Against the Wall s01e09 Episode Script

Against The Wall 1x09 Lean on Me or Die For an interview? Don't you have something a little more business-classy? I haven't been this nervous since I don't think I've ever been this nervous.
You are gonna do great.
Your ideas for my mom's bake shop are amazing, and they're gonna think so too.
It's not my designs I'm worried about, it's my lack of experience.
This is one of the biggest design firms in Chicago.
What would you say about redoing my bedroom? Why? It's so you.
I'm bored with it.
I don't think you're bored with the bedroom.
I think you're bored by the lack of use it gets.
- Excuse me? - Oh, come on.
You've been a recluse ever since you and Brody broke up.
Okay, we did not break up.
Oh, right, right, because you were never in a relationship.
Well, whatever it was, it doesn't matter.
It's over.
Not if you don't want it to be.
Do you want it to be? I don't know.
Because of Danny? Danny.
Danny is Complicated.
But I have to admit, I have been thinking about that kiss.
Danny Brody.
Brody, Danny.
Oh, to have your problems.
Only 28 more days.
Till little Carlos is born? And until I can see my swollen feet again.
- Kowalski, Flores.
- Lieutenant? I wanna pull Nikki out from deep cover for a couple of hours.
Is she all right? She hasn't checked in with her handler for the past two days.
And there's these.
That's Nikki with Lieutenant Barcelli.
He's living up to his reputation as a dirty cop.
You sent Nikki in six months ago to get close to Lieutenant Barcelli.
It looks like she's doing her job.
Nikki was sent in, Kowalski.
Nikki was sent in to get enough on Barcelli for an indictment, and if possible, be an eyewitness to a crime.
Without an eyewitness, it's too easy for a judge to find a reason to dismiss.
And word is Judge Benton is on Barcelli's payroll.
What's that got to do with Nikki? It wouldn't be the first time someone in deep cover confused their loyalties.
Okay, for the past six months, Nikki's been feeding you intel on Barcelli, telling you where he goes, who he sees, what his weaknesses are? Then she's doing her job.
Give her more time.
She doesn't have it.
Barcelli's retirement papers came through.
In three weeks, he's gonna be on a plane to the island of "I don't give a damn anymore.
" If she's running out of time, why risk her cover? Because, while she's being booked, I'm placing a live camera feed in her dressing room.
Video only--Judge Miller wouldn't grant an audio feed.
Oh, so, now I.
A.
is in the business of spying on one our own? NoNow we're in the business of making sure one of our own hasn't gone to the dark side.
What are you doing here? Got a call an officer needed backup at a possible domestic.
Yeah, me.
I'd thought they'd send me Roberts or Gomez.
Oh, looks like you're stuck with me.
Oh, that's great.
When are you gonna get over this? When you're over my sister.
- I'm not seeing Abby.
- Since when? Since you found out, she refuses to see me.
Get away from me! Leave me alone! Help me! Please! Hey! Get off of me! Get off of me! I didn't do nothing.
- Calm down.
- Stay down! Get off of me.
- Stop resisting.
- I'll sue your ass! Yeah, I'll be sure to add you to the list.
I didn't do anything.
I'll have you both suspended.
Good.
I could use the time off.
You take the collar.
No, no, it's your call.
You take him.
What about her? I got it.
Come on.
You okay? Yeah.
I'm sorry.
What can I do? You did it already.
Is there someone who can come stay with you? My mother.
Why don't you give her a call, and I'll wait around till she gets here.
Thank you, officer.
Brody.
John Brody, ma'am.
And your partner's name? He's not my partner.
He's officer Richard Kowalski.
After you.
Ah, what the hell is this? I'm Detective Carlos Flores with C.
P.
D.
This club is being shut down due to reports of underage dancers.
- Whose dressing room is this? - Mine.
And you can get the hell out of it.
All right, take that one into her own dressing room.
You, I need to see some I.
D.
and have you answer some questions.
- This is bullshit! - Sit down! Abby.
