm so sorry about Saperstein.
Oh, thanks.
Thanks so much for coming.
You know I'd show up for you.
Um...
this is my friend Manny.
Hey, Lieutenant Wozniak. And this is Detective Nazario.
Wow, looks like you lost an argument
with a Louisville Slugger, huh?
Manny was at the park last night
with a couple of friends,
and two patrol officers started harassing him,
and he defended himself.
This is what they did.
Peace officers do a dance on your face like that,
they'd be forced to take you in.
Did they take you in, Manny?
They said I wasn't worth the paperwork.
Is there anything you're leaving out of this story?
Maybe any laws that were broken?
What about the laws those cops were breaking?
Did you get their names?
One of them was Hollister.
Couldn't see the other's badge
from under the boot he was kicking me with.
Manny...
I really got to say I told you so?
I'll call you later.
I told him you would help.
Cristina, I know you think you're doing the right thing,
but this is something you need to talk to your mom about.
I will.
Just not yet.
She doesn't know I'm seeing him.
That's them over there.
- Which one? - The one staring at your rack.
You, uh, Trestman and Hollister?
- Who's asking? - Lieutenant Wozniak.
From the 64th, right?
I heard one of your men took a tumble yesterday.
- My condolences. - Yeah, thank you.
Did you guys come across a Puerto Rican kid last night?
Try every night, Lieutenant.
This one was left with a shiner.
Oh, yeah, one of those bangers in the park.
Uh, drunk, high, throwing punches.
Punk got his ass whipped.
Someone left with one of his buddies.
Deal gone bad, probably.
Did you get a decent drug seizure out of it?
Why the concern?
We've just been seeing increased activity.
Uh, they were brawling when we got there.
A few guys took off running before anything changed hands.
We broke up the fight, couldn't give chase.
So neither of you have anything to do
with the kid being black-and-blue?
Our precinct's rough enough.
With all due respect, Lieutenant,
we don't have to go looking for trouble.
- Loman? - Yeah?
You seen Wozniak?
Uh, not since this morning, no.
He asked me to pack this up for Saperstein's mom.
Make sure there were no open files.
You know, his mom would probably let you keep something.
It's all she's got left.
Hey, is there anything I can do?
Yeah.
Fill out an application.
Homicide Division down at the 29th has a need.
It's not as much action, but you have the mind for it.
You want me out of your way.
No.
I just don't want you to lose yours.
Steer clear of it all, Loman.
If you ask me,
packing Saperstein's stuff's a waste of time.
You should just light a match to it.
You know what? Have a little respect.
He was our friend.
Yeah, well, the minute he started talking to the Feds,
I put him in the rearview.
You should do the same.
What if it was you, Tess?
What if the FBI was threatening to take your kids
if you didn't cooperate?
The FBI would never think I was weak enough
to approach in the first place.
Saperstein died to save a child.
Karma's a bitch.
- Well, someone here is. - Say it again?
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! - Bitch.
Ladies, come on, the bell rang.
Harlee, come here.
Go home.
Your emotions are a liability that we can't afford right now.
If you don't keep them in check, Harlee...
Or what?
You gonna throw me off a building?
Let's think very carefully about what we say next.
There's a witness.
A witness who saw Rita Martin get stabbed ten years ago.
A witness who knows that Miguel isn't the real murderer.
Miguel wasn't gonna let his shot at a retrial go
without a last-minute Hail Mary.
He probably conned a friend of his to lie for him.
It's not gonna last a minute in court.
No, this is real.
Nava told me that there's some woman who made a 911 call.
What if she saw Kovach at the scene?
Do you know about a witness, Woz?
You want the official answer?
The truth.
I can't protect you if I give it to you, Harlee.
You can't protect either one of us
if there's someone out there
who can say that Miguel didn't do it.
I took care of her.
It's not gonna touch you.
Oh, like you took care of Sap?
You know what?
This has never been about protection.
This is about leverage.
Leverage that started the night that you said
you'd help me frame Miguel.
I didn't see you put up much resistance!
I was young!
And vulnerable!
And alone!
And you saw a window to manipulate me.
Manipulate you to do what?
To do what?
You'd already framed him.
I saved your ass is what I did.
I saved it ten years ago, I saved it with Loman shooting,
I saved it at the construction site,
and I saved it last night!
Hell, I can make a career out of saving this whole crew.
No, the only career that you've made
is collecting disciples
to protect you from the world so you can play God.
Okay.
What're you doing?
Her name is Maxine Durden.
Another runaway.
She's a friend of the victim.
She saw the stabbing up close and personal.
I've been giving her $1,000 every other month
for ten years... My money.
That's the cost of her silence.
Her address is in there.
Now she's your problem.
And if I was using you to play God, trust me...
