Since helping Darren Richmond perform everyday tasks for the rest of his life pretty much already defines Jamie's sex life, it's no wonder he calls Gwen up in DC for more details on the Councilman's daily routine. The heartbreaking moment that follows pretty much sets Jamie up for a huge disappointment, especially when some well-placed barbs during the Mayor's goodwill visit convince Darren his political career is over. One intimate embrace and a hell of a shit-fit later, Darren fires Jamie, the better to concentrate on going as insane as possible.

Terry realizes she's losing control of the domestic situation, and possibly starts digging into her own sex-worker past? Meanwhile, Stan convinces Tommy to become a thug, buries Belko, and -- once he realizes Yanik was the one that burned down Beau Soleil, using his own vans for pete's sake -- alienates the Mob pretty impressively...

With whom his history does not disappoint. As we learn from Sarah's friend Corey -- a flamboyant FBI agent with a penchant for RICO cases and a case of the mutual flirts with Linden -- the price for leaving Yanik's service was the murder of another junior member, Piotr Mikhailski, who was getting a little too wiseguy for his britches. A visit to his widow, Monica, yields some crazy behavior (by episode's end, Monica's dropping by Stan's house in the middle of the night to tell him he deserved what he got, is how crazy).

Keeping mum about the fact that Jack's father is suing for custody, Sarah otherwise lets Linden back into her prickly confidence -- especially for Sarah, it's pretty smoothly done -- and they follow the tattoo lead, things start to get complex. After working the tattoo artist in juvie with her firsthand knowledge of the System, Sarah's able to convince Tattoo Kid's social worker to illegally hand over his file the same way:

He's a 20-year-old who has fallen in with the Yanik gang, who had some kind of negative attachment to Rosie that seemed to creep her out, and who's also been working for Stan this whole time. His name is Alexei Giffords, but that's just the name of his last foster family: His birth parents are Monica and Piotr Mikhailski: Rosie's father killed Tattoo Kid's father, and among his Ogi Jun memorabilia is a hand-drawn picture of Rosie that's been scribbled up all to hell... Making Stan the sensei that Alexei's doing all his father-avenging on.

All in all a pretty fast-paced hour, with some solid "please trust us" dog-whistles for whatever backlashers are still watching the show, that don't really detract from the story. I mean, it's one thing to have an entirely new can of worms opened after a season and a third... But seventeen days into a murder investigation? Why not. The eternal dilemma with this show.

Next week: Stan's past sins continue to rain down on his family, as Mitch returns and Yanik exacts more of the price for Stan's ambivalence. Jamie takes Darren to a cabin in Maine to write his final book about Misery Chastain and/or turn him gay. The entire casts of both Battlestar Galactica and Caprica cameo simultaneously, as part of Vancouver's annual Our Local Economy Depends Entirely Upon American Cable Dramas celebration. I'm guessing a bunch of sour-pussed crummy little teenagers come back into the picture. Holder continues to charm his way back into Sarah's disdain.