Tonight on TNT Major Crimes continues with an all new Monday January 5, season 3 episode 17 and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode called “Internal Affairs,” Sanchez [Raymond Cruz] is scrutinized when his mother’s caregiver is murdered. Elsewhere, Jack arrives at Sharon’s condo and acts recklessly, forcing Rusty to take action.
On the last episode tensions were high when Flynn had to talk down a man precariously holding on to the ledge of a bridge, only to find out that the jumper was a sex offender with a dead body in his car. Old wounds were opened as Rusty prepared an Impact Statement to hopefully end his involvement with the Stroh case. Kathe Mazur, Ransford Doherty, Chad Lindberg, Paula Marshall, Erik Jensen, Sarah Lafleur, Bill Brochtrup and Brandon Barash guest star. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it we have a full and detailed recap, right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the TNT synopsis, “Sanchez is put under the microscope when his mother’s (guest star Ana Mercedes) caregiver is found murdered… Rusty is forced to take on Jack (guest star Tom Berenger) when he shows up at Sharon’s condo acting recklessly. Ransford Doherty, Raoul Trujillo, Daniel Roebuck and Augusto Aguilera guest star.”
Tonight’s episode is going to be filled with action and you won’t want to miss it, so be sure to tune in for our live coverage of the show tonight at 9 PM EST! While you wait for our recap hit the comments and let us know how excited you are about the third season.
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We hear Spanish voices and a guy comes in with a grocery bag into a house. It’s Sanchez. He calls out to his mom and asks if Tino is there and tells her that her door is unlocked. He finds his mom on the floor and she says someone was in the house. He asks where Tino is and she says she sent him to the drugstore but that was two hours ago. He asks how long she’s been on the floor and she says just a few minutes. He asks where her jewelry box is – it’s gone off her dresser.
He looks around and asks Tino where he is. He smells booze on him and yells at him saying his mom fell off the couch. He grabs the bag and asks why he had his mom ATM card. He says it was for ID to his meds. Sanchez asks where her jewelry box is and punches the guy. He says not to lie to him. Tino tosses him off of him and punches him a few times then runs out. He gets into his car and peals out. Sanchez yells at him that he’ll catch him later.
Tao and Provenza show up to Tino’s place to try and get his mom’s stuff back. They find his apartment door open and head inside. They see Tino is on the floor in the living room and is dead. They call it in to Sharon. Later, Sykes says Tino has been working for Mrs Sanchez for six months and he has no priors. There is no sign of the jewelry box and the neighbors saw nothing. He had a blunt force blow to the head and Provenza insists Sanchez didn’t do this.
Sharon says they can’t process the crime scene and has to let SID do it. Provenza is aggravated that Sharon called Professional Standards and says they know nothing about homicide. Sharon says they are working the evidence and Major Crimes will work the homicide. Tao says it doesn’t matter if they think Sanchez did this or not, they have to properly investigate. Sharon says they have to show that Sanchez didn’t do this. The ME says the victim was drunk and was beaten.
He says he took a bad hit to the side of the head and shows them a fracture that hemorraghed and says it looks like a brick or two by four but could have also been a fall. The ME says he couldn’t have driven (likely) after being hit like that. He says it’s not impossible since he bled out slowly. Sharon says they need to put Sanchez in an interview room on tape. He comes in and Provenza snags him. He says his mom has a couple of bruised ribs but is otherwise okay.
He asks about the jewelry box or if Tino says where it was. He asks if Tino is pressing charges but Provenza sends him on to Sharon. She tells Sanchez that he has the right to remain silent. She reads him his Miranda rights. He stares stonily while it happens. Later, Rusty comes home and finds Jack waiting there. He asks why Jack is there and he says he thought he’d drop by to talk to Sharon. He asks if it was okay that he let himself in since he has keys.
Rusty asks him to call Sharon but Jack says he wants to surprise her. He offers Rusty a drink and says they can celebrate his football team winning. Rusty says no and says he’s going to call him a cab. Jack says he won’t leave and Rusty says he’s leaving and takes Jack’s keys and goes so he can’t drive. A cop checks Sanchez’s blood alcohol limit and they check bruises on his face and knuckles. He’s sober which is good.
