At a gang hangout, teenagers dressed in black and a color that resembles those yellow/greenish highlighters listen to generic rap. They're the Queensboro Gangsters. Down the street, kids in a car don black ski masks. Harry, who is with the gangbangers, notices the car approaching and yells for everyone to get down. Parked cars are sprayed with bullets. Theme song.
In Cap'n Rufus's office, A detective named Crenshaw asks Harry if automatic weapons were used; Harry says no. Yesterday's drive-by wounded 5 teenagers and killed 1; the police department is under pressure to make more arrests for gang activity. Tom will be sent undercover with BL-13, a rival of Harry's gang, with the option to leave at any time. BL stands for "Barrio Loco." And I'm sure they didn't intentionally make the name really close to MS-13.
Doug gives Tom a crash course in throwing gang signs and quizzes him over gang terminology. ("Jumped in" means getting beat up by the members, "putting in work" means committing a crime, etc). Then he roleplays with Tom how to ask to join a gang.
At the Queensboro Gangsters hangout, a black kid named Baby G shows off his new revolver, which he stole from his sister. Harry gets out of the car, walks off to find Judy, and she gets in the driver's seat. They drive to a deserted lot under an overpass. Baby G is there and his fellow gangbangers are displeased to learn he's smoking angel dust instead of his usual weed. They demand to know who sold it to him. Baby G fires off a wild shot. The other gangsters tackle him and hold him down, telling him to calm down.
At police headquarters, someone from the gang unit inspects Tom and says, "Don't look like no gangster to me." He and the gang unit detective role-play some more. Tom will be going undercover at Prospect High as Mad Dog 2. This could spell trouble as the first Mad Dog is dead.
Back to the Queensboro Gangsters. Harry, Judy, and the rest gather around trash barrel fires, drinking cheap wine out of the bottle. Their dead homey will be buried in a few days, but "his mama said no colors" at the funeral. The kid also had a shot at a decent future before he died; he was an A/B student with scholarship offers. A mysterious guy in a black Trans Am pulls up. One of the Gangsters assures him they'll keep business up. Harry tries to see in the car, but it's too dark.
In his apartment, Harry takes a bulletproof vest out of his closet and puts it on. Judy knocks. He lets her in. She's dressed in black and yellow. Harry pulls on a yellow shirt. Judy asks why Harry's wearing a vest, even though she's been a cop for at least 3 years at this point. Harry explains that he's not taking any chances; he doesn't think anyone will notice the vest. Judy doesn't look so sure.
The case bothers Harry: "I'm driving around with a 13-year-old who has his own .357, bullets are flying everywhere and I'm trying to figure out how to keep one of them from hitting me."
The gang unit detective gives Tom some advice: "Shut yo' ass up. Nothing is scarier than a dude that says nothing." I can vouch for that; I was scared of a guy who turned out to be a great friend because he never talked. Tom should have Latino affiliation because he wouldn't work out in a black gang. He coaches Tom on slang specific to the Latino gangs. His new gang name will be Calavaro and will be inked on him. Tom objects to the latter. Doug says, "Okay, we'll talk about it later." "I ain't gettin' no tattoos," Tom repeats. More role playing games. You can tell Johnny Depp has checked out of the series entirely at this point.
At the school where Harry and Judy are undercover, Judy notices a black van driving past the parking lot with all the doors open. "Harry, look out!" she screams. Bullets rip through the parking lot. Harry falls backwards over the trunk of his car. When the shooting stops, Judy goes to his side. Harry isn't visibly bleeding, but he's not moving. "SOMEBODY CALLS AN AMBULANCE!" Judy screams louder than before.
Harry is brought to the emergency room on a stretcher. He's been shot the chest. The trauma team goes to work. Harry starts to flatline.
Cap'n Rufus, Judy, and Doug sit in the waiting room. Booker is pacing. Tom arrives and asks how Harry is. Fuller reports that the doctors have been working on Harry for 3 hours. The doctor appears. Harry is in critical condition and on a respirator, but should be okay if he can survive the next 8 hours or so. The doctor tells the Jump Street crew to go home.
We learn Harry was shot with a fully automatic AK-47 and that's why the vest didn't help. Fuller wants Judy to stay with the Gangsters; they probably know who's responsible. Tom is eager to avenge his friend.
Tom and Doug move a mattress into the crappiest looking rental house imaginable while the local gang watches.
Tom walks down the street in stereotypical gang attire. He looks about as Latino as Jonah Hill did in 22 Jump Street. Newsflash, hairnets are for lunch ladies, not gangstas. He's approached by gangbangers wearing green bandannas. They ask where he's from and one gangbanger pushes him. Booker and Fuller appear to purposely pick a fight with Tom. He lays them both out and runs down the street.