Between you and Saperstein,
I would've picked a crew that cost me a lot less.
Molly. Any word from the DA's office?
Not yet, but at least the receptionist hates me.
I've called three times.
Oh, forget it. I'll call Lincoln myself.
Oh, Lincoln's not prosecuting the Zepeda hearing.
The case was handed off to an ADA named...
James Nava.
He hasn't called me back, either.
Just like the last five clowns I've dated.
How well do you know this Manny kid?
Enough to know he's telling the truth.
We talked to the patrolmen.
They have a different recollection
of what happened last night.
I'm trying to get Manny to file a formal complaint.
Cristina, you got to understand this about men,
and particularly young men...
We'll say just about anything to impress a girl.
Why would Manny getting his ass kicked impress me?
He's embarrassed,
so he tells you some cops stomped on his face.
But some cops did stomp on his face.
I saw it.
Look, sometimes we see what we want to see.
No, literally. I was there.
You were at the park last night?
Yeah.
Watching two cops beat up my boyfriend.
You don't believe me.
All right, see it for yourselves, then.
All right, come here. Let's see this.
You kids have reading comprehension issues?
Sign says "Closed after dark."
Relax, man. We're not hurting anybody.
These block hoppers look old enough to drink?
Those aren't ours. We're just hanging.
Did I ask you a question, thuglet?
I was just trying to explain.
- On your knees. - Whoa, whoa...
- Ow! Ow! That's my arm, man! - Stop it, you're hurting him!
Do your parents know you're grinding with all these boys?
Maybe we should put that big mouth of yours
- to good use, huh? - Leave her alone.
She's got nothing to do with this.
- She just became a part of it. - You're not touching her!
Wrong move, hero.
Stop it! Don't hurt him!
- You like that? - Please! Please, someone...
Shut up, honey!
Get back to work, detective.
Not sure I got what it takes to do the job.
You got a desk.
That's a good start.
Oh, I never get invited to those, either.
Don't worry.
It's just a debate about what cell my mom wants me in.
Takes three cops for that?
When there's a video, yeah.
Stop it! Don't hurt him!
Please! Please, stop it!
What were they doing before the cops got there?
Nothing that deserved that response.
I'm really not in the mood.
You're even pretty when you cry.
Your mom's friend is a hero.
The doctors will do everything they can to save him.
You kids have reading comprehension issues?
Sign says "Closed after dark."
Relax, man. We're not hurting...
Why are there two people in this office
who have seen this before me?
Cristina was afraid to come to you.
Do me a favor.
Leave raising my kid to me, all right?
That doesn't sound like a thank you.
Wasn't meant to be!
You know, I don't even like you today,
and I'm still trying to help with your kid.
It's not your job!
And if you want to help, get me their badges.
How about a face-to-face with their captain?
No. I'll handle it.
Suit yourself, Harlee.
Whatever you want.
Hey, Harlee.
You know, it's not something we just grow out of, you know?
Making mistakes.
Don't let her think she failed.
What if this was your son, Tess?
What would you have wanted me to do?
At the end of the day?
I'd rather him come to you than no one at all.
Oh, hey, boss?
I was gonna go down to headquarters,
pull some warrants,
see who's active in our precincts.
Who told you to do that?
Nobody tells me anything.
I really have to worry about your feelings today?
You're right. Not the time.
Loman, you know what? Come on.
Come on, you're with me.
You can go closer, if you'd like.
Gives me a measure of peace, seeing the body.
It's so evident the soul has departed.
He's still with us.
I can feel it.
Jews don't normally have a viewing,
but I'm allowing for one tonight...
for his friends.
There was a man in a suit outside his hospital room.
He looked like one of those people
David ran from at the house.
I know he did something wrong.
No, no.
He was a good man, Mrs. Saperstein.
Good man.
Before he left the house,
David told me that he had been caught doing some bad things...
But that he could still do one good one.
He did.
Shh.
You're okay.
I'm gonna have you fax those files to the office...
James Nava? James Nava?
I'm sorry, I'm David Simkins, DA's Ethics Office.
I'm investigating the voracity of a complaint against you
for inappropriate conduct.
Can we have a minute?
Go on in.
A complaint made by whom?
Are you currently...
Carrying on a physical relationship
with a Detective Harlee Santos?
You want to talk inappropriate?
How about we start with that question?
Detective Santos works under the direct supervision
of Lieutenant Wozniak, the lead investigator
on the Miguel Zepeda murder case.
I'm representing the State's interest.
My acquaintance with Detective Santos
has no bearing.
So you're saying that she hasn't expressed opinions
that could potentially... bias you?
You have a curfew for your protection.
I'm a cop.
I see every day how easily things
can get out of control at that hour.
If something happened to you, I couldn't handle it.
Look, nothing got out of control
until those cops started harassing us.
