The Shield Wiki
Register
(his name was Terrence)
(previous picture was ok)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
{{Infobox Character
 
{{Infobox Character
 
| Title=Terry Crowley
 
| Title=Terry Crowley
| Image=1x01_crowley.gif
+
| Image=Terry-crowley.jpg
 
| ImageSize=
 
| ImageSize=
 
| First="[[Pilot]]"
 
| First="[[Pilot]]"

Revision as of 14:33, 10 January 2015

Terrence Crowley
[[File: Terry-crowley.jpg|]]
 


Terrence "Terry" Crowley was a Los Angeles Police Department detective that worked at the Barn in Farmington. He was the fifth official member of the Strike Team and was an undercover informant for Captain David Aceveda and the Department of Justice.

Biography

Early life

[[File:2x09-crowley.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Aceveda offers Crowley the job with the Strike Team.]] Little is known about Crowley's early life outside of his job as a LAPD Detective and Strike Team member, however, his surname suggests that he is of Irish/English descent. When Terry attended Vic's barbeque party, Terry had a conversation with Vic and mentioned that his father was a policeman.

In one of the series DVD commentaries, Michael Chiklis mentioned that all the characters are from the same areas the actors are, implying that Terry was originally from Brooklyn, New York.

Recruitment in LAPD

At some point in his life, Terry moved to Los Angeles with his family. He followed the footsteps of his old man and his brother Drew (also a policeman but in San Diego), by joining the LAPD and becoming a detective. During Vic's interrogation, the IAD reveal that Terry was in the force for 8 years.

His time in the police started as a uniformed cop. Eventually, Terry joined the Robbery Division (which is also why he was joked for by his colleagues). Despite this, Terry had proved to be a very effective cop. This is evidenced when the IAD also reveal that Terry had earned two commendations from his superiors during his time in Robbery and he was highly recommended for the upper divisions.

At some point, Terry met Captain David Aceveda, who tried to convince him that he has a much bigger potential and that instead of staying in the Robbery Division, he could instead join the Narcotics Division. However, Terry declined Aceveda's offer and decided to stay at Robbery for unknown reasons.

Personality

A young, promising, humorous, naive, good-hearted, effective and well-liked "pretty boy" detective from the Robbery Division (also known as the "Fag Squad"), Terry was recruited in the Strike Team after being vouched for by his supporter and possible friend, Captain David Aceveda. Well-liked by many from the force, Terry's recruitment into the team was to be the 'driver' of the Strike Team. Little did Terry knew that his life was going to end up getting turned upside down when upon being enlisted in the Strike Team, he entered a never-seen-before brutal world where only police corruption and crime rule at the same time.

At the very beginning, Terry was shown to be an honest, fair and morally-adjusted cop, who could not bear any more watching as his colleagues were benting the law into their own advantage and routinely beated suspects, planted evidence on criminals and/or dealt on the streets with various drug dealers.

Even though Terry could have joined his partners and make some extra money on the side, he refused because of his strong beliefs that a cop should protect the "good" and fight with the "bad" until the "bad" are behind bars with the rest. After the meeting between Terry, Aceveda and Moses Hernandez, during which Terry agreed to testify against Vic and the Strike Team, however, it is given the impression to the audience that Terry was very opportunistic and "corrupt" as he made it clear that he would only testify against Vic and the Strike Team, not because of justice, but because he wanted to be relocated to the Justice Department's offices in Washington D.C., a car, moving expenses and a fruit basket. Terry also made it clear that he is aware Aceveda's plan to further his own political ambitions by building a case against Vic:

"You wanna be mayor someday? You better learn to lie a hell of a lot better than that."

