An unofficial police unit wages a costly campaign to break Mickey Cohen's corrupt criminal empire in 1949 Los Angeles.
Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases
Cohen's Growing Empire
Mickey Cohen dominates Los Angeles through corruption and violence. John O'Mara's failed effort to dismantle one operation reveals the danger of Cohen's power.
Key Events
Cohen's Criminal Rise — Mickey Cohen dominates Los Angeles through corruption, violence, gambling, and prostitution. Characters: Mickey CohenLocation: Los Angeles underworld
Prostitution Raid — John O'Mara raids Cohen's prostitution operation and arrests its perpetrators. Characters: John O'Mara, Mickey CohenLocation: Cohen's prostitution building
Witnesses Are Eliminated — Released perpetrators return to Cohen's care and are later killed in a fire. Characters: Mickey CohenLocation: Los Angeles
Secret Squad Created — Bill Parker creates a covert badgeless unit and appoints O'Mara as its leader. Characters: Bill Parker, John O'MaraLocation: LAPD headquarters
The Secret Squad
Bill Parker authorizes a covert unit led by John O'Mara. The officers operate without badges and begin attacking Cohen's gambling and casino interests.
Key Events
Squad Recruitment — O'Mara recruits incorruptible officers for operations outside normal police rules. Characters: John O'Mara, Coleman Harris, Max KennardLocation: Los Angeles
Casino Raid Fails — Corrupt Burbank officers thwart the squad's raid on a casino. Characters: John O'Mara, Mickey CohenLocation: Cohen's casino
Wire Gambling Shut Down — The squad strikes Cohen's operations by shutting down his lucrative wire gambling business. Characters: John O'Mara, Mickey CohenLocation: Wire gambling operation
Betrayal Under Surveillance
The squad bugs Cohen's mansion, causing him to suspect betrayal within his organization. His retaliation expands while Grace Faraday and Jack Whalen seek a way out.
Key Events
Mansion Bug Planted — The squad breaks into Cohen's mansion and plants a bug behind a television. Characters: John O'Mara, Mickey CohenLocation: Cohen's mansion
Cohen Hunts Betrayal — Cohen suspects betrayal and lashes out at people inside his organization, including Faraday. Characters: Mickey Cohen, Grace FaradayLocation: Cohen's criminal household
Escape Plan Forms — Faraday tries to escape Cohen's control and enlists Whalen for help. Characters: Grace Faraday, Jack WhalenLocation: Los Angeles
Cohen Deduces Police — Cohen realizes the attackers burned money instead of stealing it and identifies them as police. Characters: Mickey Cohen, John O'MaraLocation: Cohen's mansion
Chinatown Ambush — Cohen uses false information to lure the squad into an unsuccessful ambush. Characters: John O'Mara, Max Kennard, Mickey CohenLocation: Chinatown
Squad Suffers Losses — The Chinatown operation leaves the squad vulnerable while Cohen's retaliation intensifies. Characters: John O'Mara, Mickey CohenLocation: Chinatown
Witnesses and Warrant
Cohen's violence reaches O'Mara's home, though the family survives and a child is born. Faraday's testimony after Whalen's murder gives O'Mara a path toward legal action.
Key Events
Home Drive By — A drive-by attack strikes O'Mara's home, but his pregnant wife survives. Characters: John O'MaraLocation: O'Mara's home
A Child Is Born — The attack is followed by the birth of O'Mara's newborn son. Characters: John O'MaraLocation: O'Mara's home
Whalen Is Murdered — Faraday witnesses Cohen murder Whalen and decides to testify against him. Characters: Mickey Cohen, Grace Faraday, Jack WhalenLocation: Los Angeles
Warrant Secured — O'Mara forces Judge Carter to sign an arrest warrant for Cohen. Characters: John O'Mara, Grace Faraday, Judge Carter, Mickey CohenLocation: Judge Carter's chambers
The Last Stand
The squad raids the Park Plaza Hotel and fights Cohen's forces. O'Mara stops Cohen's escape, defeats him, and ends his rule over Los Angeles.
Key Events
Hotel Raid Begins — O'Mara leads the squad to the Park Plaza Hotel to arrest Cohen. Characters: John O'Mara, Coleman Harris, Max Kennard, Mickey CohenLocation: Park Plaza Hotel
Hotel Shootout — Cohen and his men engage the squad in a prolonged gunfight; Wooters and Kennard are wounded. Characters: John O'Mara, Coleman Harris, Max Kennard, Mickey CohenLocation: Park Plaza Hotel
Vehicle Pursuit — Cohen escapes in a vehicle, and O'Mara pursues him while Kennard helps protect O'Mara. Characters: John O'Mara, Max Kennard, Mickey CohenLocation: Los Angeles street
Fountain Crash — O'Mara rams Cohen's vehicle into a fountain, stopping the escape. Characters: John O'Mara, Mickey Cohen, Max KennardLocation: Fountain
Final Bare Knuckle Fight — O'Mara defeats Cohen in a brutal fistfight as onlookers and reporters gather. Characters: John O'Mara, Mickey CohenLocation: Park Plaza Hotel exterior
Cohen Is Arrested — Cohen is arrested, ending his criminal empire's rule over Los Angeles. Characters: John O'Mara, Mickey CohenLocation: Los Angeles
Quiet Lives Begin — Cohen receives a life sentence, while the surviving squad members and Faraday move into quieter lives. Characters: John O'Mara, Coleman Harris, Grace Faraday, Mickey CohenLocation: Los Angeles and Alcatraz
Story Breakdown
Cohen's Criminal Reign — Mickey Cohen consolidates power through violence, gambling, prostitution, and corruption.
Underworld Expansion — Cohen intends to extend his criminal enterprise across the West Coast.
Witness Elimination — People connected to a failed prosecution are released into Cohen's care and later killed.
Parker's Countermeasure — Bill Parker abandons conventional enforcement and creates a covert response.
Secret Unit — Parker establishes a badgeless squad authorized to act outside normal law enforcement procedures.
O'Mara's Appointment — John O'Mara is selected to lead the operation against Cohen.
The Squad Strikes — O'Mara and his officers attack the foundations of Cohen's business.
Casino Setback — Corrupt Burbank officers thwart an early casino raid.
Surveillance and Retaliation — A bug inside Cohen's mansion changes the conflict from covert disruption to open retaliation.
Mansion Bug — The squad plants a listening device behind a television in Cohen's mansion.
Chinatown Ambush — Cohen uses false information to lure the squad into a deadly trap.
Witness Against Cohen — Cohen's violence produces both a personal tragedy and the testimony needed for his arrest.
Whalen's Murder — Grace Faraday witnesses Cohen kill Jack Whalen.
Arrest Warrant — O'Mara forces Judge Carter to sign the warrant needed for the final raid.
Park Plaza Reckoning — The squad confronts Cohen's forces, and O'Mara personally ends the gangster's reign.
Hotel Shootout — The squad battles Cohen's men at the Park Plaza Hotel, suffering serious injuries.
Empire Collapses — O'Mara defeats and arrests Cohen, who is later sentenced to life imprisonment.
Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and — if he has his way — every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop… except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara and Jerry Wooters who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart.
