Directed by Alan Taylor
Written by Richard Sweren & Gina Gionfriddo
A black child named Tanya Anderson and white teenager named David Kendall are killed in a shooting. The neighborhood is racked with racial tensions and divides over gentrification, and no one will come forward until Van Buren cuts a deal with a community leader. The detectives identify a suspect named Will Manning and find the murder weapon in his home, so he is arrested. But Will's father confesses he shot David - Tanya's death was accidental. David and his friends Josh and Andy Steele had an earlier altercation with Will, who stole David's basketball; the boys later returned and were going to beat Will to death, so Manning shot David to protect Will.
Lupo and Bernard discover evidence against the Steele boys' mother, who is part of a pro-gentrification neighborhood committee. McCoy decides to charge Manning with murder and Mrs. Steele with manslaughter in the same courtroom - a jury will not want to convict one and acquit the other. In court, Cutter argues that Will could have got to safety and Manning was rash in shooting at David. He also produces evidence that Mrs. Steele encouraged her sons to use violence, and deliberately filed complaints about black neighbors in an effort to get them evicted. With the community buckling under the tension, McCoy proposes cutting a deal with the defendants, but they refuse to accept. The jury finds both defendants guilty of the charges relating to Tanya, but not David. They state that they consider both defendants equally guilty, and request that both receive the same sentence.
This episode contains examples of:
- An Aesop: A parent should stand up for their child and protect them, but Mr. Manning escalating it to killing one of the opposing kids along with an Accidental Murder to protect his own crossed the line extraordinarily, and Mrs. Steele arming the opposing party put her at similar culpability for escalation. Protecting their kids went way too far, and they themselves helped cause the tension that led to the murders.
- Both Sides Have a Point: The parents have their reason for their actions. Mrs. Steele wanted her son to stand up for themselves while Mr. Manning was defending his son.
- Chain of Deals: In exchange for co-operation from a community leader, Van Buren and McCoy agree to use their influence to have a local church designated a protected landmark so the site can't be sold to developers.
- Death of a Child: Tanya Anderson.
- Didn't Think This Through: The lawyer for Mr. Manning is intentionally flagging for the shooting being a racist event that was justified family defense but labeled murders by the discriminatory media and police. In the end, this inflames the cultural hatred on both sides enough to cast a pall over the case and get David's charges to fall through— but the murder of Tanya, which counts as black-on-black violence, is drawn up with a guilty verdict instead and drags Mrs. Steele in for her part in the crime, torpedoing the lawyer's racism argument and quelling the populace's anger.
- Disproportionate Retribution: The whole tragedy began over an argument over a basketball.
- Mama Bear: Deconstructed. Mrs. Steele gave her sons the bats to get back their ball but this advice causes more problems than it solves.
- Manchild: And "woman child". Both Mr. Manning and Mrs. Steele commit arguably childish means in order to protect their children.
- Never My Fault: Neither parent involved want to cop to the blame they have in the whole tragedy.
- Not Helping Your Case: Mr. Manning being black, a lot of the case focuses on his shooting a white male teen and that is something that is tough to avoid problems on, but once Mrs. Steele is dragged in to be charged as well, she repeatedly insinuates negative intentions and ideas of black people, such as inferring that she had no idea whose parents to go to before or if they even had parents around. This turns the case into a media circus and the people in the seats into utter hecklers over racism.
- Papa Wolf: Deconstructed. Mr. Manning shot at the boys who came after his son but this causes most of the episode's plot.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Implied, but given some of Mrs. Steele's wording, she may have some racist views on her neighbors.
- Take a Third Option: The jury can either acquit Mr. Manning or Mrs. Steele, either which could lead to racial tensions in the city. In the end, the jurors choose to convict both and ask both serve equal sentences.
- Villainous Gentrification: This was a major source of tension in the victims' community.