On the other hand, it is unknown whether Terry saw the chance to betray the Strike Team as an opportunity to advance his own career and move to the higher-ups of the Justice Department or he simply felt he needed to stop the corrupt Strike Team and that he deserved fair compensation for jeopardizing his own safety and betraying fellow officers. Regardless, Terry couragelously agreed to testify, even though he knew the risks for his life and he tried his best to gain Vic's trust and convince him that he should be included in their crime busts so that Terry may learn more about their plans to make money off drug dealers (such as Rondell Robinson).

Tshield tcrowley

Terry at the Strike Team clubhouse.

During the barbeque party at Vic's house, Terry was shown to have a cocky, arrogant and overly confident streak in him as he told Vic that as a Strike Team member he can do a lot more than just driving the Strike Team around and implied that he wants more. These requests from Terry, however, only confirmed the information that Vic received from Gilroy, according to whom Terry was an informant for the Justice Department and that he, Aceveda and the Department were all planning to clean up the entire Farmington Precinct (also known as the "Barn") by building up a federal case against Vic and his boys and sending them in a cage with all the people they had arrested previously.

After the raid on Two-Time's home, Vic suddenly shot Terry. As Terry laid on the ground and stared at his once-friend and now-killer, he realized his error - Vic had known the entire time about Terry's status as an informant and had only agreed to include Terry in the raid so that Vic could silence him. Finally realizing this, Terry died a broken man whose murder at the hands of a fellow cop would indirectly result in the downfall of the Strike Team.

Before Season 1

When the Barn started operating (thanks to Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy), Terry was contacted again by Captain David Aceveda who asked Terry to come to the Barn. As Terry met with Aceveda in his office, he told him he would still not accept his earlier offer to join the Narcotics Division and that he would rather stay at Robbery.

However, this time Aceveda did not try to convince Terry of joining the Narcotics Division, but rather to present him the opportunity of joining the Strike Team, an experimental anti-gang unit, consisting exclusively of Vic Mackey, Shane Vendrell, Curtis Lemansky and Ronnie Gardocki.

Aceveda told Terry that because of Detective Vic Mackey, who was chosen as leader of the newly-formed team by Gilroy, as well as his bad reputation and his brutal tactics make Aceveda to disagree with Gilroy's poor decision to put a cop like Vic on such a high-ranking spot. After he tells Terry that Vic is not suitable for the job he was chosen to do, Aceveda tells Terry that there is a empty spot in the Strike Team and that he could replace Mackey as leader of the team when he failed, or if he didn't, it would still be a good position with a greater income (or a "no-lose situation" as Aceveda suggests it is for Terry).

Although reluctant at first, Terry eventually accepted to become a member of the team after much pressure from Aceveda.

After arresting Lionel Phipps for drugs and for attempting to kill fellow pimp Ringo, Vic Mackey was introduced to Terry shortly after.

Mackey then took the young detective to the Strike Team clubhouse and introduced him to the rest of the team. At first, Shane, Lem, and Ronnie started mocking Terry for being from the Robbery Division, with Shane even saying : "We love all you pretty boys from Robbery.", but they all would become close friends soon after.

Strike Team

Terry was a member of the Strike Team for four months. During this time in the unit, he was never included in any of the team's busts as he was placed by Vic on driving duty and mostly drove the team to their missions or to meetings with potential drug dealers or gang leaders to discuss business or deals.

1x01 Terry Crowley with gun

Detective Crowley on duty.

It is unknown what Terry had been doing for so long, but it can be assumed that he spend most of his time at the team's clubhouse or investigated other crimes.

Having witnessed many wrongdoings, committed by the team, Terry informed Aceveda of them. Aceveda would then see an opportunity to put a case against Vic and the Strike Team. Aceveda then offered Terry to keep tabs on the Strike Team's illegal activities and together they can put an end to the corruption in the precinct. Terry agreed and became a right-hand man and spy for Aceveda.

Season 1

As Aceveda is giving a conference about corruption, Terry and the Strike Team are seen trying to capture a criminal and possible drug dealer. Terry witnesses Vic forcefully taking some drugs out of the suspect after he swallowed them.

