When the detectives of the 1-2-5 Precinct bust a black market smuggling operation, they have to chase down several of the suspects. One of them is Sam Tyler, deep undercover as an Irish longshoreman named "Sam Bono" (Bah-no, like the singer. Get it?).

Sam is having a blast playing the bad guy. He gets to talk dirty to Annie and elbow Hunt in the gut, but he gets as good as he gives -- Ray land a few solid punches of his own.

The target of the investigation is Jimmy McManus, who Ray describes as "magically malicious". McManus is rumored to have hijacked a truck and killed its driver, firing four rounds into the body "when anyone else would stop at two", Ray says.

McManus bails his crew out of jail, including Sam. Later, at a bar, McManus tests Sam, including his knowledge of Dublin and his ability to fight. Sam is holding his own against the much bigger "Big Patrick", until a woman he recognizes walks into the bar. Big Patrick lands a knockout blow.

The woman is Colleen. Sam remembers her from his childhood, the friendly babysitting neighbor who reads tarot cards and who was his first crush. She also happens to be McManus' sister, and she owns the bar were the gang hangs out when they're not committing crime.

Sam passes McManus' loyalty test and gets his first assignment -- hanging a mirror at Colleen's apartment. Then Rose, Sam's mother, arrives to pick up Little Sammy, who is asleep in the next room. Rose and Little Sammy live in the apartment next door. Rose recognizes Sam, but under the cover name he used when he first met her -- Detective Luke Skywalker. Sam asks her not to blow his cover with Colleen, and she agrees to play along.

After Sam leaves Collen's apartment, he stops in next door to check on Rose and Little Sammy. Rose begs him to talk to Little Sammy. Since his no-good father left, Little Sammy needs a male role model.

Later, after Sam and Colleen become intimate, McManus tests Sam's loyalty again by asking him to kill Colleen... or be killed himself.  What happens next leaves two members of the 1-2-5 precinct in mortal danger....

The episode is about destiny, and darkness. With only two more episodes left in the series, the writers know their destiny is Cancellation Land. They have been seduced by The Dark Side, and they are using the Star Wars mythology as their crutch.

However, crutch or no, the writers make a fine effort at exploring the depth and darkness that surrounds man's soul. At issue is whether the actions you take and the choices you make -- as well as the choices you avoid making -- shape who you are and who you become. But, they conclude, there is indeed a little bit of the Dark Side in everyone.

McManus, the crime boss, tells a story of beating his own father with a tire iron, only to discover that only he himself only was responsible for the what drove there. He and Sam ponder whether they each are destined to become their father, or can they successfully choose another path?

Sam himself comes "this close" to his own dark side as he interrogates Colleen in the squad room. Ray knows this, and calls him on it. Is this foreshadowing something to come? The teaser for the next episode makes me think it does.

When confronted with the possibility of being a role model to Little Sammy, Sam muses, "What if a simple act of talking to my younger self brings about darkness?" When he finally summons the courage to do so, the best he can do is fall back upon the eternal truths of Star Wars: "My father went over to the dark side but I know there was still good in him," Sam says. Come on. How much more Luke Skywalker can you get?

It's a deep episode, but it's good to hear Jason O'Mara talk Irish.

(Original air date: 3/18/2009)