Brenda and the team deal with a complex double homicide involving the death of fellow LAPD officer Tim Martin, found dead in a warehouse alongside notoriously dangerous Ze've Barak, presumably the man who shot and killed him. Brenda can't quite figure out why Martin would meet Ze've alone in a warehouse when he was supposedly off duty. Looking at all the evidence, she concludes there had to be a third person in the warehouse. Brenda's style of investigating the policeman's death rankles everyone, including Assistant Chief Pope and newly promoted Commander Taylor. She doesn't hesitate to look into the backgrounds of Martin (something of a womanizer, as it turns out) and his partners, Detectives Hubbard and Xavier. Meanwhile, Fritz, waiting for Brenda's decision on them moving in together, worries that Pope will ask her out on a date now that his wife Stella has filed for divorce. Written by garykmcd / edited by statmanjeff

A lady juror dies while a major mob boss is on trial, which Brenda and her team must investigate carefully and restrictively, as interviewing the other jurors is forbidden. Assistant Chief Pope and Commander Taylor, fearing a declared mistrial, want Brenda to go slowly and smoothly, which isn't exactly her style. No one wants to do anything to prejudice the case, but the mobster has interfered with jurors before, so Brenda isn't apt to accept any verdict of death by natural causes. When the autopsy reveals death from an overdose of heart medication, Brenda's focus turns toward the juror's husband, a doctor. Meanwhile, as Fritz unpacks his boxes at Brenda's house, Brenda learns of her mother's imminent arrival in Los Angeles. Panicked, she has Fritz re-pack everything and delay his moving until Willie Ray (her mom) leaves - a genteel woman who makes quite an impression on the squad. Written by garykmcd / revised by statmanjeff

Brenda Leigh Johnson and the squad investigate the apparent drive-by shooting of three students in a gang-dominated area of Los Angeles, two of whom are killed. The shooting itself isn't out of place as much as the car and the apparently middle class teenage victims. Brenda is convinced the driver must have had some connection to gangs but Commander Taylor, who knows the young man's father, assures her he was a good kid. Evidence leads them to the shooters, but one implicates either the young driver or his parents. Meanwhile, Fritz finds himself showing Brenda's mother, Willie Ray, around Los Angeles on his own, despite Brenda's promise to take time off. Written by garykmcd / revised by statmanjeff

Priority Homicide investigates the violent murder of Karen Bivas, who, along with her chef-husband Paul, ran a recently-opened five-star restaurant. There is no shortage of suspects in the case. Foremost, her husband is something of a hothead always flying off the handle, who could have easily killed her in a fit of temper. Secondly, there's Dennis Dutton, a multi-millionaire known to exhibit violence towards women (with whom Brenda's had previously dealings). As the restaurant's principal financial backer, he, too, could have killed her. Convinced of Dutton's guilt (since the m.o. fits his pattern), Brenda leans on well-known restaurant critic Tom Newman to see how well Dutton's iron-clad alibi of having dinner with him stands up under close scrutiny. Written by garykmcd / revised by statmanjeff

Brenda finds herself investigating a case under Commander Taylor's jurisdiction courtesy of Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza. In a hurry to get to a Dodgers game where they have skybox seats, they open Provenza's garage door to find a dead woman lying on the floor. They decide to go the game and take care of it afterward, but on their return find that her body has been removed. They compound their poor judgment when they tell Commander Taylor - who has found the woman in a park and is processing the area as a crime scene - that under orders from Chief Brenda Johnson, they are taking over the case. With Taylor on the warpath and Pope wondering if she has lost her mind, Brenda and the team investigate the woman's death unofficially while trying to keep the details of Flynn and Provenza's activities under wraps. Written by garykmcd

Brenda and Priority Homicide investigate the death of a paparazzo who fell - or was pushed - from his hotel room balcony. The dead man, Anthony Larson, made his living photographing celebrities then selling the photos to news agencies and magazines. Since the hotel he was in specializes in providing celebrities with a private environment, Brenda, right off the bat, faces a less than cooperative hotel management. Particularly puzzling, the man's very expensive Nikon camera is missing. The investigation focuses on a major star who was of particular interest to Larson, to the point that there was even an injunction against him keeping him away from the star's house. Although the memory card is missing from the dead man's camera later recovered from a pawn shop, photos still provide the vital clue that leads to an arrest. Meanwhile, Brenda is upset with Fritz when a woman leaves a message on his answering machine confirming a dinner engagement. Written by garykmcd / edited by statmanjeff

Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and her staff investigate the murder and dismemberment of Chris Mundy, who, it turns out, is a major porn star. Initially, they only have his head and feet, but it's more than enough to confirm his identity through dental records. It's also enough to confirm that he was HIV positive, both a surprise and a problem given his profession. The porn industry requires all actors to be tested regularly, and Brenda suspects he may have been hiding his HIV status. His wife Annalisa, for one, refuses to believe it, and it becomes entirely possible that someone to whom he passed the virus may have sought revenge; however, the real solution is far more complicated. Meanwhile, Sgt. Gabriel informs Brenda that he and Det. Daniels are now dating. Written by garykmcd

Brenda's team investigates the death of a young mother and her 4-year-old daughter, found bound together and weighted down in the Port of Los Angeles. The coroner estimates they've been in the water for at least two weeks, which coincides with the dates on a Japanese airline ticket found on the woman's body. They track down the woman's husband, Paul Andrews, a seemingly sincere and decent man running an auto body repair shop in L.A., who says his wife ran off with their child six months before and hasn't contacted him since. Upon learning he had a first wife who also suddenly disappeared six years earlier convinces Brenda he is responsible but leaves her desperate for hard evidence for an arrest. Written by garykmcd / revised by statmanjeff

When a young boy dies on the operating table, his distraught mother calls the police and accuses the doctors and the hospital of having murdered her son. When the hospital administrator proves to be less than cooperative, Brenda declares the OR a crime scene and launches a full investigation. What they learn is that the boy had been to the emergency room at least a dozen times in the last year and that, with the death of her son, the mom will inherit his trust fund. Hospital personnel accuse the woman of child abuse. As conflicting evidence mounts, and under pressure to transfer some of her staff to robbery-homicide, it's apparent Brenda's going to have get a confession out of someone if she's going to close the case. Written by garykmcd / edited by statmanjeff

Brenda and her team investigate the murder of a drug user killed in the home of Ginnifer Rawley, the daughter of a prominent family. Rawley herself is a meth head, but until the evening before had been in a rehab center for two months. Brenda learns that Ginnifer is a confidential informant for the Narcotics Division, but subsequent information doesn't support their claim. Brenda is also appearing as a character witness in Assistant Chief Pope's divorce and custody dispute. Unfortunately, her past relationship with Pope is brought out and she now worries how her team will view her as a result. Written by garykmcd

Brenda and the team investigate what they believe to be a triple murder site. Forensic evidence suggests three people were bloodied, and the volume of blood is such that they likely did not survive. The problem: there are no bodies. The house is also strange, with little furniture, a dozen mattresses on the floor, but otherwise clean and neat. What they seem to have is an illegal immigrant smuggling ring that came up against a street gang trying to extort money from them; however, the evidence has several contradictions that eventually lead to the real tale. On her way to the site, Brenda has a tiny fender bender but is called on the carpet for not following departmental protocol and reporting the accident immediately, subsequently finding herself hounded by a captain from Traffic Division. Written by garykmcd / edited by statmanjeff

The squad investigates the drive-by shooting of teenager Carl Nelson, a witness to a murder. Carl was scheduled to testify at a hearing to prove that convicted killer Gerald Curtis was not the person who did the shootings. The boy had given a videotaped deposition to defense attorneys two weeks previously, and the DA now sees both his previous conviction and the hope for any new conviction going down the drain. Deputy Chief Johnson finds Carl's involvement in the Curtis case to be just a little too contrived and investigates a local school's civics class and their attempt to set Curtis free. When Assistant Chief Pope's wife berates Brenda in the squad room, the team finally learns of their previous relationship. Written by garykmcd

The LAPD and the FBI find themselves at loggerheads when the wife of a key mob witness and an FBI agent are killed. The witness, Martin DeLuca, has been under protection for years as the Justice Department built its case against the Dellamonte crime family. Brenda has only two days to solve the murders, which becomes particularly complicated when the police find a link between Special Agent Tim Hecht in charge of protecting DeLuca and the man DeLuca identifies as the killer. Throughout, Brenda is flustered by the fact that her pet cat has run away. Written by garykmcd

As a result of the shooting of Agent Hecht in her last case, Brenda finds herself on paid administrative leave. While sitting at home, her squad is slowly being dismantled by Cmdr. Taylor. As Taylor clumsily investigates the murder of foreign-born piano student Malik Fara, Brenda is offered an opportunity by her old intelligence contacts to have her problems disappear if she will solve that case and identify the leak in their intelligence. Fara was likely killed by a terrorist organization that may also be in possession of 20 lbs. of plutonium. Written by garykmcd / edited by statmanjeff

With the team re-assembled and Brenda again in charge, she continues to search for Malik Fara's contact in the terrorist cell and works to find the murderer of Fara's killer, a former KGB agent named Voitski. Having made contact with someone she believes is a member of the terrorist cell, she also manages to identify Malik's father. With this information, she sets a trap for the CIA's rogue agent. Written by garykmcd