It's been four months since Crowley joined the Strike Team and Captain David Aceveda asked Terry to keep him informed on any apparent illegal activity that the Strike Team has committed.

Crowley drived Vic and Shane to a meeting with drug dealer Rondell Robinson. After witnessing them being friendly with Robinson, Terry informed Aceveda of it.

Recruitment in Justice Department

Aceveda then requested that Terry meet him at a park where they would discuss the current situation. Terry agrees and goes to the park where he meets with Aceveda. Since Aceveda had put Crowley to spy on Mackey, he was delivering the latest of what he had found. Aceveda then tried to convince Crowley to help him build a case against Mackey for corruption.

When Crowley agreed, Aceveda called Moses Hernández from the Department of Justice to join the pair and he and Aceveda offered Terry the chance to be a witness against Mackey and the Strike Team on a federal case.

Crowley is reluctant, however as his life won't be worth anything and he effectively becomes a stoolie by betraying fellow officers. Terry eventually agreed to become an informant after requesting a transfer to Washington, DC, a car, and other expenses, which Moses guarantees that he can arrange.

Aceveda then reminds Terry that he must see Vic doing something illegal, which can sent Vic behind bars for a very long time. Terry reassures Aceveda that he knows what he's doing and then leaves to see Vic, who is hosting a barbeque party at his home.

The party

Crowley-aceveda-b

Crowley makes a deal with Captain Aceveda.

At Vic's home, Crowley has a conversation with Vic, during which he mentions that his father was a policeman and that he admired policemen like Vic, even saying that guys like Aceveda don't get it. Crowley then cuts to the chase and tells Vic that he is more useful and can do a lot more as a Strike Team member, other than just driving the team around.

After the party ends, the Strike Team gather up and discuss raiding the apartment of Two-Time, a drug dealer Mackey had been targeting and a rival of Robinson, all while drinking beer. Mackey then says that the team are going to raid the apartment at night. When Lem asks what's so special about tonight, Mackey says that Two-Time is going to have drugs at his apartment for an upcoming deal that is tomorrow and also cheerfully announces that Terry is going to "lose his cherry" tonight and that he won't just drive the team to the apartment, but will also join them in their raid, which will be Terry's first since joining the Strike Team.

However, (unbeknownst to Terry) Ben Gilroy, Assistant Chief of the LAPD, found about the deal between Terry, Aceveda and the Department of Justice from his contacts in the department and secretly informed Mackey of Terry's intentions and told him to take some measures against Terry.

First drug bust

Death

The Strike Team gear up and leave the Barn to raid Two-Time's apartment which is near a stadium. Two-Time is playing a videogame with his girlfriend and is caught unaware by the Strike Team, who raid his apartment. After Ronnie breaks the window with the butt of his gun, Two-Time grabs a gun and some of his drugs while his girlfriend tries to flee with the rest of the drugs. Vic, Shane, and Terry confront Two-Time, while Lem and Ronnie are covering the other exit and go after Two-Time's girlfriend.

Crowley-dead

Crowley after being shot.

Two-Time gets trapped in his bathroom after trying to dispose of his drugs to avoid arrest and fires several shots at the Strike Team. Vic and Shane return fire, killing Two-Time. Shortly after, Vic and Shane enter the bathroom and Vic takes Two-Time's gun out of his hand. Vic then turns around, looks Terry right in the eyes as he enters the room, and shoots him in the face, below his left eye. Although he was mortally wounded, Terry surprisingly didn't die immediately and as he stared at Vic, he briefly realized what just happened to him before closing his eyes.

After rigging the crime scene evidence, Vic called 9-1-1 and a still alive (albeit unconscious) Crowley was taken to the hospital. While there, fellow cops (including Aceveda, Gilroy, Danny Sofer, Vic, Ronnie, Shane, Lem etc) gathered outside the hospital, hoping that Terry lives.

