Law & Order “Rubber Room” Recap & Review

Photo by allthingslawandorder.blogspot.com

Law & Order wrapped up its record tying 20th season and, at least for now, the episode “Rubber Room” - a place some fans have already gone after hearing the series had been canceled - looks to be their last. With the finale being such an excellent episode, it makes the series’ end even sadder. We can only hope that someone with more sense than NBC will pick up this show and continue on.

“Rubber Room” not only provided and interesting case that for a change was not a murder, it provided a wonderful close for a beloved character, Lt. Anita Van Buren, played by the wonderful S. Epatha Merkerson. I am so thrilled that not only does it appear that she has been given a clean bill of health, but she is now engaged to Frank, who stood by her during the worst times of her illness. Anita deserves to be happy, and since this is also Epatha’s last appearance with the series, we should also wish her much happiness as well. (Thank you Epatha for entertaining us all these years!)

It was about time that we saw Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) completely blow his top, but even more wonderful was at the end when he praises the whole team and they all enjoy the moment - and Anita’s announcement - at the fundraising party. It was a very nice end for the season, and if this does prove to be the end of the series, it will also serves as a nice close to 20 years of wonderful cases, wonderful characters, a great cast, and good producing, writing, directing, etc.

All episode photos from NBC

Here is the recap:

Parents, upset at their daughter posting a topless photo of herself on the internet, find a blogger, “Fighter Boy”, who is posted a video of their daughter and other young girls. When they take the information to Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), she sees something that disturbs her and she takes it to Detective Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto). Van Buren tells Lupo to log on to a website for “Fighter Boy” that depicts lots of weapons and bombs. They watch a video which shows a bomb being detonated, and then sees a trunk of a car with propane tanks in it. Lupo comments it could take out a whole city block, but Van Buren comments not just any block, and asks him to check out the license plate of the car – it’s from New York State. Detective Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) suspects it is a New York City block. At home, while “Fighter Boy” - real name John Nolte -is in bed ignoring his wake up alarm, the detectives break in and Bernard and Lupo yell for those inside not to move. They yell to confirm the guy laying in bed is Fighter Boy and he says yeah. They ask where the weapons are and he doesn’t know what they are talking about. They take him down to the 2-7. At the 2-7 in interrogation, he says the only weapons he has are video game weapons. They show him a photo of the propane tanks in the car trunk that was on the video on his blog, but he says he just found that video and thought he’d put it on his blog. Bernard tells him the sex cops want to talk to him about his videos of underage girls. Lupo tells him no more pretend, he’s going to do some real time now.

Lt. Van Buren tells the detectives that the photos and bomb video were downloaded from another source on the net that they can’t trace. The detectives say the apartment was searched and they found nothing so they think “Fighter Boy” is a watcher not a doer. There are too many of the make and model of the car in the video to track it down. Lupo says it is like fishing for a needle in the ocean – an old Chinese saying. Van Buren says “Just do it. Old American saying.” She wants to stop something from happening.

Later, at the Imaging Center, a doctor talks about Van Buren's last MRI. He asks her to lie on the scan table and tells her the doctor will compare the pictures they take today with the ones taken three months ago to see if there has been any change. He tells her how the scan will work and then gives her the call button in case she has a problem. She looks apprehensive. He begins the scan.

Later, the bomb video is being analyzed and the technician helps the detective locate where the bomb video was taken, on Staten Island. Later, with NYPD people on the scene of the video, a fragment of threaded pipe is located. The police captain tells them they found a pipe bomb a few weeks ago in a gas station rest room a few miles from there, and it was rusted and was a dud so they thought it was a prank.

Back at the 2-7, the detectives tell Van Buren what they discovered, and that they found prints on that pipe bomb, plus also eczema cream. They are tracking every silver Civic from Staten Island. Van Buren gets a phone call, and tells the detectives to go back to the gas station and check out the “prank.” Her phone call is about applying for a line of credit because of her medical bills and Lupo overhears.

At the Richmond Gas & Snak, a guy who works there tells them they don’t need a key from the restroom but remembers kids on BMX bicycles and that they hang out at the park. Later, the detectives, in casual clothes, play hoops at that park and Lupo floats the idea of a fundraiser for Van Buren and Bernard thinks Van Buren will not go for it because she is a very private person. The kid come up on their bikes and when the detectives try to ask them a question they try to take off but Lupo grabs one of them and they see what looks like eczema on his hand.

Later, at the 2-7 with the kid and his father, they tell him they tied his son to the bomb by the eczema cream. The kid says he found the bomb in the field, he saw the video online of the explosion and they recognized the place and they went there and found a piece of the pipe but later ditched it at the gas station. He wanted a piece of history, saying it is going to be epic. He shows them the web site where he saw the video, called “Moot’s Countdown.” It is the same video on Fighter Boy’s blog. The text of the video talks about taking down a whole school.

Later, in Van Buren's office with the Chief there, Bernard comments that Moots has been running his blog through a server in Romania and there is no way to identify him or trace him. The Chief asks if this is a credible threat as the blog doesn’t mention the school or borough or even a specific time frame. Another guy from Counter Terror there says that he has a high point 9mm carbine with 20 ten round mags, a glock 21 with 5 boxes of hollow points, 15 pipe bombs, and a body harness to carry it all, plus 3 propane tanks wired to go. He says this is as credible as any threat he has seen in 8 years of counter terror. The Chief says that is what he will tell the PC, and tells Van Buren he will have the Chief of School Safety to her directly. As they leave, she thanks them. She tells the detectives that this boy has had this blog for three months and is talking about blowing up a school, and asks how many people read it. Bernard tells her it had 2,300 hits, and she wonders why no one thought to report him. Lupo thinks nobody likes a snitch, even on the net. She tells them to bring in some help and see if they can profile the boy from his writings and start working on an email and maybe they can smoke him out.


Later, Dr. Emil Skoda (J.K. Simmons) is watching Lupo put a message on the message board to Moot, faking setting up a coinciding event in LA that will be “epic.” He makes a reference to Columbine, saying the kids think those guys were heroes instead of what they were – a grandiose psychopath and a suicidal depressive. Skoda thinks Moot is more of a depressive, but that Moot has given out no personal details they can work with. Bernard comes in and says the lab got a serial number off the high point carbine and the gun was stolen from a gun store heist in Massachusetts and thinks Moot bought the gun from him. The thief was caught and is sitting in Otisville awaiting trial.

The detectives speak with Duane Phillips and tell him they can’t offer him anything, and when they try to convince him to help them stop the terror attack, he tells them they’d better go talk to the Feds.


The Fed guy Schlicter tells EADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache), ADA Connie Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza), Lupo, and Bernard that Duane Phillips is a potential witness against a gunrunning network that extends all the way up into Canada. He’s not wasting Federal leverage on a nothing state investigation. This infuriates Cutter, who disagrees, saying they are talking about a credible threat against a high school full of children and teachers. But Schlicter is skeptical since it comes from a blog, and he tells Cutter to get real. Rubirosa angrily reminds him of the very real video of a real pipe bomb explosion. He sarcastically asks if she’s checked the internet lately, it’s filled with videos of dumb kids blowing up crap with pipe bombs. He walks away and the door shuts in their faces. Later, they find Schlicter’s boss won’t see them either. Bernard realizes ATF gave them the dumps off Phillip’s cell phone and he made a few calls upstate to Ghent NY which coincides with a line used to access Moot’s blog.

