February 14, 2004
Blood Is Thicker...
In this episode (2.14), the the wife of a wealthy New Yorker is found murdered, apparently by a serial mugger whose weapon of choice is a baseball bat. When Cerreta and Logan visit the woman's husband, he appears to be in shock and can barely respond to them. Eventually, of course, the detectives learn that the woman was having an affair with a married Jewish doctor. Although the husband at first denies he had knowledge of the affair, the detectives learn that he was aware of it, and that it particularly bothered him because his WASP-y family doesn't think much of Jewish people. So there's the motive. Unfortunately, his mother (who seems to control him) offers an alibi for him, so the detectives have a lot of trouble proving the husband's guilt. They catch a break when they search the husband's homes and find an heirloom pin the victim she was wearing the night she died.Stone and Robinette inherit the case's weaknesses when they go to trial, but they want a confession. They take the unusual step of putting a confidential informant (an armed robber) in the cell with the husband at Rikers, and he eventually confesses to the robber, but the next day, the robber says he made up the story of the confession. Apparently, he recanted because the mother paid him off. To make matters worse, the pin that they thought was unique turns out to be just like 3 other pins in the possession of the family. But then, the victim's lover reveals that there is something unique about one of the pins, and that he can positively state that the pin they found was indeed the one the victim was wearing the night she died.
Important casting note: the rich and controlling mother is played by Nancy Marchand, best known for her role as Tony's mother on The Sopranos. She also once played a wealthy, controlling mother in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. Also, Jude Ciccolella, recognizable from his role as David Palmer's chief of staff on the first season of 24, plays the armed robber.
Posted by adm at February 14, 2004 08:19 PM
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)