While testifying in the trial of high-profile criminal Nick Hammer, Sophie is humiliated on the witness stand by an aggressive defence lawyer who calls her credibility into question. The case is lost and Joe gets into a heated argument with lawyer, Ray Jarvis, outside of court. Ray files an official complaint against Joe and Internal Affairs is called in to investigate the incident. Harriet won't lie to help Joe out of trouble. Her reluctance to help Joe may be warranted as Ray is soon found beaten in his home, claiming on TV for all to see that Detective Joe Hill was responsible for the attack. Joe readily admits he paid Ray a visit but that Ray refused to see him. It now falls on Joe's colleagues to not only prove his innocence, but to rebuild their original case against Nick Hammer and bring him to justice.

The police's Critical Response Team is brought in to investigate Lloyd Zuker's death. Theo lies about seeing Zuker with a gun to help Joe but his story doesn't hold up under scrutiny and lead investigator Frank Conti tries to get him to turn on Joe, threatening to charge Joe with murder and Theo with the attempt to pervert the course of justice. Despite the findings of Conti's report, Joe does have the Commissioner's support, but he's haunted by the shooting and is determined to find Zuker's missing gun and clear his name. Meanwhile, the detectives investigate the murder of a man whose body is pulled from a lake. Nicole comes out of surgery.