Jackals is the 16th case of the sixth season of the series and is the 127th overall.
Description[]
The team reopens the 1976 case of a murdered 17-year-old girl after a newfound photo of her on the back of a motorcycle exposes her connection to a notoriously nefarious gang.
Synopsis[]
In May 6, 1976, a teenage girl gets out of her school uniform and packs her stuff in her bedroom. She sneaks out of her window and jumps on the back of a motorcycle. She looks back at her home, which is about to be foreclosed on, and rides off. Later, her bloody dead body is found.
In the present day, Rush and Valens meet with a released convict named Colin Blake who did time for embezzlement. Colin tells the police he tried to break out of prison to help his daughter Sarah in the ’70s. Sarah was stabbed to death when he was in jail. Colin remembers that his daughter supported him until the night before his conviction, when he told her that he was guilty of his crimes. He shows Rush and Valens a picture of Sarah when she hung out with the Jackals, a biker gang. Rush sees that the picture was taken before the fourth of July in 1976. Colin asks the police to help him find out what happened to Sarah.
Rush finds that Sarah was stabbed over 30 times and had defensive wounds. Valens tells Stillman that the leader of the Jackals at that time was John Clark, a man with a long criminal record. Miller wonders why Sarah, who was an honors student, would hang out with the Jackals. Rush discovers that Sarah was suspended from school for fighting. A friend named Libby jumped in and was expelled.
Valens and Miller meet with John aka Shameless and ask him about Sarah. John simply tells Valens that he has to talk to the club before he talks to him, then walks inside his bar.
Rush meets with Libby, who is working at one of the three hair salons she owns. Libby says that she married a biker in the 1970's, but he was killed in 1981. She started her first salon with the inheritance. Libby tells Rush that the school system treated her like dirt. She remembers hanging out with the Jackals during the ’70’s. Sarah found Libby partying after she was expelled. A man named Darren met with Sarah and showed her his bike. Another man tried to hit on Sarah, but her boyfriend Mark pulled her away. Libby says that Mark smacked Sarah around.
Later, Miller finds that Mark had a history of abusing women. Jeffries meets with Mark in the interrogation room. Mark says that he is a lawyer now. He admits that he hooked up with Sarah a long time ago. Mark says that Sarah was the one who wanted to hang out with the bikers. He remembers seeing Sarah with Darren, the biker that she met at the party. Mark warned Darren that he should not mess with Sarah. Mark says that Darren beat him with a helmet then rode off with Sarah. Valens finds that Darren was the son of the founder of the Jackals.
Valens and Rush bring in Darren, who now sells bikes for 50 grand each. Darren says that he was never officially in the Jackal gang, even though he was the son of the founder. Darren admits that he beat up Mark. He explains that he found a lot in common with Sarah. Darren remembers taking Sarah to a party. Darren says that he got angry at some of Jackals when he discovered that they were running drugs. One of the Jackals pulled a knife on Darren and told him that they need him to run the drugs to Pittsburgh. Darren says that Sarah wanted to hang out with the Jackals and that he left her at the party. Darren tells Rush that he never made the drug run to Pittsburgh. The guy that pulled the knife on him was called Monster. Darren says that Monster was John’s chief enforcer.
Valens tells Miller that they have no record of Monster. Miller shows Colin a picture of a man that she found. Colin confirms that he knows the man by the name of Burke, but had no idea that he was a Jackal. Miller says that Burke has a record. Colin suggests to Miller that Burke might know who killed Sarah.
Miller and Vera meet Burke in prison and show him a picture of Sarah’s dead body. Burke remembers seeing Sarah in the club. He says that Sarah volunteered to run drugs for John. John gave Sarah the drugs to bring to Pittsburgh. Burke thinks Monster killed Sarah, having disappeared after she died.
Valens finds that Monster’s real name is James Drew. Valens shows Rush and Stillman a picture and they see that he was a cop. Rush and Valens meet with Monster at his trailer. Monster reveals that he worked undercover in the Jackals. Monster admits to Rush that he got hooked on drugs and lost in the biker world. Sarah woke him up and made him want to quit the Jackals. Monster remembers that he found Sarah in the club after she made her drug run. He tried to have his way with her, but she fought back and called him an animal. After the attack, he told Sarah to get out. Monster says that he packed his stuff and left the gang soon after. Sarah stayed with Libby during that time. He reveals that Libby sought to be John’s girl.
