Law & Order CI ‘Identity Crisis” Recap & Review

All Photos from USA Network

Sunday night’s new episode of Law & Order Criminal Intent (USA) “Identity Crisis” was a simple case that seemed easily solved. Seeing that we saw the murder right up front, there really was no mystery about who did it. While this episode was much easier to follow that the previous week’s episode with Jeff Goldblum, “Rock Star”, it was almost too simple, which drained any drama from the episode.

The case itself seemed to hit home with Goren, as it involved two brothers with a schizophrenic mother. Unlike Goren’s life, this mother was abusive to her children and the boys become separated by foster homes after her death. Still, Goren seems to be able to relate to how her illness could have damaged a family over time.

I was slightly amused at the sudden appearance of and ADA in the show, seeing that the show seems to have been completely devoid of any legal involvement since Courtney Vance’s departure years ago. What amused me is that it seemed they had to get a Courtney Vance look-alike to replace him. I had to do a double take. It didn't really add much to the episode, however.
While Goren and Eames still make a great partnership. I have to comment on what I perceive as a loss of energy in Bobby Goren. We used to have a very nimble and cat-like Goren, who often intimidated suspects with his exaggerated motions and movements and just getting up close and personal with people. Now, he seems just plain tired and almost going through the motions. I hate to comment on D’Onofrio’s personal appearance, but I cannot be quiet about it any longer. I worry for his health. I believe that his weight is preventing him from moving comfortably; in fact he seems to be having difficulty walking at times. For some reason I though he looked like he had lost some weight in his first episode we saw this season so maybe they are not showing these episodes in the order they were filmed and he has since lost some weight. Vincent D’Onofrio is an accomplished actor and over the years has created in Bobby Goren a character that was agile of mind and body. Now that his body doesn’t move as fast, it looks like it is slowing down the character as well.


Here’s the recap:

Two young brothers are at home, the ceiling is leaking. It seems their mother, who is dressed up and sitting in an overflowing bathtub, is acting weirdly. One of the boys has burns on his arm. As the older brother goes upstairs to his mother, he sees an electric space heater sitting above the bathtub at the end, and you can see the gears turning in his head just thinking about what would happen if the space heater just happened to fall in. As the younger brother tries to treat the burns on his arm, we hear his mother scream upstairs, and the lights begin to flash on and off. When he runs up to see what is going on, he sees this mother flailing in the bathtub being electrocuted from the space heater, his older brother standing outside the bathroom door, his hands covering his face.

Fast forward many years, and we see Gray Vanderhoven (Sam Trammell) with his wife Lukie (Jenny Powers), getting ready for a formal night out. She’s telling him about his college reunion and saying she raised hell with the alumni association and now they know how to reach them. But he’s not thrilled at this news. She tells him she booked a suite for them in Princeton. But Gray gets a phone call, from another man who asks to see him at his home, saying it means everything to him right now. But Gray says he will meet him elsewhere, and Gray makes an excuse to Lukie that an alarm went off at his business and he has to check it out. She says she won’t miss the reception over it, and he tells her to go ahead and he'll handle the problem. She complains about it being her most important social event, but he says it could be a break in. We later see him going into a drawer with a false bottom and he pulls out a wallet.

Lukie is at her reception, and we find out that she has been married to Gray for almost two years, and Gray is a Vanderhoven from New Pulse. Meanwhile, Gray meets the man near Radio City Music hall and the man reminds Gray it’s been 20 years since they last saw each other. Gray tells him he will take him somewhere for dinner. Meanwhile, back at Lukie’s event, she is being recognized for her fundraising, and she is checking her phone for any messages from Gray. Walking in a darkened street, Gray walks with the man – Anthony (Patrick Arnheim)– and Gray asks him what he wants. He says he does not want money, and says what he is trying to tell him is coming out badly. He recalls their mother – clearly this is Gray’s brother – and recalls a German phrase his mother used to call them. Gray suggests they cut through an alley because it is shorter. But as Anthony walks on, suddenly Gray is not at his side. When Anthony stops and turns around, Gray tells him he is sorry but he is not going back. He shoots Anthony, killing him.
Later, Detectives Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) are on the scene. It appears the man was shot with a .22, and he has no money, credit cards, or watch on him. Some cardboard was placed over his face, and Goren thinks this is an odd gesture for a street crime. ME Rodgers (Leslie Hendrix) says there is no visible exit wound and the single shot took out his heart. Goren calls the .22 a hit man’s favorite. Eames finds a Penn Station locker key in his sock and tells another policeman to retrieve the contents. Goren finds a Brooks Brother’s wallet with a social security card with the name Victor Lustig, but there is not photo ID. He wonders why a guy in a Kmart suit would have a Brooks Brothers wallet.

Back at the Major Case Squad, Goren tells Captain Danny Ross (Eric Bogosian) that the identity is suspect because the social security card is the only ID they found. He also says the name Victor Lustig is also the name of a 19th century con man. Ross says the name could also be an auto mechanic from Bayonne who got shot on the lower east side. Goren thinks the wallet and card were planted by the killer to throw them off. Eames has the contents of the locker and it included a prescription for Compazine for nausea for an Anthony Burris. They also find photos of two boys with their mother, apparently dressed up in some sort of costumes but Goren does not think it’s for Halloween. Goren finds information to where Anthony’s mail is sent in Philadelphia, and Ross sends them off there to check it out.

When they get to the address, they find the man lived there for six months, he worked as a mechanic but does not know where. He also owes the landlord money. They enter his room and find is very sparse. Eames finds a letter from someone telling Burris that they have no information on the man he is looking for and to stop contacting them. The letter is from someone named Mavis and she is in New Canaan, CT. They head to that location and speak with Mavis, who tells them that a 3 years ago she was engaged to a man named Richard Phelps and she received the letter from Anthony says he say a photo of them from a charity event and he wrote to her wanting to know about Richard, he thought he knew him and wanted to re-establish contact. But Phelps denied knowing Burris, and at first she believed him. She said Richard was Princeton 1995 and so was she, but when she showed him the letter his behavior changed, accusing her of checking up on his past. This raised a red flag so she hired a former police officer to check out his computer and found research on his computer on other women who were divorced, widowed, and well off. She confronted Richard, they had a nice dinner and were very close that night, but in the morning he was gone. When Goren asked if he had access to her money, she says she did not think he was after that, his money was all tied up and she let him a little pocket money and bought him a few nice gifts. Eames asks, “A Brooks Brothers Wallet?” Mavis nods yes. Later outside Mavis home, Eames comments the cop she hired was very thorough and so was Phelps, his research on the women goes back to kindergarten. She also says lonely woman are a common mark for con men, but Goren says there is a twist, he didn’t grab her money before he left. Eames wonders if Burris ruined the other man’s plans with Mavis, maybe he ruined a more recent one with someone else.

Elsewhere, the man we know as Gray is driving to a beachside home in Nantucket with a woman, and he is looking to rent it. They seem to be hitting it off. He says his name is Tyler Chisholm, and her name is Juliana (Mireille Enos). He says he is from New Mexico and Arizona, but he says he went to Princeton, and so did she. He says he is a writer, and has books published under different names but the new one will be under his own. He agrees to rent the place.

Back at the ME’s, Rodgers has examined Burris’s body and tells the detectives that the bullet tumbled after entry which caused instant death. Goren notices the burn on his arm, and Rodgers says they are old, probably from a steam iron. They assume he was an abused child. His anti-nausea medication was probably from chemo, Rodgers thinks he had a blood disease.

Back at the house, “Tyler” is renting the home with cash, and Juliana says this makes him seem mysterious. She said her father insisted on Googling him, but found a birder with that name, but he was 84 years old.

Back at Major Case, Eames said she called the doctor who prescribed the Compazine and Burris was being treated for lymphoma, 6 moths to live. But Goren thinks that he doubts the killer knew that – why would he kill a dying man and why would a dying man extort money? His next of kin was listed a Patricia Lumet who worked at a supermarket.. Goren and Eames later head to speak to Lumet, who tells them nothing went right for Anthony and he was damaged goods, he just couldn’t hold things together – jobs, night school. She was not aware he was ill, and he had no one else, his mother was “schizo.” Goren seems to relate. She tells them his mother had died, she didn’t know if she killed herself but there was something weird and Anthony would not talk about it. He and his brother Thomas went into foster care, and he went looking for his brother but never found him. This piques the detectives’ curiosity. Eames gets a call, telling them that Burris’ last call was to an Upper East Side residential phone with the name Vanderhoven.

They head there, and speak with Lukie who asks if he (Gray) is dead or what has he done. She tells him he signed an armored pre-nup with no objections. He left on Thursday night when she was honored at a charity even, she tells them about the phone call and they had an argument. When she came home the place was torn apart and he was gone. Goren asks how they met, and she said he was going to rent on of her homes but they hit it off instead - they are also both Princeton. She tells him he was annoyed about signing him up for the reunion, and he new all the right Princeton names and even knew the Occidental Club secret recipe for boneless shad. She tells him that when he tore the pace up nothing valuable was stolen, but she thinks he was looking for a family crest that she was having framed for him as a surprise. It had an inscription that implied it was the crest of East Prussian royalty.

Back at the home in Nantucket, Tyler is in a small boat on the water, looking at a gun. He throws it in the water, and unbeknownst to him, Juliana sees him throw it.

Back at Major Case, they recap the case with Ross. They don’t think the false identities were for the money, but Ross is skeptical. Goren thinks it is more of the lifestyle that matches the vision he has for himself. Eames reminds Ross that he tore the place apart looking for the crest and took nothing of value. Goren says the title he claimed was the Count of Haugwitz, but his mother was Amish, so his noble heritage was a delusion. He also seemed fixated on Princeton, and the Occidental Club was limited to a very select membership.

Goren and Eames go to the club and find that their mystery man – Tommy Burris - worked in the kitchen. He was a smart kid and sat in on some classes but never registered for school there. They also see a plaque on the wall for 5 students who died in a climbing accident: Jeff Walters, George Gifford, Tyler Chisholm, Richard Phelps, Gray Vanderhoven. They check out the student records and find that Tommy was hired there but there were problems, Tommy threatened a Russian profession who questioned his claim of royal lineage.

Elsewhere, they speak to a social worker about the Burris boys. She says the cops made Anthony testify against his brother for his mother’s murder, saying Tommy killed his mom.

