Nolan meets his former academy instructor, Jeremy Hawke, at a bar. Hawke has been kicked out his wife's home and is now living in a hotel. After rejecting Nolan's attempt to get him to stay at his house for the night, Hawke proceeds to visit his wife's home and threaten her new boyfriend with a gun.
Hawke continues to escalate matters by kidnapping his son and leading the police on an elaborate chase around Los Angeles. The police, while reluctant, proceed to hunt him down with the plan to take him in alive.
- Broken Pedestal: Hawke's repeated felonies reduce a lot of the respect that Nolan and others had for him.
- Cowboy Cop: Hawke had this reputation as a police officer and apparently all of his advice as a teacher was, "be a badass."
- Digging Yourself Deeper: Hawke continues making the charges against him worse out of a refusal to face up to his actions.
- Domestic Abuse: Hawke threatens his wife's boyfriend with a gun and kidnaps their child.
- Evil Mentor: Hawke becomes one of these after he goes off the reservation.
- Gayngst: A black shooting victim turns out to have actually been trying to kill his homophobic father.
- Glory Seeker: Jeremy "the Hawke" has an obsessive need to be seen as a great police officer. When his career and personal life fall apart, he turns that into a need to prove he can outwit and outfight the police force.
- Lawman Gone Bad: Jeremy "the Hawke" lost his position on the force and was relegated to training duty while also facing a pending divorce from his wife. After a drunken confrontation with her boyfriend, Jeremy chose to flee rather than be arrested and used his knowledge of police tactics to evade capture.
- Noodle Incident: The Cold Opening has Bradford and Lucy in an upside down police car for for no reasons explained.
- Suicide by Cop: Hawke attempts this once it becomes clear that escape is impossible. Nolan talks him down to a brawl that ends with Hawke tased.