Lina, what's up? We need to ask you some questions about Lieutenant Barcelli.
At least this time, I don't have to give you a lap dance while I answer Unless you want me to.
No.
Once was good.
Look, I got to get my sequined ass back out there, so what do you got? Papadol's worried.
He says you haven't been checking in with your handler.
Look, the last few days, it's been to dangerous.
In the last few days, you got anything on Barcelli you weren't able to report to your handler? There's this kid, Chad Benton.
His uncle is Judge Benton.
The judge Barcelli has in his pocket? Barcelli is using Chad to get to his uncle, the judge.
Using him how? Mm.
As a punching bag.
And from what I heard behind the dressing room doors, those rumors about Barcelli torturing his suspects are true.
What does Barcelli want with this kid? To convince his uncle to make a case go away.
Against Barcelli? I don't think so.
Barcelli keeps his pillow talk pretty tight, but from what I got, he promised someone he could influence the judge to make a ruling any way he wanted.
- You got a name? - Nope.
Then what's the problem? Judge Benton wants more money.
Look, do you have any more questions? 'Cause Barcelli is on his way.
Yeah, if we pee tested you, would you pass? I'm undercover.
I do what I gotta do to stay alive.
But where do you draw the line, Nikki? What are you getting at? We're worried that you're getting too close.
Too close for what? Too close to remember who your friends are and what your enemies are capable of.
I got to get her back out there before the other dancers get suspicious.
Let me go.
Let go of me! Move! Abby, this is Nikki's handler, officer Tony Miles.
Hi.
We just put in a video feed on Nikki this morning.
Oh, that's one way to keep track of her.
Yeah, sounds like it could be a full-time job.
How unusual is it for Nikki not to check in with you each morning? It's not unusual at all.
Fact is, if I reported Nikki every time she didn't check in, she'd have been pulled off this detail a long time ago.
So why give her a free pass? Same reason your boss is.
Throughout her entire career, she's always delivered.
So when you called, concerned about Nikki, I wanted you to see something.
About 14 months ago, she lost both her parents and her brother in an electrical fire.
A few months later, she joined undercover detail.
- Damn.
- For the last six months, Nikki has been trying to fill a personal void with a professional one.
Replacing her family with Barcelli.
Mm-hmm.
Why haven't you pulled her out? Oh, you don't think I've tried? Listen, let me tell you something.
If something happens to her, she crosses over, I lose someone I care about.
Do you think her crossing over is a possibility? Her losing her entire family? I don't think Nikki thinks she has anything left to live for.
Abby, your grandfather must be turning over in his grave knowing that someone he trained turned into that.
Judge Benton's calendar.
We're trying to narrow down which case Barcelli is trying to fix.
At an average of almost 200 cases a month, I'm focusing on the cases scheduled before Barcelli retires in three weeks.
That's the problem.
That's why I'm not sure that we can still trust Nikki.
What the hell? Lieutenant, the problem is, after what Nikki went through with her family, she should never have been sent deep in the first place.
- Abby - No, she was way too vulnerable for this kind of assignment.
Before I agreed to assign her, she was cleared by the department head shrink.
Which gave you the cover you needed.
Abby, no matter how much faith you have in Nikki, if the goal is to bust Barcelli before he retires, we need to build our own case against him in case you're wrong about her.
Why don't you start? Chad Benton, judge's nephew, he's an employee of Chicago P.
D.
telecommunications.
Which means he's under our jurisdiction.
Then all we need is a complaint to be made against him.
Be right there.
- John.
- Hey Mrs.
K.
Come in.
Did something happen? No, no.
Everything's fine.
Is Sergeant Kowalski home? Uh, no, I'm sorry.
He's at work.
I, uh, I can get you his number, if you like.
No, I came to see you.
Oh, heh.
Well, I was just making cupcakes.
- Are you hungry? - Sure.
- Okay.
- Heh.
Wow.
- You've been busy.
- Yeah.
I'm trying out new recipes for my shop.