Sharon asks Sanchez’s shoe size. Buzz tells them and Provenza asks why. There is a size 11 ½ footprint in Tino’s apartment – Sanchez’s foot is smaller. Sharon is withholding this info from Sanchez to keep the investigation clear. Sykes tells Sharon the IA guy is on the way up. Rusty shows up and asks to speak to Sharon about a personal emergency. She steps out. Provenza tells Buzz to turn the camera off for a minute. He caves and does it while Sanchez changes his clothes.
Provenza steps in and tells him to shut up and listen. He says to tell Sharon that he wants a lawyer. He says he knows Tino probably had it coming. He says IA is on the way up and says he can’t tell him why, but tells him to take this very seriously. Sharon tells Rusty to wait there for her and not go back to the condo. Sgt Staples from IA shows up and Sharon greets him. Staples thanks her for turning over the crime scene and Provenza gets short with Sharon.
Sharon sits down with Sanchez who insists he doesn’t want an attorney and he says no then asks if Tino is pressing charges. She asks him to tell them what happened. Sanchez runs through the missing jewelry box, the ATM card and cash he had on him plus booze on his breath. He says he’s never been to Tino’s place and doesn’t know where he lives. Provenza says he gave Tao his address. He says his mom had it taped above the phone at his mom’s and says he never went there.
Sanchez says he roughed him up a little for leaving his ailing mom and stealing from her. Provenza asks if he hit Tino with anything. Sanchez says no then pauses and says he didn’t and asks what this is about. Provenza tells him they found Tino was dead on his living room floor with a fractured skull. She says he died from a brain bleed. Sanchez is stunned and says simply – wow. He says after everything he’s done here, you treat me the same way you would a dirt bag suspect from the street.
He tells them to arrest him. He says his mom needs him and stands and walks out. Provenza says they’re doing it for his own good. Tao comes over and says IA would flip if they told him that Tino murdered. Tao tells him he needs to follow procedure. Sanchez says whoever has the jewelry box is the killer and Tao promises they’ll figure it out. Sanchez goes to his mom’s – the neighbor is with her. She says someone knocked on the door and left something.
Sanchez opens the box and then goes to get oven mitts. He pulls out the jewelry box and opens it. Jack is passed out on Sharon’s sofa when Sharon kicks the couch and tells him it’s time to go. He tells her she looks mad and she asks why he’s there. He says Rusty took his keys. She asks why he came there drinking and he asks who would come here sober. He says he came to bring her half of his gambling winnings. She says she wouldn’t take gambling money.
Rusty says he can take care of it and Sharon says he shouldn’t have to deal with it. He says his mom used to bring home guys 10 times worse than Jack and she says that doesn’t make it better. He tells her that Sanchez needs her and says Jack is going to sleep it off and he can handle it. He says they can split emergencies. He says he’ll fix him food, give him his keys and send him off. He asks her to let him take care of this for her. She tells him to call if she needs him.
She hugs him and says she loves him then leaves. He sits down to stare at passed out Jack. Tao says they got the jewelry box and dusted it for prints. Tao says a neighbor confirmed that someone knocked and left it there. Staples says Sanchez is trying to lay the blame on someone else and Provenza says Sanchez didn’t have to turn it in at all. Staples says they need to find out who helped Tino. Sykes says they have a print – Javier Mendosa – who has a record and wears an 11 ½.
Sharon says to bring him in and asks then to bring Sanchez and his mom in. Sanchez says they know Mendosa because he grew up in their neighborhood. Mrs Sanchez says she was stuck on the floor and couldn’t see anything. Sanchez says he got there about 10:15 and then Tino came in drunk. Sanchez tells his mom to tell them what happened. His mom says she is perfectly safe and they just want to send her to a home because of her back surgery.
Sanchez loses it and tells her to answer the question and says there is more at stake here than her jewelry box. She says after the fight, Tino ran off and Sanchez took her to the hospital. Mrs Sanchez just wants to go home. She doesn’t want Javier to think they’re messing with him. Mendosa says he’s gone straight but they want to check his footprints anyway. They ask if he knows Tino and he says no. They ask about Mrs Sanchez. He says he knows Alonso and Julio. He says Julio was always a hothead.
Staples asks if he’s still a hothead and Provenza asks if he would rather take the word of a known gang banger. Mendosa says he was at his shop at 11 and before that was with a young woman named Jayla. Tao asks why they pulled his prints off items taken from her house. He says he brought them back. He says he heard that items were taken and he heard about it and brought them back. He says Sanchez doesn’t need to beat anyone else up.
