the first big moment of the season and holy shit it does not disappoint. a masterclass in tension and writing that leaves the viewer with the constant feeling that something is off until the strike team's plan is finally revealed. SPOILERS before getting to the main highlight i'll briefly mention claudette's lupus. it's a devastating disease that slowly begins affecting her work but the way dutch coerces it out of her is just as much testament to his character as well as hers. he sneakily evokes some pity from her, even though she's the one that's sick, for not telling her and apologises for pushing too hard, making her feel the need to once again soothe his damaged ego. it's basically in claudette's nature to repair dutch's pride when things don't work out the way he wants them to so that he can still be at his best solving cases. however, dutch notices this and uses it to his advantage to get claudette to reveal her lupus despite her wanting to keep it private. it's such a small part of the episode compared to the strike team's storyline but it reveals so much of both dutch and claudette's character that i had to mention it. from the start of the episode there's already a lingering sense of unease. kavanaugh bugged the clubhouse but it seems like the strike team doesn't know it. as the episode progresses the strike team slowly dig themselves into a trap with the drugs and the money as kavanaugh gets more and more excited, until finally vic shoots someone in the illegal deal. you know it can't be but at the same time it's right there on the screen, just as kavanaugh sees it, which leads him to busting in to arrest everybody, including the strike team. it's such a jaw-dropping moment and then the show completely subverts expectations by dropping it even further. the writers wait just enough to scare the viewer into believing it's over even if deep down they know it's not until they finally reveal the strike team's master plan. they include everybody but IAD in the plan which results in the single most satisfying moment of the show so far. apparently the showrunners were surprised to see viewers rooting for vic instead of kavanaugh but in an episode like this it makes so much sense. kav is absolutely humiliated and battered by the entire force for nearly screwing up an undercover operation. this scene officially amps things up the next level with kavanaugh now fueled to destroy vic and the strike team even more. what makes this whole situation even better is that aceveda knew deep down it was too good to be true. he knows vic the best out of everybody on the force besides the strike team which means he also respects his intelligence the most which led him to this uncertainty. it makes the moment all the more satisfying because not only is kavanaugh humiliated but aceveda is also played because he knew deep down and couldn't do anything to change the situation. this episode has the biggest character development for kavanaugh so far. that final scene of him destroying his entire living room is so unsettling. his originally calm composure is beginning to slip and his obsessive tendencies are surfacing. there have been glimpses but now he's all the more determined to catch vic as he obsessively listens to the demeaning line 'we'll beat IAD again next year' on the bug. he doesn't like to lose, let alone to someone as corrupt as vic, which makes this line so demeaning while also being such an intelligent way to insult kavanaugh personally. the strike team throwing away the bug is like throwing away kavanaugh's own personal trophy. he thought it was so brilliant to bug the clubhouse and to hide it under such a personal memorabilia but the strike team was ahead of him the whole time and they snatched victory out of his hands. brilliant writing and brilliant tension. i loved this episode so much, top 5 of the show so far mid 5/5