That's fantastic.
Here you go.
Thank you.
So what can I do for you? Well, I was hoping, if it's okay, that you could give me a little advice.
Finally.
I've been waiting for one of you knuckleheads to come talk to me.
You and Richie should never have broken up your partnership.
I meant about Abby.
Abby? Well, you know Abby and I were - In a relationship.
- Yes, I know.
Well, I wouldn't call it a relationship.
I know Abby didn't.
In fact, she made it extremely clear the one thing we were not in was a relationship.
My daughter can be very stubborn.
You're telling me.
So what do you want to know? Um How to win her heart.
Oh, John Mrs.
K.
, I know it sounds crazy, but I gotta give it a shot.
Oh, boy.
Well You know, honestly, Abby is a hopeless romantic.
So what do I do? Well, you woo her.
You--you make her feel special.
Her whole life, she's been surrounded by four amazing men who adore her.
Her father and her brothers are a very hard act to follow.
Okay.
So what does she like? Other than the Bears.
Um, the color blue.
Flowersher family.
So the first thing you have to do is to patch up that relationship with Richie and get this partnership back on track.
That's gonna be tough.
Why? 'Cause he wants me to stay away from her.
Chad, I wanna thank you for coming in.
What does Internal Affairs want with me? Take a seat.
Okay.
There has been an anonymous complaint filed against you.
Against me? What kind of complaint? Well, due to its potentially serious nature, I can't say any more than it's Potentially serious.
Uh, before we get started, what happened to your face? Oh, a couple nights ago, I was mugged near Wrigley.
- Did you report it? - No.
- Why not? - I read the papers.
Muggings like mine never get solved.
Well, what I'm wondering, Chad, is if there's a connection between your mugging and the anonymous complaint? I wouldn't know.
Right, of course.
UmDo you have any enemies who may want to hurt you or your career? Not really.
There's not much of a career to be made in Chicago P.
D.
's telecommunications department.
Chad, listen to me very carefully.
If at any time you do think of someone who may wanna hurt you, be assured we have the full force of the Chicago Police Department to protect you and anyone in your family from future repercussions.
Of the 200 cases on judge Benton's calendar next month, Alezky Kaspar of the Polish mob stood out.
Case is in two weeks.
You're thinking this is the case Barcelli is trying to get Judge Benton to fix? It fits what Nikki told us she overheard.
I ran Kaspar's name against Barcelli's arrest record.
Three years ago, Barcelli was the lead investigator on a distribution of heroin charge filed against Kaspar.
By the time the case made it to Judge Benton's desk, the heroin had disappeared out of holding, but Barcelli admitted to not reading Kaspar his Miranda rights, so Benton tossed the case.
What's Kaspar being charged with this time? Conspiracy to commit murder.
But there's a twist.
This time, Barcelli wasn't involved with the bust, so there's nothing you can do to throw the case.
Before we can go with any of this, we need to draw a more direct line from Kaspar to Barcelli to the judge.
If we do that, maybe we can get the judge to turn against his benevolent benefactor, Lieutenant Bob Barcelli.
- I don't see what's so funny.
- Really? Because I think it's pretty obvious.
Oh, just please tell me what he said.
My conversation with Brody is none of your business.
If it's about me, it is.
Well, it wasn't about you.
I knew it.
I knew he couldn't leave Abby alone.
Richard, you need to stay out of this.
Oh, so it's okay with you that he lied to me about Abby? Would it have made any difference to you if he told the truth? Yes.
Yes, it would have.
I would have still kicked his ass, all right, but at least he would have been honest.
Mom, he was my partner.
I know, honey.
What is this really about, really? She's going to get hurt.
Well, then she gets hurt.
It's part of life.
You went through a lot of broken hearts before you met Laura, right? Would you want it any differently? Danny is just so much better for her.
That's up to Abby.
She's a grown woman.
She can make her own decisions.
So you need to back off.
Lean on me when you're not strong and I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on for it won't be long till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on lean on me when you're not-- Who is it? It's me.