Provenza says Mendosa is covering for someone. The shoes don’t match the tread at the scene. Sykes says all the missing stuff is back. She asks them to mic Mendosa’s shoes and she goes to get a warrant. Sanchez says his dad’s gold watch didn’t come back with the jewelry box and says one of his home boys isn’t following his orders. Mendosa says he’ll see him around and acts all macho the leaves. Sharon tells Andy to stay close to Mendosa to see if he took the bait.
Jack wakes up feeling like crap. Rusty offers him food and he asks for Sharon. Rusty says she came and went and Jack asks how bad it is. Rusty says he showed up drunk and offered Sharon gambling money, broke into her house with a key he shouldn’t have and passed out on her couch. Jack says he needs to go back to AA and says coming over using her key was not well thought out. He says he won big and can win again even bigger.
Jack asks why he should lose the opportunity to win the big jackpot. Rusty says he knows Sharon pretty well now and Ricky and Emily. He tells Jack he’s a great lawyer and says he had a fantastic life and that was already the big jackpot but he didn’t realize it. Jack says yeah he knows what he lost. Jack asks if he smells coffee and Rusty fixes him some. Andy hands coffees to Tao, Sykes and Buzz who are watching Mendosa. They still don’t have the mic turned on because of the warrant hold.
They watch a car pull up and Mendosa get out to talk to a young guy – Pablo Mendosa. Buzz sees Mendosa slam the young guy onto a car and start beating him. They arrest them both – it’s Mendosa’s nephew. Sharon asks if they were arguing about a gold watch and Sykes tells the kid to take off his shoes. They ask where he was at 10 am and he says he was with his parole officer taking a piss test. He wears the right size shoe but was with the parole officer.
Provenza says Mendosa went after him with the watch and they wonder if Sanchez’s mom is lying. She says Tino is a liar and Sharon tells Mrs Sanchez that Tino is dead. They tell her that they may have found the robber who broke into her house but they need her to think about the time the robbery took place. Sanchez tells his mom to tell the truth. She says the person got there at 8:15 just after Tino left. Sharon says his mom is scared he’ll put her in a home if he knew how long she was lying on the floor.
She cries and begs him not to yell at her. He feels horrible. Sanchez says the crime line needs adjusting. Staples says they need to get Pablo, the young guy, to admit that he hit Tino with something. Flynn tells Staples to shut up while they finish. They have the warrant for the mic in the shoe and Flynn says it may not be too late. Sharon goes to Mendosa with Flynn and tells him that Tino is dead and they think he killed him over the jewelry.
Flynn says they’re going to arrest him for murder as soon as they find the murder weapon. They tell him to take his nephew and get out. Pablo tells Mendosa and says they’re in the clear and laughs but he’s furious with the kid. They have a camera in Pablo’s car too. The two men get in the car and Pablo asks why he didn’t tell him that he murdered Tino. Pablo says Tino has been casing every place he works and Mendosa asks why he thinks he can rob places without his permission.
Pablo says he freaked because Tino was drunk and was going to talk to the police. He asks where the murder weapon is. Pablo says it’s a book end and he tells him where to find it. They go down and arrest the two idiots. Staples says he can’t believe it and tells them they’re good. Sharon asks Staples what he thinks of it and he says he still has his job to do and there still are issues. He says he looked back at Sanchez’s files and says there are conduct problems to discuss.
Sharon meets with Jack in her office. He apologizes and says everything he did was stupid. He says he’s sorry for the inconvenience and incivility. Sharon says his drunkenness will not fly with the kids. He says he’s going to a meeting. He says he won money from the LAPD settlement and it can pay part of what he owes her. He asks her to use it for the kids and asks to see him again soon when he’s in better shape. She says they’ll see.
He tells her again that he’s so sorry for taking so much for granted. She tears up then turns and walks away. She won’t take the money. Staples tells Sanchez that there is a pattern of behavior that has to change. Provenza says Sanchez was reprimanded but Staples says the reprimands aren’t helping. Sharon says they reached a compromise. He has to go to anger management therapy twice a week for a year. Sanchez agrees. Sharon thanks Staples.
Provenza tells him it’s a get out of jail free card. Sanchez says he appreciates it and says he’s going to need all the anger management help he can find. He leaves. He packs up and moves in with his mother to help her. She is excited he’s there and says maybe he’ll stay when even after she gets better. She asks him for socks and sandwiches. She starts complaining about losing the remote. He says a Hail Mary to pray for patience.
THE END!