Dennis Lehane

Castle and Beckett investigate the death of a champion swimmer; authors Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane give Castle advice. Also available on iTunes

Ends 12/31/12. 'Clarifications.' Baltimore's renewed police commitment brings fresh recruits to Daniels and McNulty, starting with Carver. Facing a new political challenge, Carcetti is forced to make dangerous political deals. As the Pulitzer season winds down, Haynes approaches Templeton about his sources. Bunk returns a McNulty favor; little Kenard makes a big score; Dukie finds work.

With Freamon and Greggs moved to Homicide, Herc and Dozerman join Marimow in the stripped-down Major Crimes Unit. Cutty gets a 'custodial' job at Tilghman School mopping up truants, but can't make headway in his efforts to mentor Michael. Bubbles gives Sherrod an ultimatum in an effort to get him back in school as a 'socially promoted' eighth-grader. Burrell finds a way to sabotage the state-witness murder investigation before the election, a plan that directly impacts Greggs. Prez's struggles in class continue; Bodie finds himself working for a new 'company'; Colvin pitches his pilot program to the school; Carcetti meets with a constituency he knows won't support him; Randy faces a dilemma after being busted for his candy scam; Marlo is schooled in poker; Royce antes up in a game he can't lose; and Proposition Joe plays Marlo in a high-stakes heist.

Colvin feels the sting of Burrell and Rawls during a Comstat assessment of his district's felony numbers; a blown wiretap forces Daniels's detail to turn to a new target; Proposition Joe cautions Stringer Bell that the police have been tapping phones, as revealed by Cheese's failed bust. Carcetti continues to curry favor in Mayor Royce's inner circle with a scheme for jump-starting a police-academy class for Burrell. Omar and crew get more than they bargained for during a stick-up of a Barksdale stash house; Colvin has a new crime-reduction plan, one that he is not telling to the bosses. Already awash in police work, Bunk is dispatched on a mission impossible. McNulty probes deeper into D'Angelo Barksdale's prison suicide last year, while Marlo suggests Fruit get his slumping sales numbers up with a persuasive visit to Bodie's crew. Cutty struggles to stay on the straight and narrow, still hopeful as he tries to reconnect with his long-ago girlfriend, while a group of colleagues gather to pay tribute and provide a proper sendoff to a friend at an old-time Irish wake. Also available on VUDU