Law & Order LA “Van Nuys” Recap & Review

All photos from NBCUniversal 

Law & Order LA “Van Nuys” was an interesting episode that featured the softer side of Detective “TJ” Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll) when he seems smitten with an adult film star who was targeted for murder. Corey Stoll is one of the bright spots of Law & Order LA and this episode only made me more sad that the show has been canceled. The legal aspect of the episode was also interesting; having both DDA Morales (Alfred Molina) and Dekker (Terrence Howard) is something the series should have done more often. Alfred Molina is clearly a commanding presence and makes even the dullest legal scene come to life. I find myself wondering - as I have with the last few episodes – what they thought was so wrong with this episode that they couldn’t air it while the show was being revamped.

Bob Saget was perfect as the creepy adult film producer Adam Brennan who set up a mass murder to cover up that one of his stars contacted HIV. I could have done without the corny ending which attempted to elicit sympathy for adult films actors. Yes, they are real people who have lives much like normal people. But one has to wonder if having repeated unprotected sex with several partners is something most normal people would do, especially in this day and age of numerous sexually transmitted viruses like HIV. To me, it’s like working on a skyscraper without having a safety harness and tether - one never knows when a slip may occur.   While I am not saying Erin deserved what she got,  she certainly is not blameless in catching HIV and spreading it to others in her profession.

Here is the recap:
At a birthday party with some girls hired as party guests, one of the girls standing outside sees partygoers being beaten and she runs off. Later, Detectives Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich) and “TJ” Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll) are at the scene and hear that the homeowners, David and Chloe Schwab and three party guests were beaten to death. The scene is gruesome. Someone left a rubber grip – it looks like a professional hit. The jewelry and cash is not taken but they may have been after coke.

Lt. Arleen Gonzales (Rachel Ticotin) and arrives, and reporters are on the scene, and she tells the detectives the killings already have a name – the Appian Way murders. TJ tells her the killers may have been after a stash of coke in the bedroom, a brick, maybe more. The homeowners were in the movie business, Jeff and Betty Reed had a tropical fish store. The girl found by the pool, Lacy Von, has a conviction for cocaine possession and she had two joints and $800 in her purse. Gonzales tells them to check on the guest with the drug conviction.

At the home of Lacy Von, the detectives arrive to find the home in complete disarray. It seems Lacy had a roommate and TJ notices a jacket at the party that matches one found in a photo in the home. They think she is a witness and she got away. She also appears to match a girl in a photo for a adult themed DVD they found in the room. Rex thinks they girls were the paid entertainment.

At Velour Pictures, the detectives speak with Adam Brennan (Bob Saget) to try to find the other girl, Sasha Janes. They find her real name is Erin  Gradin and she has been under contract for a year with Velour Pictures.

Back at RHD, the detectives tells Gonzales that Erin has been paying off a mortgage at a residential property in Bakersfield and she last made an ATM withdrawal the day before at 6 by a Dennys on the 5 which is on the way to Bakersfield.

At the home of Elizabeth and Phil Gradin, her parents, they tell the detectives they don’t know where Erin is but she called the day before saying she was going to take a break from work – she is a jewelry designer. She has been helping to pay their mortgage since they were both laid off. Rex notices a purse and Phil says that she is a good daughter. Rex talks loudly saying that he is sure he would not want to put them in danger. TJ explains the possible danger from the people she is running from. She comes out of a room and she asks if they will protect her family.

Erin (Addison Timlin) explains she and Lacy were paid to be there and for photos, nothing dirty. His wife knew her friend Jackie from their martial arts class. She was by the pool when they were called in by Jackie’s wife and Lacy went in but she stayed by the pool. She say Lacy stumbled out covered in blood and Erin ran. She did not know there were drugs there, and she said Lacy asked to light up a joint and they told her not to. Jackie had to leave early and he was the one who got them the job. He left just before the cake and he keeps calling her but she has not called him back. She shows them a video left on her friend’s face page. It’s Jackie begging her to call him. Rex asks her to call Jackie from her parent’s land line. She is worried about that but TJ tells her to trust them. She starts dialing.

Later, the detective wait and see a black car pull up to the house. They get their guns ready as two men approach the house, also with guns. The men a distracted by a raccoon in the garbage can and the detectives, along with police, jump out at them with guns drawn. The 2 men drop their guns.

At arraignment, DDA Evelyn Price (Regina Hall) asks for bail of $1 million each for the 2 men and states they are members of the Armenian Power gang and face sentencing under 3 strikes. Their attorney Brandon Able (Rob Brownstein) tries to counter it but the judge agrees with Price. Afterwards, Price tells Able there are no deals, she wants to see the jury piss themselves when they hear his “lost in Bakersfield” story. She comments that the man’s boss Mike Sarkissian (Michael Peter Bolus) must be worried otherwise why would he be there? She turns to Sarkissian who tells Able not to waste his time talking to the help. When they walk off, the defectives approach and Price asks them how a nice couple like the Schwabs got involved with those guys. They think Jackie double crossed them and set them up for a rip-off. She says they need to tie them to Appian way and they have to find Jackie.

At the Los Angeles Plaza Hotel, the detectives speak with Erin to try to find Jackie. He had a boyfriend in Palm Springs named Larry. When Rex goes off to make a call. TJ tries to calm Erin. Rex watches and interrupts just as TJ is making a move to touch her. He tells them Jackie spoke on his cell to a Larry Hauser in Palm Springs. As TJ walks away, Rex gives him a hard glare and then tells him to drive.

At the home of Larry Hauser, he says he does not know where Jackie is. He seems annoyed with Jackie, saying he took a shuttle down from LA a few weeks ago and crashed there. On Sunday, Jackie asked to borrow his car to run an errand and was gone three hours and thought Jackie found another “daddy.” He tracked the GPS to some swank address in Palm Desert where there are tennis courts.

They get to the house to find some work being done on it. There was a break in at the home two weeks ago on a Sunday. The detectives head to the local police who tell them the security alarm went off and the home was a shambles and someone defecated on the master bed. The homeowner, Mrs. Eileen Gold did not want to make a report and her son – Michael Sarkissian - showed up with a lawyer and threatened to sue if the officers didn’t leave. Rex asks them to put out a BOLO on Jackie Lee and they need a warrant on the Gold house for fingerprints, drug dogs, the works. Rex thinks they had this all backwards – that Sarkissian had the drugs stashed at his house and Jackie ripped them off and Jackie saved his skin by giving up his accomplices. They soon find that Jackie Lee is already in the Palm Desert system for 3 drunk and disorderly arrests and was last picked up threatening patrons at a nightclub with a Samurai sword. Larry bailed him out the first two times but the third time by an Adam Brennan of Velour Pictures.

They go back to Adam who said Jackie is his actor. He says Jackie called him yesterday and said people were after him and he thought he was just being paranoid. He told him he could crash at one of the sets he was not using.