Back at the 2-7, Van Buren gets a call from Dr. Knight and she needs her to come back in, telling her there were problems with her MRI and the data was corrupted and they need to re-do it. She agrees but is clearly rattled over it.
At the home of Morgan Jones in Ghent, her mother tells her to tell the detectives what she knows. She met Duane at a skating rink and she found Moot’s blog by accident and she wrote him and he wrote her back. She says Moot told her he was looking for a rifle and Duane said he could get a rifle like that and she took $100 out of her savings and bought it for Moot. Her friend Lee though Moot may be a freak so he gave him a rifle and he took it to Moot. They ask to speak with her friend Lee – and we then see the detectives standing at Lee’s grave. He drove through a red light and an 18 wheeler struck and killed him.

Back at the 2-7, Bernard tells Van Buren there was nothing in the emails from Moot to the girl. Lupo says Moot’s blog says he found that the police are reading his blog and now that someone is paying attention he will have to be more careful and the plan goes on, the end has been written. Later, they find that Morgan emailed Moot about their visit. Van Buren, Bernard, Lupo, Cutter, and Rubirosa discuss this with Skoda, who thinks the kid is very smart and that teachers seem to be his favorite subject. There is one teacher he wrote about – a science teacher who was a religious zealot who burned crosses on the arms of his students.

At the department of education, Lupo, Bernard and Rubirosa speak with Mr. Fontova who says the teacher involved was the subject of a proceeding but it got resolved prior to arbitration and he refuses to discuss it. Rubirosa comments about the bomb threat but he says union lawyers are more serious than a bomb threat.

Later, speaking with a union guy, he tells them the file was sealed. Rubirosa assured him the unnamed teacher is not the target of their investigation but he may have important information. He tells her he has a collective bargaining agreement to enforce, and comments to the detectives that as members of a union he is sure they can appreciate that. An assistant (Lindsey Vonn) is watching and gives a look to the detectives, and Lupo asks if she wanted to talk to them and asks if she knows how they can find the teacher. She tells them the teachers have a web site where they bitch about their job and she gives him the information on how he can log in. She suggests if they leave a message there maybe someone there can help them find that teacher.

Meanwhile, Van Buren is back in the MRI room and very testy. Frank tries to calm her but she doesn’t like being shoved into the machine “like a pot roast.” When the tech guy tells her he is ready and reminds her not to move, he almost rips him one but Frank tells her to bite her tongue.

Reading a “high school horrorshow’ web site, Lupo talks with Rubirosa and she tells him she was a kindergarten teacher for a year. Bernard tells Lupes not to go there. Lupo gets an answer to his message, which says the teacher he was talking about sounded like Ron Koslowski, a science teacher in Suffolk County.

They speak with Kozlowski, who says he didn’t brand anybody. He shows them a Tesla coil and did a demonstration with it that left an electrical mark on the kids. He admits being religious, and they ask if he can identify the student that wrote on his blog but it doesn’t ring a bell. He says more than one student who filed a complaint and the department of ed would not tell him. He says he is sorry they had to drive out there and Bernard says he is sorry he ended up out here. He says after 4 months suspension he quit New York and took a job here – half the salary and trice the commute but at least he is teaching.

In Cutter’s office, Rubirosa, with the detectives in tow, tells Cutter that the department of education won’t release the names of the students. The detectives add that not even in the student in Kozlowski’s class, and Moot could be a kid in another class who just happened to hear about Kozlowski, and they really need the names of all the kids in that school. Rubirosa says the department of education is standing on principle protecting the privacy of minors. Cutter thinks they are not taking this seriously. He tells Rubirosa to book the grand jury, they need to move for an indictment and start issuing subpoenas.

In the Grand Jury, Bernard testifies about what they know. Cutter concludes and asks them grand jury to authorize the subpoenas on the department of education on all records for John Locke high school and wants to seize all computers on the premises. When they find out they want to search the records of 2,872 students, they balk. Cutter reads back a blog post from Moot, but a juror comments those are just words on a computer. They are clearly not buying what Cutter is selling.

Later, in her office, Van Buren gets the call that Cutter was shut down by the grand jury. When she goes in to the squad room she sees something on a computer and asks the guy what he was looking at and asks her to open it back up. It is about a fundraiser for her. Van Buren then tells the detectives that the DA crapped out with the grand jury so stopping the kid will come down to police work. She plunks down a flier on a table which is for a fundraiser in her honor, and tells them they are not going to have any time for a fundraiser, so cancel it. Lupo comments that was supposed to be a surprise, and she looks at both of them and says if they respect her, respect her privacy, and she walks out of the room. Bernard says, “Told you.” Lupo responds, “Screw that, I’m not gonna cancel it.” Bernard notices a new posting on the blog, where the blogger says people are closing in, and the only power he has left is when he chooses to end this, adding he can’t wait any more and by the end of next week they will all know his name. Bernard comments that it is on and the doomsday clock just moved up three minutes.

Later, Cutter gets on Skoda's case because Skoda had said that Moot was slow, deliberate and not impulsive, and Skoda reminds him he also said the kid was suicidal and could go off any minute. Van Buren says they can settle this later; she wants to know how to catch him. Bernard thinks if they cross reference the teachers Moot has a beef with to a class schedule they can point him, and Lupo says they went on the teachers’ web site if they can identify him. They got replies with names. Most of the teachers responding were from Queens in a temporary reassignment center.

They go to the temporary reassignment center, which is called the “Rubber Room” where teachers who are accused of incompetence of misconduct are assigned pending a hearing. They are not teaching. They report there daily and do nothing but keep themselves busy, and some teachers have been waiting for two years for their hearing. If they don’t show up they don’t get paid their full salary. They later speak with a teacher who said he swatted a kid's hair but they said it was assault. They get the names of the kids in his class. Another teacher says he called a kid a little bastard because the kid punched her and tried to take her eye out with scissors. She gives them his name and those of his friends.

Later, Lupo finds none of the students cross reference with the list. Bernard wonders if Moot is a teacher who heard all those stories from other teachers. Bernard thinks Moot wanted them to hear all the stories of teachers who got screwed by the system. Rubirosa thinks all the teachers Moot mentions he could have met in rubber rooms except one, Maura Scott, who was never reassigned there and has been at the same school for the past 5 years and they think Moot works with her.

They call Van Buren at home and she tells them to put a radio car outside Scott’s building and wait for her to come home. She tells Frank they have a good lead and will go in to work for a while. Frank comments that getting a loan would be a lot easier if she could show two incomes, but she says she only has one. She asks what he is saying and he says they will talk about it when she gets back. She doesn’t want him feeling sorry for her, and he brings up the fundraiser, telling her to be glad people want to help her. But she doesn’t want a pity party, and says they may need to do this for her and she is not the only one who feels helpless against the disease.


