Tonight on TLC Major Crimes continues with an all new Monday December 22, season 3 episode 15 and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode called “Chain Reaction,” Santa robs a bank, and his apprehension is complicated by a Santa flash mob. Meanwhile, Sharon’s [Mary McDonnell] children arrive for the holidays, and Buzz begins training as a backup officer.
On the last episode there was a miscarriage of justice when a gang banger was acquitted of murder and released from custody. Sharon’s ex-husband, Jack Raydor (guest star Tom Berenger) represented the suspect in a subsequent murder. Rusty took a chance when the guy (guest star Mitch Ryan) he had a crush on visits the station. Jon Tenney, Kathe Mazur, Steve Tom, Jude Ciccolella and Glenn Plummer guest star. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it we have a full and detailed recap, right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the TLC synopsis, “Santa finds himself on the naughty list after robbing a bank, but a Santa flash mob complicates his apprehension and the Major Crimes unit scrambles to figure out how things went so wrong. Sharon’s kids (guest stars Zarah Mahler & Ryan Kennedy) come to town for the holidays while Buzz starts training as a back-up police officer. Lilli Birdsell, Annie Abrams, Carter Hastings and Dawnn Lewis guest star.”
Tonight’s episode is going to be filled with action and you won’t want to miss it, so be sure to tune in for our live coverage of the show tonight at 9 PM EST! While you wait for our recap hit the comments and let us know how excited you are about the third season.
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page for Updates
It’s Christmas time in LA. A man walks into a crowded area and leaves a rolling case sitting then walks away. Santa is in line at the bank. Music starts playing from the case and it looks like it’s a Santa Claus flash mob. A couple of dozen Santas frolic outside the bank. Santa gets up to the teller and he hands her a note saying to get the manager or he’ll shoot and he flashes a gun. She goes to get the boss. The guy checks his watch. The manager comes to the counter.
She unlocks the drawer of cash and they shove it into his Santa sack. He takes it and walks out. The security guard is watching the dancing Santas. The teller calls out to the security guard that Santa just robbed them as he walks out. The guard goes out and Santa pulls a gun. The security guard shoots Santa down in the street. The guy later tells Provenza that his kids are going to hate him for shooting Santa.
Provenza says he saved Christmas and is a hero. They take his sidearm and take him downtown to get his statement. Flynn says the victim is George and the birth date doesn’t match the age. Sykes says the manager told her she put cash and dye packs in the sack but the sack on George is empty. Buzz is in an ugly Christmas sweater and tells them the shooting of Santa is a major crime. Provenza tells him not to get emotional.
Sharon shows up since Provenza has been ignoring her calls. She’s brought her whole family along with her since they were shopping nearby. Provenza says the story is over except they can’t find the money. Rusty hauls Emily and Ricky out to finish the shopping. They show her that the dead Santa is not the robber Santa. The security guard shot the wrong guy.
Sanchez says they’re looking for Lydia, the flash mob coordinator. Buzz says he’s going to look around for other security cameras. Sharon asks Provenza if he’s coming to her Christmas party. He says he’s going out of town with a friend but gets nervous and doesn’t mention the details. Sharon says they need to divide and conquer so they can all be done faster. She takes Sanchez and Flynn with her.
Lydia comes in and says she remembers George from the flash mob rehearsal. She says it was supposed to publicize her new dance studio. She offers them the list of volunteers. Buzz calls back in and Provenza says they’re on the way. We see Buzz is tracking a blood trail through a parking debt to a missing car. Provenza curses. He says the money is gone with a bleeding St Nick. Sykes puts out a BOLO on bleeding Santas at any medical facility.
The teller, Faith, describes the robbery and what the note says. She says she got her manager, Mel, who gave him everything in the drawer which is bank policy. Faith says she called out to the guard. Buzz and Tao show Sharon video of the flash mob. They think dead Santa George was the one that shot the robber Santa. Sykes says patrol spotted bleeding Santa near a local hospital but he’s dead. Provenza is excited and wants to call it case closed and take off.
Sykes says they didn’t find the money. She says dead Santa two’s name is Dean Coker. Flynn asks Provenza who this friend is that he’s spending Christmas with and Provenza says – at this rate, it will be you. Sharon is making contracts and tries to entice Emily to move to LA to dance. Ricky says she could coordinate flash mobs and says people make a killing at it. He asks if it’s too soon. Ricky tells Rusty about the Christmas village. Sharon says she left it in storage and Ricky is upset.