The detectives go to the set and find Jackie there, dead.

Later, they explain this to Price and DDA Ricardo Morales (Alfred Molina) who is not happy that the Armenians beat them to him. The found slugs at Sarkissian’s mother’s house which match the slugs found in Jackie. But no gun was recovered and they have nothing to tie them to the Schwabs. Morales says now they have motive, and that and the slugs can get them an arrest warrant for Sarkissian.

Later, the detectives watch the news coverage of their arrest of Sarkissian with Erin. She asks if she can go home but Rex tells her it depends on the DA. As Rex gets his jacket, TJ tells Erin she does not sound so scared anymore. She asks to see her parent and TK says they can arrange it. He asks if there is anything else, and she replies no but adds he has been great. She tells him his job must make it hard to sleep and when TK says yes, sometimes, Rex interrupts him again to ask if TJ is ready, adding a glare. TJ says they will check out her parents and tells her to take care of herself.

In the car, Rex shakes his head and says he is all for hand holding a witness but cautions TJ to take it easy. He adds that he knows that look and wonders what TJ has in mind for this girl. He says maybe after the trial he will take her out for dinner. Rex asks if he can really wait that long. TJ gets impatient and says screw the traffic and turns on the lights and sirens but Rex turns them off. Rex thinks Erin could be in on it and they begin to argue about Erin and TJ accuses Rex of being jealous. Rex warns TJ not to burn this case.

DA Jerry Hardin (Peter Coyote) is having a press conference about Sarkissian’s arrest while Rex, TJ, Price and Morales watch on TV. Morales says every link in the evidentiary chain must be unassailable and asks where they are weak. It is the lack of connections to the Schwabs’. Morales tells them to put Sarkissian there before the hearing.

Back at RHD, the detectives go over what they have. They found a charge card charge for Chloe Schwab for an ER and wonder if she was injured during the break in.

At Angel of Mercy Hospital, they find she came in for what Chloe said was a kitchen accident. Chloe also asked for a latex glove as she was worried about getting salt in the wound. She said she was going sailing.

Later, Morales and Price turn over the information to Able and Sarkissian that the Schwabs were in fact sailing at the time of the Palm Springs robbery. Morales reminds them that this does not mean they were not involved as there was coke at the Schwab residence. Hall also adds they still have the case for the death of Jackie Lee. The defense said the gun in question was stolen during the break in at the Palm Springs house and was reported to the insurance company. When Morales makes a crack about the coke not being reported to insurance, Able and Sarkissian get up to leave and Able tells Morales he will never get past the prelim. After they leave, Price tells Morales that one plus one must equal two, but Morales thinks not if  Jackie wanted it to look like they stole the coke. He wonders about the girls Jackie arranged for the party.

Erin is in the conference room with Morales, Rex and TJ, and she tells them that she just got laid off and Jackie invited her but she asked Lacy to come. Morales asks Erin if she can think of a reason why Jackie would want her killed, and she says no. She looks at TJ and comments he said it was bad luck she was at that party, and he sheepishly says maybe it wasn’t. She says she and Jackie don’t even know each other well. She does not do drugs and mentions and ex-boyfriend Joe who did and she last spoke with him a few weeks ago. He called and said he hoped she was happy but his voice was mean.

The detectives speak with Joe about him being an IV drug user. He said he did not try to kill her, and says he hardly leaves his apartment. TJ sees meds there that indicate Joe may have AIDS and he confronts Joe about it and asks if Erin knows. When TJ literally gets in Joe’s face about it, he tells them to leave. Rex pulls TK back.

Later, Rex explains this new development to Gonzales and TJ said the same day Joe called Erin, Joe also called the head of Velour Pictures, Adam Brennan. She got laid off. Porn actors jet HIV tests monthly and if Erin tested positive the health department get alerted and the porn industry shuts down. If Brennan though Erin had AIDS he would not want her tested and as his business is having financial problems, he can’t take another shutdown. The only way to avoid the test is being dead. They think the drug hit was a cover for killing Erin. Gonzales tells them before they talk to Erin and the DA to find out what Brennan knew and when he knew it

The detectives check with someone on the movie production staff and find the last time Erin was tested was 21 days ago and she was negative and is due to be tested again in 9 days. She was laid off as Brennan wanted to “go in another direction.” She told Brennan that Erin tested negative. He had her bag up her props – the sex toys used in her movies – and send them to his office.

Later, the detectives tell Morales that Brennan could have used the props to get body fluids to test Erin without her knowledge and without the department of health finding out. Once she tested positive he had to get rid of her so he set up the killing to make it looks like Erin was collateral damage. Morales says the first step to proving it is to confirm that the intended victim is HIV positive. Rex races out and TJ pauses then tells them the intended victim has a name.

Later, the detectives tell Erin of their theory and she admits she had unprotected sex. She said she got lonely, and TJ tells her no one is blaming her. He adds they will take care of Brennan. She cries and says they didn’t always use condoms on set and is upset she could have infected others. Rex says they will have her tested. She looks at TJ and says she was ready not to be scared and angry and after the trial her real life would start.

Back at his desk, TJ gets a call and seems upset at what the caller tells him and he walks off. Later, Price tells Morales that Erin tested positive. Morales says now they go after Brennan.

Jerry Hardin, looking at the newspaper headline about Brennan’s arrest, tells Morales he isn’t thrilled that he went on camera to swear he was going to take down the Armenians. Hardin things Brennan’s involvement can help the case against the Sarkissian’s, but this angers Morales who says Brennan should be the priority as he is legally and morally culpable. Hardin says he promised Sarkissian’s head on a platter and tells Morales to make a deal with Brennan. Morales walks out of the office with Price and tells her to see if Joe Dekker is around.

Later, Morales and Price, along with DDA Joe Dekker (Terrence Howard) speak with Brennan and his attorney (Meredith Scott Lynn) to outline their theory. Brennan tells them his help will cost them and asks if they will play ball, Morales says they will and says that is why Dekker is there. Dekker has the Sarkissian trial and says Brennan would be a witness for that trial. Brennan’s attorney says Brennan wants immunity on all Appian Way murders and he adds for Jackie Lee. Dekker agrees. Brennan says the jury will eat it up, he’s a producer and that’s what he does, he manipulates idiots and between Sarkissian and Jackie Lee it did not take much. He also says he wants protective custody, and not in some dump, asking for the Four Seasons. Dekker grudgingly agrees.

In court, Brennan testifies at the Sarkissian trial and about Jackie Lee and the coke and the robbery. He also told him to relieve himself on Sarkissian’s bed to make it look personal and Jackie would pin it on some friend he knew from martial arts. He admits he set it into motion to get rid of Erin and make it look like a drug murder. He tells them about the plan for Jackie to leave the door open and to take the drugs and kill everyone. He said he knew Sarkissian was involved because he listened to calls between Jackie and Sarkissian. Dekker presents the phone records to support that Brennan was listening to the calls.