Brody.
You bought me a dress? Actually, I had some help.
Well, put it on.
Okay, what are you up to? Just put the dress on and find out.
Uhh.
Wow.
How did you do all this? Mackie.
Oh.
Champagne? Sure.
Brody, why all this? Because I missed you, Abs.
Well, I missed you too.
I'll take that as a sign I should proceed.
Heard you like the oldies.
Dance with me.
Okay, seriously, what's going on? It's just dancing.
Brody Can't you for once not worry what this is and just enjoy? Come on, it's Gladys.
Well, I do love Gladys.
Who is it? It's Mackie.
Oh, coffee.
Thank you.
I heard the two of you up there past 2:00 a.
m.
Sowas a good time had by all? - Hmm.
- Hmm, that good, huh? We danced the whole time.
The whole time? The whole time.
Doesn't sound like the Brody you've described.
I know.
He surprised me too.
There's a lot more to Brody than I realized.
Like what? Like a brain and a heart.
Considering you've never been curious about any part of Brody's body above his waist, that is a surprise.
Nikki is mainlining heroin.
You know that for sure? I know what I saw on the live feed.
Well, you know, sometimes when you're on the job, lines have to be crossed to keep your cover safe.
She wasn't on the job.
She was alone in her dressing room.
Are you saying you didn't see it? I'm saying, Kowalski, I'm not glued to that monitor.
Nothing I can do about it anyway.
Order to keep her in comes from the top.
And you're okay with that? I'm okay with Nikki walking the edge if that's what it takes to get Barcelli.
She's not on the edge anymore.
She is in free fall.
You know, if Nikki's crossed the line, there's nothing we can do about it.
BrodyI need to see you.
I need to talk to somebody in Internal Affairs.
Just got a call.
Guy wouldn't leave his name.
He said he had some information on Barcelli.
What kind of information? He was too afraid to say over the phone, but he said he'd meet us in receiving.
Just put her there.
Make sure you keep her on her side.
You sure you got this? I'll be all right.
And how about her? It depends how long she's been using.
You know much about this? More than I want to.
My roommate in college, Sara Her boyfriend almost O.
D.
dD in our dorm room.
We kept him there for a few days.
Gave him baths, lots of nutrition, and tried to keep him warm while he went cold turkey.
It took a couple days, but we got him to rehab.
There's a lot about each other we don't know, isn't there? Thank you for helping me.
Nah, anytime.
I just think it's great what you're doing for her.
Call me, if anything.
Okay.
Lina Abby's not coming in.
She said it's food poisoning.
She thinks she ate some bad chili beans.
She seemed fine this morning.
You find anything out from receiving? I asked everyone downstairs.
No one remember seeing anyone on a phone or asking about us.
These anonymous callers are a pain in the ass.
I'm gonna run phone and financial checks on Barcelli, Judge Benton, and Alezky Kaspar.
But you're gonna need some help.
Check with Abby.
See if she's any feeling better.
Chili beans, my ass.
It started with a line or two on the job, and and then, one night, before sex, Barcelli wanted me to shoot up.
I couldn't do what you do, Nikki.
I-I know I can get Barcelli.
He's--he's starting to trust me.
And I--I just-- I know if I could just get a few more days in, I can put myself in a position to be an eyewitness-- - I can't.
Abby I can't.
Because I'm not sure you can stay away from what's making you so sick.
And because of that, I don't know I can trust you with Barcelli.
I know why going after Barcelli means so much to me, but Why you? What's Barcelli to you? Besides him being a bad cop? My grandpa Willie trained him when he was a rookie.
I feel like it's kind of up to me to make sure my memory of grandpa Willie includes his granddaughter putting Barcelli away for good.
- Hey.
- No.
It's okay.
It's okay.
You went to see my mom? So? Your mom happens to like me.
Yes, because she doesn't know the real you.
What's up with you, man? I've had your back.
You'd think you'd be a little more supportive of me seeing your sister.