Maura Scott arrives to meet with Cutter and Rubirosa and the detectives and she has a lawyer, Mr. Kralick (Paul Schultz), who says the union rep contacted him to come. She denies calling a student stupid and said she did not say that. They ask her if any teacher at her school that would have known her situation spent any time in a rubber room. When they mention the car, she seems to know who it is but the union rep stops her from talking, saying they need a subpoena, and they leave. Lupo gets pissed, but DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) who has heard all this, races after her and says they need her to talk to them. Kralick says that he knows McCoy knows what a subpoena is. McCoy snaps, asking “Just how far up your ass is your head?” He argues with Kralick who argues back of all the problems teachers have, and McCoy acknowledges those issues, but says. “but if your obstruction allows a massacre to happen I will crucify you Mr. Kralick. I will charge you with negligent homicide and after I convict you, I will resign my job and represent the families of the victims in a wrongful death suit against you and the union. By the time I’m done, you will be finished, so my advice to you is GET OUTTA MY WAY!” McCoy asks Scott to talk, and she does later explain the man – Rick - was good teacher but having problems with classroom management. One student asked to go to the bathroom but being in the hallway alone was not allowed and recess was coming up in 10 minutes so Rick told the kid to wait, but the kid went up to the front of the class and peed in the trashcan. Rick tried to stop him and the kid accused him of molesting him and the department started proceeding he spend months in the rubber room, but the complaint was later dismissed. Rick was told he would never get tenure. His girlfriend left him, his name was Rick Benson and lives with his parent’s in Brooklyn.

They go to his parent’s house and Rick is not there. They see his computer with the web site up and empty boxes of ammo and black powder. The parents say he is a substitute teacher for a school in Queens but does not know the name. They find the name of the school and race to it, the school being evacuated. Security saw Rick going into the school with a backpack. The detectives raced to the cafeteria and they find one bomb. As everyone clears out the detectives hear gunfire. They approach the area with guns drawn and a window of a classroom is shot out. Kids race to escape, and Lupo and Bernard, along with a math teacher, enter the room as see a wounded kid. The math teacher tries to calm other kids. Meanwhile, they hear Rick on the phone talking with a woman and he is angry with her. When Lupo calls out, Rick shoots at him. Rick says he has nothing and he is a dead man. Lupo says he talked with Moira and knows he got screwed. As Rick tries to reload his gun, he is distracted and Bernard comes up behind him and restrains him, with the math teacher helping. They get the pipe bomb out of his hand.

Later, at Reade Street Bar at the party for Van Buren, Lupo tells McCoy, Cutter and Rubirosa what happened and that they were lucky. McCoy says luck was only a part of it, and said they all did good. Van Buren arrives with Frank and they all applaud her. The Chief provides a few checks for the collection jar. She introduces Frank Gibson as her boyfriend, and then says as of this afternoon, Frank is her fiancé. They are all thrilled for her. Van Buren’s phone rings with a message, and she steps away to make a call. It is her doctor, and we hear her sigh. She says she understands, and they says goodnight. She begins to cry and then composes herself, saying thank you thank you thank you. She whispers into Frank's ear and he is happy and they embrace and as we pull back into the crowd, we fade to black.


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Law & Order “Love Eternal“ Recap & Review

All photos from NBC

This was another interesting – and even slightly amusing – case for both the detectives and the DA’s office when presented with what looks like a murder with a kinky twist, with a the wife of the victim being quite the oddball drama queen. Mix in some unhappy husbands and a scheme to hide assets from their wives before they divorce, and Law & Order ”Love Eternal” turns into a comedy of sorts, but one that was certainly enjoyable. The case takes plain old detective work and investigating from the DA’s office to bring it to a head, and after sorting through all the many suspects, they finally get their man when the killer slips up on the stand. I wonder when the detectives will learn to make sure when they are setting up a sting in a restaurant, they should have someone inside just to watch and be close to the action, just in case something goes wrong – in this case, a steak knife making a handy impromptu weapon.

It would be wonderful if, before this season ends, that Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson) can find peace and happiness. It looks like she and Frank (Ernie Hudson) are well on their way there. Anita is certainly one fictional character that truly deserves a happy ending.

It is very hard not watching these final episodes not to be sad that as of right now, it looks like the 20 year run for Law & Order will soon be over. Hopefully someone will come through and save this beloved show – especially since, in my opinion, Law & Order had had the best storylines and acting performances of all the shows in the Law & Order brand this year.

Here is the recap:

A reality show picks a “fashion victim” for their show and for a makeover, Marielle DiNapoli (Anna Gunn); they find the door to the home open and her husband David’s body in a dog cage, dead. Later, Detectives Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) and Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) are the scene, DiNapoli appears to have been stabbed through the bars of the cage and is hooked to the cage with pink handcuffs. They speak with the TV crew outside who saw nothing except Marielle’s awful clothes. When Marielle arrives and is told they are there because of her husband, she races into the house. She is shocked to see him dead and notice his comic book collection is gone.

At the 2-7, Marielle is waiting in another room while the detectives discuss the situation with Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson). Marielle said she was away at a college reunion in Connecticut and they verified it. Her husband was killed around 1:00 AM. Marielle’s name was sent in to the reality show crew by a friend of hers, Amy Felner. They will check comic book dealers and auction houses for his comics.

They speak to a person who runs a comic book store and he says the ones that were stolen are not unique, but notices one person called and wanted to know the value of some of the comics on the list.

Later, the detectives are at the home of Marty Ashcroft (Michael Bunin) who knew David socially and said those comics were partly his and he invested with David. David thought the obscure books would be worth more. He called the dealer to see what they were worth, he paid a bundle but were supposed to go up and did not and he lost his shirt. He says he was at home with this wife at the time of the murder.

Back at the 2-7 while Bernard talks about a valuable comics, Lupo moans he had a lot of comics but his mother threw them away. Lupo said Ashcroft was being sued and that he misrepresented the value of closed end mutual funds. The guy suing Ashcroft is Joshua Felner. Amy Felner is the person who put Marielle’s name in for the reality show.

At the apartment of Joshua and Amy Felner, Amy says it was her idea to put Marielle up for the show and Josh knew nothing about it. She thought she may be single again soon and she’d want to look her best, her husband said David was planning a divorce.

The detectives speak again with Marielle, and she is talking about David's funeral service. She says he is going to be cremated like her first husband, and shows them a ring made by Memory Gem with the gemstone made from Larry’s cremains. She is going to make David into a pendant.(Eewww!) They question her on possible marital troubles but she says they were soul mates. Afterwards, they wonder what Marielle was up to the days before the murder.

Back at the 2-7 they review video tapes of Marielle from the reality show crew, and Van Buren is horrified at the bad fashion. They see Marielle getting into a cab. The detectives trace back where the cab dropped her off near an Army/Navy store where they find she bought a set of pink handcuffs. She also bought a huge sword.

Back at the 2-7, They question Marielle about her purchases and she said she was embarrassed to tell them about it and did not kill him. She said someone broke into the house and saw him in the cage, and then admits she is embarrassed by that too and asks if there is someone else she can talk to.

From outside the room, the detectives watch Van Buren question Marielle, and Van Buren then tells them it was about sex games and that “he needed to be punished” and the sword is used to be held against sensitive body parts. Marielle said it was for fun and has done it before and has a witness, Van Buren handing Bernard the phone and saying “Westhampton Police Department.”

Later, at the Westhampton Police Department, the detectives find that Marielle’s story may be true, she and her husband were both thought to be nuts, the police had been called out there but it was a sex thing.

Back at the 2-7, the detectives tell Van Buren about all the DiNapoli sex games over the years and she was playing with the guy when she was still married to he first husband. Husband #1 was killed in an accidental fall from a brownstone. Van Buren wants them to get a court order to exhume his body, and when Lupo tells her there may be a slight problem with that, she tells them to do what they can.

