So earlier in the series, they introduced Danny, Commander Guziewicz’s adopted son. This episode? All about him.
Apparently, Danny’s been having nightmares of the day his parents were murdered. He goes to talk to Milt to get him to reopen the case, since he knows Guziewicz would immediately shut the whole thing down if she found out. He has doubts that the man who was convicted actually killed his parents.
Over a game of one on one basketball, he tells Milt that he missed a check in with his parole officer the previous week. While he was in the holding cell waiting for his arraignment, he overheard a man rehearsing for his parole hearing, and it just happens to be the man that got put away for the murder of his parents. Danny talked to him, finding out that he’d been up for parole twice before, and all he needed to be set free was to show remorse. Both times, the man maintained his innocence.
Milt goes to see the guy, named Clarence, in prison. He tells Milt that at the time of the murders, he was selling drugs to a white guy with wavy hair and a stupid mustache nicknamed Prelude Pete, due to the fact that he drove a white Honda Prelude. Milt recognizes that this will be a wild goose chase, considering that the murders happened almost twenty years ago.
Milt talks to Councilman Pritchett (?), since he was the detective that responded to the homicide. Milt learns they didn’t really run down the lead on Prelude Pete, and tainted Danny’s testimony. As Milt leave the Councilman’s office, Guziewicz confronts him about reopening the investigation behind her back.
Milt and Russ head off to find the owner of the Prelude. The discussion turns from Russ wondering why Milt took the case, to how much Russ hates Pritchett. Apparently, when Pritchett ran the department, he treated Russ like crap.
The B plot of this episode revolves around a background check Jacocks offers to do on Holly’s new boyfriend. It ultimately turns up that Holly has a sealed juvenile record. White joins up with Jacocks to find out what she did, discovering through a classmate that the incident involved a baseball bat and a guy that did something to a friend of hers.
Milt and Russ track down the owner of the Prelude. Turns out that Prelude Pete had been given the car by his older brother, Joseph, when Joseph went off to college. The lead goes nowhere, however, due to the fact that Prelude Pete had sung his epilogue in 2002.
They head over to the motel Danny and his parents were living in when they were killed. Danny followed them there, and they send him away. The owner tells them that Danny’s mother, Rosalee, had been working as a live in maid. Things were on the up and up, until Clarence got involved. The owner’s wife thinks that some kid named Eli might have done it.
Milt and Russ go back to their car to find that Danny busted a window to look at the case file, with the excuse that it contained the first pictures he’d ever seen of his parents. Russ tells him that if he wanted pictures, these were the wrong ones to look at, offering to find ones that don’t feature his parents covered in blood. Russ tells him to go home; Milt thinks he’s being hard on Danny, that they should tell him what they found out. Russ argues that it’s ultimately better than taking Danny on an emotional rollercoaster ride.
Russ returns to the station to find Pritchett telling everyone about his rookie escapades. Apparently, Russ had an embarrassing incident involving a turtle on a golf course. Russ informs him that they found the owner of the Prelude, and his mistakes may have put an innocent man behind bars. Pritchett tells Russ that the reason he hates him is due to the fact that he treated him like crap, because he’s a hothead.
They meet with Eli, only to find that he was unlikely for the murders. He apparently owes everything he has now to the inspiration he got from Rosalee. He tells them that she had become a prostitute to make ends meet.
I’m gonna skip to highlights, here. Eli tells them that the owner of the motel, Mr. Patel, is who he’d look at. Apparently, Rosalee was getting free room and board in return for sex. Russ finds Danny strung out, and gives him an actual photo of his parents. They haul Patel in and he almost cracks, before lawyering up.
I won’t spoil the major revelations of the episode. I have to say that Rotimi, the actor that plays Danny, turns in an excellent performance in this episode. Character-wise, Guziewicz finally begins to open up to Danny, which goes a long way towards explaining why she’s acted the way she has towards him. It’s probably not a terribly good episode to start watching the series on, though.
Final Thoughts:
- Russ’s car is a broken down, rusted out shit box. And it is hilarious.
- Funk and Nibblet only show up in group shots, and have no lines in this episode.
- I love how Meredith Eaton’s character hates Russ so much she won’t even tell him her findings.
- Pritchett is an asshole.
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