However, Aceveda comes out of the hospital and sadly announces to everyone that the doctors did everything they could, but unfortunately, Terry died from his gunshot wound at 2:13 AM.

After realizing Terry died, Lem punched a nearby van window in grief, while Vic announced it was his fault. At that moment, Aceveda realized Terry was killed by Vic.

Investigation in death

Immediately after Terry's death, an investigation against the Strike Team is formed. During interrogations conducted by Captain Aceveda, Vic and Shane claimed that it was Two-Time, who killed Terry. Aceveda was particularly enraged and tried to link Vic to the murder and almost had a confession from a remourseful Shane, but failed due to Gilroy's and Vic's intervention and Gilroy tried to convince Aceveda to let IAD to investigate the murder and do their job.

Notably, Vic said during the an interrogation (conducted by IAD) that it was his fault and that Terry was a rookie. This fact is countered by the IAD who show Vic Terry's file which suggests that Terry wasn't a rookie and was ready for similar raids just like the raid on Two-Time's home. Regardless, IAD quickly cleared Vic and the Strike Team, believing that the police raid had gone bad and not knowing at the time that Terry was an informant for the Justice Department.

Funeral

On Gilroy's suggestion, Aceveda eulogized Terry at his funeral. Some of the attendees included Terry's brother Drew and their mother. Shane and Vic were also there, however a seemingly distressed Shane distanced himself and went for a smoke. Vic approached him and Shane told him he doesn't have the courage to stand up and look at Terry's mother. Shane left, despite Vic's attempts to calm down Shane and convince him that Terry had to be put down since the team comes first and Terry was going to testify against all of them and send them to prison.

Shane was later invited for dinner by Vic's wife Corrine at the Mackey household. Corrine tells Vic that she noted that Shane looked very distressed.

Season 2

The Barn

Terry doesn't appear physically due to him already being deceased, but he does appear in the season 2 flashback episode Co-Pilot. The episode depicts Terry being recruited in the Strike Team by Aceveda and him meeting Vic Mackey, Shane Vendrell, Curtis Lemansky and Ronnie Gardocki for the first time.

Season 5

In the early beginning of the season 5 episode "Smoked", a flashback depicts Terry being killed by Vic after Vic and Shane killed an armed Two-Time.

Aftermath

Season 1

The murder of Terry would haunt the Strike Team, particularly Vic and Shane, for years after. Although Terry was the newest member of the group, Shane still felt remorse and guilt for his part in the murder with Vic. In the follow-up investigation of Terry's death after the raid on Two-Time's house, Vic and Shane were interrogated. Vic was visibly stoic and unable to show emotion of it after the deed was done, but Shane was more visibly affected, which the investigating detectives recognised. Vic managed to pull him out of the room in time, but Shane nearly broke down emotionally about "killing a cop". Vic convinced him to never speak of Terry again.

Dead Terry

Corrine Mackey was one of the many people inquired on Vic's innocence.

Season 2 and 3

Fellow Strike Team members Curtis "Lem" Lemansky and Ronald "Ronnie" Gardocki were not informed on Terry's secret undercover status and Vic and Shane's murder plot and were not involved in the eventual murder due to various reasons. Lem was notably closer with Terry as shown by his reaction to the news of his death, and was acknowledged by Vic and Shane as being the most conscientious of the team, both facts which would have proved problematic for Vic and Shane. Ronnie was generally left out of the most questionable of the Team's illegal activities due to his less active role within the team, though this would eventually change as he became closer to Vic.

Kavanaughs pictures

Kavanaugh lays out the entire investigation.

Regardless, both men would later individually find out the truth behind Terry's death years later; Lem through IAD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh, and Ronnie through Shane. Both had varying reactions to the revelation. Lem seemed visibly shocked and soon doubtful that Vic was innocent, but Vic ultimately convinced Lem that Kavanaugh was lying about the murder to split up the team, with Vic's ulterior motive to stop Lem from defecting.