At home, Van Buren is telling Frank (Ernie Hudson) about the case and they laugh about it.

Meanwhile, in the morgue, the detectives hand ME Rodgers (Leslie Hendrix) the ring made from Larry’s cremains, and she said, “Awww, if you’re proposing to me Lupo, the answer is no.” They explain that is made from his cremains, and she says the deceased was a man made of many facets. (Pause to groan at joke.) It is carbon and they will have to go back to the place where it was made to get any leftover cremains and there is a new technique that may find something. She indicates there are likely leftovers in case the wife wants matching earrings.

At the NYPD Forensic Lab, the technician puts it thought the test and finds thallium in the remains. It is a heavy metal that should not be in human remains, and they suspect he was poisoned.

The detectives again question Marielle in interrogation about this new news, and she says her second husband used to overreact to her games. They confront her with her relationship with David while she was still married and she says they are not going to let up on this. She says David also had reason to murder Larry. As part of his business he had access to thallium and that David did it alone and he told her about it afterwards. She did not go to the police because they were soul mates. She asks if she is under arrest and they indicate no, so she leaves to go back to the funeral.


At ADA Connie Rubirosa’s (Alana De La Garza) desk, EADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) discusses the case so far with the detectives. Lupo thinks Marielle killed both of them, and Bernard suggests they just charge her with the killing of husband #2. Lupo reminds them that Amy Felner say her husband Joshua said David was going to divorce Marielle.

Cutter and Rubirosa at the apartment of Joshua (Reg Rogers) and Amy Felner, and Joshua says he didn’t say they were getting a divorce. But Amy said he did. She tries to refresh his memory and it comes out that David bought a share of one of Joshua’s projects but never mentioned a divorce. After they leave, Cutter and Rubirosa think it is odd David would buy into one of Felner’s projects and that Felner was investing with Ashcroft and Ashcroft was investing with DiNapoli – a perfect circle. Rubirosa reminds him that Felner was suing Ashcroft and that Ashcroft told the cops he lost a fortune with DiNapoli – and Cutter says, “round and round it goes.”


Back in his office, Cutter outlines the “daisy chain” to McCoy (Sam Waterston) and how they were all losing money but how they were all friendly. McCoy guesses that they are all married, and Cutter says that David’s divorce was supposed to be kept quiet. Rubirosa says it is asset stripping, you don’t file for divorce until after you’ve hidden the money. McCoy says they should remind Felner and Ashcroft that they have committed a felony.

Cutter and Rubirosa have Felner and Ashcroft in the conference room, they both press them about their investments and their losses, saying the losses were just for show for their wives. Cutter says they made as many bogus investments as they could before the divorce and the money would appear afterwards. Ashcroft says they haven’t lied about it in a divorce proceeding. Cutter asks if they are sure the wives don’t know, and Felner says Marielle knew and she called him and was crazed about it.

Afterwards, Rubirosa comments that these two would rather let a murderer go free before they let their wives have a fair share of their assets, and Cutter responds that it makes him appreciate being single. Cutter thinks they should charge Marielle and shake her up and maybe they will get a plea.

In arraignment court, Marielle pleads “not possible” and says she can’t murder he own heart and soul. The judge tells her to stick around and she’ll see.

In the prison conference area, Marielle says this is a mistake. She says she never knew about the divorce and says the investment scheme was not bogus, they wanted to get their money back so they could buy a house they always wanted in Westhampton – the house she had with Larry. The bank took it and it came back on the market a few months ago and they were going to buy it. Her lawyer (Katy Selverstone) asks if there is a plea offer because of emotional disturbance but Marielle gets upset, saying they were happy and everything was perfect. Her lawyer says she guesses that is a no – that everything was perfect. Cutter mutters – except for the dead guy in the dog cage.

In McCoy’s office, Rubirosa tells McCoy that Marielle won’t take a plea and says Marielle says she has no motive. She thinks they should check it out and McCoy tells her that maybe they will find another dead husband in the bushes.
At Real Estate Property in Westhampton, they speak to the realtor about the DiNapolis' wanting to buy the place. They were about to make an offer and added his business manager, Joshua Felner, even called to check up on it. Cutter and Rubirosa know Felner was not his business manager and wonder if he was checking on DiNapoli to find up what he was up to and that maybe DiNapoli wanted out of the arrangement, giving Felner and Ashcroft motive. When Rubirosa said this was all done to screw their wives, Cutter wonders if the wives want to return the favor.

With Amy Felner and Suzanne Ashcroft in the conference room, Suzanne gets a little pissy with Rubirosa. Cutter wants the two women to compare notes. When Cutter presses Suzanne, Amy tells her she believes it and she threw Josh out yesterday and she has a divorce lawyer AND a forensic accountant, and she has no idea where Joshua was that night. Suzanne says maybe Joshua murdered David, and Amy tells her that Josh has been telling her how Ashcroft has run around on Suzanne for years and even wanted to get into Marielle’s pants. Suzanne storms out in disgust and Amy thanks them “so much” for having them. When Amy leave, Rubirosa says the wives don’t know anything different and their only hope is to squeeze something out of one of the husbands. Cutter thinks that they just found out who might be able to help them.

Back in the prison conference room, Cutter tells Marielle’s attorney that they have a case against Marielle but if she is willing to help them with Marty Ashcroft – they just want her to talk to him, and she is willing.

Later, Marielle is in a restaurant, dressed provocatively, with Ashcroft, and Lupo and Bernard are listening to the conversation outside in their car. She says they dropped the charges and said she was seen in Connecticut when David was killed. She strokes his leg at his offer to help her, and she says she feels alone. She also said she needs money, and asks for some of the comic books but knows they were stolen. Ashcroft says not all of them, David gave her a few to evaluate. She puts her hand on a knife and asks if he has some of David’s comic books, and he smiles, and then Lupo and Bernard hear Marielle calling him a son of a bitch and Ashcroft saying “Ow!” Lupo and Bernard race out’ Marielle has already cut Ashcroft’s leg and continues to call him a SOB and a bastard as she raises the knife at him. Bernard disables her and Ashcroft says she did not kill David.

With Ashcroft in interrogation, they tell him they got a search warrant and found all of the comic books, with blood on them as well. He denies killing David. His lawyer tells him to tell the detective what he knows, and Ashcroft says that they were trying to hide money from their wives and David changed his mind and wanted his money back. Josh told him, but didn’t have the money. David said if he didn’t get the money he would blow the whistle on all of them, and Josh told Ashcroft he would take care of it. He got the comic books the night after the murder, from Josh. Later, Lupo confers with Cutter who says if it checks out they will charge Felner for murder, and Rubirosa says the case against Marielle will be dismissed. When Bernard asks if that will make her one of their witnesses, Rubirosa and Cutter nod and Bernard says, “Good Luck.”

In Supreme Court with Josh Felner on trial, Marielle is on the stand and identifies one of David’s comic books. She last saw it the afternoon before he was murdered and it was missing after his body was discovered. But the defense attorney (Joanna P. Adler) says that Ashcroft told her a different story and Marielle says she believes Josh gave it to him. She also implies that she is saying this because Cutter gave her a way out, and they argue about whether her husband wanted a divorce, and the attorney brings up the dog cage, and calls Marielle a freak. Marielle gets enraged and takes the judges gavel and makes a swing at the defense attorney and has to be restrained. The defense attorney says she was lucky there weren’t any swords handy. Cutter looks like he has a mess now.

