1/3/2024 Kick Recap - "Year Of The Snake"

Lang stops by the food court to get food, Cuddles pulls him aside to remind him of her loyalty. He runs some errands and gets more armour plates for the crew. Lang and Larry chat about how stressed Bubbles is about everything going on. Lang finds a VAF note in his car from Officer Gray, and Larry tells Lang that he told the PD about everything going on since they were shooting outside the bodega yesterday. Lang and Larry chat about CJ and Gigi's involvement in the issues, unsure how to handle defying orders and stirring. Lang calls Luciano to stir up concern, Luciano wants to meet so they head to the Grime docks. CJ stops Lang to greet him, and tells him that Edgar wants to speak to him. Lang tells CJ to drop whatever relationship she has with Edgar, she agrees to.

Lang, Arush, and Luciano meet at the docks to try and hash out everything they know about Norman Bones, and the Faceless. Lang has issue with CJ and Skipper for not listening to orders, and issue with Gigi for pressing to have them killed for not listening to orders. Arush thinks that nobody should be encouraging killing from north or south. Lang explains that the way Gigi has been talking to Skipper, he was convinced that she works for either entity, but it confused him. They spend some time spiraling here about the two conflicts.

Lang pings CJ down to the docks to explain herself, they all don't understand how close CJ is with Edgar. Luciano informs Lang that the South bought in Capono, and will be buying in Dayrell and Cole soon. CJ arrives, but Edgar keeps calling her, so Lang texts him to leave her alone. CJ tells her story: CJ and Gigi were rolling around together, they ran into Edgar who was injured and made them curious, but they just rolled around and got their tarot cards read. She didn't know Edgar was wrapped up in so many conflicts, and that he was related to everyone else around her, too. CJ isn't worried about anything other than the apocalypse, Arush questions where she got this idea from. CJ is afraid of Gigi because Liya and Skipper told her she wanted CJ dead. Arush tries to argue that if she didn't hear it from Gigi, why assume it's true- but CJ thinks it is too serious to assume otherwise. Next, they ask about Norman Bones. CJ has been waiting to speak to Norman again, to agree to a new deal. CJ tells them that she dodged the first few deals because she didn't want to make one, but she was originally just curious because Edgar told her about Norman. CJ is worried about Norman killing Skipper if she doesn't make a deal, they find it crazy she went to see him after being warned by multiple people in the first place. They tell CJ to block Norman Bones, and leave the spectral deals alone. Lang warns her that she's going to get herself killed. They advise her to speak to Andi for assistance, but Andi won't talk to her because CJ didn't listen when she was originally told not to go to the lighthouse. CJ promises to stay away from Edgar, and that she won't make a deal with Norman Bones.

CJ leaves, they all agree she's caught up in too much of a mess, and spot the Faceless helicopter flying in the distance. Lang calls Larry to read back the texts he got from Gigi: "Snake in the grass", "Keep your head on a swivel", and then they spoke on the phone for a few minutes. Larry conveys that it was to caution him on suspicion of people around him, the Dons agree that it's stirring. They want to meet with Gigi, so they plan for a 1 on 1 with Luciano and Arush hidden nearby. Luciano tells them that Skipper actually listened to Andi and isn't involved with Norman Bones, he's purely involved with the Faceless. Arush wants to reveal the Faceless' face, but Luciano explains that it's one large organization that isn't naturally evil, they're just radical.

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Lang waits patiently for Gigi to arrive at the meeting spot, Martin calls to say he's around, and tries to remind Lang that Gigi did speak with him around when he was mad at CJ and Skipper. Gigi arrives and tells her side of the story, including warning CJ about Edgar before they begin chatting about Norman Bones. Edgar does a great job peaking CJ's curiosity, so she ends up going to the Lighthouse ignoring most warnings. Gigi is aware that people think she's trying to get CJ and Skipper killed, but she was just trying to keep Martin informed and have people held accountable. Lang asks about the Larry texts, she dodges by saying that they were about Edgar mostly. Gigi overheard most of the CJ and Edgar conversations, relaying that CJ has a strange interest in assisting Edgar, and that Gigi is down to help take care of Edgar when the time comes.

They leave, Martin calls to remind Lang that Gigi wasn't trying to get CJ and Skipper killed, it was originally his idea. The Dons find a new place to talk about what they overheard. Lang thinks she had an answer to everything except texting to Larry, Arush thinks Gigi is stirring a little, Luciano agrees. They want to speak to Andi to get more context about Norman Bones, so they pick her up and head to a new spot. Edgar calls from prison to ask Lang why he told people about the Faceless card. Lang isn't sure how Edgar knows, but is more suspicious of CJ. Edgar wants help breaking out of jail, but they have to wait for Saab to wake up. Lang wants to know who told Edgar, but he dodges and offers to tell Lang after.

