Friends, Family & Guests: Ocean Hillman (Suzanne Ross), Lochlyn Munro & Michael Davies (Unknown - Vince and Gerald), Ken Camroux (Mr. Ross), Chris Boyd (Del Martin), Stephane Kirkland (Nurse), Wes Tritter (Dr. Hecht),

While investigating the hit and run murder of a high school football star, McCann becomes involved with a cheerleader who has AIDS.

Opening Scene: In front of Woodrow Wilson High School (a banner says "Go, Wolverines, Go!"), Del sits and waits for Suzanne to come out. Suzanne, a confident Marcia Brady type of girl, walks up to him, and Del says he has good news. He has a football scholarship to State - free ride, all expenses paid. She hugs him and congratulates him, but as she hugs him, she looks worried. He releases her, and she asks if he's going to take it. He says quietly that he doesn't know and asks her what she thinks. She says she thinks he wants to take it. They walk away from the school and talk about it. He says there are a lot of other guys who want it, and she says if he wants to take it he should. She gets in her car and he asks if she will come visit him at State. She says she'll be there so often he'll be sick of her. He blushes and shuts her door, and she drives off. He heads toward his car, and suddenly someone in a red car begins chasing him. He sees it coming toward him to run over him, drops his books and bag and begins running as fast as he can - and the car hits him. He flies over the top of the car, and his glasses fly through the air, and he lands on the asphalt surface of the parking lot, lying motionless as his glasses crash beside him.

At the cemetery, Suzanne steps forward to speak about Del, saying that she prepared a speech about how tragic Del's death is, but now that she has thought about it, he would really hate it. There is a big crowd. Mac and Joey are in the back of the crowd, in suits. She tells a funny story about Del and swimming lessons, and as she tells the story, she gets tearful, and Mac watches her. Later, at a rainy football practice, Suzanne's dressed up in a cheerleader outfit and talking to Gerald, who is one of the football players. She says that she is sad, angry and frustrated. He says he feels guilty that he didn't make a speech at the funeral as she did. He says he was Del's second best friend and he was afraid he would cry. Suzanne says that's what funerals are for. The guy leaves, and Mac enters through the opening in the bleachers, asking for Suzanne Ross. She introduces herself. He introduces himself as "Tim Lombardi," her biology tutor. She laughs in disbelief - he doesn't look like a biology tutor, and then she asks how much. He asks what she means, and she says "do you tutor out of the goodness of your heart or for money?" He grins and says a little bit of both and says he'll charge her five dollars an hour. Later, in an empty classroom, Mac tries to explain RNA and DNA to her, and they begin flirting as he talks about a hypothetical family giving their daughter beautiful blue eyes. She makes a joke about the mailman giving the kid the blue eyes and then asks "how about you? Which parent gave you that amazing face?" Mac is slightly caught off guard and laughs, saying that brings them back to their first question, what causes a mutation. They laugh and meet each other's eyes.

Out in the parking lot, Joey, with his hair tied back in a ponytail, is putting flyers on cars and covertly looking around for damage that might indicate a car had hit someone. He stops by a red Cutlass and inspects it closely - until a big football player comes along, picks him up and deposits him on the hood of the car, asking what he's doing? Joey says he's comparing windshield wipers, what does it look like he's doing. The kid says it looks like he's casing cars, and Joey says he's joking, right? The guy says the car is his and the others belong to his friends, none of which would want Joey to touch them. Joey says he has to touch them, he's putting these pep rally leaflets out for people to show their school spirit and support the football team. The guy releases him and looks at the flyer, finally looking back at Joey and saying "You don't know who I am, do you? I am the football team." Joey says, "Well, just think, if you let me finish, all these people will be supporting you." Vince moves closer to him, and Joey beats it out of there. At the Chapel, Fuller says that they did a check on the guy in the parking lot guy, whose name is Vince Ingersoll. Hoffs and Joey follow Fuller into his office, and Hoffs says that a report was filed last week that Vince had a head-on collision with one of his teammates in the end zone and then Fuller says Old Vince finished it off with a fist-on, feet-on collision. Joey guesses - the teammate was Del Martin. Hoffs says "Bingo." Joey asks if Fuller wants him to go pick Vince up, and Fuller says no, all they have right now is circumstantial and he wants Joey to find out more about Vince. The phone rings, and Fuller ignores it. Hoffs asks if he's going to get it. Fuller says no. Joey, beginning to laugh, asks if he wants him to get it, and again, no. Hoffs asks if he wants to talk about it, and he again says no, then goes into a rant about beepers and how a beeper company has accidentally transmitted his number to all of their customers. Joey grins and picks up the phone, saying "Hi, Diane." He grins at them again and says "Yes, I did call you. The beeper company tells me you're one red hot mama looking for a good time." A pause. "My name is Rod. I'm clean, discreet. I'm a 6'2" lovemaking machine." He looks at them and shrugs. "She hung up." Fuller says "Go figure," and Hoffs covers her face with a piece of paper and laughs.