The gangbangers, the Lords, lead him to their rooftop hideout. They ask where Tom lives and Tom replies that he lives with his brother.
There's a pointless scene where the gangbangers go to the door of Crappy Casa so Tom can get a jacket.
The BL-13s are having a party much like the one the Gangsters had, only with refreshments. "Your brother looks like a damn bear," says one of the green bandannas, "They should call him Oso." Tom replies that they do. The bangers promise the gang will take care of him.
Doug opens the fridge at Crappy Casa, which only contains a 6-pack of Coke. He tells whoever he's on the phone with that he thinks Tom is in. Someone knocks on the door again. Doug puts down the phone. Two white guys are the porch and claim to be movers. "I don't wanna move out, I just moved in," says Doug. The date on their paperwork was 2 weeks ago. The movers apologize for the mistake and leave.
It's morning now at the BL-13 hangout. Tom looks over the edge of the roof. One of the BL-13s is talking to someone driving the same Trans Am we saw earlier. That night, the BL-13s in charge rally everyone to arm themselves because the Gangsters will be out for revenge; they have all the weapons you need in stock. One of them gives Tom a chance to "earn his stripes" at that night's drive-by.
Jesus, it annoys me that they don't bother to give half the minor characters names and we're at the 20-minute mark.
Harry's now stabilized, breathing on his own, but still in a coma. Tom doesn't think the kids he's been hanging out with did it.
One of the Gangsters is booked into a jail cell with Tom. The episode will probably never name him so I'll call him Diaper Head because of how he wears his bandanna. Diaper Head asks Tom when he's getting out. Tom shrugs and goes back to sketching a skull and crossbones on the cell wall.
At the Gangsters' hangout, everyone is dancing to generic rap, drinking, and smoking weed. Diaper Head invites Tom in and introduces him to Elena, girl in a yellow varsity jacket. He tells the girl to "take care" of Tom. Elena's mother arrives and drags her daughter out of the party. Outside, Baby G is upset that one of the members, who's 26 years old and married with children, is leaving the Gangsters. Baby G wants to be just like a member nicknamed Psycho "down with the set 'til they bury me."
Tom comes out. His reputation has already spread. He inspects a gun that's offered to him and asks if they have any AK-47s. Tom shoots out a streetlight. Diaper Head sells him an AK-47.
Tom follows Diaper Head around in his Mustang. He sees him talking to a middle-aged guy who then gets into a black Trans Am. A truck blocks Tom in before he has a chance to follow the car.
The next day, he meets up with Diaper Head, who shows him a gun that looks nothing like an AK. Diaper Head thinks the Gangsters ought to initiate Tom; all Tom has to do is put in some work. Tom asks if there's a target in mind. There's a contract out on a girl who works at a local taco stand because "her old man was a snitch. Some Jap who looked like Elvis." According to Diaper Head, "everyone" was in on taking out her old man. Someone named Budman calls the shots. Tom agrees to do it.
Middle-aged Trans Am Guy/Budman goes back to his car and lights up a cigar. He asks his passenger for the time; it's 5:00: "That moron in Evidence probably locked up by now." So the gun connection is a cop. Things got a whole lot messier...
Tom tells Doug that the gun runner is the same person who put a hit out on Harry. Doug doesn't think they have enough evidence for a search warrant.
Tom and Diaper Head and nameless Gangsters sit in a car outside the closed taco stand. Tom declines the offer of weed because it makes him too sleepy. Their gun is broken but Tom offers to use his own. Tom gets out to knock on the door of the taco stand. "May I help you?" asks Judy. Tom shoots her. He and the rest of the Gangsters flee the scene. Judy, of course, isn't really dead or injured; Cap'n Rufus loaded the gun with blanks.
Diaper Head has a heated but silent argument with Budman about something. Budman leaves. This time, Tom is able to follow the Trans Am. Budman parks in front of a house in a nice enough neighborhood. After dark, Tom breaks in. He looks through papers in the home office.
Outside, Budman parks behind the Mustang and looks curiously at it. In a desk drawer, Tom finds a lockbox, which contains money and some type of list. Tom takes the list and replaces the lockbox in the desk. He finds a pair of handcuffs engraved with the name BUD TOWERS and his badge number.
On his way out, Tom is surprised by Bud. He points a gun at Tom and informs him, "You're trespassing." Tom tells Bud he's a cop. Bud shoots and just barely misses Tom's head. Tom hides in a bedroom. When Bud comes in, Tom hits the older man in the face with a telephone. Bud fires another shot, breaking a lamp. Tom repeats that he's a cop and shoots back before diving through a window.
Tom falls about a story, gets up, and keeps running. Bud keeps shooting as he chases Tom through the backyard. Tom fires again and runs into the nearby woods. We see Bud lying facedown in his yard. To be continued...
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