Later, we see Juliana talking with her father Cam Morgan (Michael Hobbs), who is questioning Tyler’s stories, saying their credit check gave his birthplace as Wyoming, not Arizona. But Tyler walks in, hearing this, and says that he was born in Arizona, and said he worked in Wyoming at his uncle’s address and signed up for the social security card there since it was his first job and he needed the card in order to work there. Mr. Morgan tells him they ran a credit check on him, and Tyler says he uses cash. Juliana seems oblivious.

Back at Major Case, Goren, Eames, and Ross look over the original video from Anthony’s and Tommy’s interrogations on their mother’s death. It seems clear that the police used tactics to get the kids to talk. Goren seems reflective as he looks at the video and the picture of the boys with their mother. Tommy has his mother’s tiara in his hands during his questioning. Someone brings in information on the check they did on the students who died in the climbing accident and finds that someone just ran a credit check on Tyler Chisholm, someone leasing a house in Nantucket.

Back at the house in Nantucket, Juliana and Tyler are having some wine and discussing his book, and he tells her the story will be about two children whose mother is a remarkable woman who knows the classics but uses fantasies to help the kids cope with their hard life. She thinks it would make the children very close, and asks how it ends. He says if she likes a happy ending he can’t disappoint her.

Goren and Eames arrive at the business of Mr. Morgan, and ask him about Tyler Chisholm and the credit check. As he tells them he rented a house from them, Juliana walks in. They show him the picture, and he asks who is he – really. Eames said they cannot answer that and they need directions to that house. When Juliana asks what it is about, her father tells her to stay out of it. Goren talks the photo from her and says that she obviously knows him, and Eames tells her that calling to warn him would be a felony. As they race to the house, Tyler sees them approaching in the window, and he attempts to flee on foot, but the police catch up with him and he is arrested. Goren calls out to Thomas Burris but he says they have the wrong guy, that is not his name. When Eames tells him his fingerprints will prove him wrong, he says that is all they will prove.

In the interrogation room, Lukie sees him in the observation room and confirms that was her husband. Goren tells him his real name is Thomas Burris from Hershey, PA. Juliana is also there in another room with Eames, still oblivious about him. Lukie says he got a half million dollars for a pet project for her, but all the money is accounted for.

Meanwhile, Ross and an ADA Carver look-alike ADA Damon Whitney (Wole Parks) are talking with Burris. He and Ross seem to try to pin his brother’s murder on him but Burris denies involvement. He says the wallet was a Christmas present and asked what the crime for regifting is. Whitney tells him that they will establish he had motive, means, and opportunity. He tells them to be careful about putting Lukie on the stand, she will help him more than hurt.

Later, in Ross’ office, Goren says he is right that Lukie would be more of a help to him, it will make him sound wholesome to avoid appearing like a fool. Eames says Juliana is still smitten and they wouldn’t want a grand jury hearing anything they have to say. Whitney says he has been very smart, and Ross says “Don’t tell me that sonovabitch is gonna walk.” Goren says if they release him he will change his identity and vanish. Ross tells them to start pushing the woman on anything that he has done or said that could be potentially incriminating.

Eames speaks with Juliana, and when she presses her for anything that seemed odd that made her raise a flag just for a moment, she recalls seeing him throw something into the water.

Goren comes in to interrogate Thomas, and Thomas calls him “the big gun.” Goren brings out a file, and call it “his life.” He questions him about the wallet. He also brings up the original case with his mother and the fact that Thomas couldn’t tolerate his mother burning his brother. He also mentions his mother’s illness, and Thomas says she was schizophrenic and there are no solutions in that. Goren mentions Thomas’ delusions of grandeur that he was a noble, Count Haugwitz. When Goren says something to him in German, Thomas asks is he now his shrink? Goren plays back some of Thomas original interrogation recordings, and shows him the pictures of him with his mother and brother, Thomas wearing a crown, his mother and her tiara, Anthony not in costume. Goren comments that Anthony was not part of their shared delusion. He asks if he was more painful - her death, or Anthony’s betrayal? Thomas says he doesn’t distinguish between them. He asks if he remembers killing her, but Goren also mentions that Thomas was barefoot, and had he walked into the bathroom to put the heater in, he would have also been electrocuted or shocked Goren says he doesn’t think he touched the heater, he thinks that was his brother’s lie. He thinks Thomas thought about it, but he didn’t do it. Thomas said his mother flew into rage because she wanted Anthony in the shower to wipe away the places she burned. He arm hit the cord and pulled the heater in. He says Anthony was part of a life he wanted no part of anymore, and Goren mentions that he didn’t want Anthony ruining his new life. Thomas says his psycho chatter babble isn’t working. He says he was tyranny of the week but he didn’t kill him. Goren hits on this, asking wasn’t Anthony all he had left in the world – and shows him pictures of them as children where it looks like Anthony trusted his brother. He also shows him an autopsy report for Anthony which shows that he had only a few months to live at most. He doesn’t think he came back to destroy his life, he came back for atonement of forgiveness. He trusted him and he loved him. Thomas seems to be breaking, and said “He loved me.” Goren asks him, “And did you feel that before you…” and Thomas says, “Yes.” As Goren looks at a remorseful Thomas, we fade to black.

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Law & Order and SVU Episode Info “Liberties”, “Skate Or Die”

NBC has released information for new episodes of Law & Order SVU and Law & Order. Don’t be shocked; these actually have real episode names (not like “Promote This! and “All New!” ).

By the way, the official word on the fate of Law & Order’s renewal is supposed to be out tomorrow (Monday). It’s been said that it will be renewed, but with a much smaller number of episodes – something like 13 – being ordered. Stay tuned! (NBC already announced the renewal of Law & Order SVU at the beginning of April.)


Law & Order SVU “Liberties” Air Date May 19, 2009
A JUDGE PRESIDING OVER A HARASSMENT CASE ASKS THE DETECTIVES FOR THEIR HELP IN SOLVING A THIRTY YEAR OLD KIDNAPPING

When Pamela Galliano (Guest Star Sprague Grayden) seeks to have a restraining order reinstated against her ex-boyfriend, Tyler Gleason (Guest Star James "PJ" Ranson), the assigned judge has something else on his mind. In order for some peace of mind, Judge Koehler (Guest Star Alan Dale) asks Detectives Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) to question a convicted serial killer about the whereabouts of his son's body, which adds a new twist to the case. Also starring: Richard Belzer (Detective John Munch), Dann Florek (Captain Donald Cragen), Ice-T (Detective Odafin Tutuola), Michaela McManus (A.D.A Kim Greylek), Stephanie March (ADA Alexandra Cabot), Tamara Tunie (Dr. Melinda Warner), and B.D. Wong (Dr. George Huang).

My recap and review of Law & Order SVU “Liberties" can be found here.


Law & Order “Skate Or Die” Air Date May 20, 2009
THE MURDERS OF THREE HOMELESS MEN LEAD DETECTIVES TO A POSSIBLE SERIAL KILLER

The murders of three homeless men appear to be the work of a serial killer. As Detectives Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Bernard (Anthony Anderson) investigate, they discover that one victim was wearing a distinctive pair of roller-skates that did not belong to him. Realizing that this could be a case of mistaken identity, they suspect the murders may have been committed by a copycat who knows the identity of the real serial killer. Also stars S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston, Linus Roache and Alana De La Garza

My recap and review of Law & Order "Skate or Die" can be found here.


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

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

Law & Order Episode Information Week Of May 3, 2009

Photo from NBC

We have new episodes for all three shows in the Law & Order franchise for the week of May 3. Here’s what’s coming up, and episode clips or previews are included below were applicable. A word of caution: CSU Stuckey is in the SVU clip, so that clip may annoy.!


Law & Order Criminal Intent “Identity Crisis” Air Date May 3, 2009
Two young brothers endure the insanity of their mother until she dies under questionable circumstances in a bathtub. Twenty years later, when the elder brother is confronted with the reality of a life he has sought to leave behind, he kills his brother. Detectives Goren (Vincent D’OnofrioO and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) follow the clues that lead them through a multitude of assumed identities.

My recap and review of Law & Order Criminal Intent “Identity Crisis" can be found here.


Law & Order SVU “Crush” Air Date May 5, 2009
DETECTIVE STABLER’S DAUGHTER, KATHLEEN (GUEST STAR ALLISON SIKO), IS CALLED IN TO HELP WHEN A TEENAGER IS BRUTALLY BEATEN AFTER HER NUDE PHOTOS ARE SPREAD THROUGHOUT HER HIGH SCHOOL.

Kim Garnet (Guest Star Carly Schroeder) is found brutally beaten after she sends out nude photos of herself via text message. Detectives Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) pay a visit to Kim's boyfriend, Steve Walker (Guest Star Alexander Nifong), but eventually learn that he is not the only recipient of the nude photos. Kathleen Stabler (Guest Star Allison Siko) steps in to give Kim advice, as she tries to track down the culprit who distributed the photos. But after Counselor Samantha Copeland (Guest Star Melinda McGraw) demands that Benson arrest Kim for producing and distributing child pornography, Kim must face the possibility of life-long consequences when Judge Hilda Marsden (Guest Star Swoosie Kurtz) hands down an unusually harsh sentence. Also starring: Richard Belzer Dann Florek, Ice-T, Michaela McManus, Stephanie March, Tamara Tunie, and B.D. Wong.

My recap and review of Law & Order SVU "Crush" can be found here.

Law & Order New Episode (Unnamed) Air Date May 6, 2009
THE TORTURE AND MURDER OF A FIREFIGHTER AND HIS WIFE LEADS DETECTIVES ON A TRAIL OF JEALOUSY AND BETRAYAL

When a firefighter and his wife are found tortured and brutally murdered in their new townhome, Detectives Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Bernard (Anthony Anderson) struggle to find a motive. The couple's recent purchase of an expensive Art Deco lamp signals to Lieutenant Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson) that they were living beyond their means. The search for the killer leads detectives to an old, unsolved case involving drugs and missing money, as well as a tight knit group of firefighters with something to hide. Also stars Sam Waterston, Linus Roache and Alana De La Garza.


