Officer Jeremy Hawke is a decorated veteran of the LAPD who has been working at the Academy for seven years. He thinks Captain Andersen is blocking him from getting back on the street. Captain Andersen tells Sgt. Grey that she thinks Hawke is a loose cannon. He has 46 commendations but also has 21 civilian complaints. 

Hawke was Nolan’s mentor at the Academy. His wife, Megan recently filed for divorce. He caught her on a date the previous night and hit the guy with his gun and threatened him. Sgt. Grey sends Nolan and Bishop to pick up Hawke and bring him in for a talk. Hawke tells Nolan he just has to get his wallet, then he gets in his truck and smashes into their police car, disabling it so he can get away. 

Hawke is on the run and he’s taken their son with him. He ditched his truck and heads into a crowded mall. Hawke locks himself and his son behind a security gate. Nolan convinces him to do the right thing as a father. His son wants to go with him, but Hawke handcuffs him to a clothing rack so he can’t follow, and then he escapes out the back of the store. 

Hawke makes a fake 911 call saying there’s a man with a gun six blocks away so that it will divert LAPD manpower and he can get away, but Bradford and Nolan corner him. When Hawke points out they could shoot each other in the crossfire, he offers to put his gun down and take them on in hand to hand combat. Hawke says he knows their moves from working with them both and does end up knocking them both to the ground. 

Just then, Bishop comes around the corner and pepper sprays Hawke while Chen comes at this from the other side and tazes him. Hawke is arrested and taken into custody. 

Later, Nolan wonders if the Captain feels guilty for not giving Hawke a second chance. She says she doesn’t and that the reason Hawke was drawn to Nolan was that Nolan was able to reinvent his life, but what Hawke didn’t realize was how much hard work that took. 

Lopez and Chen question a young man who says he was shot in a drive-by shooting but the evidence doesn’t support it. His father is obviously angry but also insists it was a drive-by. Another young man shows up, argues with the father and then stabs him. West and Chen arrest him. The young man was the victim’s boyfriend, but West wonders if he was really a victim at all. 

West thinks the victim actually tried to kill his father and when they struggle for the gun, he got hit instead because they both had gunshot residue on them but the investigation will continue. West tells him that they can’t choose their fathers but they can choose how they let them shape us. 

While serving a warrant and looking for drugs, Bradford makes Chen glove-up and check the man’s toilet and sex toy supply for his stash. He doesn’t stop her even after he’s found the stash. Bradford also explains his own hiding places and how he carries an empty wallet in case he’s robbed but keeps a money clip at the back of his belt. Later, Chen steals his money clip then calls him at the bar and tells him he might want to glove up to wash dishes to pay for his bill.