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Sandhogs (also known as Hog Wild) is the 3rd case of the fourth season of the series and is the 72nd overall.
Description[]
When the remains of a miner, known as a "sandhog" because they dug deep tunnels, who disappeared in 1948 are found in a subway service tunnel, the team is prompted to reopen the case when they suspect the victim might have been murdered for being a union activist. Meanwhile, Lilly's old flame Ray returns.
Lilly starts dodging Joseph's calls.
Synopsis[]
March 24, 1947: A group of sandhogs is seen working inside a tunnel, one of them giving orders while coughing heavily. They are handling dynomite and joke about their lifes. Two men, Nate and John, talk about meeting up for dinner, but this is impossible "in this world", where segragation still exists. John saves Nate from getting run over by a mining cart, only to be later seen dead after an explosion.
Present Scotty and Vera are seen joining Stillman and Jeffries. Tunnel workers found a skeleton with blunt-force trauma to the head in a sealed tunnel. They conclude he was buried on purpose, as sanhogs would leave no man in the field.
Rush is seen eating donuts with Joseph, where he confesses his love to her. She is seen flabbergasted about that. In the office, they identify the remains as John "Boomer" Dovan. He was reported missing on a Sunday, a day off, while having dealt with labour dispute. Scotty and Lilly get to Maroonees', a bar for miners, and talk to Bobby McCallister, John's brother-in-law. He owns a lighter gifted by "Big Mac", his father and foreman. He called him "greedy", and tells about the moment John started the dispute.
Flashback Several men are seen running out of a shaft, the alarm is ringing, the fire department is there. Big Mac is yelling for Bobby and finds him, but Johnny on the other hand seems enraged and tackles , screaming at him for the lack of safety measures. A woman is seen asking for Nate, which John identifies as his coworker's wife, and he is then seen beinf carried out of the mine, dead. Alice is mourning her husband, and John is trying to comfort her. She slaps him and tells him he should have looked out for Nate, as they were friends.
Present Bobby talks about the idea of a union forming, and two months later John was missing. Rush and Miller are talking to Sam Bertleman, the son of the head of the mining company back then. He explains the union idea was "bullshit", and that John must have been killed by a fellow sandhog.
Flashback John is argueing about Nate's death being not an accident, and that it could have been avoided. It is revealed he had a romantic interest in Nate's widow, Alice, after Mateo Zaccardo is teasing him about this. They have a physical fight when "Big Mac" steps in.
Present Zaccardo is in prison, where Valens and Jeffries meet him- he was arrested for killing a man with a crowbar. They ask him to clear his conscious, and he disagrees on talking while looking at Jeffries. Him, getting the racist implication, leaves, and Valens continues the interrogation. Mateo blames black workers for having murdered him.
Flashback Alice is working in a diner, when Mateo and later John get in. John slips her some money he collected with his fellow sandhogs so she could have less financial trouble. They bond over missing Nate, but the talk about the union angers another man, Hank Bishop, who angrily states maybe a white guy needs to die for people to care about safety.
Present Miller and Rush are talking to Alice , who kept in touch with John after Nate's death. John helped her and checked in on her, and she states he was the first man to make her laugh again, although they would never escalate as he had a wife and was white. She retells the story about one evening she never forgot.
Flashback Alice is cleaning the counter, listening to Blues, talking to John, they are all alone. He says Nate always complimented her smile, and that it's good to see it on her face. When he leaves, she watches after him, and he suddenly returns. He asks about the name of the song and tells her he likes it. They then share a dance and slowly fall into a kiss.
Present The women agree this constellation -white man, black woman- could bring trouble even today. No one knew about their relationship, but Bobby. Lilly walks outside the office and Ray makes and appearance on a bike, asking her to go on a ride. He is happy to see her and she reluctantly agrees. When she is about to leave, Joseph calls, and Ray presumes this is the reason she does not have time. He asks her a "favour" from the state police, and she steps back, stating "not this time". They part ways. Stillman and Valens are talking to Bobby and accuse him of being mad at John- who would go to date a widow of a sandhog, a black woman, and "dishonored" Bobby's family in his own words.
Flashback John is talking to Bobby about the union, and the latter tells him about Pinkertons being around, so called strike breakers. When John asks how the management Bertleman knew about this, it is revelaed Bobby talked after being threatened to lose his job.