Captain Aceveda was certain that Mackey was behind Terry's murder and set out to send him to prison for it, but he never succeeded and the DA also tried to incriminate Vic in Terry's murder by using an arrested Gilroy, however Vic found out about their sting and helped Gilroy escape to Mexico where he eventually died a year later.

Season 4

A while after Vic's orginal sin of murdering Terry, the Strike Team has been disbanded due to Lem burning most of the money the team stole from the Armenian mob as because of their theft, notable hitmen (such as Margos Dezerian) left a trail of bodies to discover the robbers. Despite trying to protect the team, Shane has an argument with Lem and they split up, leaving Vic being partners with Ronnie, Lem working for a juvenile department and Shane being all cozy with One-Niners gang leader Antwon Mitchell.

Notably, because of the problems with Mitchell as well as the extreme unpopularity of Captain Rawlings and her seizure policies, she resigns and tries to figure out if the now-back together again Strike Team are corrupt. The complaint from Rawlings makes it to the IAD. Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh steps in to investigate Vic and the Strike Team in any unusual activity... or crime.

Season 5

In Season Five, Lieutenant Kavanaugh learned from now-Councilman Aceveda about Terry's murder during the controversial raid and as well as him being an undercover informant for the Justice Department. Aceveda also let him know that Strike Team member Curtis Lemansky is the "conscience" of the team.

Kavanaugh made it his personal mission to send Vic to prison for Terry's murder after figuring out that Vic found out about Terry's true intentions through a inside mole and as a result killed Terry. He commandeered the Captain's office in "The Barn" and plastered it with grisly photographs of the Crowley murder scene.

Some of his notable tactics was putting "bugs" in the Strike Team "clubhouse" and convincing Lem that Vic is Terry's real killer. After Lem made it clear that he does not believe this and refuses to help Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh blackmailed Lem (the IAD found a brick of heroin in Lem's possession, but Lem only took it to find out where was Angie Stubbs) into wearing a wire and make Vic confess that he was behind Crowley's murder, but this backfired as Lem secretly informed Vic about this and together they tried to break hold of Kavanaugh. After Lem asked Vic if he really killed Terry, Lem stopped him from answering as he figured out that no matter what Vic answers, it will always mean that he killed Terry. Although Lem promised to betary the team if he found out that Vic killed Terry, he remained loyal and still refused to betray his "family."

Last but not least, Kavanaugh tried to force a confession from Vic and Shane by ordering them to revisit the original crime scene (where Terry was shot to death by "Two-Time") and describe what happened in front of Terry's weeping brother Drew who was brought there by Kavanaugh. Drew recognised the two detectives from his brother's funeral and quickly realized that Vic killed his brother, but was ordered to be taken away after things started getting out of hand. Vic and Shane, however, calmly stuck to their original story.

Unwilling to let Vic get away with the murder of Terry and the rest of his crimes, Kavanaugh had no choice, but to press charges against Lem for possession of heroin and intent to distribute. After posting bail, Vic then convinced Lem to miss his court date and basically become a figutive until they can figure out a way to help him escape from the States since Lem will be killed by Antwon Mitchell in Lompoc prison after Kavanaugh stripped Mitchell of his cozyness and telling him that Vic said that he had control over Mitchell.

Kavanaugh then convinced Aceveda to lie to Vic and the Strike Team that Lem was planning to rat on the team and by that way, Kavanaugh and his associate can trace Vic and the rest to Lem and arrest them all for harboring a wanted criminal. Vic, Shane and Ronnie go to meet with Lem when they see through that they are being followed by Kavanaugh and split up. The only one who manages to make it to the meeting with Lem is Shane.

