Bending The Rules

My head.

- Hey, Nick. - Gil. How you been?

Move. Move. I said move.

First of all, A, I'm a cop.

B, we're in New Orleans and it's July.

Doesn't it get itchy? Sweaty?

The paper.

Even though your face is covered, I can tell, you need a hug.

- Back off. - Come on.

- Come to papa. - You crazy.

- Give it up. - You're crazy, man.

No love? Really?

You coming?

- What did I do? - How should I know?

You gonna pick that up?

Hurry, I gotta go to court.

I will not run in this heat, Gil. Now you owe me a bullet. Let's go.

Thank you.

Come on, man. You can't lock me up for walking down the street.

Guy with the persuader pointed at my head?

I don't know that guy.

- What's in the paper? - News. Newspaper.

Wallet.

And the gun.

Okay, easy tiger.

What's with the paper?

This is a really unsatisfying conversation.

- Put him someplace uncomfortable. - How you doing?

Better than you.

He took my money.

And when you tell me what I'm arresting you for, you'll get it back.

Off to dance with Lady Justice.

Luckily, she hasn't known you very long. Go.

I've always been lucky.

Hey. What the hell?

Firearm.

Thank you, sir.

You're Lena Valoise.

I was.

Tomorrow, Again is one of my favorite movies.

Me too.

- Nick. - How do you do?

Great. What are you doing here?

I've come to see my son, the assistant DA.

Me too.

- You must be very proud. - I must.

- They'll let you in dressed like that? - I'm hoping.

- You look a little lost. - I am. Courtroom 3?

Come. I'll show you.

We call it the thin blue line, the police.

The fragile barrier between the bad guys and you.

We give policemen like Detective Nick Blades guns.

We pay them well.

And all we ask in return is that they do what they swear they'll do.

Protect and serve.

But what happens if they break that promise?

What happens if one day you can't tell the good guys from the bad guys?

Your Honor, would Mr. Gold care to join us in this case?

- Counsel? - Chaos, my friends.

Anarchy.

The very wardrobe he so disrespectfully wears in this courtroom...

...is emblematic of the point.

- Objection. - Sustained.

When I was a kid, I believed in Batman and Superman.

- Mr. Gold.... - You know what? I still do.

I believe there is such a thing as right and wrong.

I believe in an irrepressible commitment to the truth.

An irreproachable moral and ethical code that cannot be compromised.

Detective Blades thought he could be the law, but not follow it.

That's not right, ladies and gentlemen.

That's wrong.

Thank you.

We will adjourn for the day.

First time he called the police on me he was 9.

- What'd you do? - I took away his LEGOs.

Mr. Gold.

Your reaction to the DA's decision to retire?

Clark Gunn has had a brilliant career. I'll miss him.

Do you have any comments on a frontrunner for the interim slot?

I've been dealing with police corruption.

It doesn't leave a lot of time to deal with office personnel matters.

Do you plan on attending Willie Van Beber's execution?

I did my job...

...putting Willie Van Beber right where he belongs.

I'll let the good Lord and his executioner take it from there.

Excuse me.

You people don't mind if I borrow my son, the assistant DA, do you?

- I won't keep him long. - Mom.

You sure you don't have an announcement to make?

Your father is having an affair.

Would you and the good Lord care to comment on that?

- I do not have time for this. - What do you mean?

Every time you say Dad's having sex with someone else.

Go to the country house.

Where's the van?

It's dead. You were gonna replace the battery.

I thought we'd agree we only use the Hawk in an emergency.

This is an emergency. Hurry. I have a facial and massage at 1 :30.

Honey, this car represents the last fragile thread of dignity...

...holding my family together. Take my car. Park in my spot.

Theo.

I thought on people's birthdays, other people are supposed to do what they want.

And I thought turning 40 meant not acting 7.

I'm pretty sure that you are having lunch with the next DA.

Great. And you'll still earn less than our gardener...

...and I'll still be paying for lunch with my parents' credit card.