Under cross examination, the defense attorney gets on Brennan about his business, but he says he is just providing a service. The defense says the deal with Dekker for immunity gave him to lie. Dekker redirects and Brennan says that the deal was made out of fear, he says Dekker had no case against him. Dekker brings up that Brennan is afraid of Sarkissian and Brennan admits that is true and that he will be going into witness protection.

Later, Dekker tells Morales that Sarkissian was guilty on all counts and now the ball is in Morales’ hands. Morales tells Price they will go break the news to Brennan.

At the Four Seasons hotel, Morales and Price tell Brennan that Sarkissian was guilty. Morales then has TJ and Rex arrest Brennan as Price tells them they have a warrant for his arrest for 12 felony counts of aiding and abetting unprotected sex with an HIV carrier. Morales said Brennan didn’t tell Erin of her HIV status and let her work unprotected on a set for 12 hours and that is criminal transmission of the HIV virus. As the detectives take Brennan off, Price tells Morales that she is all for creative prosecution but no one who wasn’t actually having sex has ever been convicted of criminal transmission. Morales said so they get to work and the next step is getting Erin’s testimony.

Morales and Price, with TJ present, try to convince Erin to testify. She admits she has not told her parents what she does and then they will know. When TJ seems to want to defend her stance, Morales asks to see him outside. TJ tells Morales he is bullying her, but Morales says he invited TJ there because he has a rapport with her, not to sandbag his case. TJ thinks they are just as bad as Brennan, but Morales says they are doing the right thing. Meanwhile, Erin tells Price that she wants Brennan to go to jail but Price says it is her decision. Morales tells TJ he does not know what is going on with TK and that witness, and TJ says she is not a witness, she is a person and deserves to be treated that way. Price opens the conference room door and Erin steps out and says it is OK, she knows this is not just about her.

In court, Erin testifies about doing adult films and also about not always using condoms because Brennan wanted it. She trusted him. Morales mentions Joe’s testimony about telling Brennan about his HIV status, and Erin says Brennan never told her. She adds she was laid off from the film 3 days later. She had sex with four people and group scenes with 8 others in that time and did not use condoms. Had she known, she would have stopped doing sex scene and told her partners. Under cross examination, Erin admits she got sex from a boyfriend, not at the pictures, and that she was not forced to have sex for the films, and she also got more money for more acts. She said she would have preferred to use condoms and did not know Joe was an addict when she had sex. She has to admit that contracting HIV was her fault. The defense attorney says that her performing partners assumed the risk of having sex with a person like her, and this comment upsets Erin. She says what the attorney is doing is wrong, she and Brennan are trying to make her look worthless. She said Brennan knew she was sick and tried to kill her so he could keep making money. She said he used her and she is not worthless or trash, she is a person and she deserves to be treated like one.

Afterwards, the defense and Morales argue about the HIV tests and Brennan testing her secretly and that he wanted to protect his business. Morales says these adult actors work legally and pay their rents, they feed their children, and every life has dignity and is worthy of protection. The judge agrees that the people have met their proof and Brennan will be help for trial. TJ looks at Erin and smiles and she seems happy. The defense attorney suggests to Morales that they talk.

Outside the courtroom, Erin thanks her parents for coming. Morales tells them Brennan took a plea and will serve just under 20 years. Her parents say they will take her home to Bakersfield. She comments to them that she will meet them in a minute and she turns to TJ. He asks if she is ready for her new life. She comments “ready or not, right?”  He says Bakersfield isn’t such a long drive. She says it is and she will call him and let him know how she is. As she walks off, Rex approaches TJ and as they watch Erin leave, Rex says, “Let’s get outta here.” As they walk away, we fade to black.

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Law & Order LA “El Sereno” Recap & Review

All photos from NBCUniversal

A case of mass murder seems cut and dry, that is, until police bigotry becomes the key in the defense. And Lt. Arleen Gonzales (Rachel Ticotin) is the focus when a video surfaces of her appearing to be making highly charged bigoted comments. Rachel Ticotin was the the high point of this episode, as she struggles to keep a secret – she’s a lesbian. Thankfully, the episode did not give us that infamous “Is this because I’m a lesbian” line while telling the story.

The episode  had the feel of an original series Law & Order episode, with a little tension between the detectives when it came to Gonzales, and also with some legal maneuvering that was taking place while Dekker was prosecuting the case. To me, it seemed to be the first episode where everyone was comfortable enough in their roles that I saw their characters and not simply the actors playing the characters. I found myself wondering why they felt the need to skip over this episode – or any of the remaining episodes with Skeet Ulrich - to instead go on hiatus to regroup. In doing so, they lost any momentum they had for viewers to bond with the show. Airing the episodes in order, rather than holding these episodes to the end, may have also made Rex Winter’s death have more impact.

Here is the recap:
A couple overhears a shooting at a mortgage office while on the phone with Mr. Vela from that office. Afterwards, Detective Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich) and “TJ” Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll) are called to the scene where 6 bodies lay dead. It appears the suspect came in shooting. It appears that someone came out for a cigarette break and the shooter followed the smoker back in.

The detectives speak with a woman whose apartment overlooks the mortgage company. She heard the shots and saw someone running. They speak with another woman who thinks it is “broke ass” Eddie Ramos who is now flashing a big roll. The detectives track down Eddie who is playing cards and they see blood on the money he is holding. He said he found the money and shows them the bag where he found it. TJ sees 6 wallets and 4 watches in the bag – and one watch on Eddie’s arm.

They detectives speak with Lt. Arleen Gonzales (Rachel Ticotin) and they think the stealing was a misdirect and decide to look at the 3 mortgage brokers who were not working that afternoon.

They speak with Filipe Pena (Marco Sanchez), Al Hayes (Charles Malik Whitfield), and Debbie Beltran (Toni Torres) and hear that an Asian man, Danny Choi, who was trying to borrow money for a strip mall, was angry with Mr. Vela. Vela had warned them to tell him if Choi showed up again.

At Shik Do Rak Restaurant, the detectives speak with Choi (Charles Kim) who said he was angry that Vela would not tell him his loan application was rejected. He heard from the bank that there was trouble with applications from Vela’s office and that they were supposedly filled with lies.

At the Southland Pacific Savings and Loan, the detectives speak with a man at the bank who says that 5 of the applications made it appear someone was trying to defraud them of 2 million dollars. He rejected the applications and sent them back to Vela. The detectives check out the mortgage office and can’t find the applications.

