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.

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

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Law & Order LA – The Silent Movie

This is what Law & Order LA would have looked like had it been produced in the silent movie era.  Enjoy!



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Law & Order LA “El Sereno” Promo

Here’s the NBC promo for Law & Order LA “El Sereno” which will air on Monday June 20, 2011 at 10PM ET/9C.
My recap and review of Law & Order LA "El Sereno" can be found at this link.





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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.


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Law & Order LA “Plummer Park” Promo

Here is the NBC promo for Law & Order LA “Plummer Park” which will air on Monday, May 30, 2011 at 10PM ET on NBC. No, you haven’t entered an alternate universe or the Twilight Zone, this episode is one that was completed before the “reboot”. It features Skeet Ulrich, Corey Stoll and his ‘stache, some facial hair for Terrence Howard, and Megan Boone.




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Law & Order LA “Angels Knoll” Recap & Review

All photos by NBCUniversal 

Law & Order LA “Angels Knoll” was an excellent episode that blended a brutal murder, a casino heist, and a Bernie Madoff-type swindler into a very intense story. While members of the regular cast were all impressive in this episode, the guest stars brought the story to life. Victor Garber and Titus Welliver were perfectly matched as swindler and swindler’s attorney, and it was gratifying to see both  characters being outmaneuvered by DDA Joe Dekker (Terrence Howard) at the end. Jessica Collins (who will always be CSI’s “Miniature Killer” to me) was exceptional as the clueless daddy’s girl who is in complete denial about her crook of a father. Jodi Lyn O’Keefe was also perfectly creepy in her role as a paid for hire mistress who has no problem with slicing off a man’s family jewels.

It was a nice twist to the usual murder investigation to throw in a casino heist, although it was predictable that the detectives would find the armored truck empty. Alfred Molina and Corey Stoll make an excellent pair of detectives and I think the loss of this pairing is what makes me sad most about this show being canceled. These two are fun to watch and I enjoy the little tidbits we learn about them in every episode. Is there no network out there that can save this show?

Here is the recap:
Casino worker George Patrick (Nick Kiriazis) has an argument with his cousin Billy about hitting on his bride to be, and then George storms off. At a later time, Billy walks past George’s room and sees the door ajar and enters to find George dead in a blood filled bathtub.

Coroner Nishizawa (Tamlyn Tomita) is on the scene with Detectives Ricardo Morales (Alfred Molina) and TJ Jaruszalski (Corey Stoll). George appeared to have been cut with a broken glass, his watch and wallet are gone. He’s also missing his “family jewels.”

The detectives speak with Billy about his argument over his bride, Abby. George told Abby that Billy was engaged before and she was upset because Billy never told her. Billy was in his own room and says he ordered room service and called his dad on the room phone. His brother and best man were with him. They confirm the alibi.

TJ thinks that George apparently called an escort service but Morales doesn’t think this is the case. They think the killers made the calls after the fact to cover their tracks.

They speak with George’s uncle who said George had money problems. George was hoping to bring Liz Bennett to the wedding but she did not show. There was a call on George’s cell to her around midnight.

The detectives speak with Liz (Jessica Collins), a teacher,  who didn’t want to go to the wedding with him. He was just too intense. She wasn’t crazy about his job and had problems with Chinese pawn brokers in the casino.

At the Wrangles Casino, the speak with the manager about the pawn brokers. The speak with one of them who said George was borrowing from her. He owed her $100K.

At George’s home, they go through his finances and found he put a down payment on a boat in Costa Rica. They wonder if George was planning a heist. They find a check to a medical supply company and the signature is George’s but all the rest of the writing is someone else’s.

Back at RHD, TJ is having trouble getting the medical supply company on the phone. Morales spoke with the boat builder who said George said he would be down there in two weeks to pay in full. They see a photo of the boat and it is called “Teacher’s Pet” and they think this means Liz was going to be a part of George’s world.

At Liz Bennett’s home, they find she appears to have cleared out. Someone took apart her internet routers, and theyfound a clip for a Beretta. They think she was George’s accomplice.

Back at the casino, Security Arms armored service heads into the casino with Liz in the front seat of the truck. The drivers get off schedule because of a printer problem and they have to get a hand written receipt. When they get outside, they see their armored truck is long gone.

Morales gets a message that an armored truck has just been stolen with $1.5 million dollars and Liz was the driver.

At the casino, they find that the printers, which were connected to a router, had been offline so the casino had to hand write a receipt. TJ thinks she hacked their printer systems. Morales finds Liz was on the job for three months, she drove to work and her car is still in the lot. The security company activated the truck's tracking device. TJ thinks George gave Liz the codes for the router and Morales said once George outlived his usefully they sliced him up. They hear that the GPS puts the truck two miles from there.

The detectives, along with a force of police, find the truck in a garage and it is already empty. They hope they can see something on a nearby security camera.

