Budget cuts are hitting the LAPD hard, and Brenda must give up one of her team members to the counter-terrorism unit or force Provenza into early retirement. Meanwhile, the team investigates the murder of a family in which the prime suspect is the surviving son.
The body of a long-missing gang member turns up with Lt. Provenza's business card in his pocket. A priest, credited with turning around the lives of gang members by protecting them from the police is caught in the middle of the investigation and Sgt. Gabriel comes to his defense. Meanwhile, Fritz accidentally answers Brenda's phone just as Brenda's father is calling, giving away their secret that they're living together.
During a funeral for one of Flynn and Provenza's former police colleagues, the squad discovers the dead body of an anonymous, buxom blonde in their old friend's casket. As Brenda investigates, Flynn and Provenza slowly realize they know more about the victim than they thought. Meanwhile, a dangerous and belligerent bride holds Brenda personally responsible for ruining her wedding.
A young African-American girl is abducted on her way home from school, and in a race against the clock, the team must find out who took her and where she is. When the investigation focuses on a convicted sex offender now on parole, Sgt. Gabriel takes matters into his own hands, jeopardizing both the case and his future with the LAPD.
The team deals with an old man who claims to have murdered seven people but refuses to identify himself. This leads Brenda to investigate sudden and unnatural deaths occurring at a nursing home. Meanwhile, Brenda and Fritz house hunt.
Brenda's squad investigates the murder of a fitness trainer whose girlfriend is married to an overbearingly possessive and easy-to-anger husband. And the only witness they have to the crime is a scared valet with OCD. Meanwhile, due to the plan Gabriel worked out with Pope in order to keep Provenza, the team has to undergo anti-terrorism training in haz-mat suits, making work around the squad room extra difficult.
Brenda is called in to investigate the shooting of two Hispanic teens, who may have been killed as part of racially motivated gang shootings over the past couple of months. A cousin of one of the victims is convinced that it is part of a racial war between African-American gangs and Latino gangs and he's determined to exact some revenge.
The wife of a Deputy D.A. is found dead on an L.A. beach, the apparent victim of a serial killer who murders in threes. Brenda's investigation becomes a race against the clock as she and her team race to stop a brutal killer before he strikes again.
While escorting a television reporter doing a story about the LAPD, Brenda and Gabriel's squad car is targeted with a lethal hail of bullets. Brenda's traumatic incident with a serial killer has left her psychologically shaky, so the departmental psychologist has taken her off of active duty.
When a Chinese woman who owns a tour company escorting a group of Chinese diplomats is found murdered in one of her own tour busses, Brenda and the team must examine the woman's business practices in their search for the killer. Also, with Brenda back at work, it's Fritz' job to entertain her parents, and that includes a visit to Parker Center.
Brenda battles the FBI for jurisdiction over a case when a woman is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. The woman, an accountant for the Department of Homeland Security in LA, who was to run an audit on the LAPD is found with her cell phone and laptop, making the case the FBI's, but Brenda is not ready to give up jurisdiction.
Brenda is faced with an extremely rare situation. Unable to draw a confession from her prime suspect, she is forced to serve as witness for the prosecution when the case winds up going to trial. Meanwhile, while trying to consolidate their finances, Brenda makes a shocking discovery about Fritz's past.
Still experiencing the strain of her case, Brenda finds herself under another time crunch when she must disprove a questionable alibi within 48 hours to prevent the investigation from falling flat. Meanwhile, secrets may pull Brenda and Fritz apart.
Brenda finds an opportunity to visit home when she attempts to track down a witness who disappears to Atlanta. Unfortunately, once she finds the witness, her holidays with family take on a whole new meaning.
Returning to L.A. proves to be a challenge when Brenda's witness remains hesitant, causing her to be creative. The fallout left behind in Atlanta leaves Brenda's parents picking up the pieces while Fritz becomes buried underneath all the stress.