Giardello orders Bayliss and Pembleton to move on from the Adena Watson murder and take on new cases. They are assigned to solve the murder of a police dog, which Bayliss finds a waste of time, but Pembleton decides to take seriously. Meanwhile, Howard and Felton are determined to bust drug dealer "Pony" Johnson (Geoffrey Ewing) for the torture and murder of a young woman, and eventually elicit a confession from another drug pusher (Larry Gilliard, Jr.) whose mother was also murdered by Johnson. Crosetti provides encouragement to a recovering Thormann, who feels he should have died in the hospital and is discouraged to learn his wife (Edie Falco) is pregnant. Bolander meets his girlfriend Blythe's outrageous teenage son (Stivi Paskoski) and, despite his best efforts, cannot bond with him. Giardello attends a retirement party of a retired fellow shift commander (Michael Constantine), who tells Giardello he was forced out of the job.