Law & Order CI “Identity Crisis” Promo




Law & Order SVU “Crush” preview clip


Law & Order New Episode Preview Clip





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

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

Law & Order “Promote This” Mis-titled But Excellent (Recap & Review)

All Photos from NBC

This episode of Law & Order was tagged with the name “Promote This!” but I contend that was only the moniker they gave the episode when NBC moved it up on the schedule. That name clearly doesn’t fit this episode, which covered bigotry, hate crimes, and Jack’s political issues as he runs for re-election as District Attorney.

We got a few tidbits in this episode about Jack's past. One of his wives names was Ellen, and while they were going through their separation in 1991, she unwittingly hired an illegal housekeeper. Clearly, someone is really trying to dig into Jack’s personal life and find any dirt that they can.

I found the evidence in the case very weak, however, and thought that they really didn’t have much to tie the suspects to the actual crime. There seemed to be no real talk about forensics, with the exception of ME Rodgers being able to match the brand mark on both victims. Still, the only thing that they seemed to have on the assault case was the broken glass on the victim and the car. It is no surprise to me that they were found not guilty of all except the assault charge.

But, with the concern over illegals, it was a perfect backdrop for them to bring out Jack’s past problem. He had a rational explanation for it all of course, because we all know that Jack McCoy is the original Teflon Man – nothing sticks. I wonder if/when his drinking will ever come in to play. After all, Jack McCoy probably single handedly accounted for the majority of New York City’s scotch consumption for many years.

At the end of the episode, when Connie wonders if someone tipped off Morales’ mother that additional charges could be filed upon Morales’ death, I wondered if maybe somehow Jack was the one to tip her off, either directly or indirectly. I wouldn’t put it past him.

On a side note, I found some of the camera work and lighting in this episode excellent. Some of the camera angles were different and I enjoyed the way that it featured the main characters, especially while they were in Jack’s office. I swear at one point Sam Waterston looked like he was glowing. Since McCoy has no halo, I had to assume it was good lighting.

Here is the recap:

Detectives Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) and Bernard (Anthony Anderson) are called to the scene of what looks like a hit and run. The man is barely alive and may not be for long. There is auto glass on the scene but also in the man’s pant leg. There is no ID on him

The trial of broken glass is 20 feet long, and thinks that he may have been dropped out or thrown from a moving car.

At the hospital, they are told the man is in a coma and not likely to come out of it. He has fractured arms and ribs and bruises and scratches that appear to have been caused by when he hit the roadway. He has a burn on his cheek the size of quarter. There is also auto glass embedded in his shoe. He has a can of juice and smoked sturgeon in a bag that was found with him. They think he works in the kitchen at Irv & Sons Deli, the name on the bag containing his food.

They head to Irv & Sons Deli and are told the man is their dishwasher, Oswaldo Morales (Hector Javier Munoz). His frienf who works there last saw him in the morning, he got him up to go to get some day work, he waits under Highway 155 and waits for the cars to come to give him a job.
They head over to that area with soem food, and ask the waiting workers for help in finding who had hurt Oswaldo. One person says he saw him, and said Oswaldo went into a dark green Toyota with three white kids, which he thought was odd because they only wanted on man for their job. One of the kids took a picture of them with his phone. Bernard suspects the pictures may end up on the web.

Back at the 2-7, they talk to Lt. Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson) about what they know. It seems that the burn on Oswaldo’s face was some sort of branding. Bernard has found a video on line called “beaner hunt – taking back America one street at a time.” They can hear the voices of three boys, and they also see them shoot at someone with what seem like a BB gun. They see a mail truck in the video and Van Buren suggests they check with the lab to see if they can pick up the ID on the mail truck to find out where the video had been taken.

At the Peconic Police Department, Lupo and Bernard tell them that the mail truck came from their town. They are also told that the town had nine bias incidents in town in the last month. After talking to a local auto glass dealer about someone who brought in a car for a window repair, he says he has no records as the person didn't have the money for the work. They take the repair guy down to the high school – he’s not happy about it - to see if he can ID the kid who brought the car in for repair. He identifies the boy as Tony Stratton.

The detectives head to the Stratton residence, and Lupo sees a green car in the garage with plastic over the window. They go to the house and a woman answers the door and she seems to not speak much English and she doesn’t know Tony Stratton. As they walk away, the detectives note that her shoes don’t look like ones that a housekeeper wouldn’t wear. Lupo gets information that the car is registered to a Juanita Stratton (Rosa Arredondo), likely the woman they just spoke to, and she must be Tony’s mother. They wait in their car until she makes a move to leave, and when she does so, they stop her and indicate they know she’s trying to fake them out. They tell her that interfering with a criminal investigation is a felony and she denies interfering with anything. She said the window form her car got broken at the Tastee Freeze on Hempstead Turnpike. Tony opens the front door and calls out to his mother and she tells him to go back inside, which he does.

The detectives head over to a local judge to get a warrant for the car, but he calls them on the fact they picked him to get the warrant because he is Hispanic and that he won’t give them the warrant. He thinks the case is too important and he doesn’t want any perceived bias or impropriety to hurt it.

Back at the 2-7, Van Buren agreed what the judge did was the right thing. Lupo looks through the yearbook trying to identify anyone that could be friends of Tony Stratton, and they are able to pick out a blond basketball player on the same team as Tony, someone named Timothy Moore.

At the Moore residence, the detectives speak with Tim’s mother. He is not there, he is upstate visiting colleges with his father. They ask him about a BB gun that they heard he had owned but sold to someone else. She tries to cover for her son as far as his whereabouts the night of the crime. She tells them she and her husband were visiting friends in Maryland for the weekend, and she will write down his number and from now on they should talk to him. As she walks off, the detectives decide to head over to the high school as the video was uploaded from a computer there. It seems that the computer belonged to the basketball coach, and they find that the video had been deleted but there the AVI footprint shows that video was in fact on that computer. The coach says he does not tolerate any racial stuff and makes the kids do laps if they talk that way. He tells then that his team manager Kyle Chase also has access to the computer, he uses it to keep the kid’s stats.

At arraignment court, the three boys involved are arraigned and held on $150,000 bail each, the courtroom crowd protesting. Afterwards, the defense attorney Mosley (Josh Pais) serves ADA Connie Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza) with a motion to suppress the video. Later, she breaks the bad news to the detectives that the video was suppressed because it would be prejudicial to the defendants. This would hurt their hate crime charge, so they need better evidence. While she is talking to the detectives they both get a call – another body has been found having similarities to Oswaldo Morales. This time, however, it is an American man, an unemployed autoworker from Detroit, with a Hispanic background. He also has the same burn on his cheek, but Lupo has found the branding iron on the scene – a metal rod with a Mexican Peso on the end.
In the office of DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), he and Rubirosa and EADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) are watching a new conference featuring Joe Chappell (Tom Galantich), McCoy’s opponent for the DA spot. Chappell goes on about how badly McCoy’s office is handling the case and that he has made the city a sanctuary for illegals. McCoy turns off the TV and asks for an update on “these deplorable events.” They tell him the out of work autoworker as living with his sister and since found a job as a night watchman. He seems to have been killed 24 hours after Morales. The kids seem to be escalating. There are no witnesses and no forensics. Cutter thinks they have a better case for the assault, but McCoy wants the to enjoin the two cases and prove the victims were burned by the same device. But Cutter worries the murder case may tank the other and wants to proceed with the assault case and hold off on the murder and see what the police turn up. McCoy says, sarcastically, “I say we prosecute the assault of an illegal alien while we backburner the murder of an American citizen...I can write the editorials myself.” When Cutter argues that political image trumps legal reality, McCoy responds, “Here’s the legal reality. We’re joining the two cases. Clear?”

When Cutter and Rubirosa try to get the cases enjoined, the judge turns them down until they can show her that both cases involved the same branding device. Later, when Rubirosa, along with ME Rodgers (Leslie Hendrix) try to get access to Morales in the hospital, they are told that the hospital medi-vacked Morales out of the hospital and back to Honduras.

Back at McCoy’s office, he is amazed the hospital would just send Morales back in this way, but Rubirosa explains is was cheaper for the hospital to medi-vac him home than keep him on life support. McCoy tells them to bring him back and they will cover the costs. Cutter thinks McCoy will take a political hit for paying for an illegal's medical bills while many American taxpayers can’t afford care, and McCoy asks “Since when are you worried about my political image?” Cutter tells him he wants him to win the election.

At the health clinic at Puerto Lempira, Honduras, Bernard, Rubirosa and Rodgers convince Morales’s mother and wife that they should allow him to return, and Rubirosa tells his mother they will even pay for her to come back. She agrees to let them take Oswaldo back to the US.

At the motion hearing, Rodgers testifies that the burns from both victims were created by the same tool and that an indentation on the coin lines up perfectly with both victims. The judge grants the people’s motion to consolidate the indictment for the assault of Morales and the murder of Mr. Alvarez.

On the courthouse steps, the parents of the defendants are talking to the press. As McCoy, Cutter, and Rubirosa leave the courthouse, a reporter confronts Jack and asks him about a complaint that was filed with the Attorney General about him using public funds to fly in an illegal. He tells them that Morales’ presence serves the defendants’ rights to confront his the witnesses against them. The reporter makes and argument about the expense and most people in the city can’t afford that kind of medical care, and McCoy says that bothers him too. The reporter also asks him about a Ledger report which claims that McCoy hired an undocumented alien as a household worker for his children, and would he care to comment? McCoy responds he will comment after he reads the story, he is here to talk about the case. He intends to make justice available to everyone in his jurisdiction. If it is given to one, it does not mean it will be denied to another. But if it is denied to one, it is denied to all. As he walks off, Cutter complements him on his answer, and then asks “What about this nanny?” McCoy looks at him and doesn’t answer, and Cutter says, “Oh great.”

Later, in his office, McCoy is watching a news report with Chappell talking about the report of McCoy’s undocumented worker, and Cutter walks in. McCoy tells him when he was going through his divorce in 1991, he and Ellen were separated and she hired a nanny. She was also very stressed out and overwhelmed by everything, she never thought to check the woman’s papers. They didn’t find out until a year later, they let the woman go and paid her taxes. When Cutter says someone is going through his divorce records, McCoy says his problems are his problems, the work here goes on regardless. Cutter gets a message saying that Kyle Chase, the kid that uploaded the video, wants to talk and he has a new lawyer.

