LA HEAT CHARACTER AND EPISODE FAQ
L.A. Heat is an action-packed crime drama which features two detective partners who are as different as night and day.
Detective August Brooks (Steven Williams) is a seasoned veteran with sixteen years with the Los Angeles Police Department. In his youth, August won a Golden Gloves championship. A contender in every sense of the word, he always put his opponents down in the ring. After discovering his manager and promoter embezzling funds from fellow boxers, August became disillusioned with the fight game and left a promising career to join the police academy. He soon discovered that he was a natural at police work and quickly rose through the ranks of the LAPD to become detective. Now he has taken over a boxing gym and converted it into a recreation area for underprivileged children, providing an alternative to gang life.
Detective Chester "Chase" McDonald (Wolf Larson) has been with the department for seven years. McDonald likes to live on the edge, take risks, and is passionate about his work. Although he is a born leader, he often needs the guidance of someone with Brooks' experience to keep him out of trouble. Set in Los Angeles, L.A. Heat utilizes the glamorous backdrops of the city (such as the beautiful beaches and exclusive resorts) as well as the rougher parts of town.
The role of Detective Brooks' wife, Kendra, is played by Renee Tenison.
Dawn Radenbaugh plays Jodi, Detective McDonald's girlfriend.
THE EPISODE GUIDE
“SILICON STING”
A team of criminals dressed in Halloween costumes burst into a computer chip assembly plant. Toting heavy ammunition, they cut off all power and rob the terrified workers of computer materials. Chase and August arrive just in time to see another police car explode in flames. After a daring chase, the high-tech thieves escape. Determined to take down the suspects, Chase and August decide to go undercover.
The 6 million-dollar heist is linked to a local computer store. Posing as computer industry executives, Chase and August set up a violent robbery at the store and pretend to save the day. Winning the confidence of the store's owner, Bernard, they begin to pry for information
“COP STAR”
Playing host to a television crew sent by the mayor's office to document their activities, August and Chase are out to catch a couple of gang-bangers responsible for a string of 211s around the city. The two-person TV crew tags along while the boys tackle a 211 in progress and apprehend a couple of suspects. When Chase saves a store owner's 12-year-old boy just before a broken gas line is ignited, the producer of the TV documentary says he plans to make Chase "a star." But August is not amused. He's beginning to realize that he will be the one doing all the works as an officer, while the "star" takes all the credit for their performance together as a police unit.
“STRANGE CURRENCIES”
Chase and August are eyewitnesses to a young terrorist who throws a Molotov cocktail into a BMW and runs. The perpetrator gets killed in the ensuing pursuit, but they find out that the BMW was registered to Carlos Altamarino, a known drug dealer. After checking with the CIA, they learn that Carlos' operation has shifted power to a brother, a cousin or perhaps even Carlos himself using an alias. The new boss carries the name Charlie Altamirano. What the boys don't know is that Charlie is a beautiful woman with an estate nearby in Thousand Oaks
“RAGE”
Sirens screaming, Chase, August, and other LAPD officers arrive at the scene of a homicide. A tourist from Minnesota, young Sara Fisher has been brutally murdered. Chase and August suspect The Reaper, a deranged man who screams biblical quotes at the officers. After a daring rooftop pursuit, Chase and August take him into custody. At police headquarters, Jensen explains that The Reaper is merely a mental institution excapee. A killer is on the loose!
Another young woman's body is found in an alley and the hunt begins for the serial killer. Chase and August consult sexy psychiatrist Stella Levy in hopes of identifying the madman, but can't turn up any leads.
When the sinister Mike Hayes tries to pull beautiful tourist Jenny into his car, Chase and August are sure they have their man. LAPD cars scream through the streets in hot pursuit, but Hayes manages to excape. Chase and August find him at his apartment, and pursue their suspect at high speed on the Los Angeles freeways. After a long and dangerous chase, Hayes tries to ram Chase's car. Losing control, Hayes slams headfirst into an oncoming vehicle and his car erupts in a giant fireball!
Chase and August are horrified to learn that there was no body found in Hayes' car. They track Hayes to a warehouse, where their delusional suspect attempst to excape. Trapped, Hayes ignites a hay bale with gasoling and sets the barn on fire. Fleeing the blaze, Chase and August know that Hayes has not made it out alive. The streets of Los Angeles will be safe...for now.
“WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME”
The words of radio shock jock Jerry Maxwell pierce the Los Angeles airwaves. Chase groans at Maxwell's blistering rhetoric, but elsewhare in the city, the shady Ward Valasco listens intently. Racing to the scene of a murder, Chase and August are shocked to find that the victim is Bobby Roman, one of Maxwell's favorite targets. He has been shot in the head, just as Jerry Maxwell always advocated.
