Murder in The First: Episode 02-06 – Oh, Mexico Recap, Review, and a Host of Questions

Murder in the First Season 2 Episode 6 Oh, Mexico – Recap and Commentary *****SPOILERS GALORE*****

The episode opens with Sugar Cascade at a jail house to pick up his sister Tenea who is supposed to be release today. Only she’s been released yesterday. Sugar leaves perplexed.

Back at the courthouse, with Jamie Nelson and the second chair, Aaron Mazur on hand, Dustin Maker pleads guilty. The  judge suggests that Nelson’s shrink is not the court’s shrink, and before accepting the plea, he orders another psych  evaluation to determine if Maker has the competency to understand what his plea actually means. I’m not sure what to make of this. What is the point of having this great attorney on hand and her client wants to plead out. I’m wondering what Jamie Nelson’s hidden strategy actually is.

Lt. Koto is offered a promotion by the Chief of Police. Koto asks to stay on at present level – at least until his department gets their feet back under them. His team has lost 2 men. Koto’s Dad has bigger dreams – He sees Koto as a future mayor of SF. Dad challenges Koto – Loyalty is great if you are a follower. If you’re a leader it is a weakness. Are you a follower or the future Mayor?

Koto heads out to the detective squad room. He asks for more info on the shooting and the suicide. Where’s Navarro? Molk says I’m going to swing by Navarro’s house.

Hildy tells her Bro that Peat’s death wasn’t a suicide, and that Navarro hasn’t been cleared.

Molk shows up at Navarro’s home and there’s no sign of Navarro. A couple of skin heads roll up. They look over Molk who has opened his coat to reveal his badge and that his hand is on his gun. The skinheads and Molk exchange fake pleasantries before they drive off.

Attorney Jamie Nelson questions Dustin Maker’s parents about a broken arm when Dustin was six. She says, The bone in his arm was shattered. But the parents were a no-show at the hospital as well as the recovery. Nelson is suspicious,  as am I, as are you, and is anyone who watched the show. Maker’s parents could not look any more like they were hiding something.

What are these people hiding?

I’m not sure where this can lead either. Even if the parents are revealed to negligent or abusive, how will this help Nelson? Is child abuse an excuse for cold-blooded murder. Not an excuse but it certainly mitigating in establishing Maker’s state of mind over the years.

Cascade is worried about his missing sister, and is also starting to show signs that he is vaguely suspicious about Fatty B. Is he paranoid or is there something there?

English finds that Kaleb Peat had sent information (address etc) about Navarro to an unknown email address. Hildy says, Why would he send personal info about a fellow cop to anyone.

Hildy finds that Kaleb had notes about the Nazi Brotherhood (remember the skin heads I mentioned above). Hildy’s brother has a CI within the Nazi Brotherhood. This CI connects Navarro to a gang banger (his brother) and the grow-house murder.

Raffi and McCormick visit the Juvie Hall re Jalil’s murder. No hard evidence of anything. On the last image of the juvie hall video of the corridor – Raffi notices a new tat on Jalil’s neck.

The IP address that Peat sent Navarro’s info to is a master criminal in jail for life.

Navarro is now on the run – no doubt because some one from the nazi Brotherhood came by or attempted something. Hildy says to Terry – we have to tell Molk.

He was partner with Navarro for 8 years. Navarro has dual citizenship. Molk confirms that Navarro’s dad has a place in Mexico near the border.

Terry tells Molk about Navarro’s brother having a beef with the Nazi Brotherhood. Since Peat was working with the Nazi Brotherhood, he gave them Navarro’s address. Hello Mexico.

Dustin Maker talks with the court appointed shrink. Maker says Nothing really matters.

Raffi and McCormick head over to the morgue to see Jalil Thompson’s corpse. They want to get a good look at that tat. But Jalil’s body has gone missing…

The morgue supervisor goes over the how the morgue operates. He discusses not only the paperwork and checks, but also the routines of storing the body.   Key point – there are no cameras. He says two people could get a body out in 5 minutes. But they had to have to known etc etc – hence an inside job.