Later, Kyle Chase tells them he won’t go to prison for a murder he did not do. He tells Cutter and Rubirosa he did not want to go with the guys that night because of what they wanted to do so he stayed away. His attorney says he will plead to the assault and testify against Moore and Stratton, if the offer is good. But Cutter says they only have his word, but he has to testify first before the sentence recommendation.

Chase testifies about the assault, and then implicates the other two for the murder. The defense attorney Mosley, however, picks his testimony apart, saying that he is just saying all these things for a lighter sentence. But under redirect, Kyle confirms that he did tell the truth about what happened to Morales.

Later, they bring in another Hispanic witness who identifies the Moore and Stratton as people who had also attacked him, but the defense says that he is a liar because he is in the country illegally and not paying taxes. As he leaves the stand, Immigration arrests him, much to the outrage of Cutter.

Mosley calls his first witness, who is Juanita Stratton. During the cross examination with Cutter, she uses a derogatory term “grancho” used by upper class people which refers to a poor, unemployed person. He tries to portray her also as a bigot who taught her son how to be a bigot.

Back In McCoy’s office, he is getting off the phone with his ex, Ellen, trying to calm her on the recent press accusations, telling her to just tell the truth and he is apologizing for her getting dragged into this mess. Cutter enters and tells him the jury is still out, four hours and counting. Rubirosa arrives and says that the jurors where caught watching a Len Pewl special on illegal immigration – on someone's iPhone. In the judges chambers, the judge watches the video, confronts the juror and dismisses him, refusing to allow a mistrial, saying the jurors swore to maintain their impartiality, despite what they heard from that “race-baiting gas bag.”

The verdict is later read – they are found not guilty of the murder of Alvarez, not guilty of attempted murder of Morales, but just guilty of assault on Morales. Cutter, along with Morales’ mother, are dismayed.

Later, at Morales beside, Cutter tells him the boys will only get 6 years. She is distraught, and Rubirosa suggests a possible a civil case. But she wants her son to wake up, not the money. Afterwards, in McCoy’s office, Cutter gets a call from someone who tells him that Morales was taken off life support by his mother and he died shortly thereafter. McCoy tells them to send Mrs. Morales their condolences, and they can recharge Stratton and Moore with first-degree bias murder. Cutter adds that since they were found guilty of his assault, they should convict him of his murder. Rubirosa asks if someone tipped off Oswaldo’s mother that his death gave them a new cause of action. McCoy says, “Why not? Everyone games the system.” As they all go back to work, we fade to black.

Preview of Next Week’s New Law & Order Episode






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Jeff Goldblum Media Q&A Session

As I mentioned when I posted the transcript from the media Q&A conference call with Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe from a few weeks ago, a separate call with Jeff Goldblum was going to be scheduled. Unfortunately for me, I was travelling that day (Tuesday) and couldn’t get back in time for the call. (I was very bummed to say the least.) But, the host of the conference call was kind enough to send me the transcript for all of Jeff’s fans – and fans of Law & Order Criminal Intent (USA) to enjoy.

Here it is – in its unabridged glory! But before you start reading, please don’t forget that we have another new episode of Law & Order Criminal Intent (USA) that will be airing this Sunday at 9:00 PM EDT on the USA Network. I think that Jeff is a great addition to the series and I am looking forward to seeing more of his episodes.



Jeff Goldblum Q&A Transcript

Moderator Our first question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby with Media Boulevard. Please go ahead.

J. Ruby Hello, thanks for taking our call.

J. Goldblum Thank you for calling in; I appreciate it.

J. Ruby I actually am not that far from Pittsburgh myself so I’m curious, since I’m interested in it, too, how did you get started in acting?

J. Goldblum Hello to you from almost Pittsburgh. I always wanted to do it; my parents took us to see some children’s theater I remember, early on at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Even though I was very little I got kind of the bug. I was very excited being around theater and wondered what are those actors doing backstage and I was very excited about it.

And then there’s this thing in Pittsburgh, I think it’s still going on. It’s at Chatham, Music Day Camp it’s called; in the summers for six weeks between fifth and sixth grades and another year, maybe the year before that, too, during the summers I had the most magical time ever going to this thing and going from softball to arts and crafts and piano. I already had started playing piano then to this drama course. At the end of this drama course actually I took part in this recital and my father, my parents had already wisely said if you find something you love to do that might be a key to your vocation. After this show they cast me as this kind of lead in this funny little show and after that I had such an exhilarating time of it I remember, they were there. They said, “How did you like that?” I was like yes, that was really something and I kept it secret to myself just how much I loved it, but I think from that time on around fifth grade I thought to myself that’s what I want to do.

Then between ninth and tenth and tenth and eleventh grades I went to Carnegie Mellon University and they had six-week sessions for people and I remember looking through the catalog with my parents. They said, “What do you want to do?” There was art and I had painted and taken some art classes and had some talent in that. And I was playing piano. They said, “What do you want to do, this music program here? Do you want to do the art program?” I was like, “What if I did the one for actors?” It had kind of been a secret.

And so I did that, fell wildly more in love, several steps down the road in my soul and heart and blood and system toward being obsessed with and convinced and passionate about being an actor. That kind of stuck and then right after high school went to New York when I was still 17, just before I turned 18 and joined the Neighborhood Playhouse with Sandy Meisner, the great acting teacher, where he was still teaching. That’s how it all started. I started to do plays and movies and like that.

Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Jamie Steinberg with Starry Constellation Magazine.

J. Steinberg Hello, it’s such a pleasure to speak with you.

J. Goldblum My pleasure entirely, thanks.

J. Steinberg You’re known for your dramatic roles and also for your dry sense of humor. I was wondering why you chose to be on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Do you at least get to express some of your sense of humor while you’re doing the show?

J. Goldblum Yes, such as it is. Maybe I’m funny sometimes, maybe not so funny other times, but yes. They actually write, Dick Wolf has been fantastic, kind, cordial and brilliant, I think. And they have a brilliant staff of writers and producers and they have intendingly built a part that is suited for some of the things that I like to do and can do. That’s what they’ve tried to do and after seeing the first episode that was aired I think there’s some humor in there. Along with the solving the crime and the very passionate part of this character and serious part of the character, I think there’s some humor in it; I’m enjoying some of the funny parts of it.

Moderator Our next question comes from the line Sheldon Wiebe with eclipsemagazine.com, please go ahead.

S. Wiebe Hello, Jeff, I just want to say first I’ve been following your career since Tenspeed and Brown Shoe and enjoyed practically everything you’ve ever done. Detective Nichols seems to work from an observational point of view, where he’s working on motivations more than just the facts. So he’s kind of intuitive a bit. How would you describe your character if you were actually Nichols describing the character?

J. Goldblum I’ll take a crack at it. Yes, I think you’re right. I am an intuitive fellow. Of course people know that both my parents were shrinks so I was sort of raised in an atmosphere where there was that interest in the human mechanism and the human psyche and what makes people tick. And yes, I think I’m particularly creative and adventurous and improvisational and spontaneous in my inner impulses and patterns and deeply curious and appetized in the unfathomably mysterious and delicious phenomena that is the human being and who we really are.

And why certainly people go off the rails and commit murder here in New York City, that interests me particularly, and oftentimes I find it’s a mistake of identity and having their ego built around mistakenly and their sense of identity built around some aspect of form, if you will, in their lives, either their careers or their reputations or their bank accounts. That mistake gets them into trouble and they wind up doing risky and awful things in order to pursue that mistaken notion and defend it and help that survive. It’s a bad, but not uncommon disease of the psyche that I find results in murder sometimes. I’m a humble student of that whole subject.

Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Julie Kissane with popculturemadness.com.

J. Kissane Hello, Jeff, pleasure.

J. Goldblum Hello, Julie, my pleasure.

J. Kissane You actually touched on this before, that you are a skilled piano player. Were you nervous when you were being filmed during a scene where you got to play the piano in an episode?

J. Goldblum I don’t know how skilled I am, but I did take lessons. Our parents gave us music lessons early on in Pittsburgh and I took to it and loved it. I kind of guess it’s a hobby of mine. I’ve always played piano … I decided on being an actor, I played the ragged cocktail lounges here and there, a couple of jobs while I was still in high school in Pittsburgh and then have always had a piano where I am, where I live and now where I work, too. I just love to play all the time. For the last several years I’ve had a jazz band called the Mildred Spitzer Orchestra in Los Angeles and when I’m off work we book ourselves into places and play gigs around town.

Then, yes, they knew about it a little bit and worked it into the character so my character, Detective Nichols, is able to play a bit and in these couple episodes, one that you saw already, maybe that first episode, and there’s another one where I play. No, I’m not particularly nervous. I get excited and I got excited about it, but I always was sort of thrilled to play. Even when I play gigs these days I have no career aspirations or no fear of criticism. I really do it because I love to do it. Whenever I do it I love to do it, so it was particularly enjoyable for me having it be part of a scene or two.

Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Christine Nyholm with Examiner. Please go ahead.

C. Nyholm Hello, Jeff, thank you for talking to us today. Touching back on expansion of your first question I’m just wondering what you advise young actors today if they wanted to get into the field of acting. How would you start and where would you go?

J. Goldblum Very good question, advice to, you know I teach, for the last, I’m a humble student of acting myself and part of that studentship is teaching, in fact, I feel like I learn a lot from it. I just love doing it; I could teach every day. I haven’t done it for a while because I’ve been working so often, but one of the things I feel like is relevant and practical to tell my students sometimes, and anybody interested in getting into it, is to, well I like what Stanislavsky said. He said, “Love the art in yourself; not yourself in art.”

So in fact you can begin to discover and investigate whether you are an actor or not, whether you’re in my view, qualified for a life in this profession or in this endeavor by checking yourself out and acting every day, getting plays and scripts and getting together with people and divvying up the parts and acting in one way or another, or writing things. But an actor wants to get up every day and they can’t think of anything particularly more fun to do than getting into a made-up situation and living it out as if it’s real. And having people watch it perhaps and thereby telling those people a story, by acting out these characters in a story. That’s what actors want to do; they don’t necessarily want to be famous or rich or anything else. It’s a very bad gamble if that’s what you’re after. But if your heart is wildly in it so that you can’t think of anything else that could possibly make you happy or happier than getting up every day and acting, playing this crazy game that you make something up and playing pretending as if that’s true; if that’s for you you should start to do it.

