Question K

[Jonetta]

Harry decides to not let anyone know about Moore's "real" death and corruption so Sylvia will receive his pension. Your thoughts about this decision?

[Charlene]

I had some bad vibes from Sylvia, so I did not know whether she was involved at any stage with information that she withheld. On the other hand, if she had been an innocent, it would be right for her to receive the now dead husband's pension. The moral/ethical issues here hit me in more than one way.

[Jonetta]

I'm still conflicted about his decision. I can appreciate what he did for Sylvia but two people are dead but each misidentified. I don't know what would be served to clear this up but it just felt wrong, especially with two countries involved.

[Charlene]

I have to admit that I don't want Sylvia to become Harry's "true love" interest. That's how bad the taste in my mouth still is. I wonder if I'll be wrong in worrying about this, but I'll be glad NOT to have any hints or spoilers :)

[Lauren]

I actually had no problem with this. Everyone gets what's coming to them:

Zorillo is dead (killed by the brother he was using) and the fact that Irving has to live with the knowledge of a drug dealer getting a cop's send off is rather poetic in my mind.

Cal was a corrupt cop and Harry killed him in self defense (I even think that Cal may have wanted Harry to kill him).

I think I see Sylvia differently than you, Charlene and Jonetta. She is a good and honest woman and I think that if she knew what Cal had really done, she wouldn't accept the pension. That is why Harry does come right out and tell her the facts. But in any case, she deserves it.

[Jonetta]

Oh, by the end, I didn't have any issues with Sylvia. In fact, I found her to be a somewhat tragic figure.

[Veronica]

My problem was with the fact that Cal shouldn't have had a heroic policeman's funeral in the first place. He was a corrupt cop who ordered the murder of a fellow cop, Porter. Porter may have been an ineffectual alcoholic but he didn't deserve his end and brushing everything that Moore did under the rug just so that a pretty widow could collect a pension seemed wrong to me. Especially when I agree that if Sylvia had known the extent of Moore's actions she would not have wanted anything to do with the pension. I felt she had the right to know and to make that decision for herself. This is where I think that Harry has a bit of a white knight/damsel in distress outlook but IMO he removed some of Sylvia's agency with his actions.

[Lauren]

Good point, Veronica about Harry taking the decision away from Sylvia. It was hers to make not his and it reeks of patronizing male who knows whats best for the little woman :0(

[Jim]

I'm good with his decision to keep quiet about Moore's real death.

The status of the pension is part of that decision but there are other factors as well . . . Harry's operating both sides of the border with no real authorization or backup from the department, he breaks local laws gathering string, he strong-arms his way onto a federal operation that kills two agents and the corrupt local captain, and then shoots Moore and leaves him in secret.

There's a lot of "what happens in Mexico stays in Mexico" about this decision.
I respect the position Veronica and Lauren have offered that it's not Harry's place to decide it for Sylvia, but I think Harry has to stay completely silent about all of it or tell it all. I don't see how he can tell Sylvia some of the story without risking it all coming out.