Buck’s actions regarding his suit against the city creates friction between him and the rest of the 118. Athena takes matters into her own hands when Michael, May and Harry suffer from a racially motivated traffic stop that very nearly results in Harry getting shot. When Eddie confides in Lena about his anger issues, she introduces him to the world of street fighting.
Once word of Buck's lawsuit reaches the rest of the 118, especially his temporary replacement from Station 136 in Lena Bosko, they take it in stride, but when Buck is forced to tell the attorney everything about Captain Nash and the rest of the team, including Hen, Chimney, and Eddie, including some of their more darker history, they all give him the cold shoulder for it, causing him to rethink his actions against them for the hate, to the point he goes to talk to the attorney again, and begins to regret his actions as winning the lawsuit feels empty to him now because of how he alienated the rest of his station in the process.
Eddie is so upset about Buck that Bosko takes him to find a way to vent his anger in some underground boxing competitions.
Meanwhile, Athena's ex-husband Michael and their children in May and Harry are pulled over by a racist white LAPD officer and his junior partner. When Harry wakes up from a nap in the backseat, the junior officer instinctively pulls his sidearm and aims it at Harry. In a panic to protect Harry, while May records the footage with her cellphone, Michael warns the officers that his ex is Sgt. Athena Grant, their superior officer. Realizing they are in deep trouble now when word of this reaches Athena and her Captain, the officers wisely let Michael and the kids go and depart without further trouble. Unfortunately, Michael vents his rage over what happened to Athena later at home, and when Athena talks to her Captain about it, the Captain makes sure the officers will be thoroughly reprimanded for it. Not satisfied with just that, Athena later pulls the senior officer who was driving that night over and forces him to do a field sobriety test. The officer does his best to apologize for his idiocy that night, but Athena makes it clear that she is in full Tranquil Fury mode for what he did and he'd better not pull that crap again, or else. The junior officer later comes by the precinct to apologize to Athena in person for what happened, but still in Tranquil Fury mode, she warns him to be more careful and not follow the lead of his senior partner in a way that could lead him to end up making a split-second decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Regretting the hell he's put Bobby, Hen, Chimney, Eddie, and the rest of the 118 through with his lawsuit and feeling rotten about it, Buck later comes by as the 118 and Michael are venting their rage at the local Slaughter House to apologize, having dropped the lawsuit and canceled the charges as a way to atone for his stupidity while blinded by his own anger. Nash also apologizes for his own actions that led to all of this, and after speaking to the Chief of the Department and the LAFD brass, to avoid all the negative publicity and attention, Buck is hired back to full duty at the 118, with Nash foregoing the option to have Buck reassigned as a punishment for his lawsuit, but reminds Buck that, since Nash is Fire Captain, "My house, my rules". Buck joins Michael, Bobby, Hen, Chimney, and Lena with venting some anger in the Slaughter House to end the episode.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- It's Personal: Athena takes personal interest in getting back at the officers who pulled over Michael and nearly shot Harry, forcing the senior officer to do a field sobriety test, even as he tries to apologize for what he did, and the junior officer apologizes for his own actions when he sees Athena at the precinct, but she also tells him off to be more careful if he doesn't want innocent blood on his hands.
- Oh, Crap!: When Michael tells the racist cops that his ex is Athena Grant, a Sergeant in the LAPD, they quickly realize just how badly they nearly earned Athena's wrath as she outranked them and let her ex-husband and children go without further provocation. Not that it helps later when Athena personally confronts the officer who did the traffic stop and makes him soil his pants when she warns him never to do it again, or else. The junior officer, on the other hand, attempts to be The Atoner and apologize to Athena, but she warns him to be more careful before he ends up doing something that leaves him with My God, What Have I Done? regret and remorse.
- Would Hurt a Child: Michael, May and Harry are involved in a racially-charged traffic stop, and one of said cops points a gun at Harry, who is ten years old. It isn't until Michael says his ex is Athena that the cops in question leave them alone.
