Title: Apprehension (Go to glossary for definition)

Original Airdate: August 7, 2001
Season: 1
Episode: 9

Writer: Richard C. Okie
Director: Robert Lee

Music:
Corn Rows - Wide Mouth Mason 56K
Sour Times - Portishead [Lyrics] 56K
Song title? - Artist? 56K

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Guest Stars:
Nestor Serrano as Captain Bruno Dante
John Hensley as Gabriel Bowman
Kenneth Welsh as Joe Siri
Bill McDonald as Jerry Orlinski
Eden Roundtree as Charleyne

At night in a parking lot. Jerry Orlinski asks a pimp for the rest of the money. Orlinski shoots the pimp in the back when he walks away without handing over the rest of the payoff.

Dante is holding a Bulls meeting. The Bulls are with some ladies from Refined Escort Service. He reminds the men that for the next thirty days, anyone showing a Refined Escort business card will be excused from any compromising positions. Dante then tells the ladies to leave, so they can talk business.

At the station. Lazar is at the station's payphone. He hangs up the phone. Jake walks in with a group of hookers. Sara enters and asks the hookers who knows the deceased Prospero McQueen. Everyone raises their hands. Sara notices a package on a table in the room and takes it into her office, leaving Jake to handle the impatient group.

Dante recognizes Tommy Burges in a White Bulls meeting. The Bulls members applaud. Dante tells them that Burges was working a heroin sting. Both dealer and buyer are fatally shot and the contraband and money are never recovered, but the White Bulls fund is fifty thousand dollars richer.

Sara opens the package and finds newspaper clippings and a video tape. She inserts the tape into the VCR and is surprised to see her father. He introduces himself as Officer James Pezzini, New York Police Department, badge number 7945.

The Bulls meeting ends.

Sara is still watching the tape of her father. He speaks directly into the camera and says the date is February 22, 1984 and if anyone's watching this, he's already dead. The likely reason is he's working to expose a corrupt secret society within the NYPD. They call themselves the White Bulls.

Dante talks to Orlinski and a few other members after the meeting.

James Pezzini says the White Bulls rule by intimidation. They abuse the badge in every possible way. He holds up a bullet engraved with a black bull and says the bullet is their trademark. They use the round if the bulls want to assassinate one of their enemies. If their members find the round, they desist in the investigation. They're led by a deadly band of new young recruits. Most notably a rising young sergeant by the name of Bruno Dante. James Pezzini believes they've been operating in the department for decades. They go way up in the ranks. Too far for him to solve by internal means.

Dante tells the members that he has recruited an inside man to solve the Pezzini problem.

Jake walks into the Office and asks for Sara's help. Sara quickly turns off the TV.

At Irons' mansion. Irons is polishing a cane with a white cloth and naming keywords (titillation, enigma, seduction, intimidation, temptation, abandonment, rejection, opposition). Ian answers that they're all stratagems for controlling Sara. Irons corrects him and tells him that they're stratagems for containing her. He is circling Ian who's standing with his head lowered and legs spread. Irons swings the cane over Ian's shoulder. Ian crosses his arms and locks the cane between his arms. Irons had envisioned a scenario in which Sara would become a member of their family and Ian would serve them both. Ian says he still holds that hope. Irons puts his cane under Ian's chin and raises his head up. Irons knows about Ian's infatuation with Sara. He mentions that Sara's blood is invaluable. Ian says it's the blood Irons covets. Irons gives Ian a stare, and Ian lowers his head.

At the precinct. One of the hookers continues to bother Jake and wants to leave. Sara tells her to shut up, and the hooker walks away. Jake asks Sara how to find the truth when everybody lies. Sara says Diogenes. A hooker with short blond hair sees Orlinski. Sara sees the blond hooker and has a Witchblade flash. Sara sees the blond hooker struggling with her pimp (Prospero McQueen). McQueen lets her go when Orlinski walks up for the payoff. The hooker hides behind the car and witnesses Orlinski shoot McQueen. Sara tells Jake to let go of all the people they spent the last two hours rounding up except the blond hooker she was looking at.

Sara goes to Joe Siri's apartment really late at night and asks Joe about the White Bulls. Joe's wife, who's in another room asks who it is. Joe lies and tells her it's the pizza guy with the wrong apartment. Joe escaped with his life and advises Sara to stick with homicide and mind her own business and try to live to retirement. Joe's wife, Marie, walks into the room with a worried look on her face when she sees Sara.