Have they been arrested yet?
It's a little more complicated than that, baby.
If Manny beat up some kid like that,
he'd have a mug shot by now.
Well, they're cops, okay?
So it's political.
But they'll get what's coming to them, Cristina.
That's not what you and I need to be talking about right now.
There are more important things on that video
than your daughter smoking pot.
Not to me!
Manny's right.
You're protecting them.
Absolutely not!
We should have put that video online.
Has anyone else seen it?
Cristina, have you sent it to anyone?
- Not yet! - Not ever!
- You're covering this up? - I'm protecting you.
If that goes viral,
everyone in America sees you smoking weed.
If it gets those cops punished, who cares?
Uh, colleges.
Future employers.
This is about the rest of your life.
That matters to me.
Good guys take down bad guys.
That should also matter.
It's what I thought you did.
I do.
Just not when it's another cop.
I told you, it's just...
You told me it's complicated
and it's political
and they'll get what's coming to them.
None of that sounds like an arrest.
Cristina, sit down. We're not done.
No.
We're both just disappointed.
Trading me to the 57th?
Not without this.
You want to tell me why Saperstein had your gun?
He traded it with me.
After I shot Jamarr.
I thought it was bad luck.
Turns out I was right.
The only thing I know about bad luck
is that it's got to be overcome.
- Alan. - Hey, how are you?
- Good. - It's so good to see you.
Long time.
This is a new guy in my unit, Michael Loman.
Captain Hollister.
Oh, wait a minute, you're the newbie that
popped his cherry on that dealer.
What brings you down?
Beat cop gave a shellacking to an unarmed minor.
Guy's got a hard-on for minority kids.
He thinks the long arm of the law is a right hook.
- My nephew. - Yeah.
I thought I'd give you a chance
to maybe suggest a new line of work.
Well, I'll give the kid a talking to,
but, uh... you and I both know
there's a lot of men in uniform who bend the rules.
Not this rule.
It's good to see you again, Matt.
It's good to see you.
You knew he wasn't gonna do anything.
Yeah.
Families protect their own.
So do we.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Cristina's video.
It was her friend the nephew beat up?
Ha.
You've come to me before about your concerns
with cops failing the community.
Now I'm coming to you for help.
Well, it sounds like it's so late.
I've got this rookie in my unit.
A real do-gooder pain in the ass.
But he's got a big heart,
and you know what he would say to me?
"It's never too late for justice."
Right?
Okay.
- So what's that next step? - Ah.
I need you to have a conversation.
Okay.
I've been an attorney for 15 years.
No one's ever questioned my judgment.
Till now.
Who's questioning you?
David Simkins.
What, you want me to bring him in?
He's on the Ethics Committee.
Someone made a complaint suggesting I'm no longer
acting in the best interest of Miguel Zepeda's case,
implying I may be getting manipulated.
Who made the complaint?
Does that really matter?
No.
What matters is what kind of person you think I am.
I can't remember a time we've been together
Miguel's name hadn't come up.
You tell me...
tell me this isn't about getting close to the guy
who can keep your ex put away.
It might've started out that way, but...
it's turned into so much more.
I can't be a part of the case anymore.
I told you about Miguel from day one.
That didn't have you running for the door.
You're only making my point, Harlee.
Look, you want to know what kind of person I am?
Fine.
I don't do vulnerable.
I can't afford to.
And I don't let people in.
But you were the exception.
I'm wondering if the exception
was gonna be whoever got the case file.
Well, thank you...
for coming all the way here just to make me feel like a whore.
Back so soon.
Your office said you wouldn't be back from Napa till Monday.
I hope you bought me a nice chardonnay.
Sounds like you drank it already.
Or maybe I have the wrong David Simkins.
I hear there's two.
Invade my personal life again, and I swear...
Your personal life doesn't interest me, Harlee.
What does is how often it seems to intersect
with my investigation.
Then why go to Nava?
He can't help your case.
I was pursuing an angle on Zepeta.
Please! You were indulging a fantasy.
And I discovered that the ADA handling his case
turns out to be the same one that's handling you.
And you're welcome for covering up why I was there, by the way.
Barely containing my gratitude.
You know, why don't you answer this for me, Harlee?
Did you ask for Nava's help after you let him screw you,
or is that just how you say thank you?
You know the most disturbing part, Harlee?
I can't tell if sleeping with Nava was your idea or Wozniak's.
Wozniak has nothing to do with this.
Yeah.
I wonder if you even know anymore.
Our immunity agreement does not cover this, Harlee.
You're going down a road that ends
with your daughter reading a headline
about how mom went from taking payoffs
to aiding in official misconduct.
You don't know anything about the roads I've been down.
Maybe not.
But I know that I've never seen you sinking this low.