Back at RHD, the detectives confer with Gonzales. She doesn’t understand why, if the shooter wanted the applications, why he didn’t break in rather that shoot people. Rex goes over the whereabouts of the other employees not there that day: Al Hayes said he was at home, Debbie Beltran who was at a church picnic and then home, Filipe Pena said he was stuck in traffic. TJ says that freeway was clear, but the one near Debbie was not.

They speak again with Debbie and tell her they have cell phone records showing that Filipe called from her home. She said it was only one time they made a bad loan application. She did it to try to get a loan herself and Filipe showed her how to fudge the numbers. They then speak with Filipe and tell him they know he is helping Debbie pay her mortgage. He said he’s never had any loans rejected because he knows not to use Southland Pacific bank. He admits her was in Debbie’s bed at the time of the shooting.

Afterwards, they discuss what they have, and Gonzales says before they take it to the DA they have to prove that Filipe made the rejected loan requests. TJ wants to look at all the credit reports that the loan office pulled.

At the home of Sara Mitchell, they find that Al Hayes worked her loan and had to add some “seasoning” to make it look better. The bank turned her down and Hayes told her not to talk to Vela. Hayes got her mortgage insurance from his girlfriend.

The detectives speak with Al’s fiancée, Soledad Alvarado (Yara Martinez), who was at her office, and she said Al was the “odd man out” because he was black and he thought they were keeping the good leads from him. Rex notices a repairman working on her shredder as it jammed up a few days ago. She also tells them Al says he was going to be starting his own firm. Afterwards, Rex asks the repair man for the broken shredder mechanism.

Back at RHD, Rex says the shreds in the machine match the folder’s in Vela’s office. Gonzales tells Rex and DDA Lauren Stanton (Megan Boone) that Hayes may have suspected he was going to be fired or prosecuted for loan fraud. TJ tells them Hayes has no record but he was listed as a witness to a robbery at a bank two years ago and a detective who worked the case said Hayes was traumatized by the incident and had asked how he could get a gun for protection. Gonzales thinks this gives them probable cause for a search.

At the home of Al Hayes and Soledad Alvarado, the police search while Soledad tries to reach Al by phone. TJ finds 9mm rounds and half the box is empty. Soledad tells them that he was supposed to pick up his kids but he hung up on her before and now he is not answering.

They arrive at Al’s ex wife Vanessa’s home and find Al’s ex wife banging on the door, saying Al is inside with their kids. Rex asks her to call Al’s number and then go with the police. Rex grabs the phone and talks with Al, who is irate and holding a gun with his kids there. He tells Rex to call him Albert and Rex tries to talk him down and tries to get him to get the kids released. Al sends his kids outside. Al tells Rex he does not know what he is going through and asks why he shouldn’t end it on his own terms. Rex tries to tell him to think of his children. Al comes out and throws down the gun. TJ says the gun is a .22 – they have the right guy but the wrong gun.

Al is being arraigned and DDA Joe Dekker (Terrence Howard) wants Al held without bail. His defense attorney Mr. Spicer (Harry Groener) mentions Al’s children and the fact that the gun was not a 9mm but the judge agrees with Dekker. Outside the courtroom, Spicer argues to the press that they are placing the blame on the one black man in the office and calls it institutional racism and he will prove it. The press asks Dekker for a comment and he says the officers followed the evidence which is colorblind, and Hayes is a mass murderer who happens to be black.

DDA Ricardo Morales (Alfred Molina) tells Stanton, Rex, TJ, and Dekker that when a judge grants a Pitchess motion which allows the defense to examine police personnel files, the DA’s office takes it seriously. Dekker says they also don’t have a murder weapon, and says if Rex or TJ ever had a problem they need to know about it. Rex says everything in his file, and TK moves to walk out, saying that he has nothing to hide either. But Morales says anyone who worked on the street should not answer that too quickly, and Dekker tells TJ to go home and think about it – everybody’s got something. Rex curtly asks Dekker why they are not pulling his file.

When the detectives leave, Stanton seems sympathetic but Morales condescends to her, saying that she was in high school during the OJ trial and this could infect everybody. Dekker thinks if Spicer is using racism as a shield, they can use it as a sword.

At the home of Vanessa Hayes. Stanton speaks with Vanessa about Al and she tells him that something happened to Al after the bank robbery and everything started getting to him. He saw racism everywhere and got obsessed with protecting his family and that is when he bought the gun. She would not leave him alone with the kids anymore and she gave him the name of a therapist but he would not go. She later changed the locks and then filed divorce papers. She said right before the cops got there Al had mentioned he had been to Griffith Park the other day at the merry go round talking about the good times there with the kids.

At RHD, Stanton is talking to Rex and TJ as another employee brings up a video of Gonzales talking about an arrest, saying all she saw was a black face and that they arrested him and that she liked it and felt powerful and she was a big bad cop. Gonzales enters the room and they all turn and stare at her while she looks at the video, stunned then walks back into her office and shuts the door. RJ comments that Al Hayes found his racist cop.

In DA Jerry Hardin’s (Peter Coyote) office along with the chief of police, Dekker tells him the video appears heavily edited. They are concerned as the video will be on the news soon. Randy Hawthorn, the man who posted it, has been all over the police’s office. He has to put Gonzales on administrative leave. Hardin says his office will support him. As Dekker tries to argue with Hardin, Hardin tells him to get over it and focus on the case. Stanton enters and tells them Spicer just hit them with a motion to traverse, attacking the search warrant based on racial bias.

Later, Gonzales and her rep speak with Dekker and Stanton and she says the video is a hack job and she was talking about something she had regretted. It was in the speech that was cut out. She does not know who recorded the speech. She gets upset and she says the case is about the 6 people Hayes killed and asks how they could make this about her. When Dekker threatens with a subpoena,  her rep defends her and says on behalf of the union he will push back – hard. Dekker and Stanton say the claim is that Gonzales tampered with the shredder evidence. She says that is a fantasy. Dekker starts to explain the motion to traverse, and Gonzales barks back that she knows what it is, she has a law degree. She says Hayes’ attorney has to prove that the warrant applications were deliberately false and he can’t. Dekker counters that Spicer can use the video as proof and that without the rest of the speech, the case will be nowhere. Gonzales is irate and says she ran a clean investigation and when she says that if Dekker can’t make it stick, her rep stops her. She storms out, her rep in tow, as Morales walks in. Dekker thinks she is hiding something, and that they need to hear the rest of that speech.

In Superior Court, the recording is played and Spicer argues that for one hour the evidence was in Gonzales’ sole control and that she had also told the detectives to stop investigating two Hispanic clients to focus on Hayes. He says her bigotry is toxic. But Dekker says the video is a hack job. The judge says he is disturbed by what he heard and is granting Spicer’s motion and says the shreds are out and any evidence collected from the search warrant from Hayes’ home are also out.

Afterwards, when Stanton complains about the judge’s ruling, Dekker stops her and tells her they should regroup and focus. He brings up the 22 caliber pistol and that Hayes’ wife mentioned he was at Griffith Park the day before the shooting – by the merry-go-round.

