Fatal Beauty

Rita Rizzoli leads an undercover purchase of the new cocaine strain Fatal Beauty with dealer Tito Delgadillo. She steps in to protect her informant Charlene when Charlene is brutalized by her pimp, risking everything to shield them both. Delgadillo escapes with cash and holes up in a Chinatown warehouse where Fatal Beauty is manufactured.

Nova and Skinner unleash a raid on the warehouse, slaughtering the rest of the gang and seizing a botched, adulterated batch of Fatal Beauty. The chaos exposes the drug's compromised quality and hints at a larger distribution operation. Rita realizes the case extends beyond a single dealer.

Rita identifies Delgadillo’s body and finds another corpse inside a van stamped with Kroll Enterprises. This clue pushes her to pursue Conrad Kroll and his company despite official resistance. The discovery links the street drug to a powerful corporate presence.

Rita presses to investigate Kroll Enterprises, but Lt. Kellerman blocks the inquiry, citing Kroll's political ties and Rita's past drug bust. The department tries to keep the case quiet, limiting access to information. Undeterred, Rita begins pursuing independent leads.

Charlene reveals that the warehouse owner drove a Rolls Royce, prompting Rita to infiltrate Conrad Kroll's opulent Beverly Hills mansion to confront the mogul about drug dealing. She is ordered to leave by Kellerman, triggering a tense standoff that underscores the case's political stakes.

A scanner call erupts into a chaotic standoff at Charlene's Hollywood home. A man under Fatal Beauty's spell fires at the police, yet remains unnervingly upright. Rita discovers Charlene dead from an overdose and learns from Charlene's young son that the drugs came from her new pimp, Jimmy Silver.

The LAPD confirms Fatal Beauty runs at 50% purity and is laced with phencyclidine, pushing users toward madness and swift death. The revelation heightens urgency to shut down Jimmy Silver and his supplier Rafael. The case now encompasses a dangerous, widely distributed drug network.

Rita and her partner close in on Jimmy Silver and Rafael, bringing them into custody. The arrests demonstrate the ring's reach but also foreshadow broader criminal connections still at large. The operation marks progress in dismantling the distribution network.

Cecile Jaeger informs Rita that her dealer Denny Miflin will be meeting Nova and Skinner at Kroll Plaza that night to finalize a dangerous sale. Rita processes the warning as the case heats up. The setup foreshadows a final confrontation at the heart of the operation.

Kroll orders Marshak and his security team to kill Nova, Skinner, and Rita, but Marshak tips Rita off just in time. In the ensuing gunfight, Nova and Skinner are killed along with most of Kroll's guards, and Kroll himself falls amid the chaos. Marshak's loyalty saves Rita briefly, though he is wounded in the exchange.

Rita recovers from a gunshot wound, and Marshak drives her home in an ambulance while Jimenez handles another flare-up with Nova. The close moment cements a complicated, hopeful connection between Rita and Marshak as the case winds down.

Preteen children in Rita's neighborhood begin dying after taking Fatal Beauty, illustrating the drug's reach and personal stakes for her community. Cecile Jaeger informs Rita that Denny Miflin will be meeting Nova and Skinner at Kroll Plaza that night to finalize a dangerous sale. The case expands beyond individual dealers to a citywide threat.

With the ring dismantled and key players neutralized, the investigation concludes, though the city still bears the scars of Fatal Beauty. Rita and Marshak's relationship remains tense but resilient as they look to a future beyond the case. The community is left to grapple with the drug's impact as the city begins to heal.