Outside Fuller's office, Doug is playing the pinball machine, and Mac comes up to him. Doug asks him how the case is going, and Mac says it's going okay and he's glad he brushed up on biology. He says Doug's pretty good at the pinball game, and Doug says he ought to be, he's been playing it for five years and the department refuses to send over a different one. He mocks them, saying "We're sorry. We don't have a pinball budget" in a funny voice. Mac says jokingly that he's appalled. Then he says "you've been at Jump Street for five years?" and Doug says yes, and Mac asks if he's ever had to get close to a good-looking girl while he was undercover. Doug shrugs and says he has a few times. Mac asks if he ever got interested. The game ends with a tilt, and Doug finally turns his attention to Mac, asking, "Interested?" Mac says yeah, like if you met her under any other circumstances you'd ask her out. Doug asks if it has anything to do with Mac's murder case. Mac hedges, saying it's just hypothetically. Doug says that he doesn't get involved, hypothetically. Mac asks why not, and Doug says for a lot of reasons: you could blow your cover, you could miss some important information, you could get thrown off the force for code violations. Mac says there's no law against a police officer dating an eighteen-year-old woman, and Doug says, no, there's no law, but ethically, it stinks, because she thinks you're someone you're not. Mac asks again if he really thinks so, and he says "Don't shave while the train is moving," resuming his pinball game. Mac regards him curiously.

Mac arrives, dressed up, and Suzanne's father grills him obnoxiously. Suzanne tells him to leave Tim alone and asks Mac (Tim) to come on in. They stand in the living room, and Suzanne tries to hurry Dad along out the door. Her dad says he's in no hurry and asks what they're going to do tonight. Suzanne says they thought they'd get some lighter fluid and put it in the microwave, turn it on high and blow up the house. Mac giggles. Mr. Ross finally leaves, after warning her that it's a school night. Mac ribs her good-naturedly about her strict father and asks if he always treats guys like that when they come over. Suzanne says that her dad has been over-protective since her mom died. Then she tells him that she got a B on her biology exam and only missed one question. He asks which one, and she, sitting on the couch and petting a dog, says she didn't realize that DNA could carry stuff like talent and personality. Mac says it's just a theory - "look at you, you obviously didn't inherit your father's stellar personality." She tells him teasingly to watch it, that she probably inherited some pretty good stuff from her dad, like that she's a good dancer. Mac can't believe that her dad can dance. Mac turns on some music, and he asks her to show him. He pushes the table back, and he persuades her to dance, and they both dance, with Mac doing some odd moves. Suzanne says "you're...uh..." and he says "Different!" and she agrees. Still dancing, Mac asks her if she and Del danced a lot. She says that they sometimes did when they weren't dating other people. Mac says he thought they were dating, and she says no, they were just best friends. She adds shyly that they did toy with it a couple of times, but it never went anywhere. The song gets over, and a slower one comes on, and she says they should study, and he takes her hand, agreeing, and their eyes meet. As she comes closer, she says she shouldn't be doing this, and he says "Neither should I." He holds her hand up, and she does a slow twirl, and then he draws her closer, and she leans her head on his shoulder. They dance close, and she suddenly blinks and looks like she's in pain. She gasps and pulls away from him then, going over to sit on the couch, and he follows her asking if she's all right. She shakes and asks him to take her to the hospital, and he says he will, stroking her hair and telling her she's all right. At the hospital, the nurse asks if she is has any medication allergies. Mac hassles the nurse about hurrying things along so that she can see a doctor. She keeps asking her questions right in front of Mac, and she asks if she's on any prescription medication. Suzanne asks if she can just wait for the doctor, and the nurse says she has to record it for the log. She looks up at Mac and then tells the nurse that she's taking AZT. The nurse's surprise is clear, and Mac says, "Wait, isn't AZT..." and Suzanne nods, saying "yeah," gazing at him and explaining that it's a drug for AIDS.