Rex and TJ are at the park at the merry-go-round doing a search. TJ asks Rex about the video with Gonzales and is clearly angry about it. Rex says there is more to her than a 30 second video. The search team calls them over – one of them found a magazine for a 9mm glock and some bullets are left in it.

Later, Stanton, with Spicer and Dekker also there, tells the judge about the gun. Spicer says the statements were made under duress because of the warrant. Dekker says it was an independent source and they would have interviewed the ex wife as a result of the hostage taking anyway. The judge agrees with Dekker and Spicer says he still wants the video of Gonzales entered into evidence. The judge allows the video to stay in.

In Dekker’s office, Dekker is prepping Rex for testifying. Dekker doesn’t understand why Gonzales won’t talk and doesn’t know why she is stonewalling. When Dekker asks if Rex has talked to her, Rex says they are done and he moves to leave the office. But Dekker stops him and says they department will run her out and go after her pension. Rex steps back into the office and closes the door.

At the home of Arleen Gonzales, Dekker tells her that he needs to put her on the stand and explain the video. She says it is all over the papers and her son does not need to be bullied. Dekker thinks her son would be proud of her if she stood up for herself.

In court, Gonzales is on the stand as Dekker replays the video. She says he was addressing a group of police recruits in a private room in a restaurant. She admits those were some of her words. It was a pep talk and she tried to tell them that they had to understand the prejudices in themselves and they were gay and lesbian police recruits. Gonzales was addressing them as a lesbian police officer. Dekker says the video was edited and that Gonzales can give the full details and how he can corroborate it. She goes on to say she was taking about an incident that happened 3 months out of the academy when she racially profiled a black motorist. Later she read a story about a hate crime and the scared look on that person’s face looked just like the man’s face that she arrested. She also didn’t like herself after that. She apologized to the motorist and reported it to her commanding officer. She also shared with the group that even though the force recruits gays and lesbians, she still faced harassment herself. She says she tries not to discriminate now. She did not want to explain the video because she was concerned about the privacy of the recruits at the meeting – some are out and some are not. She is also worried about her son. She has friends that are gay couples whose kids get bullied at school and she just wants to protect him. She realized whether she testified or not, her son would hear them call her names, and she’d rather be called a dyke than a bigot.

Later, the verdict comes in, and Hayes is found guilty on all counts of murder.

In Hardin’s office, Dekker tells Hardin that the full unedited version of the video showed up on the net and it supports what Gonzales said. Morales asks the police chief why Gonzales has not been reinstated. The police chief tells Hardin to explain the facts of life to them, and adds he has no problem with her but he is getting pushback from others in the department, saying she is damaged goods. Hardin says he has a statement that he is going to read that Gonzales is as a fine and dedicated professional that he has ever encountered in his career in law enforcement and he is looking forward to working with her in the future. Dekker and Morales smile. Hardin says he was hoping the chief would be there when he reads it, adding that now that don’t ask don’t tell has been repealed, it’s the least they can do. The chief laughs and says he guesses he has to be there, then. He leaves to call his press office to alert them. Dekker says that is old school Jerry Hardin, and Hardin says he has to show some backbone sometimes.

At RHD, Rex is watching a news story of Hayes testifying at his sentencing, and sees Gonzales return to her office. He welcomes her back. She asked if she missed anything and he says they fixed the coffee machine. She says life is good and smiles at him. He tells her it is good to have her back in the saddle and he walks out. She calls him back in and she asks if it was him that told Dekker. He doesn’t answer and she says it is OK, she is good with it. He walks back out and as Gonzales gets back to work we fade to black.

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Law & Order LA “Carthay Circle” Recap & Review

Law & Order LA “Carthay Circle” was one of those episodes that only confirms for me that Alfred Molina was the better choice for DDA. Don’t get me wrong, I like him as a detective too; I think can Molina perform well  in just about any role. He made Morales into a powerful and formidable prosecutor who doesn’t let politics deter his drive for truth and justice. This episode also made me realize that it was the right decision to jettison Rex Winters. While Skeet was fine in this episode, he still came across as a little bland, especially since Corey Stoll stole every scene he was in. I think that the 2 people that I enjoyed most with the series is Molina and Stoll.

This episode had great guest stars with Charles S. Dutton and Isaiah Washington providing compelling performances and Currie Graham and John De Lancie (who will always be "Q" to me) as great window dressing. I also enjoyed the story, which touched on the issue of gay marriage and laws being pushed to prevent it, and also voter fraud and a scam to make money off it. But maybe I missed it - where was Carthay Circle? Was that where the church was located? Again, they missed the chance to give the episode a name that had real meaning to the story.

Here is the recap:

Kim Ho Lee (Elizabeth Anweis) is found dead by a neighbor, Detectives Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich) and “TJ” Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll) are called to the scene. Lee lives with her boyfriend Derek Joyner who is not home. She had been stabbed. Derek is a project manager at Corrigan Strategy Group. They see a receipt which places Derek in the home earlier in the day. A phone call comes in and Rex sees it is from Lee’s father. He asks to meet with him in person.

Rex and TJ speak with Mr. & Mrs. Lee and her sister, in an attempt to find Derek. They speak separately with Lee’s sister who says her parents have a problem with Derek because he is black. The car was leased through her father’s practice and they think he took Kim’s car.

At Union Station, the car is located outside the station, and they later find Derek got a ticket and left the station. They find calls on his cell records to a branch office in San Diego to his employer.

They speak with Derek’s boss Ben Corrigan (Steven Culp) at Corrigan Strategy Group and find Derek was project manager on Prop. 128, the California Marriage Protection Act. Derek was working out of the Crenshaw field office. Derek had a rep with the ladies.

Later, while Rex and TJ talk about Prop. 128 they hear the police arrested someone using Derek’s card. At the Garden Grove Police Department, they speak with the guy who used Derek’s card who tells them he found it – and the whole wallet cash and all - in a dumpster. He denies ever seeing Derek.

Back at RHD, the detectives discuss this development with Lt. Arleen Gonzales (Rachel Ticotin). They think something is not right with this. They found evidence at the scene that indicates someone may have been in the house crawl space. They head back to the home where crime scene people find Derek’s body wrapped in black plastic.

Back at RHD, they discuss that Derek was beaten and strangled and it appears he was killed first. The fugitive routine was staged, and it appears Derek was the target. There was a taxi receipt in Derek’s pocket.

They speak with the taxi driver who said he got a call to pick up Derek at his office. While he waited his car was hit by a sprinkler and his windows were open. There was a black guy who was parked near the house and he saw him go up to the house but not go in. They think Derek left work early and maybe someone tipped him off – maybe someone at Derek’s work.