Back at RHD, they find George rented the garage a month ago. On the security footage, they see a woman zip by on a wheelchair and wonder if that was purchased at the medical supply company. The woman gets on a bus.

They check with the bus company to see where she got off, and track the suspect to a car in the park and ride that is registered to Dan Rathman (Patrick Heusinger). He said he sold the car 3 months ago to his sister – and his sister is Liz Bennett. They tell him what is going on and he refuses to say any more, and moves to make a phone call.

Back at RHD, TJ tells Morales that 12 minutes after they left, Dan called Liz’s cell and was on long enough to leave a message. Five minutes later he got a call from a no name cell. That same cell called Liz’s school two hours earlier and also Kennedy & Associates, a law firm in San Francisco. Morales says Charles Kennedy is a big time criminal lawyer. There was also a call to a Joseph Silman in Folsom.

At State Prison in Folsom, they find Silman is captain of A Block. Joe has been there for 10 years and is a clean record and his wife has MS. They also hear that another call to Silman was made  20 minutes ago and Morales asks when Silman gets off work.

At a restaurant where the detectives are watching Silman,  Morales moans about his marriage, saying it was cursed. They found a rattlesnake under a car in the church parking lot. There were a lot of cops at the wedding and many of them pulled out their guns to shoot it. He thinks it was an omen. They see Liz arrive in a blond wig and she passes an envelope to Silman. They follow Liz out of the restaurant and arrest her. Silman sees this and when he moves to walk away, TJ is waiting there and arrests him. TJ opens the envelope and it has a wad of cash in it. Silman asks for a lawyer. After they have the two of them taken away, they open the trunk to her car and it is empty. They do find a hotel room key, Silman’s phone number, and a CDC inmate number. She apparently was going to break someone out.

Back at the prison, the warden looks at his records and find the inmate in question is Walter Calvin (Victor Garber), a man who swindled $30 billion, and his oldest son committed suicide but also has another son Dan and a daughter – Elizabeth. Liz was going to bust him out of jail.

They speak with Calvin about it and he doesn’t believe it. His attorney Charles Kennedy (Titus Welliver) says their logic is wrong. He adds that Calvin cares for his daughter but he won’t let him talk his way into a maximum security prison for her. Calvin said whatever she did had nothing to do with him. TJ notices the cuts on his head and Calvin says he slipped in the shower.

Later, DDA Joe Dekker (Terrence Howard) and DDA Connie Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza) speak with Liz who denies killing George. They ask about the robbery and mention the injuries on her father, and think she was buying him protection. Her lawyer (Melinda Page Hamilton) says Liz was told unless she paid Stilman they could not guarantee her father’s safety. She also said he has no money and he didn’t do anything.

Afterwards, Rubirosa thinks this threat against her father’s life could get her an acquittal. Dekker says for the truck heist, not the murder, and Rubirosa says they are a long way from proving that. Rubirosa says Liz is deluded about her father. Dekker thinks Liz makes a powerful witness for herself. He says they need to find the holes in her story.

Rubirosa speaks with Dan and she said Liz was always daddy’s girl. He says his father is toxic. People assumed his brother Alex was in on Calvin’s scam and he killed himself. His mother would not allow Liz to visit in prison and only allowed her to communicate through lawyers. They say a video of her father 3 months ago who looked like he had been injured and said he needed money for protection. Liz wanted Dan’s help but he just didn’t care.

Back at the county jail, Rubirosa and Dekker talk to Silman about the injuries Calvin had three months ago. Dekker said they checked that all the other injuries occurred all happened before his lawyer was to arrive and all reports were written by Silman. They think these injuries were deliberate and part of a shakedown for protection money. Silman says Calvin was shaking down his daughter as all his money was overseas and he needed he daughter to get fresh cash. The money was because even in prison, Calvin liked the good life.

At the apartment of Jenn Mackie (Jody Lyn O’Keefe) Dekker and Rubirosa press her about the nice things she got from Calvin, so she could share conjugal visits with him. She got $5,000 in an envelope in the back of the limo when she was ready to go home. She last saw him months ago and Calvin said cash was coming in and the little princess was getting it.

Afterwards, Rubirosa and Dekker talk about what they just learned and that Liz probably had no idea she was being swindled too. They think Calvin was the brains behind the heist.

In court, Calvin is being charged with conspiracy to commit murder and grand theft, and Calvin pleads not guilty. Afterwards, Kennedy says that piling on another 25 years won’t make a difference to Calvin, but Dekker counters that is make a difference where he spends it and that Pelican Bay supermax could house people that Calvin swindled. Dekker wants them to get the justice they deserve.

Back in the office, Dekker and Rubirosa try to enlighten the clueless Liz who is in denial. They make her an offer but she refuses to sell out her father. After Liz leaves, her attorney says they need to talk about her retainer. Calvin’s lawyer said he would take care of it. She got it a few days ago and it had been wired through a series of banks but something in the wiring instructions caught her attention. She did not want any tax trouble so she traced it back to the originating bank. The money is from an offshore account, the Commercial Bank Of Madagascar. She wonders if the money is what Calvin swindled and if they could aid in the recovery of that money, would it help Liz? Dekker says they will look into it. Dekker wonders if they can use this information to turn Calvin.