And it’s not rocket science. There are a lot of books about it. I had a great teach Sandy Meisner and there’s a book that he wrote kind of chronicling a class that he, his two-year program takes you through. And you can learn many things, but it’s really doing it. If you have a feeling to do it that’s what you might do. And that’s what you start to do. If you make acting a part of your daily life, first of all, that’s a satisfying end in itself. But you might find that you start to get good at it and opportunities may come. If you’re of that sort of temperament you may investigate how to study formally and pursue the profession if that’s of your temperament and all of that.

But I’d say start to act; be a fan. See if you’re a person who loves, is a fan of and a lover of it, a devotee of literature, of material and you say, “I’ve got to do that.” Then start to do it anywhere you can that’s what I would say.

Moderator Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Joshua Fulghum with totallyher.com. Please go ahead.

J. Fulghum It’s an honor to speak with you today.

J. Goldblum It’s a greater honor for me. That’s a line from a movie; do you know what movie that’s from?

J. Fulghum Not right off hand.

J. Goldblum A Woody Allen movie, Love and Death. “It’s a greater honor for me. No, it’s a greater honor for me. No, you must be Don Francisco’s sister.” Yes, that’s from Love and Death. But in fact it’s a greater honor for me.

J. Fulghum Throughout your career you’ve starred in movies that feature incredible and even monstrous creatures like Jurassic Park and Incident at Loch Ness. Do you have any interest in cryptozoology, which is the study of hidden animals?

J. Goldblum Not particularly. I don’t have much of an interest in Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster or dinosaurs that actually might be running around, no. I’ve never heard anything credible that would make me think that any of that stuff actually exists. Even though I love playing in those stories including the dinosaurs, no, in real life I’m not particularly interested in Big Foot or the Loch Ness monster.

Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Troy Rogers with deadbolt.com. Please go ahead.

T. Rogers Hello, Jeff, thanks for taking the time.

J. Goldblum My pleasure.

T. Rogers How would the Jeff Goldblum of 20 years ago approach Zach Nichols?

J. Goldblum Jeff Goldblum 20 years ago might have been, but I was playing that Tenspeed and Brownshoe so I would have been the actor involved perhaps, this is hopefully I wouldn’t have any business with doing anything wrong that would have gotten me involved in a guy who’s investigating murders. But I’ve always been involved with crime stories and if I had been, for instance 20 years ago not inconceivably involved in a part where I might have been playing a detective like this I would have been very interested to talk to Zach Nichols, who’s ostensibly a real and a uniquely brilliant detective, for research purposes.

Here on our set, Criminal Intent we’ve got a guy like that, so the current Jeff Goldblum can talk to this fellow Mike Struck who’s a brilliant real-life detective. I love hearing all his stories and he’s on the set when we do our stories here and he tells us what’s real and if he were playing the part and he were in the actual situation what he’d be thinking, what he’d be doing, how he’d be doing it, and that’s thrilling and fascinating to me. So that’s how I can imagine Jeff Goldblum of yore talking to Zach Nichols if he were real.

Moderator Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Zach Oat with televisionwithoutpity.com. Please go ahead.

Z. Oat I’m a big fan of Raines and I don’t know if this has been touched on already, but were you disappointed when the show got cancelled and did that influence you at all in considering this part on Law & Order?

J. Goldblum Let’s see, I have a very, at this point maybe I have a philosophical approach that allows me here and there to be satisfied with whatever happens, believe it or not. Yes, I have my ups and downs and I can be disappointed in one thing or another, but generally speaking whatever happens I will mostly, and you can, it’s not strange to think to look at my life and go, “You’re a lucky guy,” and to mostly feel incredibly grateful. So even during a period when for instance Raines came and Raines went, I just felt incredibly grateful. If they had told me in fact that Raines would have been a six, seven-part miniseries I probably would have signed up and been very happy to do it like that too. I would have been very happy. But I’m always interested in the unexpected and know that things, especially in show business, but in life generally, are inevitably fleeting to one extent. It may be short, it may be long, but there’s no such thing as long. I think all of life is a fleeting proposition, so I’m sort of happy with whatever comes and goes in fact. And I think in loss and in the goings is sometimes the greatest opportunity for expansion.

Anyway, in another way it did give me, it whet my appetite for more cop parts, it’s true, and even before I did Raines I did this … show called The Pillow Man, where I played a detective, a homicide detective in fact. And I had a great time doing that. It was this Mike McDonough play and I was in it with Billy Crudup and Zeljko Ivanek and we had a great time for six months at the Booth Theater in New York. After that I was still very appetized when Raines came along, and after Raines, to do this, and there was sort of some kind of appetizing continuum for me in those things, that’s right.

Moderator Our final question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby with Media Boulevard. Please go ahead.

J. Ruby So out of all the roles you’ve played, because there’s been a lot, what’s been your favorite and why?

J. Goldblum My favorite and why. Maybe it’s because I’m trying to get better and I feel like I am, but I currently am pretty in love with this part that I’m doing now. Then I’ve got a couple of, I like the parts at the stage when they’re at the stage of development, so I’m doing a couple more movies right after this, this summer, one called The Baster with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman, and I’m at the stage where I’m rehearsing it and trying to figure out who the character is and what the part is, and I kind of love that. And then I’m doing this movie with Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton and Rachel McAdams called Morning Glory right after that, and I’m a bit in love with that. I think you have to be. That’s part of the criteria and qualification for taking a part. It has to be a passion and something you’re in love with.

But besides that, having said all that, I did love very much Adam Resurrected that I did this last year with Paul Schrader directing that Willem Dafoe was in and it was a wonderful movie and experience for me. I loved doing that movie, Pittsburgh that I think you can still get on NetFlix, a very handcrafted affair that I sort of cooked up over several years. Besides that, holy cats, many things that I could think of, but those are a few that come to mind.





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Law & Order “Selfish” Recap & Review

(Stabler, wondering if he can get away with murdering someone in public)
All photos from NBC

This episode of Law & Order SVU (NBC) “Selfish” was highly hyped and publicized because it featured Hillary Duff as a guest star. But, all we got was a weak, predictable episode from the “ripped from the headlines” playbook.

The story was clearly patterned from the case of the murder of Caylee Anthony and the case surrounding her mother, Casey Anthony. The only twist was the throwing in of a twist with the death really being from a case of measles and the whole vaccination debate. Even the segments of the epsiode where the players debated the merits or downsides of vaccinations, everyone seemed to be going through the motions. I think they missed a great chance to bring in Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) for a guest shot in this episode, seeing that Alex Cabot mentioned that the lawsuit against the city came during an election year and that it was causing a flood of calls to City Hall. She also mentioned the DA wanted Monica Stewart charged. It would have added a spark to this otherwise mediocre episode by having McCoy give that order to Cabot directly.

I am officially putting in a request for the writers to have CSU tech jerk Dale Stuckey (Noel Fisher) killed on the show. I think they are making him annoying on purpose, but they are doing it very badly. Maybe just want us all to have Stuckey be the one who gets killed off in the season finale so we will be happy about it. On the scary side, they could be getting ready to kill off CSU tech O’Halloran (Mike Doyle) so we would be “stuck” with Stuckey. If they don’t kill off Stuckey or make him go away very soon, I think fans will “bing bang bong” SVU off their watch list. The character is so stupid, so annoying, and so "sucky" that someone should have had him fired already.

Again, the SVU detectives get lucky when a suspect in the disappearance of the baby just happens to be fleeing the police and headed right in their direction. To me, this is just lazy writing. And isn’t it odd that they put out an Amber alert for the baby, but Stabler had no picture to take with him when he checked out the baby that the suspect had in his car? Why did he have to send a photo back to the squad to ID the child? Why couldn’t he just have a picture of the baby on his cell phone in order to make the comparison? This whole scene should have just been cut out altogether as it added nothing.

Since original story of Caylee Anthony also involved a suicide attempt by the grandfather, it seemed obvious that once we see that Ralph Walker is off the wagon that something very bad would happen to him later.

As far as I am concerned, this episode provided mediocre acting from the guest stars and the regular stars, mixed in with an annoying CSU person and a weak story, giving us a marginal episode.

Here is the recap:

At the SVU squad at their desks, Stabler (Chris Meloni) announces, “That’s it, I’m done.” When Benson (Mariska Hargitay) asks - what do you mean, done? – he responds “Paperwork. It’s like the first time in 5 years. “ Benson wonders if this means they can actually leave the squad early, but Stabler, looking around, cautions her to move slowly so nobody notices. But their happiness is short lived, as someone walks in, saying she was told by the guy downstairs that she needs to talk to a special cop. Benson tells her they are special victims, and the woman says she has not seen her granddaughter in four days. Her daughter went to Atlantic City with some girlfriends for the weekend, and she’s been home for a day and she has not seen her grandbaby since. The woman, Ruth Walker (Gail O’Grady) , said her daughter used her car while she was away, and now Sierra is gone, and her car smells like a dead body. Benson and Stabler give each other looks of concern.

Elsewhere, Ashlee Walker (Hillary Duff) is hosing down the inside of the trunk of a car. Benson and Stabler exit their car, with Benson calling to Ashlee, telling her to put the hose down. Ashlee asks her mother, “You went to the cops?” When Stabler asks for the whereabouts of her daughter, she says to her mother she is such a bitch, she told her she was at the babysitter. But Ruth is not buying it, saying she is full of crap, she knows that she is Sierra’s babysitter. Ashlee said she was until she was drunk and left Sierra in the bathtub. Ruth and Ashlee continue to argue, but Benson cuts them off, telling Ashlee she just wants to know is Sierra is OK. As Ruth and Ashlee continue to shout at each other, Benson pulls Ashlee’s mother way, and Stabler asks Ashlee why she is cleaning out her car. Ashlee says she was on a trip, a cooler tipped over and some meat must have spoiled or something. When Stabler questions “or something?” Ashlee pulls out a package of ground chuck from the trashcan and shows it to him, saying they were going to grill burgers. She says her mother is so paranoid. When Stabler continues to press on Sierra, Ashlee says she told him she is with Maria, her sitter. She decided to do chores instead of getting her this morning. She’s going to get her right now, and Stabler says he will go with her.