Out in the hallway, Mac sits, his head bent down onto his hands and clearly quite shaken up. Suzanne comes out, a bathrobe over her dress, and she comes over to him. He asks how she's doing, and she says she was about to ask him the same thing. He says he's not the one who's sick, and she asks him why he looks so green, then? She tells him to talk to her and tell her the truth. "I want you to say you're scared, hurt, angry..." Mac says "How about surprised?" Suzanne says that's a start. Mac says he can't imagine, that she seems so happy. Suzanne asks why shouldn't she enjoy every second of life? Mac, stammering, says he isn't sure he could be that strong. She says he would, and that the reason why she doesn't want anyone to know is that she won't be treated like she's sick. He asks if he's the only one who knows, and she says her father also knows, but that's it. Mac begins to ask about the guy who gave it to her, but he stops himself, saying that it isn't any of his business. She walks away slowly, and he follows her. She says it wasn't a guy, it was a needle - they were at a party and everyone was doing it, and it was the only time she ever did, and now she'll regret that night for the rest of her life. Moving closer to him, she looks up and says that she shouldn't have gotten so romantic with him, and he says it's okay. She shakes her head and says it's not, and that he doesn't have to see her anymore. Mac asks what if he wants to, obviously close to tears, and she says she won't let him. He asks why not, and she says he knows why not, adding that she won't let this thing hurt anyone else. He says if she thinks they're going to get physical...and she says she's not talking about sex, she's talking about dying. When he says not to say that, she asks "why, because if I don't say it, it will go away? It won't." She tells him that sooner or later, hopefully later, she's going to die, and she has learned to live with it, and that she knows it's going to hurt her father, and she doesn't want it to hurt anyone else. Mac says softly that he understands

At the Chapel, Mac aggressively plays pinball, and Doug comes in, telling him to take it easy on the machine. He comes up the steps to the pinball machine and asks if he has told Mac about Marta. Mac says abruptly that he has, continuing to smack the flippers. Doug says that her deportation was the same as getting a death sentence, and they both knew it. Mac snaps that it's not the same thing, and Doug says that all he could think of was, why Marta? and all Mac can think of is, why Suzanne? Mac stands silently, listening. Doug stands behind him and asks rhetorically what did she do to deserve it? Then he says that the absolute worst part was that he was mad - mad at himself for falling for her in the first place. Mac says, "God, I hate myself for thinking that," and Doug says, "Yeah. I did too." He says that something that was weird but made him feel better was that he realized that Marta would have died whether Doug showed up in her life or not, but at least he was there to give her a little happiness that she might not have had. Mac looks down at the pinball machine. Suzanne, on her way to school, comes out of her house with a sack lunch and says "you're up early." Her dad is kneeling in front of his car with a tool box, tightening a headlight on the front end. The car is a red Thunderbird. She's surprised it got fixed so soon, and he says it's driveable, but the body work will have to wait till next payday. She walks around and looks at it, saying that she thought he said a tree hit it. It did, he says. She says it doesn't look like a tree could do that - it looks like he hit something. He says well, she caught him, he lied, and he doesn't want her to think he's an idiot, but he was looking at a map and hit a tree on a traffic island. She repeats that he did hit a tree, and he says yeah, why, something wrong? Nothing, she says, saying that she's late. He watches her leave. Later, at the football field, Suzanne is on top of a pyramid of cheerleaders, including Joey, who is wearing a black sweatshirt and is helping support the girls on top. Vince comes over to hassle Gerald about having given him time for something and now time is up. Joey looks up, and Gerald asks Vince if it can't wait until they're done, and Vince responds by kicking Gerald in the arm, causing the entire pyramid to collapse. Vince laughs and says they're done. Joey steps toward him but says nothing, merely watching. Over by the bleachers, Gerald pays Vince some money as some other people, including Joey, look on.

