Tony is threatened with criminal negligence after the son of a prominent lawyer hangs himself in his cell. Also, Rachel's brother "helps" Tony and Rachel look for a larger house; and Tony devises a strategy for capturing a gang of convenience store stick-up artists and outwits a "jumper" determined to leap off the police department roof.

The commissioner sets out to trap a serial rapist in a Santa Claus mask who's been terrorizing the city. And when a cop who's caught sleeping on duty implies that Commissioner Scali has forgotten how rough midnight tours can be, Tony takes the graveyard shift and gets paired with a tough-talking female officer.

Rachel refuses to believe Tony when he tells her that her school teacher colleague, Jim Hollister, is a child molester. Meanwhile, it's Rachel's birthday and Tony has forgotten to get her what she wants most -- tickets to the Bolshoi Ballet.

After receiving a pair of baffling death threats, Tony initiates around-the-clock surveillance of his unsuspecting family. In other developments, Tony recalls for son, David, a Kendo match he engaged in while a guest of the Tokyo police force; and uses his unorthodox methods to trap a hunter who killed a deer out of season.

Tony initiates a sweep to find a pair of missing cops; devises an ingenious way of keeping a habitually drunk driver off the road; and deftly handles an "extraterrestrial," all the while being scrutinized by a committee searching for a new police commissioner for New York City.

Tony is pursued by a woman he suspects is filing false complaints.