But, when they get to the address where Sierra and Maria are supposed to be, neither are there, just an older woman. Ashlee shows concern and thinks she has been set up and someone took her baby, but they take her down to the SVU squad instead to start the search for Sierra. Captain Cragen (Dann Florek) tells the detectives to tread lightly. Benson and Stabler speak to Ashlee and Ruth and tell them there is an Amber alert out. They ask her what she recalls about Maria and Ashlee says that Maria picked Sierra up on Friday in a red 4-door car. Fin (Ice-T) gets a call and tells the detectives that there is a car on the run, red four door, driven by a Hispanic male with a white baby in back. Lucky for them, he is headed right in their direction. But, when the detectives get to the suspect's car, Stabler has to take a cell phone picture of the baby and send it back in so they could determine it was not Sierra. Cragen sends Munch (Richard Belzer) and Fin top Tompkins Square Park where Ashlee said she met Maria.

Fin wonders how he can get out of this case...

When Munch and Fin get there, they finally find a woman who knows Maria, and she points her out. Maria (Marilyn Torres) is pushing a stroller, but in it is a doll, not a real baby. They bring her in anyway but it is clear this woman is just a little nutty over the death of her own child. They also tell her they have her financial records of her buying a shovel and tarp at the local home improvement store, but Maria says her Visa card was stolen. Cragen comes in and tells them they have a picture of who made the purchase – and it is clearly Ashlee. When Ruth sees the picture of Ashlee she goes a little nutty on her.

Later, Benson is questioning Ruth, who says Ashlee was a bad mom and it was just a matter of time before something bad happened. When she smelled something in the car, she believed the worst happened. Stabler questions Ashlee, who says she bought the shovel for her father and she denies doing anything. But Stabler arrests her anyway for the credit card theft and fraud.

Afterwards, when ADA Cabot (Stephanie March) arrives, she tells Stabler that the charges are thin but to keep working on a confession before Ashlee lawyers up. But it’s too late, Ashlee’s attorney Sofie Devere (Annie Potts) arrives, and tells them they should be ashamed of themselves arresting an innocent mother. She also tells them tat Ashlee's father Ralph retained her.

Stabler heads over to talk to Ralph Walker (Mike Pniewski), who tells Stabler that Sierra was his reason for going sober. But, he also produces a shovel that Ashlee gave him, which he said looks used. Stabler notices that reporters have arrived at the Walker residence, and find that Devere is holding a press conference outside the home. The reporters see Stabler putting the shovel in the trunk of the car and question him about it, and he says it is just part of an ongoing investigation and they are tracking down everything.

Back at the lab, Stabler goes over what CSU tech O’Halloran (Mike Doyle) has found on the shovel. There is no DNA, or hair or tissue, just fingerprints from Stabler, Ashlee, and Ralph Walker. CSU tech Dale Stuckey (Noel Fisher) arrives and annoys everyone, including viewers, with his inane questions and comments. O’Halloran finds an excuse to get rid of him, and Stuckey says he is on it, “bing bang bong.” When Dale leaves, O'Halloran says, “Now you know what I have to deal with.” He adds that there are traces of gasoline on the shovel which may mean it was used near a gas station. But there are a lot of gas stations in the area. Stabler thinks that Ashlee probably went to someplace very familiar where she felt safe.

At the Walker home, Stabler knocks and finds the door open. Ralph is there, watching home videos and drinking beer. Stabler is concerned, and cautions Ralph in his drinking. He shows Ralph the map of the gas stations, and Ralph tells him that he used to pick up Ashlee at the Hamilton Fish Park where the kids went drinking. Stabler gets out a team to check out that site, with CSU tech Stuckey yelling out to the gathering crowd that they are looking for a “deceased.” Stabler tells him to lower his voice, but he tells Stabler he thought Stabler would like the glory. Stabler is shocked at this and asks Stuckey if he tipped off the press, and Stuckey said he was just trying to make them look good. Someone shouts out that they have something, and Stuckey grabs a shovel and begins to dig wildly, to Stabler’s dismay. When he hits something, Stabler pushes him off and gently brushes away the dirt to find a doll – and a baby’s body. When Stuckey yells out “We got a body here,” Stabler is incensed and asks Stuckey repeatedly “What’s the matter with you?” and Stuckey timidly apologizes.

We are then at Ashlee’s arraignment, with Cabot texting on her cell phone. Ashlee is being arranged for the credit card charges to which she pleads not guilty. But Cabot continues to text, and the judge becomes annoyed with her. Cabot requests remand as Ashlee is a flight risk, and Devere is shocked at this since Ashlee has no criminal record. Cabot continue to text and the judge calls her out for it threatening to hold her in contempt, telling her that the behavior is unlike her. She tells the judge she is also charging Ashlee with murder and the Devere is outraged. The judge says Cabot seems off her game, and she apologizes, but said they just found the body of the victim. While Ashlee seems shocked, the judge allows the additional charge, she pleads not guilty and the judge sets bail at $1 million. Devere says to Cabot, “You’re full of surprises today” and Cabot responds, “And you’re full of the usual.” Cragen approaches Cabot, and tells her there is a problem.

ME Warner (Tamara Tunie) breaks the bad news to Cabot and Cragen – Sierra was not murdered, she died from encephalitis, brought on by the measles. There are no signs of abuse or neglect, and Cabot is shocked at how this could happen. Warner tells her that Sierra was not vaccinated.

At Rikers Island, Cabot pulls a slight of hand and says they will reduce the charges to negligent homicide if Ashlee makes a full confession. Ashlee tells her that Sierra had a fever and rash and would not stop crying, and she spanked her and she got quiet. She went back to sleep and the next morning Sierra was cold. She panicked and buried her. She think she killed her by hitting her too hard. Cabot tells her that she didn’t, and then tells her about the measles, to the shock of Ashlee and the attorney.

Back at the SVU squad, Cabot tells Stabler and Warner she thought Devere was going to blow a gasket. But they tell her the case isn’t closed, they have a bigger problem – measles. There were two cases reported and someone is still spreading it. One of the kids has returned to their home county, the other is Dennis Faber from Watertown NY. He’s Amish. When Stabler gets to the Faber residence, his father is upset that Dennis went back into town after he already recommitted to the Amish life. Dennis seems fully recovered now, and his father says the Amish do not vaccinate. Dennis said he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he was just hanging around the park.

Fin goes back to that park – the same one where Sierra and Ashlee had been at. Fin talks to the woman who had previously pointed out Maria and she tells them there was one boy who was a no-show at a kid’s party because her son had the measles. The mother in question is Monica Stewart (Anastasia Barzee), and Benson and Stabler go to her residence to question her. She says she made the choice not to vaccinate her kid. He kid is fine, but they tell her Sierra is not fine, now dead after being infected by her son. She says she is not responsible and they should lecture someone else.

Back at the SVU squad, they all discuss the issue of vaccinations, clearly with differing opinions. Cabot enters and tells them that Ashlee Walker is suing the City of New York as Sierra was infected in a city park. They watch Devere in a news conference talking about why they are suing for $100 million. Stabler thinks there is no case, but Cabot reminds him it is an election year and the phones are ringing off the hook at City Hall. The DA wants the public to feel safe, and they have to arrest Monica Stewart. They do so, much to her surprise.

At trial, Cabot makes her opening statement, saying that one parent can’t make a choice for another child. But Stewart’s defense attorney Langan (Peter Hermann) says it is about choice, Monica Stewart’s choice to immunize her own child. ME Warner takes the stand, and explains how contagious measles can be, and now there is an epidemic in England because people refuse to immunize their children. There are people who refuse to vaccinate over religious beliefs, some over the suspicions over the science behind it. She says Stewart’s negligence caused Sierra’s death. But Langan asks about the side effects of the vaccine, and brings out the fact that it can bring on death, and there is also an agency set up to compensate victims of serious vaccine-caused side effects. He asks about the laws in New York about vaccinations, and brings out the fact that to attend school you must be vaccinated (unless the child is home schooled or has religious issues), but since Monica’s son was not school age, she was not breaking any laws by not having him vaccinated.

Monica Stewart is on the stand, and says she read everything she could to make the most informed decision about the issue. Cabot hammers her, asking if she thought about how her choices affected other people, and said her choice caused Sierra’s death. Cabot asks if she has a medical degree, and Stewart says she does not need one to make choices for her child, and science is just another opinion. When Cabot says she is trying to show that if Stewart had vaccinated her child, Sierra would be alive, Stewart says she is not sure that is true, calling out Ashlee for being a horrible mother and it was just a matter of time. She says Ashlee buried her daughter in a small grave, and Cabot said that she buried the child that Steward murdered.

Afterwards, back in Cabot’s office over Chinese food, Cabot tells Benson and Stabler that they should have seen the look on the jury’s face when Stewart started playing the blame game. They continue to argue the whole issue of vaccinations over their meal.

Back in court, the jury finds Monica Stewart not guilty. Ruth Walker goes crazy and begins to yell out, calling Stewart a bitch, and the police try to restrain her. When Stewart says it is Ashlee’s fault, Ashlee rushes out of the courtroom, her parents looking on dejectedly.

Benson follows Ashlee into the ladies room and tries to talk to her. She says she loved her little girl. Her father comes in, and he hugs his daughter, trying to console her. She asks how she could have been so selfish, and Ralph says that he was the same way when he was young, and he is here for her now. She should make it up to Sierra by being the best woman she could be. But Ruth enters, stirring up the pot, saying it is not over. When Ralph tells her to calm down, she tells him not to tell her what to do, and just because he doesn’t have the balls to fight doesn’t mean that bitch will get away with killing her granddaughter. She leaves with Ashlee.

Back at the SVU squad, Cabot comes in with the Ledger, with the headline “Anti-Vaccine Mom Gets Victory Shot” and saying that this one hurt. She spoke with the jury after the trial, and they all felt that Monica should have vaccinated her child, but that she did not cause Sierra’s death. She tells them that Ruth has now filed a civil suit against Monica. Benson gets a phone call, and says Ashlee and Ruth aren’t waiting for their next court date to get justice.

At Monica Stewart’s residence, the police are there, along with Ruth and Ashlee. They threw a brick through her window. Ashlee yells out that Stewart is a bitch, and tells Benson her mom set her straight – that the courts aren’t going to do it right. As they lead away Ashlee and Ruth in cuffs, Ralph runs to Stewart’s home, Ruth egging him on to teach her a lesson. Steward runs in to her home, and Ralph follows. As the detectives follow, they hear a gunshot. As they enter, guns drawn, they see Ralph dead on the floor. Stewart says she begged not to shoot, and Ralph told her “Now you’ve killed two people” and put the gun in his mouth and shot himself. Stabler looks over at Ralph’s body, which is lying in a pool of his own blood. He is holding a picture of him and Sierra in his hand, and Stabler picks it up. As he looks at the picture, and then to Benson, we fade to black.