You can't be supportive of something you don't know.
Would you just listen to me for five seconds? Whether you like it or not, I love your sister.
What? I love Abby.
So help me God, Brody, if you hurt her Me, hurt her? You know her better than I do.
Which one of us is more likely to get hurt? Hey! Hey! You ladies done dancing? Here.
A call came in asked for you two personally.
Same address as that domestic call yesterday.
Nikki's not here.
Her car's parked out front, but no one saw her arrive or leave.
Any evidence of a struggle? No.
But I found this.
There's black tar heroin residue on it.
Damn it.
Where are we in financial and phone records? So far, we can connect Barcelli and Judge Benton through phone calls.
Which doesn't prove anything, a cop talking to a judge.
We can also connect Barcelli to Kaspar.
Put a bad cop talking to a known felon? That's golden.
And unless Judge Benton won the mega millions lottery, he needs to explain how he can afford a home in Milan, Miami, a ski boat, and three kids in college.
Time I.
A.
shoved its way into Judge Benton's comfort zone.
Sick or not, grab some ginger ale and go get your partner.
Ah.
Hello.
How you feeling? Oh, um I'm fine.
I'm just-- I'm just a little under the weather.
Why are you whispering? I'm not whispering.
I'm just, uh-- I feel a little cloudy andgray.
Cloudy and gray, huh? That's too bad.
I was hoping you'd help me interview Judge Benton.
Judge Benton? When? I'm on my way there now, but since you're cloudy and gray Oh, you-- no, you know what? Uh, I'll work through it.
Um, you know me.
I'm a trooper.
Meet me downstairs.
Is everything okay? Okay? It's perfect.
Mom.
You had your baby.
Last night.
Here at the house.
My mom thinks, with all the confusion, he didn't want to wait.
Well, congratulations.
He's beautiful.
- Oh, he looks strong.
- He should be.
He's named after two of my heroes.
Yeah? What's his name? John Richard Stone.
Marsha, why don't I let them hold the baby so you can take a picture? Oh.
It's okay, isn't it? - Yeah.
Of course.
- Yeah, definitely.
Hi, buddy.
Okay.
Say John Richard.
John Richard.
Now, of course, you guys are gonna be calling him by his middle name, right? Oh, go back to grandma.
See ya, buddy.
I've got a meeting in five minutes, detectives.
Can we make this quick? Thanks for seeing us on such short notice, Judge Benton.
- The reason we're here-- - I know why you're here.
She told me over the phone.
Yes, sir.
I also told you I have no idea who might be responsible for beating the hell out of my pain-in-the-ass nephew.
I'm sure any number of the idiots he knows would have plenty of reasons.
I take it you and Chad aren't very close? Can we cut the crap? I talked to Chad.
You think Lieutenant Bob Barcelli is responsible for his beating.
Do we? The question is if you have any proof.
Well, why don't you tell me, sir? You seem to know everything else.
You've got nothing, Kowalski, or you wouldn't be here exposing your hand like this.
And you, Detective Flores, considering your condition, shouldn't you be just a little bit more careful about who you go trolling for? Judge Benton, sir If by chance you do come across proof as to who "beat the hell" out of your nephew and you want to work with I.
A.
to put the guilty party behind bars, I can assure you, we will use all our influence to guarantee your safety and your nephew's.
And if I choose not to? Well, then, I guessyour nephew is not gonna be the only pain in your ass.
Nikki? Oh, my God.
Flores, Kowalski.
Any luck finding Nikki? - No.
- It's like she disappeared.
She did.
There's something here I want you to see.
- Well, that's Nikki.
- Yeah.
That was early this morning.
The live feed from Nikki's dressing room is recorded? Onto the C.
P.
D.
mainframe.
That's Nikki there, passed out on the couch, right? And then someone places something in front of the camera.
When it's removed Nikki's gone.
But who took her? It's obvious, isn't it? Barcelli's been under investigation enough times to know the likelihood of a camera being placed somewhere, and he found it and took Nikki.
