A flashforward introduces Commissioner Walter Clark, Jr. as the fastest rising detective in the New York police department's history. At the present time, Officer Clark is rewarded with the assignment of his choosing after the commissioner is impressed by his heroics in a drug bust and decides to work in homicide. After meeting his partner Don Owen and the antagonistic Tony Arroyo, Clark gets himself on Arroyo's case investigating the murder of Treshon Clay after he proves to have an eye for detail. Clark and Owen question Treshon's girlfriend, who explains that the wealthy and entitled Oliver Esten was jealous of their relationship and could be a possible suspect. Clark steals Esten's keys at a nightclub and uses them to access his apartment in which he finds a taxi receipt leading to security camera footage of Esten purchasing ammo fitting the murder weapon. Owen funnels the evidence to Arroyo via an anonymous tip, which allows them to implicate Esten in the murder. Meanwhile, Clark's younger sister moves in with him and expresses her desire to find their estranged mother. Clark discovers that a murdered informant is at the root of Owen and Arroyo's contentious relationship.