At Prop 128 headquarters, a woman said Derek wanted to work from home and everyone knew as she had to reschedule meetings. She asks the detectives to sign the petition and Rex says he will think about it. She said one of the meetings had been canceled at the last minute. The person running the meeting, Roland Davidson, who had a family emergency. Roland is co-sponsor of Prop 128 and his father is Reverend Davidson. TJ asks if father and son got along, and she indicates they yelled sometimes.

The detectives speak with Roland Davidson (Isaiah Washington) who worked closely with Derek over the last year. He was at the office that morning and they did yell but they smoothed things out. He tells them he was at a fundraising dinner for the Promise Women’s Shelter and got there around 7 in time to hear his father give the blessing and he left at 9:30. Derek told him he was having problems with monogamy and he had an eye for the ladies.

Afterwards, they see that there is a car in the parking lot that looks like it has been hit by a sprinkler. They decide to check out Roland’s alibi and head to the Promise Women’s Shelter. They find Roland was late for the dinner as he was stuck in traffic. TJ sees a nice poster and asks who designed it and she tells them Roland got someone to do it for free. TJ notices the poster signature is Kim Lee’s.

They speak again with Kim’s sister who said she met Roland through Derek. They tell her they found calls from Kim to Derek. She indicates Kim only shared religion with Roland. She always wore a cross and Rex asks where she kept it when she wasn’t wearing it. She kept it in a box on her dresser that she got from her parents.

The detectives head to the church where Roland and the Reverend (Charles S. Dutton) are watching the choir practice. Roland says he has never been to Derek’s home but they tell him that they found his fingerprints on a jewelry box there. They arrest him.

The Reverend is at the DA’s office with DA Jerry Hardin (Peter Coyote) and DDA Ricardo Morales (Alfred Molina) and DDA Evelyn Price (Regina Hall). The Reverend says Roland is the pillar of his church. They argue about justice and politics and the Reverend gets upset when Morales quotes Dr. King to him. When the Reverend storms off, Hardin tells Morales that was unnecessary, but Morales comments that Hardin enjoyed it. Morales thinks the Reverend is using the church to oppress but Price tells him gay marriage is a huge issue in black churches. Morales thinks it is a great way to get people to open their checkbooks. Hardin thinks the case is thin and that when the Reverend speaks, their parishioners vote.

In Superior Court, Morales thinks they have probable cause to proceed, but Roland’s attorney Mr. Miller (Rick Hoffman ) says Roland was only having an affair with Kim Lee and says the evidence is inconclusive. Judge Avery Staynor (John De Lancie) agrees with Miller. Morales decides to withdraw the charges and reserves the right to refile later and the judge agrees. Afterwards, Morales tells price there are many ways to attack the case and is perplexed as to why they offered one that gave them motive. Maybe the murder was about something else.

Back at RHD,  Hall goes over any other motives with the detectives. They wonder if it involves money and decide to go back and look at the fancy car. Later, the detectives check out the car and TJ finds a signature sheet for Prop 128 with names highlighted.

At the home listed as Trevor Watkins, there is no one living at that home with that name. They later find there are 11 phony names on the list and asks someone at the county clerks’ office to check some of the names. They find all 11 names are also on the voter rolls. Later, Rex and TJ tell Morales and Price that someone messed with the petitions and also the voter rolls. They think Corrigan has a scam going to get money for each signature. They think Derek found out. They also wonder how many other initiatives Corrigan has scammed. Morales tells them to get a warrant for Corrigan’s office and the Prop 128 office. Morales says he has to give Jerry a heads up as it will give his favorite reverend a coronary.

With warrant in hand, the detectives and the DDAs arrive at Corrigan’s office, who is holding a press conference to say he performed and audit and found that Derek was involved in fraud. He says they will get rid of the fake signatures and start over. The Reverend also says the work that will go on, and says Morales is there to help clear up the mess and to clear a path for them so they can start their important work. Morales looks a little trapped and then plays along to the crowd.

Back at the office, Price and Hall give Hardin the bad news on the scope of this fraud, and two of the laws Hardin campaigned for. Hardin is worried about a constitutional crisis but Morales is worried about the little picture – the murders. They think the fraud is why they were killed and they are still sorting it out. Morales wants to take another run at Roland Davidson.

The outline what their theory with Roland and his attorney and tells them they want Corrigan and they will deal for him. They offer 30 to life with no death penalty. Roland tells them he did not know about the phony signatures until Corrigan called him telling him that Derek was going to report them. His father staked his whole reputation on Prop 128 and the scandal would ruin him. Corrigan said it was up to Roland to stop Derek. He said he went to Derek’s and everything went sideways. He lost his temper and killed him and then Kim walked in and he knocked her out. He called Corrigan and he came over to decide what to do and Corrigan stuck a knife in her. Corrigan killed her.

Later, with Corrigan in custody with his attorney Max Hern (Currie Graham) present, Hern tells Morales and Hall that Corrigan had nothing to do with it. Morales then gets information from Hardin that Corrigan is off limits, Corrigan reached out so someone in Sacramento. The investigation of the initiatives has been taken over by the attorney general’s office. Morales thinks Hardin and the AG just gave Davidson his defense on a silver platter. When Hardin tells him he is overreacting, Morales says, “You watch.”

In Superior Court, Roland is on the stand. He talks about what happened at Derek’s house and what happened with Derek and Kim. He says he called Corrigan and he came over and killed Kim and then told him to hide Derek’s body and then make it look like Derek was on the run. Before he left, he saw Kim did not have her cross on and he found it in her room and put it on her neck. He took the train, threw away the wallet, and met his father at the charity dinner. Hern cross examines him and tries to poke holes in his story and brings up Roland wanting to take over the church and that for Roland it was about the money and power. Roland denies making a deal with Derek and it was not about money. Roland insists he is not lying. Hern brings up Roland lying about the affair and Roland apologizes for lying about that.

At the office, Price preps Reverend Davidson about his upcoming testimony. He is worried about Corrigan’s lawyer. The Reverend says his one son made a plea bargain to save his life and worries what would happen if Roland was lying. She tells him the deal would be off and Roland would face the death penalty.

Back in court, the Reverend testifies about his contract with Corrigan to pay him for valid signatures. Hern cross examines him and only asks if Roland ever told him there was a problem with signatures or to keep an eye on Corrigan and he says no. Dutton is slow to step down and then tells the judge he would like to change his answer. A month before Roland committed the crimes he noticed an error in the petition. There was an address that he knew 6 blocks from the church. Lucy Meriwether lived there her whole life but that was not the name on the petition. He told Roland and he said he would look into it.  A few days later Roland told him he straightened it out with Derek and it was just a clerical error. Hern says they cooked up a lie to cover the fraud. Morales asks for time to prepare a redirect and the judge adjourns until Monday.