Shane tried and did his best to convince Lem to go to a ranch in Mexico as this way he will be safe and will escape the police. Lem, however refused to go because being isolated from his friends and the world would be worse than being in prison. Believing that Lem would betray the team just like Terry and being left with no choice, Shane drops a grenade (taken from one of Guardo Lima's grenade factories that was raided by the LAPD and the IAD) in Lem's car and it explodes, killing Lem.

Season 6

After learning that he will soon be forced to enter retirement and let go of his badge, Vic sought out to avenge Lem before his days as a cop end.

Kavanaugh's crusade ultimately ended in the destruction of his own career and he himself getting arrested and sent to prison for trying to frame Vic for Lem's murder as he believed that Vic killed Lem becuase he killed Terry years ago when was an obstacle to him.

However, rumors of Vic's involvement persisted even after Kavanaugh went to jail and was exacerbated by Lem's fate. Cassidy began to question her father's ethics and several other unnamed officers showed doubt in Vic's innocence after the investigation ceased.

Some time after killing Guardo Lima and "avenging" Lem, Vic read one of Kavanaugh's files and realized Shane killed Lem and that he killed the wrong man. When confronting Shane at the site where Lem was killed, Shane said he killed Lem because he thought Lem was going to rat on them and that he was only trying to protect the team just like how Vic protected the team by killing Terry years earlier. Vic doesn't accept Shane's excuse and tells him it is different as Lem was loyal to the team, unlike Terry who was a traitor. Vic threatens to kill Shane the next time he sees him.

Fearing for his life, Shane lists in a document every crime the team committed (including Terry's murder) in the following years to make sure that Vic and Ronnie don't try to kill him and avenge Lem.

In an effort to drive a wedge between Vic and Ronnie and gain a possible ally, Shane revealed to Ronnie that Vic was the one who killed Terry, but it happened the other way. Instead of betraying Vic and allying himself with Shane, Ronnie ultimately agreed that the murder had to be done.

He later told Vic he had always suspected his involvement but was unable to confirm it. Ronnie also told Vic that he wished he had involved him and that he probably could have helped Vic deal with the murder better than Shane, but Vic remained silent and could not look Ronnie in the eyes and talk to him about it.

Season 7

After begrudgingly allying themselves with Shane against the Armenian mob, Vic and Ronnie form a plan to have Shane and the leaders of the Armenian mob killed, in order to avenge Lem and to stop the Armenians from trying to kill them for robbing their money operation.

The plan suceeded partially - Ellis Rezian and his crew were killed by hitmen, working for Cruz Pezuela, however Shane survived the hit and quickly realized he had been set up by Vic and Ronnie. Shane formed a scheme to have the two killed but the plan fails and Shane is exposed to the police and flees with his family, which adds more pressure to Vic and Ronnie who fear Shane will expose them too sooner or later. In several phone conversations with Vic, Shane threatens to tell the police that Vic killed Terry if he does not leave him alone.

Fearing that he and his family are at risk, Vic striked a federal deal with ICE for full immunity from prosecution for every crime he admitted to. Using Shane's memoirs as a guide, he spoke in detail about everything the Strike Team had done, including the murders of Terry, Margos Dezerian, Guardo Lima, the robbing of the money train, the murder of Lem at the hands of Shane etc.

After desperately asking him for help over the phone, Vic revealed to Shane's horror his immunity deal and viciosly taunts him about him and his wife going to prison and Vic filling their children with stories of what their parents were really like. Vic's taunts push Shane over the edge, causing him to kill his family and shoot himself in the head, committing suicide.

After learning of Shane's death, Ronnie and Vic were both shocked but also relieved as Lem's killer (Shane) is now dead and that now Shane can no longer blackmail and pose a threat to them. Vic is suddenly called into the interrogation room where he sees graphic photos from Shane's house where he killed himself and his family. After angrily leaving the room, Vic witnesses Ronnie being arrested for his involvement in Crowley's murder (and for other crimes) based on Vic's confessions, despite not originally being involved in the murder plot in the first place.

