WAS it a heart attack?  all I saw was Ruben approach her in the bar and then take her home.  I didn't hear anything one way or the other for Cause.

Cooper was addicted to pain pills, not booze, so I don't know if they're going to play it as replacing one addiction for another or not, esp now that he's sudden;y single after three years.  Cudlitz plays him as always stoic/on guard, with very little humor showing through, but he does have his tender/vulnerable…

I was only spoiled by a Facebook comment on Caldwell's character before I had a chance to watch the ep. :/

On the bright/funny side, my dad's dept started handing out stars for every five years served, so about 22 years in (maybe a year after this started?), one lady asked him if he was a "four star general"!
(LMAO)

As I noted in my reply (above? below? wherever), Sammy and Ben saved that politico some face when Mendoza admitted he shot himself later.  Imagine the backpedaling that guy would have had to do to save face after that photo-op had they allowed it to happen!

What IS the blue one???? 0.o?

Didn't Ben go to college for a bit before the Academy?  that might explain how they knew each other, but Mendoza had more time in on the Force?  Maybe they had a couple lunch breaks together or he also lived in the same complex Sammy and later Ben lived in, as it was suggested that there were several cops living there.
…

I do agree that Lydia's arc last year seemed to revolve around the "I'm pregnant!" trope, which drug her down for me.  The only highlight was Marla's guest spot ("Okay, Brenda!"), but the fact they've removed her supporting character now has me hoping either she ends this season or the show does without a tie to the…

We weren't told of the kid's condition, but I did think it was rude that they wheeled out her mom as Lydia was standing right there.  Surely the woman holding Christopher said something about her arriving and to hold up a minute?

1. "making a mistake on the job that causes and innocent victim,"
um, are we missing a word here?
and Cooper was obviously hiding he was upset his actions that morning lead to the man's suicide.  He might not have said anything, but his silence spoke volumes.

first off, we still don't know if that gun was the pimp's or Ben planted it on him (at the risk of opening that "which gun was he cleaning in the open?" argument) while he had a few seconds alone.

talking about how subtle things are, there were complaints about Cooper in s3-4 as casual viewers had never picked up on the fact he was gay, despite one s2 episode he basically came out to Ben after leaving his friend's funeral.  "OMG! Why is Cooper getting out of bed naked WITH ANOTHER GUY!?!?!?!11?11!!!!"  It was…

yeah, sometimes it can enhance the ep, but other times, it seems they do it more out of tradition than anything else, or they just seem to focus on the wrong character for the cold open VO teaser, when someone else has a better arc/scene that ep that should have been highlighted.

the only problem I had with that arc was that they wrote out the son she was finally having a fling with after playing up her lack of love life and made some one-night stand guy she saw back in s1 the babydaddy.  seriously?

Not just Michael, but also Medlin and the other detectives Sammy used to work with.  I guess since they are in "Gangs" that Lydia, as a regular street detective, wouldn't have too much interaction with them on a regular basis that they would be partnered with her?

what else has Gago been in?  I stumbled across what was apparently an early cameo as a lab assistant in "Innerspace" near 30 years ago, but seeing as how both women in that scene were young and hispanic, I'm not sure if she was the one Quaid only flirted with or also had his picture taken with before starting the…

yeah, that would have been s3 she left, "transferred to Metro" (aka SWAT).  I keep hoping we get a cameo of her in the background or morning briefing or something. :(

@avclub-13d7df3c17502af69aafccc758195f96:disqus I hear they allow some of the language, but a few words are still bleeped.  I'm not sure how a scene like the bathhouse fight would be allowed to slip through, though?

from teasers by Cudlitz, I think Cooper may slip up or Steele may figure out he's gay and we get a hate crime scene between the two of them.  If anything else, at this point, I don't see Coop allowing Steele to continue on the Force.

for long time viewers, it's part of why we want to see her again, to see how f'd up she can get this time.  I think by series' end, her character may wind up dead, possibly taking Li'l Nate and Sammy with her, if she can.