With Josh on the stand, he testifies that David wanted the comics out of the house so they would be safe, and he did not kill him and tries to blame David’s wife. Cutter cross examines him, and Josh admits to an asset hiding scheme. He admit he is now getting divorced and that he does not think it is fair, and comments about all the money his wife spends. He complains the whole system is designed to reward women, but then says what's done is done and he is moving on. He says DiNapoli was sick of his wife and it was too much - the cage, the sword - and said David told him about those things so he would understand why he wanted out and would never go back. Cutter asked if he mentioned the handcuffs, and Josh says yeah, pink handcuffs. Cutter shoots a look at Rubirosa, who looks at her file while Josh says he mentioned them a few days before his wife killed him. Rubirosa shakes her head and Cutter tells Josh that is funny because they didn’t have the pink handcuffs then, that a store receipt shows that Marielle bought them the day of the murder. Josh said he must have read they were pink in the newspaper, and Cutter tells him they never released that information. Josh says David’s psycho wife knew they were there, and Cutter counters that so did his killer, accusing Josh.

Later, the jury reads the verdict of guilty. As they lead Josh off, Marielle approaches Cutter and Rubirosa and says she knows what people think of her, and she knows what they may think of her. She said she never lied to them, and she loved her husband. Rubirosa said he believes her, and Marielle thanks her and grasps her hand. She thanks them for everything.

Back in McCoy’s office, McCoy tells Cutter he gathers that things weren’t looking so good when their star witness tried to murder the defense attorney, and Cutter said they recovered when he let the jury see how much Felner hated his wife and he fell into the old pink handcuff trap. McCoy comments, “Just like Mr. DiNapoli used to, I imagine.“ Rubirosa enters and said the widow sent her a thank you gift for helping to convict her husband’s killer – diamond studs. (Eewww again!) Rubirosa comments it is her husband. McCoy and Cutter are speechless and look at each other. McCoy sighs in disgust and walks out, with Cutter following him as we fade to black.

All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © allthingslawandorder.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order “Immortal" Recap & Review

All photos from NBC

Based somewhat on the real life “immortal” cells of Henrietta Lacks (HeLa cells), Law & Order “Immortal” creates their own fictional version of those cells to craft a story of deceit and murder – but not at the hands of the same person. While a murder did occur, the real criminals in this story was Hema Labs, who stole cells from a man, those cells later used for huge profits for Hema, but gave nothing to the family in compensation. It was a very satisfying episode of Law & Order, both with an interesting case, but also with some added personal drama between Cutter and Van Buren. I personally wanted to give Cutter as kick in the ass for his treatment of Van Buren on the stand, and I wanted to reach out and hug Van Buren for Cutter exposing her illness for his own self serving needs. She was right to give him that icy cold shoulder at the end of the episode.

Stories such as this one make it even sadder that Law & Order will soon be nearing its end. The quality of the show has been Emmy worthy this season, and we can only hope that some other network sees this and decides to pick up the show for another run.



Here is the recap:

A man with stab wounds collapses and dies at a hospital before he can tell them what happened. Detectives Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) investigate and find the man was dropped off by someone in another car; he still has his wedding rings, car keys, and $800 in cash on his body. His ID says he is When Jerome Turner (Terence Archie) from the Bronx. They later speak with his wife. She last spoke to him in the afternoon, he said he might be late coming home from work, and there was a problem in Queens in the E Train. They tell her he had Ford car keys in his pocket and she knows no one who drives a Ford.
At Cornell Beverage in the Queens, they are told Jerome’s hours were cut and he wasn’t at work that day.

Back at the 2-7, the detectives brief Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson). The calls from his cell phones ping from all over the place and he seems to be on the move. Van Buren wonders if he has a hack license but there is none on record. She tells them to call the 3-1 precinct to see if they have any idle yellow cabs in their area. Later, the detectives are called to an abandoned taxi in Chelsea and the keys fit. There is no blood so he must have been stabbed between there and the hospital. They hope his last fare used a credit card. They later speak to the man who lent Jerome his cab who said Jerome said he was going to come into a lot of money. He also said someone used a credit card to pay for the fare in the morning but after that, nothing. He said Jerome said he had to leave early as he had to pick up his kid at school.

They speak again with Jerome’s wife about what Jerome was really doing, and tell her that Jerome picked up their son Jaden at school at noon and then brought him back a few hours later. They also tell her he said he was coming into some money. Bernard speaks with Jaden while Lupo checks Jerome’s calendar. Bernard asks Jaden about what happened that day, and said he dad said he can’t tell, it was supposed to be a surprise for his mom. He then says he went to an office building and a big man put a Qtip inside his mouth and rubbed it around. They realize Jerome was having a paternity test run on Jaden.

Back at the 2-7, they tell Van Buren what they found. She will speak with Mrs. Turner and asks they speak with Jaden again. Bernard continues to talk with Jaden and said the man talked about Nathan’s hot dogs – he just said Nathan’s. Meanwhile, Mrs. Turned says he was never with another man and does not know anyone named Nathan.

Later, the detectives and Van Buren regroup and compare notes; the detectives show a cell phone call to a private investigator, Joseph Hernandez, who may have been the person who took the DNA swab and his office is a block from where they found Jerome’s cab.

At the office of Joseph Hernandez, they try to get info from his secretary. Lupo makes small talk and starts reading the log on her desk upside down and dupes the secretary into showing her Turner’s name on the call log and that he called about Nathan Robinson. Hernandez (Jacinto Taras Riddick) enters and denies knowing Turner. He says he is retired NYPD and was hired by a law firm and that makes his information privileged.

As there are so many Nathan Robinsons in the area, they decide to check to see if Hernandez has a lab that he works with for DNA tests. The see the secretary leaving and Lupo runs and catches up with her and ask about the lab Hernandez uses. She tells him Hernandez may not use them any more as the lab lost Nathan Robinson’s DNA sample and Hernandez told her to call Hudson university to get another one and that she should speak to a technician named Jeff.

At Hudson U they speak with Jeff, who says they have Nathan Robinson’s cells growing in cultures there, he has been dead for over 50 years. They wonder if this is about an inheritance.

At the apartment of Michael (Doug E. Doug) and Dora Reed (Adella Gauthier), they find that Nathan was Michael's and his cousin Jerome’s grandfather and his mother’s dad. Dora tells them he passed in 1959 from cancer. Michael did not talk much with Jerome. They said no one has contacted them, They find Michael has a daughter Tanya who is 6 and he does not own a car. Bernard sees a list on the refrigerator and comments to Lupo that there is a three say weekend coming up.

Back at the 2-7, the detectives tell Van Buren there was a parking schedule on Reed’s refrigerator so he was lying about the car. They check records and see that Dora Reed owned an 81 blue Cordova which matches the car that dropped off Turner at the hospital. The car was sold to a junkyard by Michael Reed 4 days ago.

They go to the junkyard to get the car and it is already crushed. They know Michael Reed doesn’t know that so they bring him in for questioning. In interrogation, Van Buren brings in a folder and implies that they have information there was blood inside the car. He admits he was trying to save Jerome as Jerome was stabbed by Hernandez. He said that some people wanted to just take Jaden’s blood. Van Buren is called out of the room, and while she is out, Michael admits white people want to steal their blood. Van Buren brings in Reed’s attorney (Seth Gilliam) who stops the questioning.

