If you would like to read a recap of last week’s episode, click here. This series relies on the chemistry between Murtaugh and Riggs. The case of the week might not always be there but their relationship often makes up for it. If this series if one thing, it’s fun to watch. Relationship aside, the action is good and it is great to learn more about these characters over time. Every episode so far has been a combination of either of the three but has yet to be great at all three. This episode begins to veer in that direction.
The episode starts off with a kid having fun with his dad at a beach. He then gets a text from someone wanting to meet him ASAP. He heads back to his room where a man tells him that they have a problem. The man shoots him.
Riggs is having dreams about Miranda where she’s in a shower asking him to join her. The sound of the shower happens to be the sound of a stray dog peeing on the floor of his trailer. Roger has his house to himself and his baby. He thinks he’s going to have a great weekend but he learns that the nanny can’t come over because she has food poisoning. He tells the baby that they’re going to try and make it work.
Riggs falls asleep on the couch in Cahill’s office. He brings up his sleeping problems and his recent dreams. He then gets called away on a case. Roger arrives and has his baby in a carrier. They find the body of the man from earlier dropped in a suitcase in public. They believe it was meant as a message. While Roger is talking, Riggs wanders off and notices some people acting strangely. Roger hands the baby to Sonya and goes to Riggs. They meet a family called the Hongs who were the parents of the victim’s friend at their shop. They tell them that the victim was not involved in drugs. Roger leans into a wall but gets some wet paint on his shoulder.
Riggs wants to look into crate because he suspects there to be some sort of drug smuggling operation going on. Riggs notices stuffed bunnies being loaded into a truck and decides to chase after it and manages to hold onto a chain hanging from the back. He goes on a wild ride until Roger pulls in front of the truck and traps it. The driver runs out and they both chase him. A DEA agent named Karen Palmer (Hilarie Burton) stops Riggs claiming that he is interfering in her investigation.
Back in Avery’ office the three of them bicker but Avery is on Roger and Riggs’ side. They did not do anything wrong and they are not interfering in her investigation. Palmer wants them out of the way but Avery orders them not to stand down until he gets authorization from someone higher up than her. Scorsese informs Roger that he found paint in the victim scalp that Roger noticed matched the paint on his shoulder from earlier which connects him to the Hong shop.
Roger and Riggs go back to the shop at night without a warrant. Riggs shoots the possible fake wall and runs into wall. Behind it, Riggs doesn’t find drugs but instead finds ninety million dollars. Avery holds a press conference announcing the seizure. Back in Avery’ office, Riggs figures out that the hongs were peso brokers. Palmer reveals that she was not interesting in drugs but rather the money that the Hongs were laundering. Palmer accused them of scaring them off but they escaped before the money was found.
Scorsese traces sand on the victim to the location where he died. Roger notices the way Riggs and Palmer look at each other and hints that there may be something there. At the resort, they find the hitman on security footage and also find that he has a rental car which they can track. As they were driving, Roger apologizes for earlier and adds it to the long list of things they don’t talk about.
They eventually find the hitman who happened to also find Palmer who was transporting the Hongs. While the hitman was shooting at them, Riggs pushes his car into there’s to get them out of the line of fire. The hitman gets away and Riggs checks up on Palmer. She begins to learn about Riggs’ craziness by wondering why he would ever do that in the first place.
Riggs is interrogating one of the Hongs when Palmer comes in. He deliberately mislead her so he can have him to himself. She and him fight over who should do the interrogation. Roger talks to the parents who tell him that their children were doing it to help their struggling business and that they didn’t know who they were working for. They point them to a fashion buyer for the cartel named Bambi Mortenstern (Megan Stevenson). The three of them fight over what course of action to take but then decide to run surveillance on her. They decide to take shifts with Roger being last so he can have a bender while he still has the house to himself.
Palmer and Riggs are on the stakeout and are not quite getting along. Roger is trying to call people over to his house but no one seems interested. Riggs falls asleep and has more dreams of Miranda. Roger arrives in the morning with party food that no one ate because no one came to his bender. Palmer wants them to wait for an opening but Riggs doesn’t wait and goes in pretending to be someone wanting to buy a bag for his wife. Palmer comes in later to play his wife. While they embrace, she plants a bug in one of the bags.
Back at the station, Riggs needs Cruz for something. Palmer comes back to check on Roger but he still has nothing on Bambi. Palmer wonders about Riggs’ wife. Cruz comes in and pretends to be a gangster to spook Bambi. When he leaves, she panics and calls for a meeting with someone. Riggs pulls another bug out of Palmer’s hair and decides to go after Bambi. He hides in her trunk.
She meets with the hitman but he notices something wrong with the trunk. He begins to shoot at it while trying to convince whoever was inside to drop their gun and get out. Riggs gets out. Roger and Palmer get there and find a bug in the empty truck. Bambi and the hitman are in another location where Riggs is now hanging upside down. Bambi starts to complain and he shoots her.
Palmer and Roger figure things out and get ready to go after them again. The hitman tortures riggs because he wants to know how many do they have. He keeps dumping Riggs’ head underwater but he doesn’t understand the question so he doesn’t know. While being dunked, he has more visions of Miranda. He tells the hitman that he wants to die. He clarifies his question by asking how many of his operations are compromised. Riggs still doesn’t know.
As soon as he threatens Roger, Riggs manages to break free and fights the hitman who then runs away. Once Riggs gets to the street, it appears to be clear until the hitman shows up and has him cornered. He says that he’s going to give him what he wants. Palmer and Roger find them and they manage to hit them with their car.
Riggs meets with Cahill who is there late. He tells her about the visions. She’s glad he’s there. She tells him that he needs to connect to other people to help. Palmer asks him out. She tries to compare her situation to his and tells him that she was divorced and that there’s a way through everything. She updates him on cartel operations which are everywhere but now there’s one less.
Riggs visits Roger and brings beer for his bender and the stray dog. They are passed out oh the couch and the dog pees in front of the TV.
Overall, this was the best episode of the season so far, clicking on all cylinders with the Roger and Riggs relationship on full display here, the action was tame compared to other episodes but was still exciting, and we got to learn more about them, specifically Riggs. His journey has been the most compelling part of the season and Clayne Crawford has shown a lot of range so far this season showing us Riggs’ ups and downs. The case of the week was good too as we got to meet a worthy addition in Agent Palmer. This show is definitely proving itself.
Score: 8.5/10
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*Note: These may come later on certain weeks as this show airs on the same day where I attend advanced screenings*
The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