Later, Morales and Price speak with Roland who says his father is lying. He insists he did not find about the fraud until later. Morales asks why his father would chose Corrigan over him and wonders if the Reverend was in on the fraud with Corrigan. His father said all summer the money was flowing in like a great faucet.

Back in court, Morales has the Reverend on the stand who says he was just trying to protect his son but his son lied. Morales brings up the fact that the Reverend asked what would happen to Roland if it was discovered that Roland lied. The Reverend said he had to do the right thing. Morales brings up the other projects from the church and some of the donations, and that a large one was made by a person who was listed as a phony name on the petition. There are others just like that – over 1,000 made to his projects from phony names totaling a million dollars – the same amount that Corrigan is accused of defrauding from the Prop 128 campaign. Morales says the Reverend knew what Corrigan was doing and then squeezed him for money and now Corrigan is squeezing him so he made up the story about Roland and Derek. The Reverend accuses Morales of being cynical, and Morales brings up all the things the Reverend has done for the cause of human dignity and brings up Prop 128. Morales thinks the Reverend is sacrificing his own son to save his own skin. The Reverend again says he misspoke and now says he is not sure when or if he spoke to his son about the mistakes on the petitions or that he said anything to him about Derek. At his age, evens become confused an apologize for wasting the jury’s time.

At a later time in court, Corrigan is found guilty of one count of murder in the first degree. As the courtroom clears, the Lee family glares at the Reverend who walks off alone. As Morales and Price leave the courtroom, we fade to black.



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Law & Order LA : The Appeal

The verdict was swift – Law & Order LA was canceled. The problem is, the series didn’t have enough time to make its case. I think that the decision to cancel should be appealed. Don’t let Law & Order LA fade into oblivion. Write to the network and/or your local NBC affiliates to ask them to keep Law & Order LA alive. Here’s my video message – let’s help Morales and TJ get back on the streets, Gonzales back in RHD, and Dekker and Rubirosa back into the courtroom. What can you do to help?




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Law & Order LA “Plummer Park” Recap & Review

All photos from NBCUniversal

Law & Order LA “Plummer Park” was an episode that clearly aired out of sequence, being completed before the “reboot”. As a result,Detective Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich) was not dead and TJ’s (Corey Stoll) mustache had grown back. Terrence Howard was also sporting a different look – but his acting was still wooden. I actually found the first half of the show much more interesting that the last, and felt the legal side of the case was plodding and dull. My opinion is that it was the legal half of the show that was in more need of fixing.   With the addition of Alana De La Garza to the cast, I had some hope that she would draw in viewers. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to give the series another season.

I don’t quite understand why this episode could not have been aired before Rex Winters was killed. My opinion is that they would have been better off by not going off the air for so long during the reboot; this cost the series momentum.

This episode was titled "Plummer Park" and the only connection to the case was that a bunch of Russians - including the kidnappers -  played chess there.  It is such a waste to name an episode after such an inconsequential connection to a much bigger case. If there is any chance whatsoever that Law & Order LA gets a second chance with another network, they should reconsider the practice of  naming episodes after locations in the Los Angeles area and come up with episode titles that build excitement.

Here is the recap:
When a neighbor, Mrs. Lang, calls police to tell them that a car was left running outside Nick Libergal’s home,  they knock on the door, and two beeps of a nearby car horn also sounds. A man, speaking Russian, waits inside with a gun and when he opens the door, the police see the gun and shoot him, and also another man who comes forward with a gun. The police find a gruesome scene – Nick Libergal (Michael Enright) is dead in the bathtub.

Detectives Rex Winters (Skeet Ulrich) and “TJ” Jarusalski (Corey Stoll) are called to the scene. Coroner Nishizawa (Tamlyn Tomita) tells them Nick’s body was being dissolved in the bathtub using quicklime. He was also beaten but likely died from a heart attack. Nick is a goldsmith. They find a bag with items in it that appear more for a kidnapping than a killing. They think Nick died of the heart attack during the kidnapping and the kidnappers did not want to drive around with the body.

They can’t find any info on the dead suspects and they check out the car and find nothing. Nick was a Russian immigrant who came over in 1988 and does not appear to be a man with money. They think someone had been watching to house to wait until Nick was alone.

They speak with Mrs. Lang who noticed a honking car there that night and she also saw it there 2 days ago. It was a town car. Near the location of that car, the detectives find cigarette butts and spicy peppermint gum wrappers.

At RHD, Amy Libergal (Amy Benedict) is there speaking with the detectives and Lt. Arleen Gonzales (Rachel Ticotin). She does not know the men who were shot in her home. Nick used to send money to his family in Russia. He has a younger brother in the oil business who is rich.

Afterwards, Gonzales says Homeland Security had a hit on their suspects, who came in via LAX two weeks ago from Moscow.

They check with Homeland Security who says that the men were met in the terminal but never checked into the hotel where they were to be staying. They list a local contact as the Eagles and Bears Friendship Club.

They head to the club and find that the location looks like a storage facility. They find a cable bill but no TV and head over to the billing address. TJ finds spicy peppermint gum wrappers on the ground so they approach the home with guns drawn. They enter the home and Rex finds a room that appears to be where the kidnappers were going to keep Nick. TJ finds a hole dug outside and assumes once the money was paid they were going to kill Nick.

They check with a local store to check out a purchase the kidnappers made. They paid with cash, and the woman at the store recalls a Russian man making a purchase twice and she helped him get the items he needed. It was almost the same list both times, but one list had sanitary napkins and a hairbrush. The detectives think the kidnappers have a woman somewhere in the canyons.

Back at RHD, the detectives discuss this with Gonzales who tells them to put someone on to watch the store. The house had been rented through Craig’s List so Gonzales tells them to check other listings. They find one of the suspects’ cars got a ticket 10 days ago in West Hollywood. There was a chessboard at the house so Rex thinks they should check out Plummer Park.

The detectives question some chess players at Plummer Park and one person recognizes them as no good chess players that looked too much at married women, one of them was Anna Ackroyd who has not been there for a few days.

At Anna Ackroyd’s home, the detectives see her husband Dennis (Raphael Sbarge) at home and he looks nervous. TJ later fakes being a delivery man and gets Anna’s husband to sign for a package. He then tells him to stay calm and that they know his wife is missing an are here to help. His daughter Mila (Skyler Day) and uncle Andrei is there and Mila thinks they are going to kill her mother.

Later, the detectives and Gonzales are in a nearby surveillance van with taps on all the home’s lines. Anna Ackroyd is a Russian native and has been in the country for 18 years. Anna is a librarian and her husband is a teacher. They think the uncle has money. They see the uncle and daughter out for a walk and when TJ thinks Mila would talk to them if they got her alone, Gonzales says she should be at school so pick her up for truancy.