Andi begins her talk by asking if they believe in the supernatural, and Lang argues that Time Travel isn't magic, it's science. Andi tells them that Norman makes deals with broken people often when he's bored, they joke that he would fit in well with Cypress. Andi tells them that Norman often makes complicated deals that trap people who are involved to bring him new people. Arush asks what people often get from the deals, Andi claims it's the 'illusion of protection of their loved ones'. Lang and Arush argue about bringing Norman a bundle deal to leverage over the deals made by all the people they know already, but Andi explains that usually it involves killing people you like. They decide to handle things separately, so Lang calls Martin and Saab to meet.

Lang takes Martin and Saab back to the tunnels under the Rooster's Rest to figure out what their next steps are. Lang wants to know who the leak is, Martin thinks it can only be CJ and Skipper, but CJ wasn't there. Skipper was the only one who could have told Edgar, or told CJ who then told Edgar. Saab got his DOC job back, Martin thinks they can do a jailbreak, they just need to get equipment. Lang calls Edgar to inform him of the plan, Edgar needs time to gather supplies, Lang gives him half. Saab and Martin are confused about the process for how jailbreaks happen, they commit to the plan. Lang calls Edgar to relay the plan, Edgar says they gave CJ a drone to help them pass things into prison.

Lang calls CJ to press her about leaking information to Edgar, she states she wasn't there for the conversations, but somehow relayed the information. Lang gets frustrated with her, she asked Edgar if he was marked, so that she can stay away from her and her people. Lang hangs up and tells Saab that he's killing CJ after this jailbreak is over. Martin calls to tell Lang that CJ thinks she's dead, they continue to gather supplies, Skipper calls to offer some clarity. Skipper says the Faceless called to see if Edgar leaked, and he said he ratted out Edgar to save Cypress, Lang asks if he said anything about the conversation they had in the tunnels, he says no (but I believe he's confused and included the part where Lang mentioned the nukes). Lang thanks him for the call, and Sophia asks about the fish on Lang's desk. Sophia and Lang catch up a bit, but gets interrupted by a call from the Faceless.

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"Loose lips don't just sink ships, they dig graves", Lang isn't impressed by the call. Sophia tells Lang she understands everything that's going on, and asks for the stuffed animals in Lang's office, he approves. They drop Saab to prison, Lang and Martin wait outside. After many calls back and forth from Edgar, they stall for a very long time in hopes to be the most prepared they can be for the job. Lang grows impatient and tells Edgar that they're going to knock the power out whether he's ready or not, Jay Hobbs calls and asks for another 20 minutes, Lang hangs up on him. Martin doesn't want advice, so he follows Lang over to the powerplant and begins the hacking.

Martin must knock out 6 generators while the local police flood the powerplant, Lang takes on as many as he can, but gets shot a lot in the process. They notice AIR-1 hovering above them, Martin continues to try and find the panels, Lang runs out of ammo. They give up and leave the power plant, Lang is worried about bleeding out while the cops chase him. He radios that they are calling off the plan, and then loses the cops. After confirming that he doesn't have AIR-1 on him, he returns to the Forge and gets patched up.

Saab calls to say he got his job back, and that he's out of the conflict. Edgar calls, but Lang yells at him for being useless and being mis-calculated. Edgar isn't sure how everyone knew about the jailbreak, and wants to tell Lang what he was told but refuses to do it over the phone. Lang grumbles to himself until he decides to see Edgar in jail himself. Lang checks in with the northerners, but they haven't been keeping track of CJ and Skipper. Edgar calls to see if Lang will bring more people, but Lang is just coming to talk alone.

Bubbles offers to get a grapple gun from Hydra, but Lang's gotta bring it back. Lang is sure he's not bringing it back, but agrees to take it anyways. Lang calls CJ to check in, she's at Parson's talking to Skipper. Lang tells CJ to pull herself out of it, and then says some random stuff that doesn't make any sense. Bubbles returns with the grapple, Skipper calls to say that he spoke to the Faceless again. Skipper says that Saab was never marked, and that he lied when he said he was, and that nearly got him killed. Lang says the same things to Skipper that he did to CJ, and then hangs up.

Bubbles arrives with Franky, they note that it's been a while since they've seen each other. Lang gets a ride to jail and overlooks from the outside, eventually walking into visitation and meeting a new Justice Arkadia(?). Lang introduces himself as Harry Brown, and does some adventuring of his own. Buddha turns into a crow and enters the prison, spooking Edgar and his group in the cells. He follows Edgar as he surrenders to the cops and continues to appear and disappear, even scaring the police officers. After some antics and exploding entities, he heads to bed