Cane

Previously on Cane, Joe Samuels (Ken Howard) arranges for a special wedding gift for the Vegas and we see their sugar fields on fire. Alex (Jimmy Smits) confronts him and as he points his gun at him, Joe Samuels is shot.

This week, Cane picks up from that point with Joe Samuels going down and Alex swinging around trying to find the shooter and calling 911. Joe and Alex exchange ugly words as Joe dies.

The police arrive rather quickly and immediately frisk Alex and find his gun. Vince Grasso (Jason Beghe) and his partner, Tyce come in and Vince asks Alex what he's doing there. Vince tells the other police to search the grounds and outside they find Alex's other gun from his safe. In the midst of Alex's denials, Vince reads him his rights and arrests him.

At the station, Alex calls Isabel (Paola Turbay), explains where he is and why and asks her to get him the best criminal attorney. When Vince and Tyce interrogate Alex, he goes over all the bad blood between him and Samuels beginning with Lucia's murder. This does not help him and gives the police his motive.

When Alex asks Vince if he really believes he has anything to do with it, Vince tells him that at this point he does not believe that Alex had nothing to do with this murder.

Isabel calls Pancho (Hector Elizondo) and tells him what happened. When Frank (Nestor Carbonell) is called, he picks up his drink, sips and doesn't look surprised or upset at all.

Alex's lawyer, Constance Hughes (Mel Harris), shows up at the station and has arranged bail. She gives Vince and Tyce the shtick about not speaking to him without her present yada yada. She seems to be a major hard ass and is respected by the police. She tells Alex that Isabel is outside waiting for him.

Isabel doesn't look sure of Alex's innocence, but he looks her in her eyes and tells her that he didn't do it. She seems to accept what he said and says that they'll deal with it. Later that night when he asks her who else had the combination to the safe, he's shocked to find out that Frank has it, in addition to her parents and Katie. After Isabel goes to bed, Alex sits, drinks and makes notes. All his notes seem to point to Frank as having set him up.

The next morning, Frank and Henry (Eddie Matos) sit in a restaurant. Even Henry comments that Frank doesn't look upset about this situation. Frank coldly comments that it happened. Not a big deal, he doesn't think of Alex as family anyway. Henry is taken aback by his comments and demeanor.

Alex drives Artie to school so he can explain what happened before Artie hears it from someone else. Artie first thinks that his dad did it, and when convinced that he did not, Artie comments that he's glad he's dead.

When Alex arrives at Duque, he finds Pancho, Henry and Frank in his office. You can see the hurt on Alex's face when he realizes that they thought he did it. He tries to convince them of his innocence, but Frank is a real jerk about it. After Pancho and Henry leave, Alex confronts Frank with his knowledge that Frank had the combination to his safe where the gun was. As Frank leaves, he calls Alex pathetic.

Alex meets with his lawyer and she basically tells him to shut up. She does not want him to discuss the case with anyone. She wants to establish reasonable doubt and says that they can come up with a list of other possible suspects and make a case that the police were too lazy to look for the real killer.

Frank complains to Pancho about Alex and is blown off. Meanwhile, Alex goes to Ramon to ask for his help in finding Michael Bronson. Ramon, Petey and Chico congratulate him on his kill, but he tells them that he didn't do it. He also asks them not to harm Bronson, just to let Alex know where he is.

Artie comes home from school with a black eye. He's gotten into a fight at school with a kid that called his dad a murderer. Isabel is really upset, Artie blows her off and goes to his room.

Alex goes snooping aboard Frank's boat, even though he doesn't know what he's looking for. Frank arrives just as Alex begins to look at his laptop. Although Alex tried to put everything back in it's place before he hides, Frank notices that something is different with his laptop and goes to look for an intruder. Frank finds a cell phone and Alex calls it. Alex pretends to just come aboard to look for Artie's lost phone. Frank looks suspicious.

When Alex gets home, Isabel tells him about Artie's fight. Alex talks to Artie and tells him that he does not have to defend him. He asks Artie to try not to fight at school anymore.

At Henry's club, there is a new interest in drinks made with Duque Rum. The bartender tells Henry that the murder has been good for business. It gives Duque Rum street cred – it's not just an old man's drink anymore. He's come up with these new drinks, like Murderer's Row, made with the rum.

Alex flashes back to when he saw Bronson at the firing range and they talked about Alex's gun. He also flashes back to when Bronson told him about Samuels coming after him.

Frank calls a meeting with Pancho and Henry about Alex. Henry tells them about the spike in Duque Rum sales in South Florida and tells them that they should use Alex's reputation as a new marketing ploy. Frank wants Alex replaced as CEO. Pancho nixes both ideas. He explains how this is the time for the family to come together. When they call Alex in, Pancho tells Alex of his vote of confidence.

Alex, though, tenders his resignation. He tells Pancho that it's time for him to make his own way. Duque Rum should be run by a Duque. He can't handle the responsibility that everything he tries to do reflects on the family. He wishes them all the best and walks out.

Ramon calls Alex with the news that they found Bronson. The bad news is that Bronson is dead of a gunshot wound to the head with the gun in his hand. Ramon tells him that they had nothing to do with it, but that this can't be good for him.

The closing scene of Cane is of Alex walking away from Duque Rum Headquarters in the rain while we hear Marvin Gaye singing 'Trouble Man'.

I've come up hard, baby, but now I'm cool
I didn't make it, baby, playin' by the rules
I've come up hard, baby, but now I'm fine
I'm shakin' trouble, baby, movin' down the line


-Ladytex, BuddyTV Writer and Forum Moderator(Image courtesy of CBS)