As a result, Vic lost his friends, his family and was regarded as scum by his former colleagues at the Barn. He was trapped in a cubicle by his new employers at I.C.E., while Ronnie was sent to prison for all the crimes the Strike Team had committed for the past three years.

Family

Terry's family consisted of a father, who was a policeman and probably died at some point prior to the beginning of the show as he wasn't seen at Terry's funeral, his mother and his brother Drew Crowley, who was a cop like Terry and their father and it is revealed that Drew left the force after Terry's death.

Personal life

Nothing is known about Terry's personal life.

Relationships

Most cops seemed to be fond of Terry as most of them waited infront the hospital where he eventually died or prayed for him to live (such as Julian who didn't knew well Terry and prayed for him and for which he was chastised by Officer Danny Sofer as he like her should have been at the hospital).

Of all of his colleagues, Terry was most close with Lem as seen when Lem hit a nearby van window and lacerated his right fist in grief upon hearing of Terry's death and seemed to feel guilty about Terry in the later episodes as he thought that he and Ronnie had not properly cleared Two-Time's apartment, which apparently led to Terry's murder at the hands of "Two-Time".

Also, in season 5 Lem promised that he would betray the Strike Team if he found out that Vic was the one behind Terry's death. Upon realizing that it was indeed Vic who killed Terry, Lem hesitated but decided to remain loyal to the team anyway, either because he spend too much time with Vic, Ronnie and Shane and didn't want to betray his closest friends or either because he agreed that the murder had to be done as Terry betrayed all of them by becoming an informant and was going to send them to prison, despite their close relationship.

Ronnie was also close with Terry, but despite this he agreed that the murder had to be done as he was an informant. Ronnie was arrested at the end by the police for all the crimes the team committed, icluding Terry's murder, even though he was not part of the murder plot.

Shane also seemed close with Terry and was mentally strain and was in near emotional breakdown for his role in Terry's death, but he ultimately agreed that Terry had to die and that the team always comes first.

Even though it is given the impression that Vic wasn't so close with Terry as he killed him in cold-blood and didn't show any remourse or guilt for killing him at first, Vic experienced several flashbacks which show some funny moments with himself, Terry and the Strike Team. His expressions to these memories and the flashbacks indicate that Vic showed some signs of regret for murdering his fellow friend and team member and also because he forced the hard and inevidable decision on Shane as well.

Despite this, Vic again defended the murder in season 6 when Shane confessed that he killed Lem because he thought that Lem was going to rat and was only trying to protect the team just like Vic when he killed Terry. Vic angrily rejects Shane's excuse and chastised him for not being sure of the facts before executing Lem and also rejected Shane's comparison as Lem was still loyal to the team, while Terry was a traitor.

By the end of the show, Vic remorsefully confesses to ICE that he murdered Terry to gain full immunity from prosecution for all his crimes.

Aceveda seemed to be close with Terry as they knew each other for a long time and Aceveda tried several times to get Terry out of the Robbery Division and into the Narcotics Division and finally the Strike Team, although Aceveda could have simply used Terry to put Vic behind bars in order to further his political ambitions. Despite this, he was so distraught and enraged upon hearing of Terry's death that he realized it was Vic behind the murder and vowed to send him to prison for it but regardless failed. Some time later, Aceveda formed a truce with Vic and never mentions Terry and/or his murder as an issue again.

IAD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh never knew Terry, but despite this, he made it his personal mission to arrest Vic for the murder. His tactics included blackmailing Lem into wearing a listening device and gather intel about the role of the Strike Team in Terry's death, forcing a confession out of Vic and Shane and asking them to revisit the original crime scene where Terry was killed and describe in detail what happened that night infront of Terry's brother, who correctly assumed that Vic was behind his brother's death and shouted that his brother was a good man upon being led away from the scene.

