On Tilt

On Tilt
	Season 3, Episode 15
Airdate:	June 15, 2004
Actual length	50:29
Production Code:	5012-03-315
Written by	Shawn Ryan & Glen Mazzara
Directed by	Scott Brazil
Previous:	"All In"
Next:	"The Cure"

"On Tilt" is the fifteenth episode of Season 3 and the 41st episode of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast on June 15, 2004. The previously on segment is voiced by Michael Chiklis.

Summary[]

As Vic goes after Margos, Claudette risks her career to see that an innocent man is freed from prison.

Plot[]

Danny Sofer and Julien Lowe arrive on the scene of a prostitute shouting at storeowner Robert Huggins for spraying her and her friends with a hose. He protests to them that there are drug dealers and prostitutes who are not jailed in the neighborhood. Ronnie Gardocki informs Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell that only around $195,000 remains of their three million after Curtis Lemansky burned it, leaving the three of them with $65,000 each.

Julien warns Huggins to lay off, but he insists that someone needs to clean up his neighborhood. Vic and Corrine Mackey explain to Cassidy Mackey that she will live with Vic during the week and Corrine on weekends, who reacts with confusion. Vic informs David Aceveda that he learned from Kail Saffian that Margos Dezerian has an enormous stash of heroin in a house that is replenished weekly, with tomorrow being a restock day. He asks about Aceveda about his visit to Shane, who explains that Dutch Wagenbach is pushing him harder to keep looking into the Strike Team. Vic confronts Dutch, who points out that Shane registered the storage locker under the same name he gave to Armin Chorekian, unmoved by Vic's threats. The Strike Team raids the heroin house, with the occupants refusing to talk. Aceveda brings assistant district attorney Rommi Cohen to meet with Claudette Wyms about Lisa Kensit. Cohen dismisses the idea that Kensit could have made any wrongful convictions and asserts to Aceveda that Marlon Gault's statements about her addiction will be repressed at the trial. She flirts with him, but he rebuffs her.

As Shane and Ronnie tear the house apart looking for the heroin, Armenian Goma Magar informs Vic that Dezerian had the heroin moved when Saffian was arrested. He explains that he has been sent to offer a truce, and that Dezerian wants the Strike Team to provide security as the heroin is moved out of town, which would pay them half a million dollars. Vic relays the offer to Shane and Ronnie, who unanimously agree that it is out of the question. Suspecting the offer to be a trap, Vic asserts that they have to kill Dezerian in a way that does not violate LAPD code. Lem suddenly enters the Clubhouse and informs the team that he plans to take two months off and transfer when he returns, which Shane and Ronnie are fine with. Vic insists that they need to stick together until Dezerian is dealt with, which Lem hesitantly agrees to. The Strike Team arrives at the heroin pickup spot and immediately suspect it to be a trap. They sneak into a nearby building and catch a lookout and Vic threatens to kill him until he reveals that Magar's men are inside, waiting to kill them. Vic stuffs the paper containing the pickup spot's address in the man's mouth and orders Shane to call a SWAT team.

Claudette interviews Kensit's old roommate, who refuses to help ruin her career. Danny and Julien discuss Huggins with Aceveda, with her adamant that he is going to get himself killed. Aceveda instructs them to get a better understanding of Huggins's neighborhood. Dutch passes by Paula Myers showing the Barn a box of kittens she found while on patrol. Vic mocks him as he passes by, and Dutch's retort comes off as weak. He asks Claudette about Kensit, who tells him she is getting stonewalled. When Dutch advises her to ease up, she affirms that she can take care of things without him.

Vic asks Aceveda to help find replacements for Lem and Tavon Garris. Aceveda informs him that he sidelined the Strike Team over the past several weeks on orders from Tom Bankston, who was testing to see would happen, and has concluded that the negative press is not worth keeping them around. He warns Vic that Lem's departure renders the Strike Team inoperable. He informs Shane and Ronnie, who are opposed to bringing Lem back in. Before they can settle the matter, Lem approaches them with Magar's address. His attack dog is waiting for them inside, so Ronnie lures it to the back door and Lem hurries it and locks it in a bedroom. A public defender gives Claudette records of all of Kensit's cases, highlighting the particularly dubious ones. Aceveda sees what she is doing and lambasts her, and Dutch unsuccessfully tries to defend her. When asked, Aceveda claims that he found nothing on the Strike Team.

Going through Magar's files, Lem notes that he has paid thousands of dollars for dry cleaning rugs, which Vic remembers Ayla was involved in bookkeeping for. He goes to her place, informing her that INS is doctoring her paperwork to convince the mob that she was deported. After he confirms that, once Dezerian is taken care of, she can go back to Armenia, she gives him the address of the "dry cleaners." The Strike Team intercepts Magar there, who tells them that the guarded heroin is inside. Vic explains to Lem the plan to kill Dezerian, and he coughs up blood from his stress ulcer. Looking through Kensit's files, Claudette finds that one of Vic's arrests, robber Walter Clifton, was jailed with no evidence.