The team figure that Libby’s salon was a front for the Jackals. Miller learns that Burke was killed in his cell. Rush and Valens follow Libby into a junkyard. After Libby leaves her car, Rush breaks Libby’s brake lights and returns to her own car. Rush and Valens see Libby return to her car with a bag. After she drives off, Rush and Valens pull her over and bring her to the station.
Rush informs Libby that they found meth on her. Libby remembers that Sarah came home after she was nearly attacked by Monster. Sarah told Libby that she knew she didn’t belong with the Jackals. Libby warned Sarah that she was in a mess because she still had John’s drug money from her run. Libby confesses to Rush that Sarah left, then Libby called John and told him that she was afraid Sarah would go to the police. Libby explains to Rush that the Jackals keep minutes of every meeting that they have.
Rush, Jeffries, Valens and a SWAT team arrive at the club house and get ready to raid it. They enter the building and find the Jackals' minutes.
Later, Rush brings Darren to the station. She knows that he worked for the Jackals by running drugs so he could be a full member. Rush reminds Darren that Sarah trusted him. Darren remembers that Sarah met him and asked for help. Darren suggested that he and Sarah should run away together with the drug money. He convinced Sarah by pointing out that his father is in jail and that they will be family. Darren claims that he took the money and left Sarah there. Rush asks Darren if he took care of Sarah for the Jackals.
Valens and Jeffries meet with John and tell him that they know about every illegal move that he made. John insists to Valens and Jeffries that no Jackal will talk to cops. Valens reveals to John that Monster was a cop. In the observation room, Monster agrees to tell Stillman everything he knows about John.
Later, Rush lies to Darren that John sold him out. She knows that just before Darren's father died, he told his son that the Jackals are his new fathers. Darren admits that Sarah trusted him, but he let her down. Darren remembers that he was followed by other Jackal members when he was trying to ride out of town with Sarah. He was forced to stop and bring Sarah into the forest. Darren failed to assure John that he was going to give him the money. John pulled a knife and grabbed Sarah, then ordered Darren to bring him a shovel while he was going to kill her. Sarah screamed for help, but Darren turned his back on her, unable to intervene.
Darren and John are arrested. The Jackals club house is closed and Monster rides off on his bike. Colin and Rush go to where Sarah was killed and he lays down some flowers. Colin "sees" Sarah smile at him before disappearing.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Kathryn Morris as Lilly Rush
- Danny Pino as Scotty Valens
- John Finn as John Stillman
- Jeremy Ratchford as Nick Vera
- Thom Barry as Will Jeffries
- Tracie Thoms as Kat Miller
Guest Cast[]
- Jeff Fahey as Darren Malloy (2009)
- Beth Broderick as Libby Traynor (2009)
- Clayne Crawford as Darren Malloy (1976)
- Barry Cullison as Colin Blake (2009)
- Michael Raymond-James as John "Shameless" Clark (1976)
- Dylan Kenin as James "Monster" Drew (1976)
- Patrick Kilpatrick as James "Monster" Drew (2009)
- Brit Morgan as Libby Traynor (1976)
- Jeremy Roberts as Burke (2009)
- Michael Woods as Mark Callahan (2009)
- Simone Moore as Carmen Walters
With[]
- Spencer Locke as Sarah Blake
And[]
- Jonathan Banks as John "Shameless" Clark (2009)
Co-Starring[]
- Keith Burke as SWAT Lieutenant
- Mark Hapka as Mark Callahan (1976)
- John Scarangello as Colin Blake (1976)
- Unknown actor as Burke (1976)
Notes[]
- The episode takes plot points from the hit musical Grease and its 1978 film.
- The plot of an undercover cop being too involved in the ring he was infiltrating appears taken from the book Rush by Kim Wozencraft, which was made into a 1991 film. Wozencraft wrote the book, and others afterword, based on her experiences and involvement in scandals related to her time in undercover narcotics in Texas, where FBI investigations revealed drug and corruption crises in the departments she was affiliated with. Wozencraft took guilty pleas and served time in federal prison, before she was released to publish dramatizations of her accounts.
- Shemar Reynolds's case box is visible when Scotty puts Sarah's case box away.
Music[]
- Heart "Magic Man"
- Peter Frampton "Show Me The Way"
- Foghat "Slow Ride"
- Ted Nugent "Stranglehold"
- Bad Company "Bad Company"
- Closing Song: Lynard Skynard "Simple Man"
