Aquarius Episode 1.12 Old Ego Is a Too Much Thing

We pick up where the action left off, as a bloody Banyin pours himself a giant glass of scotch. Rather than tell Ken what happened, he threatens that he saw Ken kissing Charlie at the spiral staircase house a few weeks ago. Then we flash back to a rainy night in 1959, when Ken and a clean-cut Charlie carry a young woman's corpse out of a crappy motel room, while a drunken Banyin pretends to help. Back in the present, Banyin explains that Charlie promised him a woman who could withstand his unique "predilections," and he made good with Sadie. But Sadie wasn't available tonight, and Janet, well, Banyin must have hit an artery, and then he drove right over to Ken's house. But when the men return to the spiral staircase house, all they find is Charlie sitting by himself, bathed in candlelight. Yes, he has Janet's body squirreled away, and he's gonna hang on to it for now.

Hodiak and Grace visit Emma in jail, offering to help. But after a moment's silence, Emma decides she needs nothing from her mother. It doesn't seem like anyone's pressing charges, so she should be released soon, and now that she's emancipated, there should be no problem when she walks right back into Charlie's arms. Because everyone who surrenders to Charlie becomes love... even her own father Ken. Reeling, Grace recoils, saying, "You're free. So am I." Hodiak returns home to tell Walt to hold on, he's working on a way out.

Emma returns to the spiral staircase house to confront a sullen Sadie, whose face is laced with bruises, courtesy of Charlie. Emma intuits what happened: Charlie punished Sadie for lying to him about calling the cops on Emma. She also knows Charlie will believe her story over Sadie's - but what did she ever do to deserve such betrayal? Sadie explains it's all because Charlie doesn't love her. Later, when everyone's together, Emma's radiant while relating the tale of her escape from the law. She's glad it happened, because now she can see the world through Charlie's eyes. Directing her words at Sadie, Emma says they all have to forgive each other no matter what, because they are THE family. Just then, Mary doubles over in pain, her labor beginning. Knowing it's too early, Emma's worried, more so when the labor extends late into the night. When Emma realizes the baby is turned around, she begs Charlie to take Mary to a hospital, but instead he turns to Sadie, who whispers in his ear and hands him a knife. We don't see what happens next, but we do hear Mary screaming bloody murder. It's not long before Charlie is holding up a tiny, stillborn baby. When it all sinks in, Charlie tells Emma that some things are just meant to go wrong, like his relationship with her father. But Ken led him to her, and she created the Family - which he'd never, ever change. Sadie passes in the hallway, just as Charlie lays a tender kiss on Emma... and when we next see Sadie, she's wearing a nurses' uniform and contemplating a nursery full of babies, ripe for the plucking. Charlie and Mary accept the purloined baby without question, but Emma, watching Charlie give Sadie his "whole heart," has a very different take on what just happened.

Down at the precinct, Hodiak negotiates Walt's case with Army Major Charles Halpert: dishonorable discharge and immunity in exchange for Walt's silence. But it's not long before Walt calls Hodiak from reporter Salazar's office. Hodiak hustles over to discover Walt surrendered his proof of the bombing of Cambodia to Salazar, then called Halpert to surrender. To Salazar, Walt is a hero, but to Halpert, he's a traitor headed for court martial. As Walt is led away in handcuffs, Hodiak asks, "Why?" Walt explains, "Soldiers need to know the war we're fighting. We all do." That night, Hodiak's at home tying one on with Shafe when Charmain calls, having ID'd a likely suspect in the gay serial killings, Richard Terrio. Hodiak and Shafe proceed to Terrio's address and kick down the door. In the dark, Terrio stabs Shafe, but Hodiak gets the drop on him. When they spy the ring he stole from movie star and murder victim Raymond Novo, Hodiak slaps on the cuffs - and then someone starts shooting from out of the darkness, hitting Terrio in the chest. Hodiak manages to persuade the shooter to drop his gun, but not before he takes a serious knife wound to the hand. A struggle ensues, and in the end, Hodiak lets all his fury out, snapping the shooter's neck.

Late that night, Hodiak and Shafe explain to Commissioner Garrick that the shooter was Terrio's brother, and they think both men committed the serial murders. When Garrick asks whether both men had to die, Hodiak's ultimate answer is no. Terrio's brother didn't have to die; Hodiak wanted him to die. In a surprise move, Garrick tells the men they'll be receiving the medal of honor. Since Shafe is undercover, Hodiak will stand for them both at a very public ceremony before the cheers of a grateful city. Hodiak and Shafe have spared Los Angeles a disgraceful trial that would have mired the judge in scandal. The next day, Hodiak is recuperating at home when Grace knocks with condolences for Walt. Does Hodiak need anything? Because Grace would like to do something right for someone. She's sick of lying about who she is and who she loves, so she's ready to restart her relationship with Hodiak. Back at the precinct, Shafe thanks Charmain for her help nail Terrio, and asks if she wants to help out on the Guapo case. Five steps ahead, Charmain's ready to go undercover at three funeral homes to search for the hearse. Shafe refuses her offer, but Charmain puts her plan into effect later that night. Having found the hearse, she calls Shafe from a payphone. When Shafe hears Roy asking, "Sugar clam, what are you doing here?" he hangs up and rushes off to find Charmain. But when he gets to the pay phone, all he finds is a dial tone.

As the sun sets over Los Angeles, Ken pours barbiturates into a bottle of scotch, then lets his careful plan unfold, while flashing back to 1959. While loading the body of Caroline Beecher into the trunk of a car, Charlie, Hal and Ken are stunned when her eyes flutter open. Reminding that Caroline can spill Hal and Ken's secrets, Charlie refuses to end her. After a kiss from Charlie, Ken explodes in a frenzy of shovel-stabbing. And in the present, when Hal wakes up drugged and drunk in the passenger seat of his own car, he can't put up much of a struggle for the gun Ken will use to kill him. Meanwhile, Charlie christens Valentine Michael Manson in a half-naked ceremony in front of his Family, while Hodiak endures the pomp and circumstance of his medal of honor ceremony, with Grace in attendance. During the applause, IA Investigator Ron Kellaher speaks quietly into Hodiak's ear: "There was a witness, so I'm going to need to talk to you tomorrow."