A shooting in a pizzeria full of cops results in three dead officers and one clinging to life. Rebecca Ramos also managed to get off a few shots. Lupo and Bernard talk to her husband, who had suspected she was having an affair and followed her to spy on her. It turns out that she and her partner were meeting with an informant. The shooter, Calvin Stokes claims that two of the cops wanted him to inform on big fish and even offered to put him in the payroll; when he refused, they threatened to put his mother in jail. Despite a log that is evidence of Ramos indeed pressuring Stokes, Cutter makes a case for him being more interested in getting his worth. Stokes is found guilty of all four counts.
Tropes present in this episode
- Call-Back: McCoy says that he already witnessed an execution and does not want to see another. That was back in "Aftershock".
- Cop Killer: Calvin Stokes. He only meant to kill two; the other two were not involved.
- It's Personal: As is the usual with a Cop Killer case. The problems arise when the detectives and prosecutors have to examine the deceased officers for why they may have been targeted, causing internal friction amidst the different groups of the NYPD.
- Jurisdiction Friction: A hearing is held to determine whether the feds can take over the case. The judge's decision allows Cutter to take the case back.
- Warts and All: Ramos's husband hands her log book to Bernard and Lupo. They are reluctant to hand it over since it's evidence that Ramos was pressuring Stokes. Van Buren knows they don't want to make a fellow cop look bad, but lets them have it:"Okay, well what about me? If I’m not ever around, you gonna turn me into a retroactive saint? Go through my office and clean out my nasty habits? Tell the world how sweet I was all the time? Look, she was a cop, she wanted to be a detective, she made some mistakes, honest good faith mistakes, but she made some mistakes. Get over it."
