No, you're totally right, Vortex. I knew the restaurant guy had to be up to something because I recognized the actor.

Well, Raider (Rayder?) and Fritz have both been trying to get Brenda to not trust Pope.

I'm annoyed that they ended this half of the season without at least giving us a clue to who the leak might be.

I read somewhere that the leak is Pope, because he's trying to discredit Brenda so that she won't be considered for the chief post.

This makes the most sense right now or the bugged office theory. I just can't imagine one of Brenda's actual team betraying her. Although I guess it could be Commander Taylor, he has always been jealous of Brenda.

It's bothering me that they never resolved why the guy was going to kill Brenda. It sounded to me that killing her was premeditated. He had to know that he wouldn't get out of there alive, and he didn't seem happy about killing her in the first place, he was crying.

I'm hoping that they pick this up again for the winter season, because you're right, there definitely seemed to be something more going on there.

Also, they have got to cast better.

I think most procedurals could take this advice. I tend to figure out early who it is based solely on casting.

If it is not a bug then Pope or Russel are the major league weasels in the ensemble. Provenza is more like an undisciplined dog who really does not get rules, or why the family roast on the table is not for him, but I don't see him being the leak. 4th possiblity is "someone you would never suspect so the betrayal has added angst" but I hope they don't go there. I'm not betting on the bug, but I still think is a good possiblity. Especially since lawyer at one point spent a lot of time in the building when they thought he had left. "He never left the building". Planting a bug certainly seems one way he could have spent that time. It occurred to me at the time.

If leak is not a bug, Pope has a ton to lose from a lawsuit. Being willing to throw her under a bus that might otherwise hit him and being willing to set the bus in motion or add fuel to the bus engine are different things. Different incentive structures. Pope looks after Pope. Not likely to go after Brenda out of malice against his self-interest. Much more in character for Russel cause his sense of resentment has been know to get in the way of his judgement as to what his self-interest is.

If it is not a bug then Pope or Russel are the major league weasels in the ensemble.

I think you're right there. I think her people are all loyal to her. (And I can't imagine [me, let alone her!] not feeling absolutely betrayed if it were one of her people. Except maybe Flynn, he seems the least "worshipful" and the most self-interested of her squad).

I'd say Pope was more likely than Taylor. Taylor seems like he's come around a bit, at least to recognizing her value as an assett. Pope seems more self-interested all the time, plus it'd be an even more dramatic betrayal than Taylor, given their past relationship. The only thing I see against it being Pope is the fact that everyone keeps warning her not to trust him - I wonder if Pope might not be a red herring?

edited to correct major character's name. oops.

I hope that Taylor is not the leak - that would be too obvious. And, while he and Brenda have had their issues, I don't see him betraying the police department. I like the idea of Pope being the leak, but I kinda doubt it, just because Fritz and Rayder have been so suspicious. That also seems just a little too obvious.

I also agree that everyone else is too loyal. However, I can see Provenza or Flynn, for instance, blabbing to a girlfriend. However no one, so far, has talked about being in a new relationship.

I'm hoping for the bug myself as Brenda and crew would then be able to use their knowledge of its existence to play the lawyer. Having said that, I don't see how a bug could've got him the original information. It was an old case that no one would've been talking about. I think someone has to be at least the original leak, tho' technology may have been used since then.

Who else would have been able to leak the info about the suicide in the station? There was no time for someone to tell anyone outside of the department.

I can see the possibility of Provenza or Flynn being unintentional leaks, if only because they have kind of a history of cock-ups. Though less Provenza, because he seems like once Brenda won him over, that was it, she's The Chief, and an Old School Guy like him would be fiercely loyal intra-squad.

Yeah, bug does seem more and more likely...

I don't think Flynn or Provenza as accidental leaks works, because it would be too random. They could have tipped someone off that there was something worth looking into, but the reliable info flow pretty much dries up after that. On purpose? Maybe Flynn. Maybe. But he's got it pretty good right now. He's not a guy who's ever going to be chief, and right now he gets away with doing things no other chief would let slide, so why?

It doesn't feel like Taylor.

I'm almost leaning towards Gabriel, to be honest. From a maximum betrayal standpoint, for one. But I could see him from a moral perspective knowing it needed to be stopped but not wanting to confront outright. Maybe. I can't really see him doing something that would land her in jail, but out?

I like the idea of Gabriel also, from the maximum betrayal standpoint, but the extent of the leaking seems wrong for him. To come in to work every day with the intent to gather intel to betray Brenda and the team doesn't seem like him. I can see him as a he-vents-to-someone-one-time kind of guy, but not as a spy, which is what it sounds like they have.