Law & Order SVU “Selfish” episode clip

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


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Law & Order CI “Rock Star” Recap & Review

All photos from USA Network

This episode of Law & Order Criminal Intent (USA) “Rock Star” marked the long awaited premiere of Jeff Goldblum as Detective Zach Nichols. Fans of the show know that this premiere had faced a few delays, and eventually it was announced that Law & Order CI producer Robert Nathan bowed out after shooting two episodes and insiders said Goldblum’s character wasn’t developing properly. (USA).

This first episode was passable. It didn’t have the usual Criminal Intent “feel”, and the case was simply uninteresting and uninspiring. Even the criminals were boring. I was also disappointed in the character of Zach Nichols, who at times actually seemed a little too much like Jeff Goldblum. No offense to Goldblum – he’s an excellent actor and I think he did very well with what was given to him. But, it actually can be distracting when you see more of what seems like the actor’s personality than the personality of the role he is playing. In further defense of Goldblum, it is always been difficult for a new character in the Law & Order franchise in their first outing because the show sometimes tries too hard to establish the new character. I always felt that Law & Order works well with a “less is more” approach, and in this case we got too much Goldblum-isms and not enough of Zach Nichols. Goldblum is a great piano player, and the word “quirky” was probably already imprinted on his backside when he was born. We got to see both of these traits in this episode. I think at least for the first episode I would have liked to see a little less of Goldblum’s strengths, and more of a more challenging or intricate crime. While I would not want Goldblum’s personality to be erased on the show – after all, this is his big drawing point – in future episodes I would like to see a more of what makes Zach Nichols tick - and hopefully he will not be just like Goldblum.

So while I wasn’t thrilled with this episode, I also recognize that having problems with the Goldblum episodes on the production side (not with Goldblum as I understand it), it seemed evident this episode was short on substance and seemed thrown together. I believe that both Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Nicholson make an interesting pair, and hopefully once the production issues have been worked through completely the series will be just fine. Possibly once Kathryn Erbe steps in to replace Julianne Nicholson while she is on maternity leave will bring yet another interesting dynamic to the show?



Here is the recap:

A group of musicians are walking along the street, talking about their manager and possible gigs. The neighborhood that they walk through also contains Orthodox Jews and blacks. Arriving at the building where the musicians are all housed in some sort of communal area, the building manager shows one new musician the open area where he will be living. Later, as he strums on his guitar, another musician gives him pointers, which seems to annoy him. Later, after some members of the group go out for a beer, one of them stays behind to make a phone call. The next morning, one of the Orthodox Jews in the neighborhood makes a call on a cell phone – despite the fact he is told it is forbidden – and calls 911, as the man who we saw stay behind from the bar is dead on the street.

With the police on the scene, Detective Megan Wheeler says there is no wallet on the body, and a gash on it that looks like it was made with a knife. She asks if anyone found a knife, and Captain Danny Ross says ESU is looking. Wheeler wonders why this is a major case, saying she is going to go out on a limb and say someone stabbed this guy and stole his wallet. Ross says it’s not the crime, it’s the neighborhood, and there are worlds in collision – Orthodox Jews, urban blacks, punk rock stars of the 21st century – not a lot of love. But when Detective Zach Nichols arrives on the scene, he says the neighborhood is amazing; in his block walk, he picked up all kinds of ethnic foods and a tantric charm from a new age boutique. While Nichols continues to go on, Capt. Ross interrupts and introduces him to Detective Wheeler. She says, “My new partner,” and Nichols says, chewing his food and with a bagel in his hand, “It’s a pleasure. Can we shake hands later?” She says yes, and asks him if he wants to take a look at the crime scene. He looks over, and says, “It looks like somebody stabbed him and stole his wallet.”

Back at the Major Case squad, Capt. Ross tells Wheeler that he and Nichols were partners back in anti-crime. Wheeler asks how Nichols did when he wasn’t having breakfast. Ross says Nichols was amazing, he was a brilliant cop, very perceptive, and both his parents were shrinks. When Wheeler says shrinks' kids are crazy and that’s an establish fact, Ross says Nichols is not crazy... exactly. He says her that it was a loss to the department when he took his 7-year leave, and when Wheeler asks where he went during that time, Ross says, vaguely, “Sent me a postcard from Cleveland once. “

Later, Nichols and Wheeler talk to “Teeter’s” – the victim – parents. Teeter wanted to be an MC, and Nichols tells them that an MC is different than a rapper, the MC can rap but also run the show and leads the crowd – he must be someone special. He called his parents a week ago and said everything as great.

At the building where Teeter lived, the manager, Phillip (Daniel Gerroll) takes the detectives up the elevator. Wheeler asking him if the place is up to code, and he says it is. When they get to the living area, Nichols comments that he smells incense, urine, beer, and pot – a great place for a guy to fry his brain. Phillips reminds them they are kids and when he asks Nichols what he was smoking when he was young, he says “Bananas.” They take him to Teeter’s living area, where Hank (Ashton Holmes) is the next to move in. Wheeler notices a bed bug. Hank a says they were with Teeter before it happened, at a “Spelling Bee.” He clarifies this is a bar, and he was with Rafe, Teeter, Sue Smith, and Helen. Nichols speaks to Rafe, who tells them that it was nostalgia and beer, and says Teeter competed and lost. He tells him Teeter stayed behind to make a call, and Nichols adds that Teeter used his ATM card afterwards, withdrawing $400 at 2 AM. When he asks Rafe if he knew why, Rafe doesn’t know, but Nichols doesn’t believe him, saying he’s getting stoned just breathing in there. Rafe admits Teeter was into pot, and probably went to his dealer, named Dix.

Nichols and Wheeler talk to Dix, and when Nichols begins to scare off some of his customers, he tells him that Teeter newer showed up, he called and wanted to buy a lid but he never showed.

Back at the musicians’ commune, a makeshift memorial is set up for Teeter, while Hank strums his guitar. Phillip is consoling Sue (Gillian Jacobs) who says maybe she should just go back to Wisconsin. Rafe shows up and seems drunk or stoned. He hears Hank play and tells him he is definitely not sucking, and when Hank says he’s not getting anywhere, Rafe tells him it is tough out there. Rafe tells him he just got a real gig and it could be really big. He tells Hank that he has the goods, and is he after his spot in the band? Hank says no. Rafe leaves a flower for Teeter and tells Hank to hang in there, he is going to make it. As Rafe leaves, Hank says he knows it.

As Sue is telling Phillip that she just can’t do this tonight, he tells her she just can’t roll up into a ball and hide, but she says again not tonight. A loud scream “Rafe!” is heard, and we then see Rafe’s body lying at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

The police and Nichols and Wheeler are on the scene. They are told Rafe was drunk, and he just got a really great gig, the elevator was broken. Phillips says someone just didn’t shut the door and Rafe was drunk. Hank tells them that Rafe must have been drunk, because he told him how well he was playing. He didn’t see anything. Nichols announces that they are taking statements from everyone.

Back at Major Case, Wheeler says they took 27 statements and no one saw anything. When Ross reminds them this is an open loft, Nichols says it’s more like a rabbit warren with partitions, and smoky. But Nichols thinks someone waited until no one was looking and someone was in the wrong spot, and he seems to be unsure of the theory. When Ross asks "Then what," Nichols responds "I don't know, " clearly trying to think things through in his head. Ross tells him that he suggests “while you’re trying to figure out what’s on your own mind, you resume the investigation of the actual murder on your plate – the kid who got stabbed.” Ross gives him the ME’s report, saying the kid was stabbed with a knife with a serrated blade with a chip in it, and one dull edge. Nichols stands up and says “You are the boss.” When Nichols leaves, we get this exchange:

Wheeler: When does the brilliant part start?
Ross: Not big on trust at the moment are we?
Wheeler: I’m not talking about me.
Ross: One partner quits on you…
Wheeler: Quits on ME?
Ross: After saying your ex-fiancé’s about to go on trial, someone else you trusted?
Wheeler: Okay. Thank you Captain Freud. (Wheeler gets up and leaves.)

Later, Nichols and Wheeler head to the place where Rafe’s band was supposed to perform. They are surprised when they see Hank filling in for Rafe’s big spot. Afterwards, Nichols complements Hank on a nice set, and says he hopes this doesn’t break his heart. He cites a bunch of numbers of how many people try to come to the big cities to try to make it big, and only a tiny number of them actually make it big is only about 10 out of 50,000. Hank thinks he can be one of them, and says some people make their own breaks. Nichols decides to show Hank his point, and gets up on the stage and plays the piano and does an excellent job. When the crowd applauds and Nichols steps of the stage, he reminds Hank he is just a cop. But Hank asks him if he is one of the losers in the 50,000, and walks off. When Wheeler asks him why is he a cop, Nichols says it’s because he likes it, he’s good at it, and “that kid is a killer.”

Back at Major Case, Nichols is on a phone call, and when he gets off, he says it was the Utica PD, Hank had a stepfather he didn’t get along with and there were allegations of abuse but not enough to make a case, When Hank was 16, his stepfather had a fatal accident while fixing his roof and Hank’s problem was solve. When Ross questions Nichols if he thinks Hank killed Rafe for his spot in the band, Nichols thinks it fits, but Ross says, “If you’re a homicidal maniac.” Nichols thinks Hank would kill to succeed. But Wheeler wonders how Teeter’s death would fit into his theory, and Nichols said it got him a better apartment.

At Phillips apartment, Nichols notices that Phillip was in “Speckled Stallion” and played at Woodstock, Phillip saying they had the third longest set there. Nichols said they were “something.” Phillip tells him in those days it wasn’t about talent, you had to suck up to the executives. When they asks about Phillip managing Rafe’s band, and that he put Hank in there to replace Rafe, he says Hank is raw but good. Wheeler seems annoyed that Nichols is making small talk, and steers the conversation back to Hank, asking if Hank knew that he was in line to replace Rafe, and Phillips says yes. Phillips then wonders if Hank pushed Rafe, and Nichols says it is a motive.