Sara knocks on Gabriel's door. Danny appears and sees Sara holding two cups of coffee. Sara opens the top of one of the cups. Danny leans in, but can't seem to smell the coffee. He tells her there's one person she can trust. Gabriel opens the door and thinks Sara's talking to herself. Sara asks Gabriel if he knows anything about the White Bulls. Gabriel finally looks up and says he has a standing offer for fifty grand if he can deliver an engraved bullet that cops use to kill people.

At Dante's office. Dante tells Jake that Sara's temper is her Achilles' heel. When she loses it, she makes errors in judgment. Dante wants to make everything Sara loves go away. Jake suggests her motorcycle. Dante wants something more personal.

Sara, Jake and Charleyne (the blond hooker) are in the interrogation room. Charleyne refuses to talk. Sara recalls the Witchblade vision and gets Charleyne to admit that the cop who killed McQueen is in the precinct.

Sara and Jake walk out of the room. Jake wonders how Sara got the info out of Charleyne when she barely asked a question. Sara tells Jake not to book her, but to take her back to holding. Jake knows Sara's hiding something and tells her to let him in on it. She receives a phone call from Joe, who tells her to go to his apartment and be careful on her way there. Sara tells Jake to meet her at Cafe Enigma at eight o'clock.

At Joe's apartment. Joe tells Sara that the White Bulls ordered a contract hit on her father. He shows Sara a White Bulls shell he found at the scene. Sara is hurt and feels betrayed when Joe tells her he couldn't do anything to help her father, but she offers her absolution if Joe will answer if Dante took out the contract. Siri nods yes.

At Cafe Enigma. Sara and Jake are sitting across from each other at a table. They talk about the Greek philosopher Diogenes, who walked around Athens with a lantern in broad daylight looking for an honest man. Some accounts say he only found one when he looked in the mirror. When Sara says she has to tell him something, Jake jumps in and thinks it's about mixing partnership with their personal lives. Sara tells him that it's not that and tells him that the White Bulls killed her dad.

Burges drives up in an SUV outside a dark alley where Sara's motorcycle is parked.

Sara tells him that Dante got promoted two ranks the year after her dad's death. Jake reaches over and puts his hand on Sara's right arm. He tells her that they can trust each other. The Witchblade bracelet remains dormant, but a glass on another table shatters.

Sara and Jake are walking in the alley by Cafe Enigma. Sara sees her motorcycle trashed. She tears up and cries on Jake's shoulder.

Joe Siri is sitting in the dark drinking. Siri is not surprised when Dante walks in. Dante knows he's been talking to Sara. Dante has Joe's gun and loads it with a Bulls bullet.

At Talismaniac. Sara returns the Keith Moon Drumset to Gabriel. She tells him that the White Bulls are coming after her and tells him to stay away from her as long as he can. Gabriel doesn't want to leave Sara by herself and tells her that he's the one person she can trust.

Charleyne is sitting in her holding cell. Sara walks in and tells her to leave. Orlinski enters the holding area and calls out to Sara. Sara has a flash of the McQueen murder. Sara lies and tells Orlinski that Charleyne couldn't have been a witness or suspect in the murder. Orlinski leaves. Sara tells Charleyne to stay low. Sara will only call her to testify if she can protect her. Sara asks if Orlinski's the killer. Charleyne nods.

Sara walks out of the holding cell area. An aged Irons walks in front of her. He apologizes to Sara for rejecting her when she went to him for help and asks for her forgiveness. Ian, who's behind Irons, shakes his head to tell her not to. Irons turns to leave. Sara hears a report of a dead body at 4711 Prospect Street from a police radio. She knows it's Joe's place.

The cops and ambulance have already arrived at Joe's apartment. Sara drives up and sees Joe's body carried out. She sees Orlinski walking down the steps. Marie looks at Sara, cries and walks back into the apartment. Sara walks back down the steps and stares at Orlinski.

Sara's at her office loading her gun. Danny appears and tells her not to do this. He reminds her that nothing is what it seems. She says they killed Joe, covered it up and called it a suicide.

Dante is lying in bed at night. He hears a noise and tries to reach for a gun in a drawer next to his bed, but Sara runs over and jumps on top of him. She points a gun at him and tells him he's going down. She smacks him in the mouth with the gun. Dante's lip is bloodied. She threatens to kill Dante with a White Bulls bullet and frightens Dante.

