After Luke is shot with a Judas bullet, Claire tries to stabilize him but he screams in pain.
In the nearby hummer, Diamondback watches as the medics load Luke into an ambulance. He then drives follows the ambulance to the hospital. Meanwhile, Luke wakes up and Claire tells him to relax. She explains that he went into shock and her friend Manny is driving. Luke tells her that he can't be in the system, and Claire assures her that Manny is discrete. She asks if he saw the shooter, and Luke insists that he's okay. Claire warns that the bullet is still inside, and figures that it's drilling into Luke's stomach.
An explosion goes off beneath the ambulance, crashing it. Satisfied, Diamondback lowers his grenade launcher.
Luke confirms that Claire is okay, and Manny says that he'll be fine. He tells them to go and they climb out. Diamondback comes over with a rifle and yells to Luke as Carl, and Claire realizes that Luke knows their attacker. Police sirens sound in the distance, and Diamondback tells Luke to keep running before he drives off. Meanwhile, Claire helps Luke down the street.
At the club, Mariah sits at the bar and remembers killing Cornell. Shades figures that she's having second thoughts, and tells her to clean up to avoid leaving any DNA evidence. He says that they need a patsy and Mariah nods in agreement. Shades asks if she forgot anything, and Mariah says that she hit Cornell in the head with a bottle but it didn't break. He has her put all of her clothing in a trash bag so that Spurlock can incinerate them. Mariah objects to him talking to her like she's a child, and Shades says that he wants her to win. Once she goes to the bathroom, Shades beats in the corpse's face.
Later, Misty arrives with the police and secure the crime scene. Bailey shows her Cornell's corpse and she points out that the trauma to the head and face couldn't have been caused by the fall. Misty figures that someone beat Cornell to death after the fall, and they were furious. Mariah is watching from the balcony, and Misty goes up to offer her condolences. The councilwoman is unimpressed, and says that she called Cornell to arrange a meeting. He said he was busy and she went into work, and then went to the club that night when Cornell didn't call her back. Mariah insists that she loved Cornell, and admits that she let herself in and Cornell was dead when she got there. She claims that she heard the VIP hostess Candace crying. Misty talks to Candace and asks what she saw. Candace says that she saw who did it.
Claire helps Luke down the street.
At the station, Mariah arrives and talks to the reporters. When one asks if Luke "took out the trash," Mariah insists that Cornell wasn't trash. She says that they should have found out who Luke really was.
Shades disposes of the bloody clothing.
Inside the station, Candace paces nervously.
Mariah says that Cornell was many things but never a coward, and condemns Luke as a coward.
Claire takes Luke to a women's clinic's examination room and he asks her to hold onto his dog tags. She sterilizes the area and tries to get at the bullet, and he refuses to take anesthetic for fear of being compromised. When Claire is unable to dig out the bullet past his skin, Luke does it himself with his super strength but only breaks the scalpel. Claire grabs an ultrasound scanner so that she can look inside.
Misty interviews Candace, who claims that she used the shower at the club after she found the body. Lawyer Ben Donovan comes in and tells Candace not to say anything else, and Candace insists that she's not guilty. Misty says that they found traces of Cornell's blood in the shower even though it was heavily bleached, and Candace insists that Luke killed Cornell. She says that she heard Luke and Cornell fighting and Luke saw Candace and ran away. Candace tells Misty that she saw the detective and Luke at the bar together and then talking outside, and starts to leave. Misty asks her what they have on her. Donovan says that it's over and leaves with Candace.
In the lobby, Mariah has her assistant Alex put a link up on her website. She figures that if they play it right, they can get money from her donors. Misty hears her and sarcastically applauds, and says that she has more than one suspect. She says that someone close to Cornell killed him, and wonders what Mariah has on Candace. The detective points out that Mariah's hair is damp, and Mariah tells her to call her lawyer. As she goes, Mariah taunts Misty about Scarfe. Ridley comes over and offers her condolences to Mariah, and then Mariah leaves.
The IAB inspector explains that they're sorority sisters, and points out that an eyewitness puts Luke at the scene. Misty doesn't buy it and Ridley tells her to find Luke before leaving.
Claire ultrasounds Luke's abdomen and discovers that the bullet exploded inside, leaving a lot of shrapnel... and they're moving. She says that she'll figure a way to remove the shrapnel despite Luke's near-impenetrable skin. Luke's phone rings and Claire confirms that the caller's ID is blocked. She answers it and Misty wonders who she's talking to. Luke speaks up and Misty says that he has to come down to the station. As they talk, she has Bailey trace the phone. Luke refuses, and Misty tells him that Cornell is dead. She warns Luke that a witness puts him at the scene, and Claire says that Luke has been with her all night. Luke tells Claire to hang up before they can trace the call, and Bailey tells Misty that he has a target area. He picks out the women's clinic and Misty figures that Claire took Luke there. She asks him not to tell anyone where she's gone and leaves.