Jeez, Kelly, come on. Don't do this.

Just give me today. You're the one who wants to live in a house big enough for 12.

You're the one who has the spa thing. Not me.

I'm leaving.

I'm not done yet.

Leaving you.

Actually, you're the one leaving since my parents own the house.

I'll give you one week to get your things and get out.

Today you do this? Today? On my birthday?

- The biggest day of my career? - What about the 15 years...

...I've wasted on someone going precisely nowhere?

Kelly, come on.

Wait a minute. What about the kids? I can't live without my kids.

Really? And how many hours do you spend with them on any given week?

- Two? - Everything I do is because of them.

Finkle, Harbin, and Klotz offered you three times what the DA's job pays.

- And you turned it down. - Money isn't everything.

I believe in what I do. Is that so wrong?

And I believe in private school. Is that so wrong?

Yeah? Okay.

They want me back.

- Right away, sir. - Good.

Because I don't.

I'm sorry.

Please remember to put the cover back on the Hawk.

- Good nap, counsel? - Sorry.

I've received the following note from the jurors.

"We have voted several times.

We are split 6-6 as to all counts. We want to go home."

- They've only been out a couple of hours. - Mr. Gold, sit.

The jury is deadlocked. I declare a mistrial.

Would you like to set the matter for retrial?

Yes. Absolutely, yes.

Blades? I don't care what the jury did.

You're on leave until you deal with Internal Affairs. Do you hear me?

Until I say so, you are not police.

Trust me, LT, when I'm through with IA, they're gonna rush out...

...and get my name tattooed across their butt cheeks.

- Give me five. - Nice going.

- Hey, way to go. - Good job.

- Congrats. - Where's Gil Ott?

Was in Interview 4, but Schaefer needed the room...

...so he took him over to the jail. Want me to go get him?

No, I'll go. Dinner to celebrate? I'm buying.

You're buying? Or is Gil buying?

Technically, yeah, Gil's buying.

He was carrying the paper the cash when I popped him.

Then some ape in a wool ski mask came at me with a piece.

- He wanted this. - Gil's delivering newspapers now?

There's numbers and letters circled all over it.

Can you get Forensics to look at it? It's some kind of code.

I tried to decipher it but Gold's closing was distracting.

Sure. Yeah, I'll check it out.

I'll go sit on Gil.

Blades strikes me as a pretty unimpressive bad guy.

He's dirty.

So he skimmed a few bucks. He got drunk and over did it in a bar.

Yes, exactly. We used to call that felony larceny and assault with a deadly weapon.

I understand Internal Affairs is going to water board him next week.

Trust cops to deal with cops?

- Just give it some thought. - We're retrying it.

Wouldn't it be nice if life was all blacks and whites?

Turns out, it's mostly grays.

- Is that supposed to mean something? - I'm just trying to get you to see the forest.

Okay, I'm drowning in metaphors here.

Am I supposed to see the forest or mostly grays?

Look, everything I know comes from you.

A much younger and stupider me.

- Are you happy doing this? - I'm extremely happy.

Good. Grant Stone's gonna get the interim appointment as the DA.

You're kidding? Grant Stone?

- You're a great trial lawyer. - I'm the senior deputy.

And everyone in the office thinks you're an asshole. So do the judges.

Most of the defense bar.

I should start caring about defense lawyers?

Everybody in the system gets chewed up, Theo.

Including the poor bastards we send to prison.

Grant Stone cares about the bad guys. That makes him more qualified than me--

Theo. Take some time off.

Go home. Look in the mirror.

I need Gil Ott for an interview.

- Not here. - Where is he?

Check again. Detective Schaefer brought him earlier.

- Come see for yourself. - I had a hold on the guy.

The computer says the man isn't here. What do you want? I just came on.

- Who was here earlier? - Chin.

- Where'd Chin go? - Chin and me ain't that close.

What the crap? Come on.

What's up with the sneak attack?

License, registration, proof of insurance.

I'm a DA.

License, registration, proof of insurance.

License.

My registration.