He wants to know where the pine cone elves are and she says they were falling apart and she threw them away. She says they can make new traditions. Emily is annoyed that she’s spending Christmas with Dad while she’s there. Sharon gets a text from Provenza about the second dead Santa. She thanks the kids for decorating and says she’s so happy to have them all under the same suit. She asks Rusty if he can get to county if she’s not home in the morning.
Ricky tells Emily to tell him what’s going on. She says she thinks their dad is drinking again but doesn’t want to go through his trash. Emily asks Rusty about county and he says it was about going to jail to visit his druggy thief mom in prison. He says he doesn’t have a lot of experience decorating trees and says to tell him if he’s doing it wrong. Ricky says he’s doing it great.
The ME says the second dead Santa had butt implants. He says he might have lived but the pressure of the implants made him bleed out faster since he was shot in the tushy. Sharon gets a call from Flynn who says they got Mrs Claus who had a pile of cash. They were vacationing from North Dakota and it turns out she was packing as well – a 9 mm. They show her a photo of Dean and she tells them she’s a taxpayer with a right to tote a gun.
She says she wants to talk to her husband and says he’s not a criminal. She says she wants to talk to George and Sharon says she doesn’t seem to know he’s dead. Sanchez asks where she got the $10k and Tao says he danced through a bank robbery. She says they have oil money and that she was shopping while he did a dance mob. She says it’s his hobby. She says they both always pack heat because they tend to carry cash.
Sanchez tells her that George was shot by the bank security guard and is dead. She says she doesn’t believe it and Tao says a robber tried to escape and George intervened. She says George can’t be dead and she asks where he is and who shot him. She says she saw Dean at the rehearsal for the dance. She says she went to video it like George likes. She says he likes to practice at home and has her video them. She says Dean told her to stop recording because the choreographer wouldn’t allow it.
They show her the pic of Lydia and she says she was real friendly with Dean. Provenza thinks Lydia organized the flash mob so her BF could rob the bank. Flynn asks Provenza about the trip to Laguna for Christmas. They are at Lydia’s house and kick in the door. They clear the house and Provenza shows them a photo he found of Lydia with Dean.
Provenza calls in Buzz to video everything. Sykes checks her laptop and finds a search on hotels in Mexico. Sanchez finds a burner phone, starter pistol and some battery operated electronic thing – likely the transmitter that blocked the dye pack. The phone has a text that says – our friend is prepared. Buzz says they missed something in the trash. Provenza toys with the device and the dye packs explode in Buzz’s face. He’s not happy.
Sharon takes a call to get an update on the case. She says Lydia may not have made it into Mexico. Sykes says the computer search could have been a misdirect. Buzz is still covered in paint and annoyed. Tao says robber Santa had to know which frequency to block that means it was an inside job. Sharon tells the kids she needs to go back in and solve the double Santacide. Emily tells her not to worry and Rusty asks if the wine bottles came from Jack’s trash.
Ricky says after a certain age, the holidays are for the parents, not the kids. He asks if that’s why he was looking so hard for the elves. Emily tells Rusty it’s their secret to keep. Tao and Flynn bring Faith the teller back in and they look at her debt and her one way flight to Vancouver. She says she has an online shopping problem. She says she’s not fleeing, she’s Canadian and says her parents bought her a car and she’s flying up to pick it up.
They ask her about Lydia and she says she doesn’t know who it is. She says she’s never seen her before and says she didn’t even want to work yesterday. She says Mel made her come in even though she found someone else to cover her shift. She says Mel put her on the business line. Tao says Mel is a longtime bank employee with no financial problems and nothing shady about her. Flynn wonders if she owes money to people who don’t report to credit agencies.
They bring Mel in and she has her son with her. Sharon smiles at him and asks if Kevin can have some room to practice for a recital. Sharon says the woman clearly wasn’t on a run and Sykes says she was getting out of a taxi from Union Station and had left her son home alone. Provenza says it’s not enough for a warrant. Sharon asks Buzz to check out security cameras at Union Station.
Emily rehearses her dance and Rusty peeks around the corner watching. He says she’s amazing and she thanks him. He asks where Ricky is and he says he ran out somewhere and just told her it was a surprise. He says Sharon is still working. She asks about his visit with his mom. He says county jail at Christmas is as fun as it sounds. She asks why him not telling Sharon about Jack is bothering him so much. He says it’s really going to bother Sharon a lot if she founds out they knew.
