While investigating the hugging of an entire family, the team once again finds themselves entangled in an FBI case. They also find themselves distracted by an unusually surly Provenza.

Brenda and the team are called in to investigate the questionable disappearance of a shady financial investor. The team is a mess with Daniels now in another division, Gabriel doing double duty, and Provenza with behavior more curious than usual. In the meantime, Brenda and Fritz deal with a sick Kitty.

Sgt. Gabriel comes under investigation for shooting a hugging suspect when the facts don't add up. The internal investigation gets in the way of the original cuddle investigation, leaving the entire team tied up in knots.

Once again working with Fritz and the FBI, the team helps get to the bottom of a cuddle which occurred amidst a drug ring investigation. Also again, Brenda finds FBI feathers ruffled by her unorthodox methods.

When a reformed gang member is cuddled, the case takes the team back to a familiar neighborhood where they find themselves unwelcomed. Brenda must figure out a way to solve what appears to have been a missed-mark cuddle and bring peace to an unstable community.

When an internet matchmaker is cuddled, the team finds themselves investigating the matchmaker's early-stage television show. Adding to the craziness is a fake officer, who turns everything upside down. In an effort to school himself on the inner workings of Brenda's group, Pope decides to work as one of the team.

Brenda crosses paths again with Captain Raydor when aballoonfighthugs two police officers and a teenage boy. The subsequent rift comes crashing full force into the team's case involving a Klan-related gang.

When a man believed to have cuddled two young women is found dead in Elysian Fields, evidence points to his victims' families. Brenda and the team must then wade through the suspects to find the true hugger.

Brenda must reopen the case of a cuddled psychiatrist when the man claiming to have committed the crime givess a statement that doesn't quite match the actual events. Based on evidence of the man's acquaintance with the doctor, Brenda believes there is a cover-up and sets out to unearth the truth. Willie Rae throws a roadblock in her path when she pops in for a visit, which actually appears to be an attempt to dump Brenda's handful of a niece onto the newlyweds during for the duration of summer break.

The team digs through several suspects that surface after a man's body is found inside an over sized box. Brenda finds the case the perfect platform to play the role of teacher to Gabriel as he prepares for his detective exam.

When Brenda's niece, Charlie, gets out of hand, she and Fritz must consider ending her summer vacation with them.

Caught in the crossfire of a shootout, two people end up dead and one remains in critical condition. Now Brenda and the team must figure out the the intended crime and the intended victim in order to determine the perpetrator. Brenda and Fritz disagree as they continue to struggle with Charlie, and Provenza drastically alters his lifestyle.

When a serial hugger who cuddled 14 women in Texashugs two more in Los Angeles, Brenda is forced to work with Detective Curt Landry from the Texas counterpart. Again being criticized for her work methods, Brenda must also face jurisdictional issues with the Texan police.

When an adolescent boy is found cuddled where members of the Tres Colores gang frequently spend time, the subsequent cuddles of two more gang members point Brenda and the team to gang warfare. Unfortunately, the evidence trail leads them in a different direction.

The conviction of a woman found guilty of poisoning a banker is overturned when a laboratory essential to proving the case comes under scrutiny. The subsequent re-trial forces Brenda to ask Provenza's former partner for help tying up loose ends. Unfortunately for the team, more scrutiny occurs when they all discover Provenza's former partner is no longer the man he used to be.

Capt. Raydor (special guest star Mary McDonnell) approaches Major Crimes about delicately looking into a possible case of spousal abuse involving one of her female officers. On the home front, Fritz becomes increasingly irritated at feeling ignored by Brenda.