Trivia

  • Originally, actor Kenneth Johnson auditioned for the role of Terry, which ultimately went to Reed Diamond. Casting directors were so impressed with Johnson's audition, however that they asked him to come in for a role in the show and the character of Curtis Lemansky was then created. Johnson was unsure of how to go about the character, who wasn't very much developed at that point and during the audition, Johnson made some choices for the character that he initially thought ruined his chances of winning the role. However, the audition turned out to be successful and he was cast as Lemansky who quickly became a major player and a well-liked character, not the mention the chemistry Johnson shared with his castmates, some of whom are close friends of his (e.g. Michael Chiklis (Vic Mackey), Walton Goggins (Shane Vendrell)).
  • The actor that portrayed Crowley, Reed Diamond, was advertised as a main cast member in Season 1 (and appeared in the pilot's opening credits), to surprise viewers with his death at the end of the first episode. His only subsequent appearances on the show came in a flashback sequence in "Our Gang" and in "Co-Pilot", a flashback episode in Season 2.
  • Despite his short appearances, Terry and his death played a crucial role in the storyline of the show and Terry's murder was one of the main factors that contributed to the falling-out and eventual demise/dissolvement of the Strike Team.
  • The decision to kill off Terry was done specifically to shock viewers and make them hate the Vic Mackey character. To keep the surprise twist a secret, Reed Diamond's name is in the opening credits and clips of him were heavily featured in commercials for the series in order to create the illusion that Diamond would be a major character in the series.
  • Diamond had wanted to be a real police officer and attended the L.A. Police Academy.
  • Although Crowley is killed in the pilot episode, his death is referenced in all the seasons of the show.
  • Terry Crowley's death was listed as third on Entertainment Weekly's list of "32 Most Shocking TV Deaths".
  • Terry's weapon of choice was a Beretta 92FS, which is seen when Terry and the Strike Team raid Two-Time's apartment.
  • Terry has a lot in common with fellow Strike Team member and friend Detective Curtis Lemansky - both were good-natured, effective and well-liked detectives, both were members of the Strike Team, both carried Beretta 92FSs as their respected sidearms and both were killed by their Strike Team colleagues/friends (Terry was shot in the face by Detective Vic Mackey, while Lem was blown apart with one of Guardo Lima's grenades, used by Detective Shane Vendrell).
  • The only differences between the two is that Terry was an informant while Lem was loyal, Lem was mistakenly killed by Shane, who believed Lem was going to rat out on the team (he wasn't going to) while Terry was killed by Vic because Vic found out that Terry was an undercover informant, working for Captain David Aceveda and the Department of Justice. Another example are their respectful funerals - a fair number of people attended Terry's funeral while Lem's funeral (like Ben Gilroy's funeral) was poorly attended and there was a lack of a police motorcade because of the corruption charges against Lem when he was killed and his "shady dealings".
  • Although it is never made clear to the audience, it is possible that Moses Hernandez betrayed Terry and gave away his undercover status to Gilroy, who informed Vic, who in turn killed Terry.
  • While it may appear that Lem and Terry were the youngest in the Strike Team, it's not true in real life. In real life, Lem (Kenneth Johnson; b. 1963) is the oldest, Vic (Michael Chiklis; b. 1963) is the second oldest, Ronnie (David Rees Snell; b. 1966) is the third oldest, Terry (Reed Diamond; b. 1967) is the fourth oldest and Shane (Walton Goggins; b. 1971) is the youngest of the five.

Appearances

Season 1

Pilot · Our Gang* · The Spread · Dawg Days · Blowback · Cherrypoppers · Pay in Pain · Cupid & Psycho · Throwaway · Dragonchasers · Carnivores · Two Days of Blood · Circles ·


Season 2

The Quick Fix · Dead Soldiers · Partners · Carte Blanche · Greenlit · Homewrecker · Barnstormers · Scar Tissue · Co-Pilot · Coyotes · Inferno · Breakpoint · Dominoes Falling ·


* appears in a flashback scene