Well, as far as I'm concerned, if we don't hear from her in the next 24 hours, it means she's finally crossed over.
Excuse me.
Oh! Uhh! Mother, what are you doing here? Self-promotion.
You and your friends are my core demo.
No, thanks.
How did you even get past the front desk without a badge? I've seen Sergeant Jackson make a nun wear one.
Oh, honey, I've been married to your father for almost 37 years.
I think I know a few tricks.
What? What? You have that look you get when you're trying to hide something from me.
I should get going.
Give it up.
I promised I wouldn't say anything.
Okay, Brody came by to see me yesterday.
I.
A.
Out! Gladys Knight, the dancing.
I should have known.
I know.
The dancing was his idea.
I just told him that you liked Gladys.
So is this a relationship now? Brody and I are not in a relationship.
Well, what would you call it? Uh I'm sorry, Mom, I've got to go.
This conversation is not over! Barcelli's right on time.
We've got a silver vehicle approaching from the southwest corner.
That's the car we want.
Hold all positions.
How do you know Barcelli didn't force Nikki to send the text to your phone? Because she signed it "Grandpa Willie.
" Which proves what? What's Chad Benton doing here? Isn't that Alezky Kaspar? Kaspar and Benton with Barcelli.
This is not good.
That's Nikki inside the car.
Oh, God.
He's gonna kill Nikki next.
Move in.
Move.
Move.
Move.
You and baby Carlos stay here.
You, from behind the car! I want to see your hands way up in the air where I can see them--now! Come out from behind the car.
Put your hands way up.
Get on the ground now! He's got a gun! If you reach for that gun, I will shoot you! You, put the gun down.
Put the gun down now! I'm C.
P.
D.
Don't shoot! Don't shoot.
I'm C.
P.
D.
! Nice work.
Nice shot.
Nice bust.
You saved my life.
You saved my life And career.
Abby Thanks.
Thought Barcelli had Judge Benton in his pocket.
He did.
But the judge thought Barcelli's pockets were deeper than they were.
So when he asked him for more money to fix Alezky Kaspar's case It was cheaper to kill the judge.
Business is business, right? So when you saw Barcelli kill Chad I that knew I was next.
Umany chance you could drop a girl off at rehab on your way home? Sure.
You didn't have to do that.
What, push you down when the shooting started? Any of it.
All of it.
If you knew, why didn't you say anything? Because you needed me not to and because that's what partners do.
Oh! Who has booty call rules? Me.
Okay, fine.
Let's hear them.
No sleeping with anyone else.
That--that is a relationship rule.
No, it's not.
You can still date.
I just can't have sex with anyone else? - Correct.
- But neither can you? Correct.
But we're not in a relationship.
Correct.
You are an odd one, Kowalski.
Yes, I've been told that.
Anything else you'd like to add? I want to be able to kiss you in public.
Not in front of my family.
And I wanna take you on a real date as often as possible.
Once a month.
- Once a week.
- Every other week.
Done.
Anything else? Just this Mmm, almond.
Mom, this one is great.
Oh, good.
Ohh.
Ooh.
Tastes like cough medicine.
It's licorice.
Ugh.
Well, that's a no.
Well, I really like the strawberry one.
Honey, when you were six years old, you did this for a class assignment on what love meant to you.
I remember.
You need to tell me why you don't want a family.
I never said I didn't want a family.
But you told Brody you didn't want a relationship, and we all know a relationship leads to family.
Which is exactly why I don't want a relationship.
I'm not saying I'll never want one, I'm just saying Not right now.
I know it sounds selfish I just-- I want to be able to do the things I want and not worry that I'm ignoring the person I love.
You're the one who told me to have a mind of my own and do what's right for me.
Well, that was a mistake.
I just want you to be happy.
I am happy, Mom.
Wow.
Thank you so much for doing this.
You've helped me so much.
We're good, right? Licorice one wasn't that bad.
- Really? - It was fine