You've also never seen me covered in bruises.
You've never seen me at the bottom of the stairs
where I landed,
praying to God
that I didn't just lose my baby.
Miguel was my boyfriend.
He worked me like a speed bag for two years,
long before I was ever a cop.
There is...
There is nothing in your file
about any kind of domestic abuse.
'Cause I never pressed charges.
I framed him instead.
Why?
He never would've stopped.
He habitually beats you and you do nothing,
and suddenly you frame him for murder?
I reached a breaking point.
No.
You were protecting somebody else.
Cristina is Miguel's daughter, isn't she?
I had to keep him away from her.
I was afraid for her life.
I still am.
Well, I can't intervene on a habeas appeal, Harlee.
But if you help me find another way to nail Wozniak...
I won't pursue anything else involving Miguel Zepeda.
How's that for human decency?
Thank you.
I won't forget this.
Time to choose a new road.
You got your ideas how to protect your own.
I got mine.
I don't think they're so different.
They're world's apart; trust me.
Yeah, well, they didn't use to be.
Somewhere in all of this, we got off track.
I... got off track.
When I first began all this, I had one reason driving me:
dealing out justice to those who can't find it on their own.
I want to get back to that.
I'm not sure we can.
We might have lost that right last night.
Well, maybe we could earn it back now.
Hollister and Trestman, right?
I'm not sure.
We left our name tags in the locker room.
Detective Loman, 64th precinct.
Two visits from the 64th in one day.
- Here, have a shot. - Oh, no, no, no.
I'm on duty through happy hour, boys.
Well, we're not.
No, we already told your Lt. What happened,
so if the mouthy Rican has a complaint,
just tell him to file it.
Along with the video?
See, I thought I'd give you guys the opportunity
to amend your recollection.
That recording goes public,
it threatens the way we do the job.
Okay? Things get dangerous.
Why don't you down your shot, get back to your precinct
before things get "Dangerous."
That's how it starts.
Looks like they already are. Huh?
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Settle down.
We're cops.
We'll take it outside.
No video cameras around to help you.
No, he's got a few witnesses, though.
What the hell?
So this is justice?
No, this is, "There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, Harlee."
Loman shouldn't be here.
We got a hole to fill.
You think nobody cares?
- You think you got protection? - Not from us!
Heard you like to pick on people weaker than you.
Hey, hey, hey!
Gotta hope you're smarter than that.
We get word of anything like this again,
every banger looking to take out a racist cop
is gonna know your names.
You understand me?
Your uncle's gonna see that as a liability.
Harlee, you got anything to add?
You're members of the New York City Police Department.
Do right by your city.
God knows the last thing it needs is another dirty cop.
Yeah.
Mom, he's not doing anything wrong.
Not then, and not now.
Look, I know you had a lot of questions today,
and I didn't have a lot of answers.
But you have to trust me.
Those cops won't be doing that to anybody ever again.
I promise.
Hey, you.
Come here.
Please don't embarrass him.
He's been through enough.
You can always come to me...
for anything.
The biggest mistake you made in all this
was thinking you couldn't.
Hello, Officer Santos.
My name's Manny Puentes.
Hi, Manny.
I feel like I already know you.
The video?
Right. Um...
- I'm really sorry... - For what?
Drinking? Smoking?
Sneaking out at night with my daughter?
I mean, I just saw a lot of things on that tape
that a teenage boy should be sorry for.
Mom.
- It's okay. - You know what else I saw?
I saw a guy who didn't hesitate to defend my daughter.
Who put himself in danger so that she didn't get hurt.
Guy like that deserves a second chance.
Thank you, ma'am.
Do any of it again,
and I'll put your ass in an 8x10
just to keep the two of you apart.
Got me?
- Yeah. - Okay.
Curfew's still 11:00.
September 21st, that's your birthday.
Same as last year.
The hell's this?
Oh, you got us Mets tickets?
Saperstein did.
They were in his desk.
"Dear Tess...
"I know you are going through some stuff.
"Thought the tickets might help.
"It's impossible to dwell on life's problems
"When you're sitting at the ballpark.
"So I'm not great at talking it out...
"Or advice in general,
"But this is what I got:
"Life never turns out the way we expect it to.
"Don't let anyone tell you things happen for a reason.
"They don't.
"Things happen because they happen.
"And we do the best we can to make them right.
"If we're lucky, we have friends who understand that...
"Or don't need to.
"Most people, maybe, have one of those.
"I know you've got at least five.
"Your friend and partner,
Saperstein."
Here.
What's this?
It's a little help.
I will make this right.
I promise.
How do you know where I live?
He did it.
Wozniak killed Saperstein.
Okay. Come in.
He told you that?
Okay, well, I got to call Baker...
See what our next move is.
I already know what it is.
Get me a wire.