Emily says she’s worried that Jack is going to say he’s drinking because of them. Rusty says users always make excuses. Emily says Sharon promised him he wouldn’t see the kids again unless he stayed sober. Rusty tells them they’re adults and they can see who they want even if he’s drinking. He says Jack wants them not to trust Sharon. That makes Emily think.
Sykes says they found Lydia’s car at Union Station but no money. Sharon says they have to place them there together. She asks Buzz for the video but he’s still uploading it. Patrice shows up to the station and he rushes to tell them that he’s leaving for Laguna with her as soon as they solve this. He asks her to stay and she looks around surprised. She sits unsure and he gives her his crossword puzzle to finish. He says he’s stuck on 12 across.
Mel acts surprised about Lydia and says she had a friend in town. Sharon asks who she took to the train station. Provenza says they are looking for surveillance video and if they find her sitting in the woman’s car on that video, she’ll be charged with murder. She says Lydia and her BF forced her to do it. She says they threatened her son. She says Lydia came to her house freaking out about her dead BF. She says she wanted to hide the money at her house and pulled a gun on her.
She says she made her drive her to Union Station then jumped out of the car as soon as they pulled up. She says she left Lydia’s car there and took a cab back home. Mel says they contacted her two weeks ago and knew all these things about Kevin including where he went to school, what time he went to bed, etc. She says she was scared and gave them all the info they wanted about the bank schedule and dye pack frequency.
Buzz has the video and sees Mel and the car. She was parking it but was alone like she said. Sharon says they are stuck until they find Lydia. They watch Kevin play and Sharon says they’re going to talk to Kevin. They record it. Sharon goes in and brings him some cookies and milk. He says he’s on a diet. He says mom and Dean are trying to get him to be the new Kevin. He says Dean is his trainer. Provenza asks what kind of mom hires a trainer.
He says he’s moving to the Meyer’s School for Boys in January. Tao looks it up and says it cost $40k a year. He says his mom went to his old school today to clean out his orchestra locker. He says his mom has a key. Provenza sends them there and says to use lights and sirens. He offers to pay for Buzz’s dermabrasion to get the paint off if he can solve this so he can leave for his weekend. Sanchez gives the kid the whole plate of cookies.
Provenza tells Mel they found the money and they discuss the felony murder charges that will be levied against her and say Lydia’s death will be first degree murder. Sharon says they found Lydia’s body under her bead stuffed in a cello case. Provenza says – thank God he doesn’t play the triangle. They tell Mel they have a one time offer of life without parole. Her young lawyer says she has two choices – death row or life without parole.
He says he has no alternate explanation for a dead woman under her bed in a cello case and says this deal will go away. Mel says her son’s private teacher says he’s a genius. She says Meyer has a conservatory for kids like him. She says a company like her bank doesn’t care about $40k but it could have drastically changed her son’s life. She says there was never supposed to be a gun and they just didn’t listen.
She says Lydia wanted to turn them both in. She says she did this all for her son and for the world to appreciate his gifts. The lawyer closes his portfolio and asks about life again. Provenza says life. Sharon asks Mel to write it all down and to be prepared to say it all again in front of a judge. Kevin’s dad shows up to pick up Kevin and they decide to give them a moment before the ruin Christmas for the kid forever.
Provenza rants to the hotel and tells Patrice they’re going to lose their reservation if they’re not there by 10 pm. She tells him she was going to spend the holiday with him, not Laguna Beach and says it’s no problem. He tells the hotel to cancel it and calls him an a-hole. Flynn comes to get Sharon and shows her the kids moved the party to the station including the Christmas village. Provenza is in a Santa hat and says he was going to wear the whole suit. Patrice says she was scared he’d get shot.
Sharon goes to see Emily and Rusty off by themselves. Ricky follows her. Sharon asks Rusty what’s going on and he says it’s not his place. Emily says it’s about her contract and says she’s going to be a soloist. Sharon is thrilled and hugs her but Rusty and Ricky don’t look pleased. Provenza calls them all into the party for a toast. E toasts them and Ricky tells Rusty it’s okay and calls him little brother. He says what mom doesn’t know won’t her her. He says he hopes he’s right.
THE END!
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