Later, they speak with Calvin about it who says he is broke. They discuss the money in the bank in Madagascar and Kennedy says they will never get that money unless they give Calvin consideration. Calvin says it will take time to unravel where the money ended up, it was a complex deal and many banks were in on it and they were greedy. Kennedy wants minimum security for Calvin and Dekker wants information on George Patrick’s killing. But Calvin won’t lie to help them convict Liz.

Back at the office, Dekker speaks on the phone to DA Jerry Hardin, and afterwards he tells Rubirosa that Hardin has the Feds salivating at recovering the money. Rubirosa says her old boss Jack McCoy would have gone ahead on principle and tell the Feds to screw themselves. Dekker say so would Jerry Hardin 15 years ago and he might again one day. Looking through stacks of files, Rubirosa notices that a bank account in Bermuda used to buy his wife a condo years ago is the same number as the bank in Madagascar.

At Mel Gardens, Rubirosa speaks with Mrs. Rathman – her maiden name, she took that name after she divorced Calvin and had her sons take that name also, Liz taking her grandmother’s name of Bennett. Rubirosa brings up the bank account numbers, and Rathman laughs about the Madagascar bank. Calvin once borrowed money against an non-existent coin collection at the bank. She says that bank will have them chasing their tail for years. She recalls a large garden they once had and said their life was built on lies.

Back at the prison, Rubirosa and Dekker confront Calvin and Kennedy on the bogus bank and says Kennedy participated in the deception. Calvin offers information on George’s murder case. Liz told him George was making problems for her by spending money that they did not yet have on a house and boat in Costa Rica. He was blackmailing her into marrying him. She told him she cut him with a broken champagne glass. Dekker says they need corroboration, and Kennedy says there is a recording between Calvin and Liz where she says she wants to make Patrick go away. They must agree to minimum security for Calvin in order to get the recording. Dekker says if the recording is everything they say, they are agreed.

Back in Dekker’s office, they listen to the recording of Liz and Calvin. Liz is afraid George will mess this up and says she just wanted George to go away. Calvin told her not to talk this way. Liz says ever since George found out she was his daughter, he calls her the little princess. They recall that Jenn Mackie used that same name to describe Liz.

They bring Jenn in to RHD for questioning. TJ and Morales confront her on a previous attack she made against a man 10 years ago that was similar to the one on George. Her cell phone also shows she was in the immediate area that night. She said she was in town visiting her sister. They accuse Calvin of putting her up to this but she says he is just a nice old man who is going to die in prison. Meanwhile, Dekker and Rubirosa think that Calvin masterminded the murder and think Liz got George into the tub and Jenn killed him. They need someone to break to prove it.

Dekker and Rubirosa play the recording back to Liz and tell her Calvin and his lawyer only kept the part of the recording that implicated her in the murder. She denies killing George. They play back the video of Jenn talking to the detectives about Liz's brothers and that her father said Liz was the “little monkey” because Liz would do whatever he wanted. She tells a story about when Liz was little her father had her on his lap and he sped up and went so fast that Liz peed her pants and he thought it was funny.  She adds that Calvin said if he could do it again he would not have kids. Liz demands they turn off the video. Dekker presses her on her humiliation that day, and Liz is still in denial. Dekker presses that Calvin sold her out for a larger cell and a softer mattress. Even her lawyer encourages her to talk. Liz talks about how her father took care of her when she fell in Yosemite and she will never turn against him. After Liz leaves,  Rubirosa thinks now the only person they have a case against is Liz but they don’t think she did the actual killing and all they can prove against Calvin is grand theft. Dekker says something you have to live with, and when Rubirosa moans about Calvin getting into a minimum security prison, Dekker adds some things you don’t.

In court, the Judge Dryer (Francesca P. Roberts) reads the new agreement for Calvin and Kennedy mentions they have an agreement with Dekker to serve the remainder of his term in a minimum security facility. But the judge does not see that in the paperwork. Dekker comments that the agreement is void and he spoke to the department of corrections who will be transporting Calvin to the maximum security prison in Pelican Bay. Calvin and Kennedy are shocked, saying they had an agreement. Dekker says they declined to prosecute Liz, but the attorney said that does not matter. They gave Dekker the evidence. Dekker said the evidence is misleading and given in bad faith and the deal is off. The judge tells them to take away Calvin and bring in the next case. Calvin is livid and yells out. He begs Liz to save him and tell them she killed that idiot. She is shocked. When she stands silent he yells at her and asks her what the hell is she good for. Liz remains stunned.

She approaches the defense table for allocution to grand theft, and Dekker is ready to proceed. Liz sits there sobbing as we fade to black.

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