Two undercover cops, Calvin May and Dexter Richmond, are murdered during an operation to bust illegal gun sellers. Green is particularly distraught as May was a friend of his. An intense manhunt ensues and one suspect, Ramsay, is found murdered with the guns of the deceased officers and their cash left to be found. Suspecting the real killers are trying to throw them off, Fontana and Green work with another undercover officer, Luiza Valenzuela. Meeting with known gun runners Quincy Ellis and Preston Hubbard, she gets them to agree to a buy but can’t get them to admit to the shooting. Volunteering to work the buy, Green is forced to ride in the suspects' SUV where he is able to get an admission on tape. Turning off a bridge, a phalanx of police cars stops the SUV and arrests Ellis and Hubbard, finding a bag of guns in the trunk.

Hubbard’s lawyer cuts a deal of forty to life by pointing out a website, Covert Cops, that identifies undercover cops in New York City. Looking at images from the site, Branch notices the cops were photographed in the private DA entrance of the court building. Fontana and Green track down the bailiff who took the photos, admitting a defense attorney named Gordon Samuels paid him $500 to do so. Samuels is arrested and while his attorney is able to get the charges dismissed, with the opportunity to be re-filed, the judge orders Covert Cops to be shut down.

Looking for more solid evidence, Serena discovers a previous bust involving May and Richmond. She meets a young man named Jeffrey North in prison, convicted of running guns from Georgia to NYC. He had a partner named Brian Brown who was killed when he panicked after May and Richmond identified themselves. Going for the gun in his pocket, he was killed in self defense by May. North reveals Samuels convinced his firm to take his case pro bono; Brown was Samuel’s step-son. After confirming the bust and shooting was clean, there is video evidence backing up May’s actions, Samuels is re-arrested.

Talking with Hubbard and his attorney, the entire plot is revealed. Samuels paid Ramsay six grand to have Ellis and Hubbard kill May and Richmond in revenge for Brian’s death. Ramsay never mentioned Samuels by name, but did lead them to Covert Cops so they would get the right detectives. After the murders, Ellis killed Ramsay to try and frame him as the culprit.

Confronting Samuels with their knowledge of his motive, [=McCoy=] offers a plea. While his attorney Roger Porter sees the writing on the wall and begs his colleague and friend to take the deal, Samuels becomes angry and declares he will be defending himself, with Porter as standby counsel. The evidence is overwhelming against Samuels, who doesn’t defend his actions, but tries to put the undercover system on trial. In desperation he calls Valenzuela to the stand. [=McCoy=] objects, but the judge allows her to be called, with a cleared courtroom to protect her continuing undercover work. Samuels tries to portray her and by proxy the whole system as corrupt, but she refuses to crack on the stand. The jury convicts in three hours. Serena brings Jack and Arthur breaking news; Valenzuela was involved in a gun buy that went south. She is fine, but the two buyers are dead. Later that night, Serena is concerned over the violence while Arthur is pleased the taxpayers will be spared the expense of a trial.

!!!This episode contains examples of:
* ExactWords: Van Buren is concerned about asking Green to go undercover to bust two men who have shown they have no problem killing cops. He tells her she doesn't have to ask, he is volunteering.
* AFoolForAClient: Samuels. He does not present any exculpatory evidence beyond "undercover system is bad". He gets convicted.
* HalfwayPlotSwitch: Starts as an investigation into the murder of two undercover cops, then delves into a case of revenge.
* ItsPersonal:
** Why Green volunteers, without being asked, to go undercover with Valenzuela to catch the killers. May was a close friend of his and he promises justice to his widow and children.
** Samuels concocts an elaborate scheme to kill two specific undercover cops to avenge his step-son.
* NeverMyFault: Samuels, both in regards to his own actions and his late step-son's. He expresses zero remorse for having two cops murdered, believing it was justification for the death of Brian. Keep in mind there is no ambiguity about the shooting. Not only is there video showing Brian drew a gun on May and Richmond, even his ''accomplice'' blames Brian for his own death.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Samuels had a close bond with his step-son Brian and goes to extreme lengths to avenge his (justified) death in a police shooting.
* {{Revenge}}: Samuels' motive for having May and Richmond killed. They busted his son gun running and May was forced to kill him when he panicked and drew a gun.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The baliff who took $500 from Samuels to photograph undercover cops had no idea he was setting up two cops for death.
* WhamLine: "Samuels was Brian's step-father."