Chandler comes under fire from the chief of police. Bosch works a Juan Doe case he thinks may be connected to another murder, while Mo tries to locate Finbar McShane. Vasquez confirms her suspicions, while Maddie continues working the follow-home case. Bosch and Lopez continue investigating the Juan Doe case. Chandler begins to win the trust of her team. Maddie and Vasquez zero in on the follow-home crew.
Vasquez gives Albert an opportunity to come clean. She knows he is the third member of the follow-home robbery crew. She connects him to Victoria and Nestor. She believes she can protect him if he is honest with her now. He doesn't take the offer. Despite all the police already know, he believes he can still get away with these crimes. He makes plans to unload all of the stolen items in the hopes of running away. That's the preferable outcome in his mind. And yet, the walls are closing in on him from all sides. Victoria innocently spots Vasquez in a family photo. Suddenly, she doesn't know who she has been sleeping with. She sees the complicated family dynamics. They jeopardize her well-being. The two of them were more than willing to exploit a family member to hide the stolen jewelry. Vasquez investigates. She doesn't carry any of her normal authority. She takes the day off. Maddie recognizes how unusual that is. She puts the pieces together too. The police aren't far off from identifying Albert. Vasquez could only keep this secret for a day. Now, Maddie must reckon with what to do next. She asks her father for guidance. He recognizes that it's never too late for people to do the right thing. He has been surprised many times. Maddie trusts Vasquez. It still requires an honest conversation between them. She needs to know if Vasquez has crossed the line. She has already tampered with evidence. Maddie uncovers that. Vasquez now has a decision to make. She must choose which family to support.
Meanwhile, Bosch continues to look into Jimmy's murder. He discovers that the detective went to the taco truck to meet someone. He was expecting to get a witness statement pertaining to another case. Instead, it was a setup. Jimmy was deliberately targeted. Diego was framed for the murder. The police are outraged over how Chandler charges the case. Her own investigators are frustrated with her hesitation. Bosch's suspicions are slowly proven correct. The DNA evidence on the bullet didn't belong to Diego. It was connected to an unidentified male. It's also the same profile that fits the case Jimmy was investigating. Jimmy was pulled away to look into Bosch's actions. He shared his wisdom with Lopez. Now, Bosch must rely on his police contacts to get all of this information. It's somewhat random to bring Jade back into the narrative now. That's largely a way to keep the search for Finbar simmering in the background. At times, the narrative threatens to add too many plots into the situation. That can be difficult for the audience to keep up with everything going on. Chandler also makes some noise by looking into a city councilman. All of these plot threads are expected to come together in a satisfying way in the end. That's how the show functions. It's familiar. It's complex too. The audience just has to wait for that resolution to arrive. That's somewhat annoying even as the personal resonance of Maddie and Vasquez's plot brings more dimension to this particular episode.
Victoria and Albert are arrested after Nestor was killed. It's more dramatic having Vasquez at the takedown. She probably shouldn't have been involved in the case any longer. Yet she reported her nephew. She gathered evidence before presenting the case to her superiors. Maddie talked her though it (offscreen though). This was the necessary next step. It will destroy her family. These are the consequences of Albert's actions. It's not on Vasquez for doing the honorable thing. It still pains her. Moreover, Victoria gets another moment proving she is smarter than the cops. A trap is arranged for Albert. He doesn't fall into it either. All it takes is another phone call to verify there isn't a burst pipe at the retirement community where his great-grandfather lives. The police didn't try to make this story believable. It doesn't work. Victoria already retrieved the stolen jewelry. She understood she could no longer trust her partners. Albert's aunt has been investigating them from the start. She can't trust that he has been loyal to her instead of his family. Of course, Victoria makes mistakes too. She crosses her partners. Everything explodes when they all arrive at the meet with the fence. Victoria expected all the money for herself. Instead, she leaves with nothing. Nestor foolishly got shot. That was the only escape he had. Victoria and Albert made a run for it. They got caught. They are still alive. That's the fate Vasquez wanted for her nephew. She wanted to keep him safe. Hardly anyone will see it that way. Maddie and Vasquez are partners. They have each other's backs no matter what. In the field though, Vasquez was the one responsible for bringing Albert in.
Meanwhile, Bosch stumbles upon new criminals in Lancaster. They all connect to Jimmy's murder. However, this is the first moment they are being seen in the narrative. It's frustrating to have all of these answers come after the fact. It doesn't give the audience the ability to try to make sense of the crime when it occurred. It features a heavy amount of exposition. No one is made to feel comfortable for too long either. The details of the drug operation are explained. And then, Bosch and Lopez are at the plant looking for evidence. They believe Jimmy was killed because he uncovered this smuggling operation. That's a solid theory. It's backed up by the case Chandler is building. She relies on Diego in the hopes that some information may pan out. Bosch is out in the field conducting all the difficult work. Even then, he isn't given an opportunity to take down Jimmy's killer. He wants that. He just needs a reason to pull the trigger. The hitman stops from entering the room. He decides otherwise. Bosch and Mo laid a trap. They fail as well. That highlights the ways in which everyone must be suspicious of their surroundings. That's the only way to survive both as criminals and law enforcement. It's merely a matter of who has the superior strategy. Both sides are armed with resources. In this case, they both have personal investment too. It doesn't reach a crescendo though. Instead, everyone will have to wait for various plot developments dropped here to pay off in the final two episodes of the series. That means one large piece of the narrative arrives at its resolution while another is still introducing elements. That dichotomy is apparent and prevents the episode from being cohesive.
