Episode Guide

Air Date: 20 Nov 1987 (NBC)
Director: Colin Bucksey
Writer: Robert Palm

A local promoter Benny Rose comes by, and Tommy gives him a song, and a large bag of cash. When Benny says that's good enough for Top Ten, Tommy sweetens the pot with a sports car. Top Five With A Bullet, easy. Just then, agents from a racketeering task force place Tommy under arrest, with Caitlin gloating that this was payback for other musicians, friends of hers that he'd screwed over in the past.

At OCB, Castillo reassigns one of Crockett's cases to ATF so Sonny can be available to guard Caitlin until she can testify, because he'll easily blend in with the music scene. Crockett mutters that it might be time for him to get a haircut.

Crockett goes to Caitlin's house to begin his "celebrity hand-holding" gig. Both Caitlin and her assistant are as skeptical about Crockett's abilities as he is about his need to be there, with both sides slinging barbs at each other.

Tommy insists that his lawyer Ralph convince the top brass at the record label to do something to help him out of the jam with the pending charges, using a veiled threat of never to allowing anything to come out if there were no need to go to court.

Sonny and Caitlin continue baiting each other on the drive to the recording studio. She assures him that he only has to deal with her for a week, until she testifies against Tommy Lowe, but he still thinks this whole incident is a publicity stunt so she can get noticed and her music on the radio again. When he hears her latest recording [I Got You Babe], his disbelief of her and his disgust with the assignment reach new levels.

The two label execs Gordon and Paul call Ralph back and tells him that they'd be more than willing to help Tommy out when he gets out of jail, but Ralph tells them that Tommy definitely doesn't want to do jail time, no matter how much they promise him afterwards. Gordon decides that if Tommy goes to trial, he'd talk about Gordon, then Gordon would have to name Paul, then Paul would name everyone else, which would lead to a reconvening of the subcommittee on payolas, which no one wants. To avoid all that, Tommy has to be silenced.

Tommy and Benny discuss Tommy's situation while bowling. Tommy's incensed that the label won't help him out until after he serves jail time, and Benny suggests that maybe he should talk to Caitlin and beg her not to testify. But Tommy has other ideas. He shoos Benny out just in time to give money and instructions to three thugs. He needs them to take care of Caitlin and to make it look like an accident.

Caitlin insists that Sonny take her out to a real restaurant for dinner, and she talks him into taking her to a cozy little spot on the bay using his boat. She also tells him she wants to drive the "Testosteroni" there, something which Sonny vehemently denies her the chance to do.

At dinner, Sonny is even surly with the waiter, but the last straw comes when Caitlin teases him about his fast car, fast boat and fast clothes, asking him how he ever finds time to "play" cops and robbers. Sonny snaps at her that all of his flash, even his shoes, is confiscated police department property, loaned to him so he can maintain his undercover persona. He retaliates snapping about how her life is all make-believe, and how rock stars crying the blues about loneliness makes him sick. Caitlin tells him that she doesn't like the lifestyle and the image that's published by the magazines. Sonny jibes back, asking her if she's going to avoid the cameras at the trial. She just glares coldly at him, and goes outside to wait.

While Sonny's paying the bill, he notices several armed men slowly making their way towards the very alone Caitlin. He rushes towards her, bringing her down to the ground to cover her and returning fire, taking out one of the shooters before rushing her into the boat. They speed out of the docks, closely followed by another boat with two shooters, who quickly disable Crockett's boat.

One of the shooters as he tries to board Crockett's boat as it slows down, but Crockett guns down, and the last gunman speeds away. Crockett's speedboat is dead in the water, leaving them both stranded. Caitlin is shaken but unhurt, and Sonny asks her what about this case makes it worth a hit like this. She explains that it runs much deeper than a regular payola case, that Tommy Lowe's reputation as a hot manager led her band into trusting him, and that ended up destroying them when he stole everything. Her friend Will retaliated by suing, but he ended up dead, a staged suicide before the case ever got to court.

She tells Sonny that this case is for payback and not for publicity. Sonny admits that he might have been wrong about her, and Caitlin admits that she might have been wrong about him, which leads to a passionate encounter out on the water.

In the morning, after being brought to shore by the Coast Guard, Sonny tells Castillo and Tubbs about the men who ambushed them, then they take Caitlin to a safe house, one that's guarded by a full complement of officers. At the house, Rico catches Sonny and Caitlin in each others arms, and he lets Sonny know that the lack of discretion isn't sitting well with Castillo. Sonny tells Rico that he can't help it... and that Castillo was the one who told him not to let her out of his sight.

Sonny lays out his life to Caitlin -- marriage, divorce -- and how he's willing to take whatever happens between them. He also explains about life after this assignment, how his work keeps him out all night. She tells him that her studio work sometimes keeps her out all night. When Sonny tells her that he has a son, she wants to know when she can meet him. This surprises him, and she insists that she's not afraid of a kid.

At the studio, Sonny watches over Caitlin as she and a youth chorus lay down the finishing vocal tracks on her latest single [I Got You Babe].

At his office, Tommy is enraged at hearing the news reports of the failed hit on Caitlin. As he leaves, his secretary hands him a tape, a dance remix for one if his bands that he's supposed to listen to right away. After he puts it in the cassette deck of his Porsche, the car is instantly incinerated.

Sonny drives Billy down to the safe house to meet Caitlin. Billy teases him about how much his dad must like this one since he's never met anyone else his dad was seeing. At the safe house, Billy and Caitlin are getting to know one another when Crockett gets the news that Tommy Lowe was murdered. He doesn't react well to the news that since Tommy's dead, the case is over and protection for Caitlin isn't needed anymore.

Sonny breaks the news to Caitlin that the protection assignment is over, and she tells him that doesn't mean that their relationship is over. When Sonny says that he wants to give it a try [When He Shines], she teases him, asking him what he really means. At first he can't bring himself to say the words, but he finally relents, telling her that he loves her.

At OCB, Sonny talks to Gina first about what he's about to tell the squad, and she tells him that she appreciates the info, but that it doesn't make a difference. In the squad room, he breaks the news to all of them that he and Caitlin are going to get married. They all congratulate him on the event on their way out, leaving he and Rico alone.

Sonny mentions that they're great friends but lousy liars, and wants to know how Rico feels about all that's happened, if he'll tell him the truth. Rico admits that's he's both happy and worried. Sonny tells him how he and Caitlin feel about each other, and how they plan to deal with his work farther down the line, how their work hours don't clash, and how the way she maintains her privacy won't interfere with his cover at all.

Rico asks Sonny if he loves her. Sonny says no, but he's got nothing better to do on Sunday. Rico finally breaks into laughter, congratulating his partner on finding a little happiness.

At Caitlin's house, she's having the same kind of conversation with her assistant, about how his lifestyle and hers don't match. But Caitlin too is in love, and nothing she says makes a difference.

The entire precinct holds a last minute party for Sonny, with Rico toasting his partner, and Castillo giving him plane tickets to New Zealand for their honeymoon, with Trudy saying it was Gina's idea.

Gordon and Paul talk about what happened to Tommy, and discuss if they need to do anything about caitlin. Gordon says they'll just wait and see.

Most of the attendees at the wedding are wearing white, from the wedding party to the band. Sonny and Caitlin exchange vows and rings and a kiss.

-- Jo Brooks