Shades of Blue – The Hollow Crown

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

Harlee (Jennifer Lopez) is found kneeling at Nava’s (Gino Anthony Pesi) side, still mourning at the scene of the crime. Tes (Drea de Matteo) is by her side, attempting to calm her enough for the body to be transported. Wozniak (Ray Liotta) watches from the sidelines until she approaches him. He makes her a promise to find and punish Nava’s murderer, but Harlee insists that she’s the reason he’s dead. Carlos (Vincent Laresca), Tess and Wozniak are a chorus of support, insisting that she is not responsible; before making themselves responsible for finding Nava’s killer. The shock begins to set in for Harlee. There are things she’s needs to do. She has to tell Cristina and she has to tell the FBI that she saw Stahl.

The street of NYC are strangely quiet for the night and Harlee traverses through them until the sun comes up. At last she finds herself at home. Cristina (Sarah Jeffery) is in the kitchen making breakfast when Harlee enters. She wastes no time in telling Cristina the troublesome news. Nava was a good man, one who impacted Cristina almost as much as he did Harlee. Meanwhile, Wozniak and his crew are on a mission to find Nava’s killer. Their investigation takes them to the apartment of an ex-con named Stretch. They find his body hanging in the bathroom. The signs don’t make any sense. They quickly find defensive wounds on the suspect. A set up. Wozniak addresses the crew, insisting that they need to cover it up in order to protect Harlee. If she finds out that Stretch’s death was a cover up, she’ll direct her anger at Ramsey (Bruce McGill) in a fight she will not win.

Harlee barges into Director Baker’s (Leslie Silva) office at the FBI to tell her about Stahl’s appearance. Director Baker and fellow FBI agent Meyers insist that Harlee’s sightings are the product of fear and illusion. Harlee pushes past Meyers on her way out. She’s alone. Marcus and Tess, on the other hand, are not. They’re waiting for a small-time criminal to pick up and help them with their investigation/cover up. Carlos and Loman (Dayo Okeniyi) are at the station, discussing the coverup when Harlee enters the facility. She’s still a tiny ball of rage after her failed encounter with the FBI and demands answers on why the unit blocked her out of their murder case.

Wozniak meets up with Ramsey to confront him about Stretch’s death, with a side of Nava’s murder. Ramsey speaks in riddles telling Wozniak that if Harlee had played nice, Nava would still be alive. Ramsey says that he makes his own advantage and he will not give Quince to Wozniak. They deal they made with one another expired. Harlee goes to the morgue with Loman, first to examine Stretch’s body, and later, to say goodbye to Nava’s. The evidence bag containing his belongings sits across the room from him. Harlee moves through his personal items, touching first his watch and then his cell phone. She turns his cracked phone on, and a message instantly comes through from him to her phone. A series of numbers; case files…or a code? This sends Harlee into a fury all the way to Nava’s place with Loman following her close behind. Harlee makes a desperate attempt to get into Nava’s safe. The number don’t work. Frustrated, Harlee sends Loman downstairs and gives herself time to think of him.

Tess has gone out on her own, running criminals for some extra cash when she witnesses her passenger get shot down. Her patrol car is then circled by gun-toting criminals who want her cash. When she rejects their not-so-polite offer, they assault her. Tess is next seen back at the station with a back of ice soothing her new shiner and Wozniak questioning her about how long she’s had this particular side hustle. Her demotion forced her to branch out on her own and Wozniak is offended that she didn’t come to him first. Tess’ little job has added a new layer of problems for the unit. She lost street money and it’s up to the police to find it. Wozniak’s day doesn’t get any better when Harlee once against enters the station with her blood boiling. She knows that Ramsey is responsible and she knows that Wozniak is participating in the cover up of his supposed killer.