At the club, Zip and his men arrive. Shades tells them that Cornell is dead, and Zip wants "severance pay." Unimpressed, Shades says that they work for him now and he's in charge of the club although Mariah owns it. Zip reluctantly agrees and Shades gives him a wad of cash to get some new clothes. Zip asks about Luke, and Shades ignores his question.
The CSI techs are going over the barber shop and find a bloody pair of dishwashers' gloves.
Claire examines Luke's soft-tissue cells and explains that she can't pull them apart. Misty comes in and Luke tells her what happened. The detective figures that's Luke's alibi, but then Bailey calls Misty and tells her about the gloves. She then arrests Luke for Cornell's murder. Claire sees a laser site on Luke's head and yells at everyone to get down. They take cover as another Jacob bullet slams into the wall. While Misty calls for backup, the bullet in the wall explodes. Misty catches a glimpse of a sniper outside the window and opens fire, and then goes to check it out.
Once Misty leaves, Claire peers out the window. A man reaches through and grabs her, and Claire stabs him with a pair of scissors. Luke yanks the man in and realizes who it is: Willis Stryker, aka Diamondback. Stryker breaks free and goes for his rifle, and he and Luke struggle. The gun jams and Stryker hits the wound with the rifle butt. When Misty runs back in, Stryker grabs her and shoots Luke with his revolver when he gets up. He then puts the gun to Misty's head and drags her off while Luke collapses in pain.
Outside, Stryker calls Luke "Carl" and Misty realizes that he knows her. He quotes the Bible and says that his father was a preacher, and Misty tells him to shoot her if he's going to shoot her.
Claire helps Luke up and he staggers off after Stryker.
Stryker forces Misty to her knees and puts the gun to her head, and Luke calls out to her. Hearing him, Stryker tells Misty that he'll hurt her later and make Luke suffer even worse, then knocks her unconscious and leaves. Luke arrives and goes to Misty.
Walking down the street, Stryker breaks into a movie theater and goes inside, leaving blood on the handle.
Claire joins Luke and confirms that Misty is all right. She tells Luke to end it, and he goes after Stryker. Luke sees the trail of blood that Stryker is leaving and follows it into the theater. Stryker calls from the balcony, saying that Luke left him in the gutter and there's nothing to work out. He reminds them of what their father, preacher James Lucas, used to preach against sin. Stryker says that no matter what he did, their father loved Luke. As Luke walks down the aisle, Stryker calls to him and Luke looks up. He admits that he wasn't a good friend and Stryker paid the price.
Stryker says that Harlem is worshipping a false idol. He tells Luke that he framed Luke, but Luke came back with superpowers. Luke charges forward, slamming into the balcony support, and Stryker falls onto the seats below. Overwhelmed by the pain, Luke collapses as well and Stryker gets up first. He attacks Luke, kicking him in his wound, but Luke braces himself and knocks him back. The next time Stryker launches a kick, Luke grabs his foot and throws him back. Stryker grabs a piece of the balcony railing and uses it as a club, and Luke finally catches it and throws it away. He throws Stryker into the lobby but then sits down, spitting up blood.
At the station, Ridley questions Claire and then tells Misty that they've got nothing. Misty insists that she's fine and will talk to Claire, and enters the interrogation room. She asks who the attacker was and what his connection is to Luke. Misty asks who Carl is, and threatens to arrest her. Claire insists that she did nothing wrong and starts to leave, but Misty tells her to sit down and tell her everything. Unimpressed, Claire insists that Luke is innocent and Misty slams her into the wall. Ridley comes in and tells Misty to back off, and asks if Claire wants to press charges. Claire merely tells Misty that she's after the wrong man and leaves.
When Luke recovers, he discovers that Stryker is gone. He goes out as the sun rises and heads down the street.
Mariah pays off Candace and tells her that she did good. Candace insists that she would never sleep Cornell, but now she's on record that she did. She insists that she's not a whore, and Mariah says that she's a businesswoman with the money to change her family's life. Candace asks if Luke killed Cornell, and Mariah says that no one knows what anyone is capable of. Shades is at the wheel and wonders what happens if Candace folds. Mariah says that if she does then she'll have Candace and her family killed. Smiling, Shades says that's his girl.
When Mariah goes to her brownstone, she looks at the photo of Mabel on her desk. She whispers that she's not like her and turns it down.
Luke limps down the street and comes to a garbage truck. Stryker comes up behind him explains about the Judas bullet. He figures that Luke won't survive a second shot, and Luke says that Stryker doesn't have to do it. Luke apologizes, saying that he loved Stryker like a brother. Stryker says that he is his brother and shoots, and Luke falls into the truck just before it drives away.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 11, 2016