The plot thickens when Chase and August confront Jerry Maxwell about Roman's murder. Just as the beligerent radio host is denying involvement in the crime, a call comes into the radio station. Jerry is shocked to hear Ward claim that he killed Roman and that he intends to kill all of Maxwell's enemies.
The next target is Bertha DeLeymoyne, a local clinic worker. Chase and August take off in an effort to intercept the disturbed Ward. Flying down city streets, Chase's car skids to a halt in front of the clinic. The officers burst into the building and run down the corridors, but it is too late. Bertha is dead! When Chase notices an open window, he spots Ward fleeing down a fire excape. Diving for the suspect, Chase smashes through a window and pursues Ward through the clinic. Ward manages to escape, plunging the officers further into danger.
August and Chase insist that Maxwell go off the air, but the stubborn host refuses. Angered, Maxwell adds Chase to his list of enemies and rants about police brutality on the radio. Somewhere in the city, Ward writes Chase's name on a piece of paper.
Ready to kill again, Ward stalks Chase and captures him at gunpoint. He drives Chase to the radio station, where he confronts Maxwell with his hostage. When Maxwell pleads with Ward, Chase grabs the killer's gun! He and Maxwell struggle to pin the suspect to the floor. In the scuffle, Ward's gun goes off. When the smoke clears, Ward is arrested and Maxwell is taken out by ambulance. Ward's bullet hits him in the throat, damaging his vocal cords and ending his radio career. Chase and August hope that the silence will allow Los Angeles a temporary peace.
“RAP SHEET”
Racing to a crime scene, Chase and August find Clarence, a member of the Bulldog Crips gang, shot to death on the streets of L.A. Chase is surprised to find a note containing rap lyrics pinned to his sleeve. Enraged by the senseless violence, Chase and August take off in pursuit of rival gang member Cage. After a daring rooftop chase, Cage is apprehended and interrogated by the detectives. The are shocked when Cage accuses A.K., a world famous rap star, of the murder.
Kicking in A.K.'s door, Chase and August square off with the musician and his manager, Frank Millan. Suddenly, the window explodes into a million pieces, knocking all four men to the floor. Chase bolts through the door, grabs a kid's bicycle, and rides after Kurt Brown, a burly gang member carrying a semi-automatic weapon. After a harrowing pursuit, Chase is struck by Kurt's car and lands in the street.
“FOR WHOM THE BULLETS TOLL”
When wealthy foreign tourists Hans and Myrna turn up murdered and robbed, Chase and August are assigned to investigate. What they don't know is that these are not random killings. Tucked away in a sleazy motel and armed to the hilt, Russian mobsters Ivan and Gregor plot to commit more crimes.
Chase is distracted from the case when he meets a beautiful young bankteller named Tammy at a martial arts demonstration. When Tammy becomes the victim of a violent mugging, Chase takes off in pursuit of the suspect. After a harrowing chase, Tammy's purse is returned to her. Tammy is very grateful and quickly befriends Chase and August.
A Los Angeles bank is robbed and Chase and August race to the scene. Ivan, Gregor and a group of their thugs speed from the site with the officers in hot pursuit. After a dangerous chase, the mobsters manage to escape. The FBI demands that Chase and August focus only on the homicides, but the detectives continue to investigate what has become a string of bank robberies
“OLD SCORES”
When a promising young boxer is left beaten nearly to death in an alley, Chase and August hurry to his hospital bed. Arriving, they intercept a hit man who attempts to finish the kid off with a lethal injection. Chase and August frantically pursue the would-be killer through the hospital, finally stopping him with a deadly bullet. Immediately, they sense that this case involves more than a random beating.
August is visited by his former boxing coach Frank, to whom he hasn't spoken since their falling out many years before. Frank says that he must tell August a secret that has been haunting him. But before he can reveal what he knows, Frank disappears.
“My Brother's Keeper”
After a desperate car chase with police, young Joey Morello, brother of a New Orleans crime boss, barricades himself inside a strip mall and takes hostages. It's a crisis situation, as Joey demands a bus, plane, and money for an escape. Chase gains Joey's trust and manages to sneak inside the store. He is about to talk some sense into the young criminal when the store's security guard opens fire. Joey panics and Chase is forced to shoot him
“211 Kidney”
Chase and August thought they'd seen everything Los Angeles could dish out until they learn that the latest crime wave involves stealing human kidneys from unsuspecting citizens. Tires screaming, they race to a downtown motel, where Andrew Green claims to be the latest victim of the bizarre scheme. As Green is wheeled to an ambulance, he spots the prostitute who lured him to the scene of the crime where he was drugged and operated on.
“Special Order 40”
A van filled with undocumented Mexican immigrants crashes in a violent explosion, killing many of its stowaways. Chase and August speed to the scene and are shocked by what they find. Survivors limp by with cuts and bruises, but the smuggler (the coyote) has disappeared.