The detectives have Mila at RHD and she doesn’t want to make any mistakes, she just wants her mom back. Separately, an officer speaks with Dennis Ackroyd who says Mila was with her uncle Andrei and they just snatched her away. The officer enters the interrogation room and whispers that Mila’s father is there and that a supervisor said they have to let her go. Gonzales tells Mila she can save her mom, and Mila tells them that she came home from school and the house was messed up and her mom gone. The kidnappers skyped them on their computer. The guys were in masks and her mother had tape over her mouth. They men were talking in Russian and her dad can speak it, and they told him they wanted money. Her father had spyware on the computer and the call was recorded and she thinks the video is still on the computer. TJ gives her an email address and asks her to try to find the video and send it to them. They release Mila to her father.

Later, they get the video from Mila and they look at it. A translator tells them what is being said. The kidnappers ask for $10 million and tell them Anna’s family has money to pay. They gave them one week to get the money or they will start cutting her. Gonzales tells them to send the video to the lab. TJ notices one of the men has stitching on his label that looks like something he saw in the junk mail at the Eagles and Bears Club – a flyer for a tailor – Lenny’s of Brentwood.

They head to Lenny’s and they show him a photo of the suit and he knows who he made the suit for. The man’s name was Oblomov but only has a phone number. Rex tells them their technicians will come there and then the shop owner should call Oblomov and tell him his suits are ready and must talk to him as long as they tell him to.

Later, the detectives arrive at the location where the caller's cell phone GPS signal have been coming from. The police barge in and find Anna (Alla Korot) hiding another room. They also see another grave dug outside.

The detectives and ADA Lauren Stanton (Megan Boone) later speak with Anna who doesn’t recall much as she has not been sleeping. She is clearly traumatized. Her husband and daughter arrive.

Later, Rex tries to question one of the kidnappers, Mr. Kolbichek. He wants a lawyer. TJ speaks with the other kidnapper who also won’t talk. Stanton, and DDA Joe Dekker are watching and Dekker wants to put the kidnapping gang out of business.

At the DA’s office, Dekker tries to question the Ackroyds before the hearing. Dennis tells them that Anna’s family in Russia live like kings but they don’t share the money. He admits that they came up with a plan with a friend to get money from that family and no one was supposed to get hurt. Their lawyer admits it was a show for Ackroyd’s uncle. They wonder if the Ackroyds are being pressured and TJ and Rex tell him there was another attempt at a kidnapping. Their lawyer says the Ackroyds will not be testifying in any kidnapping case.

Later, Dekker, Stanton, TJ and Rex speak with the uncle. He tells Dekker maybe they know the wrong facts. He does not want to file a police complaint, it is just only family business. He tells the detectives they are good police and he leaves. But TJ think this was no act and thinks the family is afraid. TJ reminds them Anna was not restrained when they got to the house. The airport video was not clear enough to tie the two men to the kidnapping. Dekker doesn’t like the idea that they think they can come here and commit crimes with impunity.

Afterwards, Rex recalls that Mila said the house was in shambles meaning Anna did not go willingly and wonder if SID can find evidence of the grab.

Later, the detectives present Stanton with evidence that SID found of forced entry and glass shards in the living room. Latent got a print from the uncle’s bedroom which matches a print from the FBI, described as an unknown person of interest found at a suspect residence in Washington 10 years ago.

At the FBI, the detectives speak with an agent (Harry J. Lennix) who tells them it is a national security matter, and that it was found in a home of a suspected spy and they believe the print was from his handler. The detectives tell him the print belongs to Andrei Kalugin (Eugene Alper) and he is booked to fly out soon. The FBI agrees to help.

The detectives explain the spy angle to Stanton which may explain why Dennis and Anna want this all to go away. They wonder if this really is their uncle and if the Ackroyds are really who they say they are.

At the Canadian Consulate General, they find Dennis is Canadian and that he never left Canada – he died in 1989. The identity was stolen. There is no record of a marriage to Anna and that she never resided in Canada.

The detectives explain this new information to Dekker and Stanton, and that the FBI thinks they are spies. Dekker thinks that now that they know the secret they can get them to cooperate, and tells them to call the FBI and get the Ackroyds in.

Later, Dennis and Anna are arrested and Mila is shocked to find that she has to go with family services.

With Mila at RHD, she finds out about her parents. She asks to stay with her best friend Natalie. Meanwhile, the FBI and Dekker and Stanton have Anna and Dennis in for questioning and explain the other kidnapping. Anna agrees to testify against the kidnappers.

The FBI agent explains that the Ackroyds were sent to the US to befriend academics and policy makers and gather information on policy and trade but now the information is freely available on the net. They are low level operatives. The FBI got word that they are interested in a trade for the Ackroyds but they have one weekm but the trial is two months away. The FBI guy suggests Dekker wrap up his case quickly.

Dekker and Stanton later makes an offer to the kidnappers and tell them that their target was a spy. Dekker offers then 25 to life and wants names of accomplices, or they will be deported to Russia and the will not look kindly on them. One of them thinks Dekker has no case and the Russians will trade spies and there will be no more witnesses. He says no deal.

In court, Dekker tells the judge about the time constraints against the case for the kidnappers. The judge allows the questioning to go on immediately.

Anna testifies about the kidnapping and identifies the kidnappers. The defense attorney only asks if she ever met the men before the kidnapping and she says no. The defense then calls Mila to testify to impeach what Anna just said.

Mila testifies that 2 weeks before the kidnapping, she saw those two men in the kitchen talking to Russian to those two men. A week afterwards, her parents argued with a man named Libergal and her dad said those guys screwed up their big plan and her mother was afraid, and soon after her mother was kidnapped.

Later, in Dekker’s office, he explains how she just implicated her parents in murder. But she says they are liars and deserve to be in jail there. She says it is not fair she has to go back there with them. Dekker says she created so much confusion that two murderers might go free. He tells her she will be on the stand again tomorrow and she has to tell the truth. Afterwards, Stanton tells Dekker to give Mila a break, she is only 15, but Dekker says Mila knows exactly what she wants she just doesn’t know how to get it, and maybe they can help her.

Later, Dekker and Stanton are at the FBI and they explain what Mila said at trial and what this means for them and that the kidnappers could go free. They asks them to sign a declaration of independence for Mila so she can stay there after Anna and Dennis leave. He adds Mila feels betrayed and may already be lost to them. Anna and Dennis anguish over this, and they decide to sign the paperwork.

Back in court, Mila admits what she said previously was not true. She says her parents would never hurt anyone on purpose and apologized for lying. Dekker asks for Anna’s and Dennis testimony to be preserved for trial and the judge concurs.

At the Burbank Airport, Dekker and Stanton are there to watch the trade off of Dennis and Anna with the Russians, and Mila is also there. They say their goodbyes. Stanton gets a call saying the kidnappers are ready to deal. Dekker says they should go make that deal, and as they walk off 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.

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