Later, Van Buren speaks with ADA Connie Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza) and EADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) about the case and she thinks Hernandez is in neck deep but also thinks Reed is involved as he took Turner to the hospital and then lied about it. Cutter wants to charge him with murder, and they must work on motive.

Rubirosa tried to get help from Dora Reed, and she refuses to talk to her. Tanya lets it leak she has an uncle Eddie.

At an adult care facility, they find Eddie was has cerebral palsy and has been there 30 years. Rubirosa tries to speak with him and he asks if she is going to stick his arm. A worker says that someone used to come by to take his blood, and Eddie says it was Dr. Vincent Thurman.

Back at her desk, Rubirosa tells Cutter that Dr. Vincent Thurman died in 1997 who was an oncologist at the hospital where Nathan Robinson died in 1959. He founded Hema Labs in 1959 and their first product was cancer cells sold for research.

At the office of Glen Dolan (David Costabile) at Hema Labs, he says all their projects are confidential and proprietary. They tell him they think something happened when Hernandez was alone with Jaden. Dolan wants to consult his legal department and they decide to get a subpoena.

Later, in Cutter’s office, ME Rodgers (Leslie Hendrix) tells them Hema Labs tested Jaden to see if he was a descendant of Nathan Robinson. Hema cell line that makes all the money is known as NaRo, probably for Nathan Robinson. They are a lab staple, cells that stay alive in cultures and are considered immoral. They may be testing a new drug and need Jaden’s cells. It seems that Hernandez tracked down some of that family in the area near where Nathan Robinson died and think he was hunting DNA which may have started trouble between Michael and Jerome.

At the shack-like home of Cordell Robinson, he says he told Hernandez all Nathan’s kids moved to the city he knows about the Nathan’s “magic” cells which he said the company stole. Robinson’s son hands Cutter and Rubirosa a bowl of “squirrel stew” which he said is chicken – honest. Cordell tells them someone took a sample of Nathan’s cells without him knowing, then shows them Nathan’s grave. When his father looks about to tell them something, his son shakes his head to stop him, then says Michael says not to say anything. Cordell says they can trust them, saying that Michael Reed said not to give anyone any blood because he is going to sue Hema Labs. He said the whole family had to stick together.

In the prison interrogation, they confront Reed and he says that Hernandez stabbed Jerome. His lawyer said wait until a jury hears the whole story.

Later, they have Hernandez in the office conference room who tells him he made a deal with Jerome for his kid and gave him a check but Jerome wanted cash. He then says to talk to his lawyer and he leaves. DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) asks what they have to corroborate his story and they say there is no evidence of a knifing or an argument and Jerome did have money on him when he was killed. McCoy says they can’t let the trial be about Hema Labs. When Cutter says the Hema Labs treatment of the family has been a disgrace, McCoy tells him to get ahead of it.

In Supreme Court, Glen Dolan is on the stand telling them about the cells and that they needed to study the last descendant of the family. Cutter tries to show how badly they treated Nathan and that neither Nathan not his dependents compensated. But he says they never hurt Nathan and the drugs they make help millions. Cutter brings up the Tuskegee experiments, where Dolan must recount how black men with syphilis were studied and there were abuses, and Cutter adds that the men were withheld treatment and allowed to die. Cutter also brings up night-snatching, where black residents were snatched off the streets so doctors could perform experiments without their consent. Cutter says Hema Labs did the same thing at the light of day and this is what angered Reed. Under cross, Reed’s attorney says Hema Labs knew that Hernandez had a violent record and was used for that very reason. But Hernandez, on the stand, says Jerome was happy when he left his office. Under cross, the Reed’s attorney brings out Hernandez record and the work he did with Hema Labs and said he helped Hema Labs to get low settlements in Indonesia on another problem, and said Hema used him to intimidate Nathan’s family and Hernandez shows his angry, nasty side.

Later, with Van Buren on the stand, Cutter questions her about Hernandez, and, after a long pause, asks her if she is undergoing treatment for cervical cancer. She seems rattled and says this is a private matter, and the judge tells her to answer as best she can. She admits she is undergoing treatment and using some drugs and treatments made by Hema Labs. He asks if it disturbs her that these drugs were created without consent from Nathan Robinson. She says, “How can you ask me that?” but he presses for an answer. She responds, “What do you think, Mr. Cutter? These drugs might save my life. I’m grateful to Nathan Robinson and his family. But that doesn’t mean they were treated with justice, Mr. Cutter. Or dignity.”

Outside the courthouse, Van Buren is waiting to ambush Cutter, and she is angry, saying she can’t believe what he just did to her in there, and is upset he didn’t give her a heads up. When he stammers and said it occurred to him at the moment, she asks if it occurred to him that she may have a problem with it. He says he was trying to keep the defense from using the same argument, but she knows he was using her and he violated his privacy to win his case and says he is no better than Hema Labs.

Back in Supreme Court, Dora Reed is on the stand being questioned by the defense. She says she convinced Michael against suing the company, and that those cells went all over the world to cure people. She said Michael would get mad at Hema Labs but not at Jerome. Cutter questions her and brings up how she had to watch her son and Jerome struggle for money. He presses her that Hema Labs owe him, and she admits that Hema Labs does owe them and should pay something and that Michael just wanted what was fair.

In Cutter’s office, he and Rubirosa tell McCoy the jury has been out three days and asked the judge to clarify the difference between man 1 and man 2. He suggests they make a deal. Later, they make Michael an offer of man 1 for 10 years, and tell him the jury verdict could mean 25 to life. McCoy also suggest to Dolan of Hema Labs they should do the right thing to avoid the publicity of another trial. Dolan offers one million to be paid over 10 years divided equally among Robinson’s heirs. McCoy brings up Eddie in the group home and asks them to read the definition of assault which includes taking blood without consent. When the lawyer says there is a statute of limitations, Rubirosa says not to cover a concealed crime against an incompetent victim. Dolan offers 3 million and Cutter presses for more, and then says to make it 10 million, payable now. Michael admits he did try to save Jerome after he stabbed him and that he stabbed him out of anger. He agrees to the deal.

Afterwards, Cutter visits the 2-7 to return Hernandez’s personnel file to Lupo and Bernard and tells them the case plead out. Van Buren walks toward him and he says "Lieutenant” as if to greet and talk with her, and she coldly says, “Counselor” as she walks right past him, leaving his standing there sheepishly as we fade to black.

All Text Content (Recaps, Review, Commentary) © allthingslawandorder.blogspot.com unless otherwise noted

Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order “Rubber Room” Behind the Scenes and Cast Interview Clips Season (Series) Finale

Here are several cast interview clips, courtesy of NBCU, where they speak about the season (and right now series) finale of Law & Order, “Rubber Room.” The clips feature Alana De La Garza, Anthony Anderson, Jeremy Sisto, and guest star Lindsey Vonn.

My recap and review of Law & Order "Rubber Room" can be found here.

Don’t forget to catch the preview clips from the episode at this link:
Preview Clips from & Order, “Rubber Room.”













Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order “Rubber Room” Preview Clips Season (Series) Finale

Here are several preview clips, courtesy of NBCU, of the season (and right now the series) finale of Law & Order, “Rubber Room.” The previews feature S. Epatha Merkerson, Anthony Anderson, Jeremy Sisto, Alana De La Garza, and Linus Roache. These videos have a limited life and will be removed a few days after the episode airs, so catch them while you can.