One of the crash survivors tells Chase and August that a man named Delgado had smuggled them across the border. Police officer Maria Vallejo connects Delgado to a suspected sweatshop owner and the detectives make their move.
“Falcon”
An abandoned church near August's home explodes into a fireball, piercing the silence of the night. Chase and August race to the scene and quickly deduce that the explosion was triggered by an illegal metamphetamine lab. The detectives confront a group of renegade bikers with drug connections, who call themselves "Satan's Slaves."
Determined to crack the case, Chase and August team up with Annie, the beautiful new forensics assistant at police headquarters. Annie is able to turn up a suspect -- a dangerous biker called the Falcon, with a rapsheet a mile long. August is shocked to recognize the Falcon as Robert Hatcher, his former LAPD partner.
“Green Justice”
A car bomb explodes, killing the vice president of Sawchuck Industries. In their search for suspects, Chase and August meet Meredith Knoll, a beautiful, young volunteer at Green Planet, an environmental protection league. Meredith reveals that Sawchuck Industries had been dumping deadly toxins, which infected Los Angeles groundwater, killing a mother and daughter.
When another Sawchuck executive is found dead, the detectives begin to suspect Joshua Duncan, the man whose wife and daughter died of cancer. When confronted, Duncan takes off in a hijacked car with Chase and August in hot pursuit
“Smash and Grab”
Three teenage boys, Allen, Ian, and Ian's younger brother Harold, cruise down a city street, videotaping and laughing as they smash mailboxes. Their thrill seeking escalates when the boys smash the window of a store and accost the cashier. When the cashier opens fire, both he and Ian fall to the ground and the other two boys take off running, throwing the video camera into a dumpster. August and Chase question Harold at headquarters, but he is afraid Allen will kill him if he talks. The detectives get a lead on Allen's identity and pursue him in a wild car chase
“Killing on Lily Lane”
Chase and August race to the scene of a murder on quiet Lily Lane, where Sheila Hanson has been stabbed to death in the bedroom. Her husband says he returned home to find his wife dead and a man robbing the house. The detectives chase after the perp and are shocked to find that it is David Jackson, a kid who belongs to August's gym and who denies killing anyone
“Death House”
Prisoners are being beaten to death at El Toro Prison. Guard Larry Clark wants to go to the authorities, but before he can talk, a bomb explodes through his window. Chase and August suspect that Warden Brinkman is involved in foul play. Determined to crack the case, August goes undercover in the prison
“When Irish Eyes are Smiling”
Art thief Richard Turpin, known as "the gentlemen bandit," crawls through the window of a Los Angeles museum, only to be surprised by Chase and August. The detectives apprehend the suspect and haul him off to jail.The British government decides to extradite Turpin, accusing him of association with a radical faction of the IRA. Frumpy Scotland Yard detective Wylhemina "Willy" Smythe arrives to collect Turpin, but her plans are soon thwarted when a terrorist named Riley shows up who has plans of his own for the thief
“Chester Nut”
Chase and August race to a downtown murder scene where a prominent psychiatrist has been stabbed to death. Captain Jensen identifies the suspect as Chase's cousin, Treat Donnelly, a mental patient who vehemently denies killing the doctor. Several of Dr. Benning's colleagues fall under suspicion, and the plot thickens when it is learned that Elaine Hall, the dead doctor's beautiful assistant, has more than one personality
“Captain Crimestopper”
When the former stars of a 1960's television show are murdered, Chase and August realize they've got a unique killer to contend with. Dressed in a cape and bodysuit, a man disguised as super hero "Captain Crimestopper" flees the scene. Chase and August race after the suspect, but he disappears in a cloud of smoke
“Big Guns”
Chase and August investigate a gun-running operation in which the prime suspect turns out to be recently murdered CIA operative James Camden. Chase is seduced by Camden's former partner. But the romance is cut short when two rival gangs, outfitted by the gunrunners, head for a confrontation -- right in front of a grammar school
“National Security”
Leonard Murdoch, a scientist for the high tech firm Biotech has been murdered and Chase and August suspect someone in his company wanted to keep him quiet. The detectives get a call from a Biotech whistleblower who tells them the firm's CEO is planning to sell a top secret biological chemical to international American enemies. Is the scheme a cover up for a government study of alien DNA? Before Chase and August can learn more, they are surrounded by military vehicles and men in black
“Wake Up Call”
A dangerous prisoner named Murnau, who blames Chase for the death of his brother, escapes in a police bus crash. Murnau rushes towards Chase and August in a commandeered car, wrecking both vehicles and putting Chase into a coma. In the hospital, friends and families visit the detective, hoping that the voices of loved ones will help revive him. But when they leave, Chase will have one more visitor, Murnau, who has plans of his own for the patient