As the police raid the drug warehouse, the Strike Team splits up to look for Dezerian, who is not there. As the warehouse guards are led away, Vic makes a show of thanking Magar for his "help." Danny and Julien arrive at Huggins's store to find him being attacked by a drug dealer he filmed selling. Julien is adamant that they can help by cleaning up the neighborhood, which Aceveda agrees to help with. He informs Danny that, after seeing her good work since her rehiring, he is restoring her back to her old status. Clifton professes his innocence despite prior convictions when Claudette visits him, but the warden ends their meeting early. She returns to the Barn to find "COP?" written on her emptied desk, along with Kensit's records vandalized. When Aceveda arrives, Claudette accuses him of alerting the warden, and he reveals that he and Bankston agreed to not promote her to captain.

To Huggins's delight, the police arrest the prostitutes and drug dealers in his neighborhood. At the Barn, Vic threatens to pay Magas informant money in front of the Armenians so they can alert Dezerian. Magas informs of Mihalis, a man who helps Dezerian travel. Claudette asks Vic for his notes on Clifton, who rebuffs and derides her. As the Strike Team notices Vic missing and ask Magas where he is, he tracks down Mihalis and beats him until he calls Dezerian. Vic has him frame Magas as a deserter and lures Dezerian to Magas's house. As Dutch warns Claudette that she cannot make any more mistakes if she wants to keep her job, they interrogate the witness that got Clifton sent to prison. He admits his granddaughter is the one who witnessed Clifton running, and he claimed he did it to keep her safe. However, he identified Clifton based off how her recollection of him matched up to several pictures Vic showed him.

Vic releases Magas, but not before giving him informant money in front of the jailed Armenians. The rest of the Strike Team find Mihalis handcuffed and demand to know what he told Vic. Dezerian breaks into Magas's house and Vic ambushes him from behind. He complies with Vic's order to drop his gun and turns around, and Vic kills him and plants his gun to make it look like a self-defense shooting. He then takes out his phone and calls the precinct.

As Aceveda tells Cohen that Claudette is continuing her crusade, she enters with her findings on Clifton. Cohen promises to keep reviewing Kensit's files, and Claudette warns her to follow through or she will take the story to the press. Aceveda accuses her of wanting to feel morally superior, but she counters that "this isn't superiority, it's decency" and declares that she is happy to lose the captain position if she can continue to do the right thing. The Strike Team arrives at Magas's house and tries to enter, but Vic, waiting for them, notes witnesses on the balcony and simply says "this one's on me" as the police arrive. Vic goes to Ayla's and informs her that she will go back to Armenia with Sosi's body soon. He confirms that he killed Dezerian, and she embraces and tries to kiss him. He initially resists, but gives in and they start to have sex. She starts to cry during, so he stops and lets her embrace him again, tearing up over her shoulder.

Dutch takes the last kitten from the box, and when Claudette notes that Kim Kelner is allergic, he explains that she moved out a few months prior, around the time of William Faulks's rape spree beginning. He decides to name the kitten after Claudette, and she puts photos of her family on her empty, still vandalized desk. Aceveda appears to pick up a prostitute, only to reveal that he is a police officer when she gets in his car and warns her to never return to the area, to which she sarcastically agrees. Vic helps Corrine move back into her house as she asks him to properly take care of Cassidy before she gets her braces installed. Cassidy leaves her stuffed animals for Matthew Mackey, and Vic asserts that their new familial situation will work.

Lem meets with the rest of the Strike Team and Vic asks him to stay with them. He asks Ronnie and Shane if they also want him back, and Shane seems to hesitate despite his affirmative answer. A relieved Lem says "I knew you'd see things eventually" regarding burning the money, and Shane erupts at him, stating that Vic was the one who protected them by killing Dezerian. He reveals that Aceveda will disband the team if they leave, the only reason he and Ronnie want him back. Lem leaves, and Vic orders Ronnie to follow him. He orders Shane to come with to Lem's house so he can apologize when they meet again. Shane refuses and insists he did not need protecting from Dezerian, so Vic brings up Tavon and insults Mara Sewell Vendrell's reliability. Shane counters that Vic does not trust him, citing his belief that Shane stole money from the locker. Vic accuses "that bitch" of warping Shane's perception, and he retorts "I'm going home to that bitch, who the hell are you going home to?" and mocks his inability to maintain a relationship with his family. Vic gives him a chance to leave before he takes action, and watches, gun out, as Shane gets in his truck and drives off.

Cast[]

Featured Music[]

Rokk - Patience
- In the store, Danny and Julien talk with Robert Huggins
Harout Pamboukjian - Te Atcheres
- Near the beginning of the episode, Strike Team busts into a house with a bunch of armenians sitting down
Dwight Yoakam - The Back of Your Hand
- At the end of the episode, coming from Shane car stereo

On Tilt

Contents

Summary[]

Plot[]

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest starring[]

Co-starring[]

Uncredited[]

Featured Music[]

Episode Title[]

Notes[]

Continuity[]

Quotes[]

External Links[]