My recap and review of Law & Order "Rubber Room" can be found here.

Don't forget to catch the behind the scenes and cast interview clips at this link:
Behind the scenes and cast interview clips from Law & Order, “Rubber Room.”
























Check out my blog home page for the latest Law & Order information, on All Things Law And Order, here.

Also, see my companion Law & Order site,These Are Their Stories.

Law & Order “The Taxman Cometh” Recap & Review

"The Taxman Cometh” was a slightly twisty and meandering case that went from what looked like one murder to another death of a member of the same family, a death that was orchestrated to coincide with making the best of an inheritance tax loophole. Throw in a lesbian relationship where one party adopts another to gain some family rights, add a questionable ruling by a judge in family court, then toss in a baby and Jack McCoy channeling Faye Dunaway in the film “Chinatown” and you get an episode that was dull yet strangely entertaining. It may have been the closest that a Law & Order episode has gotten to an hour of comedy in a long time, with Cutter seemingly getting into a deeper mess any time he tries to do something to advance his case. (By the way, in case you've never seen that infamous scene from Chinatown, I included it at the bottom of the recap.)

The ruling in family court, where the judge invalidates the adoption, almost went off the rails when the judge rules that the lesbian couple have marital privilege. Considering the history of the show where Jack McCoy argued and won a case that gay couples do not share such rights under the law, it was a surprise that they even allowed the judge to make what was clearly a ridiculous ruling, one that I don't think was in her authority to make. Luckily, they later get a judge who rules in Cutter’s favor, thus undoing that silly ruling. (Mind you, I am not saying that gay couples should not be allowed to marry and have the same rights, on the contrary, I think they should. It’s just that the family court judge is not the person who should be making a ruling on marital privilege for a gay couple that wasn’t even really married.)

It was nice that they had Anita be the one to connect the dots on the tax loophole. Clearly, money is on her mind and maybe even she is thinking of her own estate during the time that she has been ill. (They'd better not kill her off, I will never forgive them.)

Something that most people don’t often think about are the episode’s scenery and camera work – and I really enjoyed them in this episode. It was nice that they got Jack and Mike in a different setting such as the restaurant, and in general I liked how they framed many of the scenes, in some cases highlighting characters for maximum effect. Examples are those which featured the stunned looks on Mike’s face. Speaking of Mike, I think Linus Roache is doing a fine job in his role of EADA and he is becoming just as creative, and credible, as Jack McCoy was when he held that position.





Here is the recap:

At a night club, Annie Douglas (Morgan Lynch) complains to her cousin Randy (Daniel Abeles), that she wants to go home. He calls for someone to bring the car around. When the limo driver moves to let Annie out of the car, she falls out, dead. Later, with Detectives Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) on the scene, Lupo is told there is a needle mark on the body and suspect and overdose. Bernard, meanwhile, I watching inside the house with Catherine Douglas (Robin Weigert), who has assumed her niece died from drugs. Annie was staying with her and she thought she could keep an eye on her. Lupo and Bernard question the driver who drove Randy and Annie home; he said the privacy glass was up all night and he could not see a thing. He took nothing from the back seat, and the detectives wonder if cousin Randy clean up.

The detectives question Randy with his attorney present, and he only admits to being out of the car at one time to urinate and to get some air. Later, back at the 2-7, the detectives brief Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson). The home was that of her grandfather, Henry Douglas, who Lupo describes as a super rich guy who died of cancer last year and she was living there with her aunt. Van Buren tells them to find out where Randy gets his drugs.

They retrace his steps from the night before, and at one location see a guy who is taking out lots of trash. He says he has never seen Randy. Lupo sees that the doorbell is really a phone to the other apartments, so he moves to get the phone records. Afterwards, he contacts some of the tenants, and press one tenant about who came to see him at 3:00 AM and admits Randy came there and bought drugs.

Afterwards, they speak to ADA Connie Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza) and tell her that they think Randy bought the drugs and then cleaned up afterwards. Lupo wonders if Annie was killed on purpose over money and wonder what was in his grandfather’s will. They decide to look into that.

At Catherine Douglas’ townhouse with Catherine her attorney and the co-executor of the will, Bruce Graham (Damian Young), they find the siblings shared in the estate and also the grandchildren which included Randy. Later, Randy is at the 2-7 with his lawyer in interrogation and they accuse him of murdering Annie for the money. He denies killing Annie and says it was an accident, he said she was very depressed over her grandfather’s death; she had visited him every day at the Balicheck Clinic She wanted to forget. His lawyer and Rubirosa agree to a charge of criminal facilitation, with 6 months in jail.


Afterwards, Bernard moans about the 6 months and Rubirosa tells him it was a weak case. Lupo comments that Randy said that his grandfather died at the Balicheck Clinic, and wonders why he didn’t go to his own cancer clinic for treatment. Van Buren tells them to check it out.

The detectives check out Henry Douglas’ own clinic and find that Catherine was not satisfied with his treatment there, taking him to Balicheck for experimental treatment. They then speak with Dr. Balicheck (Mark Linn-Baker) at the Balicheck Clinic, who tells them they do hormonal therapy with nutritional therapy. He says Henry came there too late, and then dismisses the detectives.

Back at the 2-7, the detectives give Van Buren an update. The AMA has the Balicheck Clinic on their watch list. They also find that many rich people have died there. Later, they investigate a person who sent his mother to the clinic and he said Balicheck offered them hope and he would do it again. At the Casey Penthouse, they also find another woman who sent her father there and said the clinic gave them 6 more months with him. As they go to leave, Bernard apologizes to the woman’s husband for upsetting his wife, and he says it has been hard and the last few months were hell on her father and describes the horrible treatment.

Back at the 2-7, the detectives think this last story discounts their murder for money theory. But Anita says this is perfect – all the people died in 2010 as the one who had longer life expectancies got it cut short, and the one who was supposed to die in 2009 was kept alive until January 2010. It is a loophole form the Bush tax laws, as there are no tax laws in 2010 and they get to keep it all. This may be the motive and that Balicheck may expect a kick back. Lupo says he will call Rubirosa for a subpoena.

They search the office of Bruce Graham, who is very aware of the tax loophole.

Back at the 2-7, they find no connection to Balicheck but do find that Catherine is spending a lot of money. They see huge payments to someone named Amanda Green, a name they saw on the Balicheck Clinic logs.

They question Amanda Green (Clea Duvall), who says that money was for her and not Balicheck, it was a settlement of their joint financial affairs, saying that she and Catherine had been lovers up until a few months ago. She met Balicheck when she visited Henry, and she and Henry had a good relationship. When the detectives begin to question her about the care he was getting, she recalls something and says she thought Catherine was kidding when, last year, she came home after a meeting with her accountant, and he had told her about the tax loophole and she was laughing about it, saying if he has to go he may as well go in 2010.

The detectives bring this information to EADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) who thinks this may be a coincidence, but Rubirosa says Bruce Graham also worked for the other people the detectives spoke to whose parents also died at the Balicheck Clinic. He also worked for Balicheck. He may have been motivated by the huge fees he would get as executor. Cutter says they need one of the suspects to tell the story, and tells them to arrest all of them. Later, with everyone in the holding cell, including Balicheck, Graham enters with Catherine, both cuffed, and tells them not to say a word. When Lupo asks where to put those two, she tells him to chain them to the Coke machine.