Sugar Cascade visits his mother, looking for info about his sister Tenea. His own mother is not one of his (Sugar’s) fans.

Koto is researching Peat and the brotherhood’s informant. He decides to look at the file about Peat’s suicide. The file is missing – because Terry English has it. Koto, recalling that Terry English occupied his office is off to find the file, and he finds it in English’s desk.

Navarro and his brother are on the run. They are supposed to meet a guy who can grease the Immigration Inspector in Lane Six at the Mexico/US border. Navarro pays the asked for 20K. It’s not enough. This guy is squeezing Navarro for an extra 10K. He says, If you want to slide through Lane 6, it’s 30, esai.

Navarro’s bro suggest they withdraw money. Navarro knows the cops will be tracking his bank accounts.

Koto confronts English. English tells him,  The plan was to clear everybody in homicide then bring you in. Everyone has been cleared except Navarro and English.

Hildy learns that Navarro has withdrawn money from a San Diego bank.

The Maker hearing. Judge announces his findings . Maker is clearly is competent. Silletti briefly objects. Then backs off  when the judge tells him that by objecting to the competency to enter a plea, then you are also arguing that he isn’t competent to stand trial.

That puts Silletti back in his chair real quick.

Maker pleads guilty and acknowledges that by pleading guilty he is waving a trial, he is leaving his life in the hands of the judge. Judge accepts the plea and sets a date for a sentencing hearing.

Fatty B tells Sugar that Tenea is set up in an apartment house owned by Chan, a rival drug lord who competes with Sugar. Sugar Cascade tells Fatty B to take a crew out and find Tenea – RIGHT NOW!

Nelson arrives home to find that her lover is tossing her out of the apartment.

Sugar Cascade is shacking up with a woman – but he’s not really able or into it, or so it seems. The woman says this happens always after Sugar has visited his mother. Fatty B announces , A big-ass box has arrived. They open the box.

A note reads BLOOD FOR BLOOD. Chan’s idea of how to settle things between him and Cascade. What was in the box – Tenea’s severed head.

And that’s how the episode ends.

Questions:

What is Nelson’s strategy? Does anyone care that Nelson is being tossed out by her lover?

Why are Maker’s parents hiding something, and why are they so obvious about it? What could it be?

So Koto’s Dad, previously unseen and not mentioned thinks his son can be a future mayor – I think I agree that it is certainly possible. Hero cop, shot in the line of duty – why not? But from the series standpoint – where does this go? Unlike another famous San Francisco detective, named Dirty Harry, the mayor in this series is mostly missing. Aside from pressuring last year’s DA, and giving Siletti the job – who is he and who cares? The only thing I can come up with is that Ian Anthony Dale, who plays Koto, has something else he’d rather do – so he his being written off the show, if there is a 3rd season.

We know that Navarro is on the run. But what has he done exactly ? Did he kill the black cop? Did he kill Kaleb Peat? If Kaleb Peat was in the pocket of the Nazi Brotherhood, why are they after Navarro? Because they needed Peat? Or are they really after Navarro’s brother Cristobal?

Raffi keeps getting attached to cases. First it was the bus shooters, then the Jalil Thompson case, then she spoke with Sugar, and now she’s working with McCormick (Junior) – Hildy’s bro. Obviously English still is hot for her, and he appeared to be kind of jealous to find her with Junior.

What happened to Jalil’s body? Is he even dead? Everything about this youngster is a bit cloudy. He confessed to killing Victor Chen? He’s sent to Juvie Hall, and it is there he is supposedly murdered. Now the corpse is missing. The only thing we know, for sure, is that his Mom ID’ed him at the M.E’s office – but that was from behind a glass window. Was he even murdered – there’s no video of that? Where is his body? What will the tats reveal? Or is all of that a scheme to 1) get Jalil out of jail alive by stating that he’s been killed. And who could have orchestrated that?

Faked deaths are not that unusual. It even happened to James Bond in You Only Live Twice.

So Molk has a stripper girl friend. How is this relevant?

Where and when will Navarro be caught?

Will Raffi sleep with Junior? Unlikely but possible.

Until next time…

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