Belker (Bruce Weitz) is working undercover and things go unexpectedly on the night he and Robin (Lisa Sutton) are supposed to get married.

Two Easy Pieces was written by Jacob Epstein, Dick Wolf, and Robert Ward from a story by Jeffrey Lewis, Walon Green, and David Milch. It was first broadcast on 9 January, 1986.

While Belker is working undercover as a PCP cook, Garfield (Mykelti Williamson) has returned to the hill and gets paired up with a veteran cop, Steger (Sandy Ward). But lines are drawn quickly in the precinct when Garfield is involved in a clean shoot, but when a cursory search doesn’t turn up a weapon, Steger plants one and then accuses Garfield of doing it after the younger officer confronts him.

Renko (Charles Haid), Hill (Micheal Warren) and Buntz (Dennis Franz) find themselves involved in a frantic chase across town to recover a heart marked for transplant that was stolen from an ambulance involved in an accident.

And Lucy (Betty Thomas) still dealing with the emotional fallout of her one night stand sees a familiar face in a police sweep that also breaks her heart.

This was a solid episode, and it seems to have found almost the perfect balance of character drama with narrative melodrama and makes it work. There are some great character bits, the ongoing pranks between Renko/Hill and LaRue (Kiel Martin) and Washington (Taurean Blacque) are great, and I like that the series has gotten to the point when you can have beats like that to fill out the reality of the world, even as the story deals with some heavier things like the Garfield shooting.

I quite liked this one, but do hope that Belker and Robin get to tie the knot soon.

Say It as It Plays sees the Garfield/Steger investigation play out, and Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) becomes increasingly convinced of Garfield’s innocence.

Written by Green, Eptein, Wolf, and Ward from a story by Lewis, Milch and Wolf this episode debuted on 16 January, 1986.

While the investigation plays out, Renko and Hill find themselves assigned to body collection as there is a union strike going on, and the morgues are shorthanded. The pair are less than thrilled and by episode’s end, Hill makes a heartbreaking discovery that will fill him with regrets.

Lucy confronts her one-night stand, who then wants to file a complaint against her until Coffey (Ed Marinaro) sets him straight.

And what about Belker and Robin? Well the plan is to get married today, but once again, his undercover work gets in the way, and this time he may be in some serious troubles as the dealers he’s working for are going rogue, and want to take Belker with them.

As Garfield’s case plays out at the precinct, the truth starts to be glimpsed, and the blame shifts from Garfield onto Steger where it belongs. It doesn’t help Steger’s character that he reveals himself as racist through the course of the episode.

And after the day Lucy has had, she gets a nice surprise at the end of the episode.