In school, Gerald and Suzanne are laughing and walking together in the hallway, and Mac comes up to her and asks her out for a burger. She turns him down, saying that she and Gerald are going to be studying. Mac asks about the next day, and Suzanne said she thought she made herself clear. Gerald comes up and puts his hand on her shoulder protectively. Mac asks if he would mind giving them a little time, and he says he would mind, and that Suzanne doesn't want to talk to him. Suzanne says it's okay, and Gerald reluctantly walks off. Mac asks what happened to wanting to enjoy every second of life. She says she still does, and he says he doesn't know if he can help her enjoy every second of life, but he'd like to help her enjoy every second of Saturday night. She looks down and then says she doesn't want him to get hurt. He says for her to worry about herself, and he'll worry about himself. He tempts her with a hamburger, fries and a malt, and she starts to walk away, and he says Come on, and then she smiles at him. He grins. On Saturday, "Fearless" plays, and they leave her house with a picnic basket and blanket, and we see a montage of scenes where they go to a park, Mac pays a kid some money to get off a swing so he can push Suzanne in it. Suzanne is having a great time. He pushes her in the swing. They take a long walk together and find a huge yellow leaf, and they talk, they stop and look over the side of a bridge. They cross a stream on some rocks. They stop and buy ice cream. They play basketball. They walk off holding hands.

In a rather abrupt change of scene, Hoffs and Mac are questioning the doctor at the morgue, who tells them that the blood test on Del showed that he was in fact HIV positive, and that he had probably shown detectable symptoms for at least a year. He points out that you can be HIV+ and not have AIDS, though in Del's case he did. Mac asks if he knew he had it, and the doctor says definitely. Mac comes over to Suzanne's and accuses her of lying to him, saying that she never used a needle before in her life. She asks what he means, and he says that she got it from sexual contact with Del Martin. She snaps that he doesn't know that, and he says that the morgue verified that Del had it and furthermore, Del's mother said that Del gave it to Suzanne. She asks what he was doing in the morgue and talking to Del's mother, adding "Who are you, some kind of cop?" His jaw clenches, and he says nothing, and she turns away, saying "oh my God." She tells him to get out of her house. Mac says not until she explains why she lied to him. She asks what he calls what he's been doing, if not lying? He says that maybe the way they met was a lie but the way he's starting to feel for her is real, she has to believe him. She shakes her head and says get out. He asks her who she is trying to protect. She yells "get out of my house, now!" pointing at the door, and her father comes in, and she leans on him, crying, asking him to make Mac leave. Mr. Ross holds her and asks Mac angrily what he did to her. Mac merely says "The truth, Suzanne," and her father orders him to get out, or he'll call the cops. "I am the cops," Mac says, flashing his badge. Mr. Ross moves back to put an arm around Suzanne and asks Mac what he wants. Mac asks if Suzanne told him how she contracted AIDS, and he says they have no secrets. He asks when she told him, and he says Tuesday. Mac asks rapidly where he was last Wednesday at 4:30 PM, and Mr. Ross again orders him out of the house. Mac says not until he answers the question, and Mr. Ross says if he doesn't get out, he'll have him up on charges. Mac reluctantly leaves, after saying he's sorry one last time to Suzanne. Suzanne begins to cry, and Mr. Ross holds her. Mac leaves and goes over to Mr. Ross' car. Lifting the tarp up, he inspects the front end with a flashlight. Suzanne comes up behind him and calmly states that Mac got close to her to find out if her father did it, and he counters with the fact that she lied to him to protect her father. She said she didn't lie - she promised Del's family she would keep their secret. Mac points out that she told her mother the night before Del was killed. He asks if this is her father's car, and she begs him not to arrest her father, saying that it will take several months to get him out even if he is innocent. Mac says that she's been doing her homework, huh? She comes up to him and says that she asked a lawyer friend, who said that it could take many months to set bail. Mac agrees. She takes his arm and says she may not have several months. He apologizes and walks off.