Cole (Nick Wechsler) is waiting in the patrol car lot when Harlee leaves the station. His voice is pleading as he tells her that Nava’s murder was an accident; he wasn’t supposed to be involved. Harlee grabs Cole by the collar and sticks the barrel of her gun into his abdomen. He attempts to reason with her. He’s in too deep, too. He couldn’t save Nava, but he wants to save her. Harlee killed one of Ramsey’s drug runners, which was the catalyst for these fatal and brutal events. Nava had tried to protect Orlando from his killer, which got him killed. Cole is full of regret, but he’s also full of information and a sense of justice that mirrors Harlee’s. They’re half-decent people who got swept up in the darkness. They may be able to work together to get justice for their partners, whether they be in uniform and in life.

Cristina is the subject of some old-fashioned teenage bullying. Some girls laugh at her, calling her life a telenovela. Men die around her mother. And then Cristina snaps, winds up and punches her bully in the face repeatedly. Surely, it felt good in the moment, but it doesn’t feel so good when she’s sitting in the principal’s office facing suspension. The principal is relatively understanding of their situation, but Harlee doesn’t want any opportunities to be taken away from her daughter. Cristina was simply acting out of necessity, a need to survive in a world that would never afford her the luxuries other, more privileged girls received. Harlee is still mad though. Cristina deserves a better future than what she had. It’s her job as a mother and think about her child’s future no matter what the circumstances are.

Marcus (Hampton Fluker), Tess and Wozniak attempt to cleanup Tess’ mess with the help of some of Marcus’ connections old crime buddies. While they’re there, Carlos makes a call to let Wozniak know that Harlee has been getting some intel on Ramsey’s criminal set up. Before he can address it, though…he needs to go to physical therapy. A few foam rolls and yoga mats later, Wozniak sits with his wife in the back of their van while they exchange some post coitus wisdom. His wife supports his need to work, he commiserates on the fractured state of his unit. She tells him to pull it together and it sounds like that’s exactly what he wanted to hear. Unfortunately, this little break gives Harlee and Loman enough time to investigate the storage crates at the docks…but they’re empty. Did someone clean house before she got there? Harlee isn’t sure, but she quickly become hysterical and throw her body about the shipping container. Loman holds her until she can pull herself back together.

Cole and Harlee meet up, the first of many clandestine meetings. In the back of Cole’s car is Quince. Cole tells Harlee that he convinced Ramsey to separate her crew because the unit is weaker when they’re apart. Cole needed Harlee on her own, so they could work together. Cole is still a slave to orders and quickly draws his gun to shoot Quince (Ade Otukoya) – a murder he was told to commit. It’s now Harlee’s job to deliver Quince, and the news, to Wozniak. He is mad at first as he wanted Quince for himself. Quince didn’t just ruin his life, he ruined the life of the nine-year-old boy who shot Wozniak. Harlee apologizes for the mishap, but Wozniak let her think she was crazy. They’re at odds, but are they still on each other’s side? There are too many shades of blue to tell. They’ve each cried wolf too many times to trust one another, at least until their actions finally speak louder than their words.

Cristina sits at home, tears on her space, while she prepares an apology for her violent (albeit justified) outburst at school. Harlee sits beside her daughter and apologizes for the things her own life has caused Cristina to see, to feel. Cristina is intuitive, just like her mom, and she can sense when things are being hidden from her. The truth is something that they both want to find and it’s time Harlee gives that right back to Cristina. Harlee settles and gives Cristina details on Nava’s murder. Harlee says that Woz got the guy – and he very well may, but it’s going to be a waiting game. Wozniak has a lot of micro-missions to go on, and a lot of messes to clean up. Tess’ mess – which is where he is now, with Quince’s body.

Woz brings Tess’ new nemesis to a park bench where she and Quince are. He pulls a gun and shoots Quince’s corpse, which was propped up to appear as though he was still alive Woz pulls the trigger while Tess looks on, unphased. The criminals they had faced earlier back up. They do not want to start a war with a cop who has no problem murdering someone in public. They debt is settled. Tess is free. One more item is checked off of Woz’s list. He may not be a righteous man, but he takes care of his own.