Volsky is put on trial for murdering Vasily Chuikov, but it ends on a mistrial. He ends up hiring hitters that work for Omar Pinella, a Colombian drug dealer, to kill 10-year-old witness Billy Woodson, his mother, and DA Antonella "Toni" Ricci. However, Billy survives his serious injuries. He also tries bombing the precinct after they start interfering with his money laundering scheme. Eventually, banker Carlton Radford testifies against him in exchange for a reduced sentence, ending in Volsky and his accomplices sentenced to life in prison without parole in maximum security.
Tropes in this episode
- Bad Ass Boast: Just before Volsky is taken away, he makes a chilling one to McCoy. It ultimately falls flat on its face since he doesn't understand McCoy's intentions.Volsky: Go ahead, try and kill me. I'm not afraid. I'm tough. I'll survive.
- Bittersweet Ending: Ricci and Billy Woodson's mom are brutally killed, but the killers are brought to justice. Volsky, Pinella, and all members of the Russian Mafia involved end up with life sentences with no parole. Carmichael sends a copy of the guilty verdict to Ricci's parents.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Carlton Radford fits this to a tee. Not only does he turn his bank into the last stop in a money laundering scheme, he's also having an affair with Volsky's mistress.
- Didn't Think This Through: If Volsky had hired half-competent hitters for Billy's assassination, he could've gotten away with it all. Instead he used personal goons that not only were idiotic, "all brawn, no brains" thugs with knives, but also failed to kill their target yet stuck around in New York City afterwards. When things continue not going his way, Volsky then attempts to bomb the NYPD to cripple them and scare the case away, and dumb luck foils that plot; at that point it only vindicates and enrages McCoy beyond all belief.
- Dirty Coward: The male hitter bolts the moment the police spot him and runs to his female partner calling out pathetically for help. Curtis easily takes him down without a fight. His female partner does no better.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Volsky seems to think that McCoy's endgame is to have him killed in prison for Ricci's murder. He's not. He doesn't realize that McCoy only wants to get justice for her and the others he had killed.
- Greed: Radford's motivation for going along with Volsky's money laundering scheme. His family's bank had been failing to meet their growth projections. The money laundering scheme had given the bank a major boost in after-tax income to the tune of over one-point-two billion dollars. Such a large amount of money leads to their undoing after McCoy presents evidence that it would've cost only $96,000 to definitely prove that the accounts they were dealing with—among them a "carpet cleaning company" and a Mexican "tire re-capping company"—had ties to organized crime and thus fully comply with the letter and the spirit of the Money Laundering Act.
- It's Personal: When the criminal case against Volsky gets too hot, he has a District Attorney caught up in his collateral damage of attempting to murder a 10-year-old witness. When the NYPD starts interfering with his money laundering operation, he tries to bomb the police precinct out of spite. It takes a janitor stumbling in on the bomb before it detonated to luck out on that one, and both acts proceed to make it so personal for our cast that it's one of the only cases against the Russian Mob that have a unanimous guilty verdict and life-long punishment in the series.
- Leave No Survivors: The hit on Billy Woodson should have been like this: DA Ricci and Billy's mom end up dead, and Billy himself is seriously injured.
- Loop Hole Abuse:
- After a precinct is almost bombed, McCoy tries to do this to justify keeping Volsky and his accomplices in jail and isolated until they can build a case and convict them by refusing to arraign them. It ultimately fails, but only after a long and drawn-out legal fight that leads Volsky to back off.
- Radford's bank was able to get away with the money laundering scheme unnoticed for so long because he was able to set policies that made it look like they were complying with the Money Laundering Act on paper but actually were blatantly flouting it. He ends up convicted of enterprise corruption after the prosecution lays out how they were able to do it without raising any red flags.
- Volsky's mistress was in the country on a Student Visa but didn't go to school.
- Murder Is the Best Solution: Volsky and his accomplices apply this ethos and it ends up horribly backfiring on them. The hit causes the authorities to take a closer look at the banking aspect which exposes the full scope of their money laundering operation. It also leads authorities to Carlton Radford who, in turn, gets convicted of enterprise corruption and flips on them.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: While the male hitter is being arrested, his female partner is seen running down the stairs with a knife—toward two angry police officers armed with guns. She is quickly and easily subdued by Rey and any fight in her is gone when he puts his gun to her head and makes it clear he'll use it.
- Never My Fault: During Radford's trial, he and his lawyer try to claim that they did follow the law, but that they had limited resources to fully investigate, weren't aware of any red flags and were conned. The jury doesn't buy it and convicts him.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Abby Carmichael is seen crying after her friend and colleague Toni Ricci is killed along with Billy's mom. It is the only time she is seen crying in the series.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Ricci's only surviving relatives are her parents.
- Put on a Bus: This is Curtis's last appearance as a regular, as he leaves to take care of his wife, whose M.S. has progressed to the point where she cannot pick up a toothbrush.
- Too Dumb to Live: The hitters hired to kill Ricci, the boy and his mother. Not only do they actually fail to kill the boy (their primary target), they also don't leave town after performing the hit and are quickly located and arrested.
- White-Collar Crime: Of the money laundering type. Carlton Radford had been helping The Mafiya in their activities and they laundered billions through his bank. During the closing arguments for Radford's trial, McCoy lays bare that his willing involvement in their scheme makes him no different than the ones who torture and murder innocent people.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Russian mobsters have no qualms about ordering a hit on Billy, as he is a witness.