In Fuller's office, Fuller asks incredulously why Mac didn't arrest Mr. Ross. Mac says he doesn't have enough evidence. Hoffs point out that Mr. Ross had the motive, the opportunity, and maybe even the murder weapon. Mac says it wouldn't hold up in court. Fuller says it's not his job to decide that - he's to arrest if he has probable cause. Joey says, "No offense, Mac, but you got probable cause coming out the wazoo." Mac asks, "what about Vince Ingersoll?" and points out that his car's dent was just as big. Fuller says they don't have a motive for him, and Mac points out the fight during the football game and says maybe there's more to it. He wants to rule out any other possibilities before making Suzanne's life any worse. Joey points out the possibility that Mr. Ross may decide to take Suzanne on a scenic tour of Europe, and Mac says that he wouldn't do that because he loves his daughter and wants her to be happy, and she's happy with her life here. Fuller says to bring Vince in for questioning, but if they don't get anything out of him, he wants Mr. Ross arrested today. Mac leaves slowly. Later, in the interrogation room, Mac and Fuller are talking to Vince, who seems a bit younger and more defenseless without his football jacket on. They lean on him hard. Mac asks him about the fight with Del. Fuller sits across from him, while Mac paces behind him, and they both question him. They ask if Del got between him and a girl, or if he insulted him. Then they point out that he was observed taking money from Gerald, and Vince says that there's nothing illegal about collecting money that is owed to you. They ask him why Gerald owed him money. He says that he loaned his car to Gerald on Wednesday afternoon so he could go pick up some cheerleader mats, and Gerald returned it with a big dent in the hood, so Vince made him pay for it. Mac asks when he loaned Gerald his car, and he says, as if he's never even thought about it, "I don't know...Wednesday...after school." Mac pinches Vince's mouth together gently and says "Oh, Vince, you are my favorite gorilla," and then he leaves. Vince looks puzzled. At the football field, Mac and Joey arrive, walking fast and obviously meaning business. It's thundering and raining, but practice is going on anyway. Gerald asks what the deal is and why Joey isn't suited up for practice. Joey holds one finger up and yells for everyone to take five. They disperse, and Mac stays by Suzanne while Joey arrests Gerald, reading his rights to him as he confesses to Suzanne right in front of everyone. Suzanne looks at Gerald bitterly, and he confesses angrily that for 12 years he has had a crush on her and Del was always in the way. He moves toward her, and Joey holds him back. When he had Vince's car, Gerald confesses, Del walked right in front of him as if he were on a silver platter. Joey says "okay, that's it. Let's go, pal," and takes him away. Mac stays to talk to Suzanne, and she looks up at him.

Closing scene: Still at the football field, picking up right where we left off, Mac and Suzanne continue their conversation. It's thundering and raining harder now. She thanks him for not arresting her father when he had the chance and for going out on a limb for her. He asks if she will be all right, and she says she will for a while. He says he'd like to see her again, and she says she's going to a clinic in San Francisco where they have some experimental drugs that seem promising - they won't save her life, but they might extend it a year or two. They laugh, and he says a lot can happen in a year or two. They stand together, and she says she doesn't even know his real name. He tells her it's Anthony McCann. She says, "It's nice to meet you, Anthony McCann," kisses him on the side of his mouth and pulls him close in a hug. He says nothing and smiles at her when they pull apart, and as she walks off, he softly says, "nice to meet you."

Cyndi Glass: I like it that we're seeing a soft side to McCann. He gets so over-involved in his cases - it's hard to see how he can stand undercover work. I also enjoyed seeing Doug giving Mac advice while he played pinball. He advised him against getting involved, but once he knew Mac was involved, he gave him different advice - to make her time with him happy. After all, Marta was wonderful for Doug - but when he mistakenly thought she was guilty and arrested her, it created a huge problem, and when he ultimately lost her, it broke his heart. This time, Doug doesn't seem to be working at all, while Hoffs and Joey are paired to work with what Joey finds as he goes undercover on the football team. The majority of the air time here is given to Mac, who falls for Suzanne for real. The montage of scenes where we see him with Suzanne make us see his compassion for her as well as how badly he wants her to smile, laugh and have a good time instead of always being so calm and serious.

A couple of odd things - why isn't Joey suited up for football practice when we first see him in the pyramid-building scene? And why do Mac and Fuller immediately believe Vince in the interrogation scene? After all, everyone surely knew that Del had been hit by a car - the autopsy would have shown blunt trauma and he was lying in the parking lot. Vince would have had more than enough time to put the dent in his hood together with that fact and go to the police, if he were innocent, or think up a story just like this one if he weren't. But, it seems like in this season the writers liked to throw red herrings out - they make Vince be mean to Joey, and they make Mr. Ross be mean to Mac, and they show that both of them have red cars with dents in the hood. So - of course, it can't be either one of them, or we wouldn't have our surprise ending.

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