Harlee is skeptical of this plan, but Woz agrees.
Tufo is across town, waiting outside a newsstand to serve a warrant.
Before Tufos suspect emerges, the detective spots a shady car, which has been tailing him all afternoon.
Credit: Peter Kramer/NBC
He rushes to collect Saperstein, and together they deliver this news to Woz.
His paranoia ratchets up yet another notch.
Harlee goes home to change out of her poopy clothes and receives a call from Stahl on her cell.
He wants to apologize for how he acted the day before.
But Stahl is confused: Those werent FBI agents tailing members of her crew.
He tells her to hurry back to the precinct meaning he knows shes not there now.
After she hangs up, Harlee freaks that he must have installed cameras in her apartment.
She sets up a meeting with his supervisor, Baker, to report her concerns.
Theyre old friends, but Baker doesnt believe any of Harlees fears merit a change of handler.
Woz and Tess arrange a detente with Mendez to give him back a percentage of his seized stash.
But just before they pull up, Woz reveals he hasnt brought any heroin just a message for Mendez.
Mendez needs to cut back on business, and Woz isnt going to return anything.
Predictably, Mendez is less-than-thrilled with this turn of events.
Tess suggests they shake Mendez down to cover the storeowners expenses.
This only pings Wozs informant-meter more.
The lieutenant has another idea: Its time to stop playing nice.
Harlee still has a lot of love for him, though, and a favor to ask.
Quid pro quo: If hes spying on her, shell spy right back on him.
At the moment, though, its not Harlee that Stahl is monitoring.
Instead, he pays a surprise visit to Donnie.
Stahl is the more powerful man in the room, and he tells Donnie to call off his guys.
Things just got seriously dangerous for our girl.
Secretly monitoring Harlee and making her feel uneasy in her own home are just his latest crimes.
Unaware of how precarious her situation has just become, Harlee has less life-threatening concerns occupying her mind.
Harlee rushes to the station to question the driver, who is just a teenager.
He insists he didnt steal the car: He borrowed it from his girlfriend.
Harlee doesnt buy it, but as shes interrogating her young suspect, his phone rings.
A picture of Cristina pops up on the screen.
Turns out kid was telling the truth.
Harlee is devastated: Cristina has never kept secrets from her before.
Thus far in his power struggle with Mendez, Woz has been coming out on top.
He does have a badge and the backing of the State of New York, after all.
But things take a turn when a member of Mendezs crew steals Wozs car.
Its a dirty move, and Woz gets dirty in return.
NEXT:Shades of Blueenters its Tarantino phase
Thats not all Woz has planned.
Its not enough to just railroad Mendezs entire business operation.
Woz wants him to personally suffer as well.
Those magazines really hit a nerve.
He calls another meeting, and when Mendez arrives, Woz surprises him and knocks him unconscious.
Mendez wakes in handcuffs.
Woz starts berating him, but Mendez fires back with his ace: He knows Woz sleeps with men.
Turns out the car prank wasnt just a lucky guess.
But Woz is ready with his countermove.
But that would just be idle chatter from a gangbanger.
Woz could say the same thing about Mendez…and when he says it, hell have video proof.
On cue, two members of the new gang enter and proceed to orally rape Mendez.
They cackle gleefully while filming the vicious assault.
The whole unnecessary scene feels grafted from a Tarantino film.
And it doesnt stop there.
Were not just treated to the sight of the brutal attack.
Tufo cracks sick jokes at the victims expense while Mendez stares blankly, defeatedly ahead.
I dont typically have much sympathy for heroin-slinging gang leaders, but this short scene is gut-wrenching.
Its been a long day for the whole crew.
At home, Harlee finds a jailhouse letter from Zepeda, addressed lovingly to Cristina.
He practices his opening line in the mirror, all variations on Lets get some dinner.
Satisfied for the time being, Harlee shuts off her monitor.
He goes with…Harlee.
There really are no lines these characters, on both sides of the law, wont cross.
The vindictive pleasure Woz took in the suffering of his enemy was hard to stomach.
