20 Squad are initially riding high in the wake of a massive drug bust with the D.E.A., lifting almost $500,000 dollars worth of fentanyl from a South Korean drug gang operating in Los Angeles. But things take a turn for the worse when the son of the D.E.A. agent leading the case (who is also Hondo's godson) is abducted by the gang, who threaten to kill the boy unless their drugs are returned to them.
Tropes
- Beware the Nice Ones: Luca is a fairly easy going guy, but if you're a child-snatching brothel owner engaged in human trafficking, he won't hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes, even if you are a woman.Luca: Give me a reason. And unlike [Hondo], my gun has real bullets!
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The Golden Boys, the drug gang at the heart of the episode, kill potential informants and law enforcement by using a bike chain as a garotte. Luca, who's seen it before, notes that you strangle and bleed to death at the same time.
- Foreshadowing: Tam mentions he's dating a blonde down in Venice.
- Hidden Depths: Luca is fluent in Korean, and knows the best restaurants and interesting spots in Korea Town; he explains he was working on patrol there for two years after graduating from the academy, and got to know the locals well.
- Ironic Echo: Hondo and Deacon chew Street out for losing his cool with a suspect resisting arrest, pointing out a stray bullet fired in their struggle could have injured someone. When a furious Hondo later goes to confront the Korean businessman who he suspects (but can't prove) is behind the Golden Boys' drug operation and makes some pretty serious threats, Street has to remind him about keeping calm.