Back at Major Case, Nichols is working on a chart showing everyone’s location in the loft at the time of Rafe’s death. He was also listening to “Speckled Stallion” and says those guys suck. When Wheeler says he told Phillip they were great, Nichols corrects her and say he said that they were “something.” They take his chart and head back to the loft to see Hank. He brings out his chart, and shows him where everyone was located, He drops the chart on the floor, and picks something up with a handkerchief. He shows Hank the chart and asks him what is wrong with it, and when Hank doesn’t know, Nichols tells him that Hank is not there – none of them saw him. He asks Hank to point out his location, and Nichols puts down a tag and asks Hank to sign it. He then “remembers” that a few others were missing from the chart, and places two other people in that area, and puts two more tags down, and none of them saw Hank. Hank tells them he is late for rehearsal and moves to leave, saying that he had too much to drink that night and has no idea where he was.

Back at Major Case, Wheeler tells Nichols and Sue Smith is also missing from the chart. When Nichols asks her why she would kill Rafe, Wheeler says she doesn’t know but she seems to keep popping up. When she mentions that Nichols chart was wrong, he says he wants Hank to think they caught him in a lie, it’s as stressor, and it may have him do something else, but hopefully not kill someone. Wheeler asks him what he picked up, and he shows her some bedbugs in a handkerchief, and he hopes the blood in them will be the DNA of anyone that may have been “sleeping” in that room. Later, one to the lab tech tells them that bedbugs have a slow digestive system and the blood can be in there for as long as two months. In one of the older ones they found Teeter’s blood, and from the same time a woman’s blood. The newer bug had the blood of a new man – but the same woman. It seems that Hank also got a pretty girl with his new room. They both begin to speculate that Hank killed Rafe because he wanted to be in the band, and killed Teeter because he wanted the girl, wondering who is in Hank’s way now.

Back in Hank’s room, Sue is there, and she is talking with Hank about her father. He asks her if he will see her tonight, and says it depends on how stoned Phillip will get. She complains that Phillip acts like she is his girlfriend but she is not, he just pays her rent. She compliments Hank and says they could have something good – except for Phillip. Later, Phillip tells Hank he is not ready to step up to a bigger gig, and then asks if he has seen Sue. Hank says no.

Back at Major Case, Wheeler and Nichols goes over the case with Ross. Ross asks exactly what the motive is as all kids sleep around. But Nichols is still wondering – they are looking at two different murders, one seemed planned, the other, spontaneous (Rafe’s). When Wheeler asks if he is saying they don’t fit, Nichols says they do and they don’t – does she see what he means? She pauses, and looks to Ross, asking “Do you see what he means?” Ross says, “Not a clue.” But Ross adds that in theory, Hank had motive and opportunity to kill Rafe and possible motive to kill Teeter, but what was the opportunity? Wheeler reminds him Hank was with the group right before Teeter was killed. Ross asks if he stuck with them, or slipped away?

Nichols and Wheeler question on of the women who was with the group when Teeter was killed, and she said everyone split up. She also said Sue said she had to get back with Phillip, and adds that Phillip pays Sue’s rent. She also said Rafe seemed to have big plans for his band, talking to record companies and big time managers about it. This seems to pique Nichols’ interest. Later, outside the building, they speculate about who had the motive, and Nichols says he has to make a call.

Hank is on stage with the band again, and after his performance, he heads to the bar and someone there tells him he was fantastic and he could be playing better venues than this. He hands him a business card, and Phillip sees it. Hank is surprised the man is Joe Lazar, who manages another big band. He says he was ready to sign him but Phillip wouldn’t let him go. He said maybe Hank can talk some sense into him. Outside the club, Lazar walks by a waiting Nichols, and tells him that Hank bought it, “hook, line, and sinker.”

At a later time, with Phillip, Nichols talks with him about Hank, Phillip complaining about Hank, and Nichols says Hank has an attitude. He tells him that Hank said some “hot shot manager” was after him. He thinks he is really going someplace, unlike Phillip, who went from rock star to landlord. Phillip says that it is a boarding house and he takes in talented musicians that he can help. Nichols says that Hank doesn’t see it that way, he needs a manager that is not a fossil, someone from the actual current century.

Later, Hank is on the phone with Phillip, and Hank wants to be let go, but Phillip says he will let him know when he is ready – and he is not ready. Hank says he can break his contract, Phillip says he can’t, but Hank tells him Lazar will pay for a lawyer. Hank asks of they can talk about it – is Phillip upstairs? He tells him he is in a park, and they can meet at the factory they scouted for a music video. Meanwhile, Nichols and Wheeler are listening in on a phone tap. Wheeler comments that Phillip is taking a hard line, and Nichols says someone must have gotten under his skin. Wheeler realizes the park Phillip was in was close to where Teeter was killed, and Nichols comments, “dangerous neighborhood.”

At the empty factory, Phillip calls out “hello” and Hank approaches. Hank says this isn’t working out. Nichols and Wheeler step out as Nichols yells “Hi” and tells everyone to hold it. Hank asks what is going on, and Nichols says a murder, but not anymore since now that they are there. When Hank asks what he is talking about, Nichols says, “Oh, life, death, unqualified success, abject failure, naked ambition.” Nichols continues to play off both Hank and Phillip, telling them that they are both sleeping with Sue, and Phillip acts surprised. When Hank indicates Sue is sleeping with everyone, Nichols says this is a powerful motive. Hank questions murdering over a “piece of ass” and tells Phillip if he wants her, she is his, he doesn’t care. Nichols seems surprised at this, and Hank confirms he doesn’t care about her. He says if he wouldn’t kill for love to forget that motive, but that Phillip would, as Phillip thinks she is his girlfriend. When Phillip says she is his girlfriend, Nichols says he is just “the rent” and tells him women actually like sleeping with guys about 30 years younger. Phillip says that rule doesn’t apply when you’re famous, and Nichols ridicules Phillips band at Woodstock, saying they wouldn’t get off the stage, that Speckled Stallion always left its audience wanting less. When Phillip reminds him he has a Grammy, Nichols taunts that Milli Vanilli also has a Grammy, and that Phillip is a has-been, adding “viva Viagra.” Nichols says when Sue started fooling around with Teeter, Phillip went nuts and killed Teeter. Hank seems stunned. Nichols brings up Rafe, but Phillip says he was in full view of other witnesses when Rafe was killed, and Nichols says Hank did that, because Phillip told him that Rafe was standing in his way. Nichols said Phillip wanted to get rid of Rafe and he knew Hank would do it because he saw that Rafe would do anything to get ahead. He says Phillip suckered him because Rafe wanted to escape so he could succeed, and Phillip’s ego could not stand that. Nichols approaches Phillip and finds the knife that likely killed Teeter, and Wheeler thinks out loud that Phillip was going to use that same knife on Hank. When Hank realizes this, he becomes enraged and has to be restrained, saying that Phillip told him that if Rafe was gone, he could get Hank to the top. Hank says he did it for nothing. As Hank and Phillip are led away in cuffs, Wheeler asks Nichols, “So the next time we go on a bust, you maybe wanna tell your partner who we’re busting?” Nichols says, ‘I was exploring options.” Wheeler, closing her eyes, adds “God almighty.” Nichols says, “Oh c’mon it was great. It was a two-fer. I would have been happy taking one scumbag suspect off the streets but two for the price of one, oooh, you know, maybe I should have come back sooner. This is, ah, sweet.” As Nichols chuckles happily, we fade to black.

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




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

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

Law & Order Episode Information Week Of April 26, 2009

We have a full plate of episodes for all the shows in the Law & Order franchise this week. The new episode of Law & Order Criminal Intent marks the much-anticipated introduction of Jeff Goldblum as Detective Zach Nichols (a promo clip is below). The episode of Law & Order SVU includes the much-hyped appearance of guest star Hillary Duff. (A video clip is below.) Law & Order is just, well, new – and that’s enough for me!

PS - after I released this listing, NBC made a programming change. The episode originally scheduled to air on April 29 for Law & Order - "Exchange" - has been removed and another new episode has been inserted. But, the episode name on the NBC release looks odd to say the least and I don't think it is correct. I listed the episode information below and have left the episode title blank for now. ("Exchange" has been moved to May 13.)

A special note – my recaps for SVU and Law & Order may be a little late for this week.


Law & Order Criminal Intent “Rock Star” Air date April 26, 2009

Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson) and her partner, Det. Zack Nichols (Jeff Goldblum), investigate the stabbing of an artist, who was found in a neighborhood rife with ethnic tensions.

My recap and review of Law & Order Criminal Intent “Rock Star” " can be found here.


Law & Order SVU “Selfish” Air Date April 28, 2009
A YOUNG CHILD GOES MISSING, AND HER YOUNG MOTHER IS THE PRIME SUSPECT--HILARY DUFF AND GAIL O'GRADY GUEST-STAR

When it is reported by Ruth Walker (Guest Star Gail O'Grady) that her two year-old granddaughter, Sierra Walker, is missing Detectives Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) investigate. After rounds of interrogation and a failed Amber Alert, Benson and Stabler believe that the prime suspect is none other than Sierra's young and irresponsible mother, Ashlee Walker (Guest Star Hilary Duff). Also starring: Richard Belzer (Detective John Much), Dann Florek (Captain Donald Cragen), Ice-T (Detective Odafin Tutuola), Michaela McManus (A.D.A Kim Greylek), Stephanie March (ADA Alexandra Cabot), Tamara Tunie (Dr. Melinda Warner), and B.D. Wong (Dr. George Huang).

Law & Order "Promote This" (?)Air Date April 29, 2009
A STRING OF HATE CRIMES AGAINST HISPANIC MEN LEADS TO A CONTROVERSIAL CASE INVOLVING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Detectives Kevin Bernard (Anthony Anderson) and Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto) investigate the case of Oswaldo Morales (guest star Hector Javier Munoz), an illegal immigrant found unconscious but still alive on a service road. When the detectives find a possible link to Oswaldo's attack and nine recent bias-related incidents, they uncover a deep-seeded, dangerous bias against Hispanic men within the community. Also stars S. Epatha Merkerson, Sam Waterston, Linus Roache and Alana de la Garza.

My recap and review of Law & Order "Promote This" can be found here.

Law & Order Criminal Intent Promo – Introducing Zach Nichols



Clip – Law & Order SVU ‘Selfish”




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

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