If you would like to read a recap of last week’s episode, click here. The relationship between Roger and Riggs is what makes this series fun to watch. Of course it wouldn’t always be perfect for them as they would inevitably face challenges along the way. It can’t be all action all the time either, allowing time for things to slow down so we can better know the characters. This episode gave us a welcome change of pace while still doing what the series does well.
The episode starts off with Roger at the barbershop. He might not live around there anymore but it’s still worth it for him as it reminds him of his old neighborhood. The other patrons tease him about who he’s become in his new neighborhood. Roger’s son Roger Jr. (Dante Brown) is also there and has fun with it. One of RJ’s old friends named Marcus (DeRon Horton) shows up, trying to sell some bootleg movies.
Riggs is on a beach, doing laundry with a tap and then Dr. Cahill shows up with a surfboard because she surfs. She tells him that he look homeless and that he should go to the laundromat and he says he doesn’t because he likes the view. On the way home RJ talks to Roger about how much he misses his old neighborhood. Riggs shows up at Roger’s and asks Trish if he looks homeless, she says no but he looked scruffy. She gets a call and asks Riggs to feed the baby. He starts eating the food to show that it’s okay.
On their way back, Roger gets a call about a break-in a few blocks near his house and then asks RJ to get out of the car. Once there, we see two burglars. One was very big and the other very small. Riggs shows up since he was in the area. He wants to storm in but Roger wants to wait for backup. The burglars spot them and escape. A car chase ensues with Roger apologizing to his neighbors for the damage. Once their van crashes into a garage, they get on motorcycles and escape, not before Riggs shoots the smaller one.
Back at the station, Roger takes the incident personally and wants to be put on the case. Cruz gets transferred to their unit which creates some resentment from Sonya as she believes he doesn’t deserve to be there. We learn that the bigger burglar is actually named Black Hulk/Rajon Phillips (Melvin Tenner). They find an old video of his and go to the gym where it was shot.
When Roger and Riggs get there, they look around and eventually get to the locker room where Phillips is showering. After a well placed dick joke (that was in the promo), they ask him to put on some clothes and come with them. Once he refuses, he fights both of them. He seemed like more of a match for them but after some teamwork and a few taser shots, they take him down.
Back at the station, Roger and Riggs interrogate him to crack by insulting him. This was fun to watch because of the contrast in their sizes. Riggs is surprised that Roger had a change of clothes ready so quickly and that Captain Avery also had clothes ready. This just continued the episode’s recurring laundry joke.
Roger and Riggs are in Roger’s old neighborhood where they talk to his old basketball coach Marshawn Wiley (Shashawnee Hall). This seemingly goes nowhere but they learn that one of the sponsors is the same company matching the burglar’s van. They spot the smaller guy from earlier and they take him down.
RJ is hanging out with Marcus and they get pulled over. RJ hand the cop his dad’s information and the cop lets them go. Marcus gets called for other work and leaves RJ behind. We learn that the smaller guy is named Boogie (Mychal Thompson) and that he works for the cable company. Roger and Riggs get transferred a 911 call from a woman named Haley (Molly Cerne) who is being robbed. Riggs tries to comfort her but when she gets out of the closet, she gets shot.
When Roger and Riggs get there, they find her dead and the burglars are gone. At the station, they learn that this robbery was different from the other ones since this victim was a lot less wealthy than the others. Riggs comforts Haley’s sister Naomi (Jeannine Kaspar). He learns that nobody knew she was out or had access to her house.
RJ calls Riggs and asks to get picked up since he’s stuck in a bad neighborhood. Riggs is hesitant but decides to pick him up anyway. Roger runs into Naomi and learns that she drives a tesla that she got from the dealership she works for which could lead others to believe that she was rich. Riggs tells RJ that he won’t cover for him and that he’d had to tell his parents what had happened.
Roger discovers that the connection between the victims was the valets from the places they went. They would see expensive cars, leading them to believe that the people were rich and then they would send their addresses to a robbery crew. The cop who pulled RJ over runs into Roger and tells him what happened, leading him to call Trish and then learns that Riggs picked RJ up. Roger got upset with Riggs since he was so scared of what could have happened to RJ while being pulled over the police.
We learn that Marcus is a valet with the same service connected to the robberies. Roger calls Marcus but when a bad guy sees Marcus’ phone, he takes him. We also learn that the valet company is owned by Wiley. Marcus is being taken to a robbery. Roger still hasn’t forgiven Riggs but they go the valet stand anyway and Roger grills a few of them where one eventually gives them the address of where they were going.
The homeowners surprisingly show up, forcing Marcus into a situation where he had to kill them. Fortunately, Roger and Riggs show up and dispatch of all the burglars except for a situation where Marcus points a gun at Roger. Roger convinces him to pull the gun down but Wiley is there and shoots Marcus.
At the hospital, Trish takes RJ to see Marcus and comforts Roger who was worried that it could have been RJ getting shot and maybe killed. She tells him that bad stuff can happen in any neighborhood. Riggs shows up but then leaves when he sees Roger.
Avery thanks them for having solved the case but painfully asks them to get over their differences so they can go back to being themselves. He forces them to go to a joint therapy session with Dr. Cahill where they start to show some progress when they try to say nice things about each other. Riggs likes Roger’s baldness and Roger thinks Riggs’ moustache look okay sometimes.
Riggs goes to the barbershop with Roger where they continue to tease each other and Roger tells them to take care of Riggs since he was family.
Overall, this was another fun episode which dialed back on the action and focused more on the Roger and Riggs relationship. While the case was menial, it still affected each of them on a personal level which was what made it compelling and fun to watch.
Score: 8/10
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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.