Present Bobby claims John was "like a brother" to him, and his death hurt him too. Meanwhile, Joseph is catching up with Lilly, who did not return his calls. He asks her for dinner and they can't agree on a time. Lilly tells him she loves him, when Nick and Will walk in on them. When it gets awkward, the three leave Joseph outside. They decide to interrogate Bertleman.
Flashback Bertleman Jr watches his dad in his office, when John comes in. He is told the "strike nonsense" will end or his life will. John argues Nate died int he mine, and he is not for sale. Bertleman threatens to hurt Alice and point it on John.
Present Alice left after John disappeared, and the team concludes this could be a trace. It turns out Alice was pregnant and hence she left town, as a mixed child was frowned upon. Rush talks to her about her pregnancy and how her son is named "Donovan", like John's last name. She wanted to remember him.
Flashback In the diner, Alice and John are alone. She lights his cigarette with a lighter, and they talk about making tough choices. John tells her their relationship has to end, and arguments with his coworkers and his wife. Alice wonders if he loves her, and he lies to her saying "No, I don't". She tells him to leave the diner, and both part ways. She then turns off the music and watches him sadly.
Present Alice tells Lilly she has never listened to this song again. They then talk about the lighter and how John just wanted to protect her from the Pinkerton's. Alice doubts that, but Lilly reassures her that maybe he just loved her. Stillman and Valens meet Bobby at the bar, where he lights his cigarette with John's lighter. They ask him how it came into his hands, since "Big Mac" gave it to Donovan when he made him foreman- and not his own son, Bobby. Bobby takes the lighter away from Stillmann and talks about his jealousy towards John and how his father preferred him. Eventually, he explains how he came into posession of the lighter, and how the sandhogs turned John into a saint.
Flashback Bobby and John are inspecting the mine on a Sunday, checking supplies. John is happy Bobby joined the union, and then spots a cable going up the ceiling. Bobby asks him for light to smoke, and while John is investigating where the cable is leading to, his brother-in-law turns a valve to release gas and lets the place explode. He then hears John yelling his name and asking for help, but he leaves him to rot.
Present Bobby is arrested by Scotty and escorted out of the miner's bar. Nate's ghost is seen by John. Lilly hands Alice a photo of John, which she looks at with her son, who now knows his father. Will puts John's box away. The team meets at their own bar, Lilly gets another call by Joseph and ignores it. Alice enters the diner she used to work in, and puts on the song John loved so much. They are seen dancing lovingly, smiling at each other.
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[]
- Brennan Elliott as Ray Williams
- Lee Burns as Bobby McCallister (1947/1948)
- L. Scott Caldwell as Alice Stallworth (2006)
- Jack McGee as Bobby McCallister (2006)
- Neil Jackson as John "Boomer" Donovan
- Enuka Okuma as Alice Stallworth (1947/1948)
- Ryan Cutrona as Eamon "Big Mac" McCallister
- Mike Genovese as Mateo Zaccardo (2006)
- Michael Monks as Sam Bertleman Sr. (1947/1948)
- Rick Scarry as Sam Bertleman Jr. (2006)
And[]
Co-Starring[]
- Skyy John as Nate Stallworth
- Marc Ewing as Hank Bishop
- Gino Anthony Pesi as Mateo Zaccardo (1947/1948)
- Unknown child actor as Sam Bertleman Jr. (1947/1948)
Notes[]
- Joe Young's case box is visible when Jeffries puts Donovan's case box away.
- The term "sandhog" is traditionally associated with NYC rather than Philly.
- This episode ends with someone extremely close with the victim dancing or embracing the ghost of the victim and never leaving this illusion. As in the case of Best Friends or World's End, some theorize that this symbolizes the passing of the person seeing the vision and rejoining their lost lover in afterlife. So one may read that Alice Stallworth dies by the end of the episode in modern day and reunites with John "Boomer" Donovan.
Music[]
Opening Song[]
Alongside Songs[]
Closing Song[]
| Season 4 Episodes |
| Rampage | The War at Home | Sandhogs | Baby Blues | Saving Sammy | Static | The Key | Fireflies | Lonely Hearts | Forever Blue | The Red and the Blue | Knuckle Up | Blackout | 8:03 AM | Blood on the Tracks | The Good-Bye Room | Shuffle, Ball Change | A Dollar, A Dream | Offender | Stand Up and Holler | Torn | Cargo | The Good Death | Stalker |