Dante holds a White Bulls meeting at his office to report Sara's unwelcome visit and to order her killed. Jake, who didn't think they were going to take it that far, walks over to Dante as the members leave. Dante tells Jake that the plan's changed and hands Jake two engraved bullets.

Sara goes to Vorschlag. Irons is sitting in a chair. Ian is standing next to him. Sara asks Irons for help. She wants to use the media to expose the NYPD. Irons tells her that his cable network is less than a mile away. Ian kneels and offers Irons his cane. Irons uses the cane to get up. Irons mentions that his car is warmed and waiting downstairs. Sara asks if he knew she was coming. Irons says they're linked.

At the VCN newsroom. Sara's talking to a news reporter, Ms. Weitzer. Weitzer can't broadcast her story until she investigates further. Sara shows her the White Bulls bullet to prove her story has merit. Weitzer looks at the bullet. Irons, who's standing some distance away, sees the bullet. Weitzer sees Irons looking at her. Sara thinks that Irons can order the newsroom to report the story, but Irons walks over and tells Sara that the VCN newsroom is totally autonomous and won't force the newsroom to broadcast the story. The Witchblade glows. Sara senses danger and gets up from her chair. Dante and his men enter the newsroom. Dante tells her she's under arrest. Sara runs. Burges points his gun at Sara. Jake uses his arm to shove Burges' arms up. Burges' shot fires into some lights hanging from the ceiling. Sara dives over some equipment, gets up and clotheslines a White Bull. She runs out of the room and sees Orlinski. Jake runs out through another door. Sara's bracelet morphs into a gauntlet and deflects Orlinski's shots. She runs down some stairs. Jake sees Sara and calls her. He waves her toward him from one end of the hall. Ian appears from the opposite end of the hall. Ian tells her not to go with Jake, that he's a White Bull. Ian, trying to convince Sara that he's the one person she can trust, tells Sara that he's the one who provided the ransom for Conchobar and gave her the tape of her father. He stole the tape from a box of effects Siri left her, but returned it against orders when she needed it the most. Sara's upset that Ian stole the tape and doesn't know who to trust. Then Jake shoots at Ian. Ian spins out of sight. Sara's scared. She turns and runs in another direction. She sees Danny pointing to the direction she should go. The Bulls arrive and asks Jake where Sara went. Jake points them in the wrong direction.

At Irons' mansion. Irons tells Dante he overstepped his authority. Dante says their deal's off. Dante wants Sara dead. If Irons wants her alive, then Irons will have to kill him instead.

Jake's walking into his apartment. He puts his bag down and walks over to the counter. Sara surprises Jake from the stairs. She makes her way down with her gun pointed at him. Jake tells her that just because they have secrets doesn't mean they can't trust each other. Sara doesn't get a reaction from the blade. Knowing she can't take down the Bulls alone, she tells her she'll roll the dice on him. Sara leaves.

• The White Bulls is a corrupt secret society within the NYPD. They take payoffs from pimps and money at crime scenes. They've been operating in the department for decades. They go way up in the ranks and too far up to solve by internal means.
• Sara's father was murdered while working to expose the White Bulls
• Dante recruited Jake to get to Sara
• Irons knows that Sara can't be controlled. Only contained.
• Irons seems to have given hope of a scenario where Sara would become a member of their family and Ian would serve them both. Although Ian still holds that hope.
• Irons knows about Ian's infatuation with Sara.
• Sara's blood is invaluable and it's her blood that Irons wants.
• Danny doesn't have a sense of smell. He tells Sara to take the top off of her cup of coffee, and says, "I bet that smells good."
• Danny tells Sara there's one person she can trust
• The White Bulls ordered a contract hit on Sara's father. Dante took out the contract.
• Dante kills Joe Siri. The Bulls cover it up and call it a suicide.
• Irons has aged considerably.
• Although Irons claims the VCN newsroom autonomous, he probably has final say in what gets broadcast and what doesn't.
• Ian stole the tape of her father from a box of effects Siri left her, but returned it against orders when Sara needed it the most.
• Although Jake joined the White Bulls, he's been a friend to Sara and the Witchblade doesn't seem to react to him.
• Dante knows Irons. He had a deal with Irons to keep Sara alive. Dante had gone to Irons to break the deal.