Directed by: Jace Alexander
Written by: Wendy Battles
During a visit to New York City, Hiroshi Yoshida, a Japanese nightclub owner (played by Will Yun Lee) is shot and his wife Tamiko is killed. Yoshida says they were robbed at gunpoint by a young Black man, but it soon becomes apparent that this story doesn't add up. Evidence connects Bobby Ito, who has Yakuza connections, to the shooting. Briscoe and Green think the Yakuza put out a hit on Yoshida and he was too scared to tell the truth.
Yoshida returns to Japan, where he issues a press statement that New York City is lawless and dangerous. Meanwhile Bobby claims that Yoshida hired him as a hitman to kill Tamiko and make it look like a robbery. Witness evidence supports Bobby's statement that he and Yoshida met in a restaurant to plan the murder. It further turns out that Yoshida has collected on a large insurance policy he took out on Tamiko - conveniently paying off his vast debts.
The prosecutors fail to have Yoshida extradited to the USA. So Branch hosts a press conference where he states that the police have a suspect and would like Yoshida to return to New York City. Yoshida does, and is promptly arrested for Tamiko's murder. After his lawyer fails to get the charges dropped on the grounds of Yoshida being deceived, he then tries to argue that all potential jurors will be too biased because Yoshida falsely accused a Black suspect. Nevertheless, the trial goes ahead in a different location.
Yoshida maintains his story that Tamiko's murder was a hit by the Yakuza. He denies that he wanted the life insurance to repay his debts. Branch won't allow a plea bargain even though McCoy warns the jury could be hung. Yoshida is convicted, but McCoy is upset that Yoshida has still put Black citizens at risk.
This episode contains examples of:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Lt. Van Buren asks D.A. Branch, "Have you ever been stopped for driving in the wrong neighborhood?"
- Exact Words: For all the grief Branch takes over his news conference, he never lies once during it. He says they have a suspect, he shows a composite and says it's a picture of the person they've been looking for based on what Yoshida told them, and he says they want Yoshida to come to New York City. All 100% true.
- Gone Horribly Right: Hiroshi Yoshida's lawyer tries to use the fact his client badmouthed New York City as a way to get a change of venue. He subsequently gets dragged before a new jury with no locale bias, who subsequently convict him.
- Jurisdiction Friction: Done between McCoy and the Japanese government. They would like to try Yoshida for his wife's murder in Japan even though the murder took place in New York City. McCoy knows Japan doesn't have "conspiracy" as a crime like America does.
- Meaningful Name: "Gaijin" means "outsider" or "alien" in Japanese. It is a term, often used in a negative or pejorative context, for foreigners and non-Japanese.
- Motivational Lie: Branch wants to use Hiroshi Yoshida's lie against him to lure him back to America.
- Plea Bargain: Arthur Branch rejects a plea offer from Yoshida's lawyer.McCoy: Olson called. They're willing to plead to murder two.
Branch: Yeah, well, tell him he's got a better chance of catching a bat in a fly trap. - Politically Incorrect Villain: According to Bobby, Yoshida claimed that they'd get away with the murder because Black people commit so much crime in New York City that the police would believe the excuse.
- Racial Face Blindness: Yoshida claims in his defence that the Chinese-American waitress who saw him in the restaurant with Bobby cannot tell Japanese people apart.
- Raised by Grandparents: Bobby Ito was, after his father (also in the Yakuza) was killed.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The episode is based on the Kazuyoshi Miura and Charles Stuart cases. Miura was a Japanese businessman who arranged for the murder of his wife in Los Angeles, California, which also involved him being shot in the leg; he was motivated by collecting life insurance. Stuart personally murdered his pregnant wife, shot himself in the stomach, and claimed that a black man did the shootings during a robbery gone wrong; he was also motivated by collecting life insurance.
- Truth in Television: Branch tells McCoy that Japanese "don't have a close relationship with the word 'no.'" Culturally, Japanese people tend to prefer very indirect ways of saying "no," out of concern for offending the person they are refusing. See here: https://cotoacademy.com/how-to-say-no-in-japanese/
for more. - What the Hell, Hero?: The characters are uncertain about Branch using Hiroshi Yoshida's lie (that a black man shot him and his wife) to get him back to America.
- With Due Respect: Lt. Van Buren talks to D.A. Branch. Van Buren isn't Branch's junior and does respect Branch, but she is uncertain about his scheme to get a Japanese suspect back to America. Branch says on the news an African-American suspect was caught, using the Japanese suspect's lie against him. Branch understands Van Buren's unease.Van Buren: With all due respect, sir, I find this approach troubling.
Branch: It's okay. We're out of options. We gotta get this guy back here to answer for what he did.
Van Buren: I understand that, sir. But let me ask you something. Have you ever been stopped for driving in the wrong neighborhood?
Branch: No.
Van Buren: Well, I have. And what the public just saw was another black face connected to a terrible crime.
Branch: I hear what you're saying, Lieutenant, but I really think that this will work. The truth will come out, and everybody will know that he lied about what happened.
Van Buren: And if it doesn't?
Branch: Well, I guess the people of New York City will get a chance to weigh in on that next election. - You No Take Candle: Yoshida speaks this way due to his poor command of English.