With all of them at arraignment, they all plead not guilty. One defense attorney says the DA is putting on a show. But the judge asks for $1 million bail per person and their passports.

Taking turns with the attorneys and the defendants in Cutter’s conference room, they try arguing about whether it is a conspiracy. Cutter wants Balicheck to tell them how he came around to treat so many of Graham's wealthy clients. Rubirosa tells Catherine her former lover’s testimony will say what really happened, and Catherine asks what Rubirosa's former lovers will say about HER.

Later, at a restaurant, Cutter tells DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) that he thought one of them would fold, but Jack says with big game like that if they don’t go down in a single shot, you are in trouble. Jack tells him maybe Cutter shouldn’t have been so quick to arrest the entire upper east side. When Cutter asks if McCoy never went out on a limb, McCoy looks uncomfortable and doesn’t answer. Cutter says okay, they will go to war with the army they have. They have Catherin’s ex-girlfriend’s testimony with what Catherine told her after meeting with Graham, and says it all connects through him and he thinks the jury will see the pattern But Rubirosa enters and tells them that they were given a motion to sever and the defense wants three separate trials. When the hostess tells McCoy and Cutter that their table is ready, McCoy says that Cutter has to work.

A Supreme court motion hearing about severing the defendants, the defense attorneys argues their point. But the judge dismisses the case against Casey because she prolonged the life of her father and grants the motion to sever on the rest.

Back at the office, Cutter thinks they should now lead with their strongest case, Catherine Douglas. He thinks they can use the other two deaths, and when Rubirosa reminds him the judge severed the cases, Cutter says that the judge never said a work about People V. Molineaux. Rubirosa says they can now introduce evidence of uncharged acts to show a common scheme or plan. Cutter says they can bring in the other deaths without needing to prove them. Cutter wonders if anything with Amanda can be used against them, and Rubirosa checks records and says, “Oh my” and Cutter lets out a quiet whistle.

At Amanda Green’s they confront her with the fact that Catherine was not just her lover, Catherine adopted her, and she is her mother. Amanda says only in some fictitious sense, that gay people sometimes adopt each other to get family and property rights. They didn’t tell anyone about it. Cutter tells her now as Henry’s grandchild, she has a share in that estate. She says she never thought about that. She says she will still testify against Catherine, but they remind her if Catherine is found guilty she will not get a portion of the estate as she can’t profit from her crime, and it passes to her next of kin – her daughter – Amanda. This would give her motive to lie. They tell her she has to renounce the inheritance. But she refuses, as she doesn’t want the money to go to Henry's relatives who never cared for him. She then announces she is pregnant.

Afterwards, Cutter says they will have to renounce the inheritance for her as the adoption is a fraud and they will have it nullified.
In family court, Cutter says Douglas is there under the pretense of protecting herself from a murder trial. But her lawyer Haig (Christopher Even Welch) says she is there to protect the family rights of gay people. Amanda’s lawyer says that Amanda has no agenda. They discuss the adoption being a fraud and Amanda says that legally this was the only way they could be related. Cutter says they lived and behaved as spouses, not mother and child, and says the relationship was equivalent of marriage and the end should be the equivalent of a divorce. The judge agrees that the adoption was a sham and invalidates it. She takes an extra step and says since they were essentially married, she accords them marital privilege and bars Amanda from testifying against Catherine. Cutter is shocked.

Later, McCoy walks into Cutter’s office and comments that he hears congratulations are in order, and his brilliant argument just made new case law about the marital privilege. Cutter says it destroyed his case, and they are calling him "Boomerang Mike.” Rubirosa says the ruling is unsupportable and family court rulings aren’t binding in criminal court – and McCoy interjects, “Unless the trial judge says it is.” McCoy tells him the judge for the criminal case’s son got married to another man last year, and tells them good luck. Cutter stares, stunned.

In a Supreme Court motion hearing, Haig argues the people want things both ways. And Cutter says it is about the laws of the state of New York. The judge agrees and says Amanda can testify. Afterwards, when Cutter and Rubirosa exit the courtroom, They see Catherine and Amanda talking, and Amanda tells them it WAS about equal rights, and says her testimony won’t be much good to her as what she told the police wasn’t true, she was still mad about their breakup. She says they can call her to the stand but she will have nothing negative to say about Catherine.

Back in Cutter’s office, Graham comes in with his attorney and Graham says all he is guilty of is explaining the tax code. When they leave, Cutter tells Rubirosa that if the lesbian route in unreliable, they will go the non-lesbian route. Cutter wonders if they have been going about this backwards focusing on the people Balicheck killed, wondering how he kept Mrs. Casey’s father alive.

Later in McCoy’s office, they inform McCoy that Balicheck used chemotherapy, and Balicheck hates using chemo. McCoy says it violated Balicheck’s own principles and they can use it against him at trial. Cutter wants to use Balicheck against Graham. McCoy is confused as Cutter has been saying that Balicheck is the hit man. But they can’t find any suspicious payments to Balicheck. McCoy says maybe he got a back of cash and a blind pig in Chinatown. Cutter thinks Balicheck did it for free and maybe he didn’t know he was being used as s hit man. Cutter is going to drop the charges and use him as witness, as only he knows why he violated his own principles.

At Balicheck’s, Cutter and Rubirosa tell him they dropped the charges and says he did nothing wrong. But they bring up Casey’s father and his chemo treatment, and he says he was just trying to sustain him and ask him why, since this conflicted with his principles. He says it was Graham, who asked him to keep Casey alive until January due to an inheritance issue, or he will pull out all the other patients he brought to him. Balicheck says if he would have cured someone like Douglas he could have gained credibility. They decided to do an experimental stem cell therapy and he needed placental cells from a close blood relative, and Amanda volunteered. She conceived in vitro and the egg donated was from Catherine.

Back in Cutter’s office, they go over what they know with McCoy and now the issues with Amanda being pregnant. They comment that when Amanda was legally Catherine’s daughter, at one point the baby would have been both Catherine’s daughter and granddaughter. McCoy jokingly recounts the infamous Chinatown/Faye Dunaway “she's my sister - she’s my daughter” movie scene and they all smile. McCoy brings up King Solomon who threatened to cut a child in half, and when Cutter says they have no sword, Rubirosa says they have something better.

In the Southern District conference room, Cutter has Amanda, Catherine, and Haig to discuss what they know about the baby. Amanda says she will not testify, and Cutter continues to put pressure on her, including offering a deal to Graham. When she still refuses, Cutter says they made arrangements, and Rubirosa comes in with cousin Randy and tell him that with Catherine in jail, the baby would go to Randy, and tell them that Randy will inherit the money from Henry’s estate that will go to the care of the baby. Amanda tells Catherine to do something, and Catherine says the whole thing was Graham’s idea, and how they could save money if her father died this year and Balicheck would kill him whether he wanted to or not. Cutter says if she pleads to manslaughter the baby will go to Amanda. Catherine agrees.

Later in McCoy’s office, Cutter tells him that Catherine gave it up and Graham saw he was cooked, and he pleaded to a single count and took 10 years. McCoy says he would have never let Cutter give the baby to that idiot cousin, and Rubirosa answers, “And Solomon wouldn’t have swung his sword, it was theatre.” McCoy tells them “Bravo” and as they turn to leave and McCoy goes back to his work, we fade to black.



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