The Ledger

14.5 Blaze

In this episode (14.6), a washed-up rock band's pyrotechnic display is responsible for a fire in a small rock club that kills 23 people. Sound familiar? The episode is based on a 2003 incident in Rhode Island in which 96 people were killed at a performance of the band Great White.

The episode begins with two brothers in the club's bathroom fighting over one brother's cocaine use. As they are talking, we hear a boom. They open the door, and the stage is on fire, and people are screaming. They run to the bathroom window, but it's been barred over. By the time Briscoe and Green show up at the scene, the bodies are lined up outside. The investigator from the fire department tells them that the fire was accelerated by the soundproofing in the ceiling.

They begin their investigation by trying to find out who knew about the pyrotechnics display ahead of time. They visit the band members at the hotel. The lead member, Teddy Connor, professes ignorance, and says his manager arranged the whole thing. The band's manager says the club owner knew what was going to happen, even though a clause in the contract prohibited pyrotechnic displays. They even performed with the display the previous night. The manager leads them to the stage manager/head roadie who tells them he is a careful technician, and that he didn't cause the fire. Briscoe and Green next interview a young witness, an 18-year-old girl named Terry, who witnessed the fire and called 911. She says that as the show began, two band members did not stand where they usually did, but a third one -- the bass player -- did. He was immediately set on fire by the flame-throwing pyrotechnic device, and the enflamed ceiling soon "fell on his head," killing him.

The forensics labs tells the detectives that one of the flame-throwing devices had been filled with twice as much flammable powder as the other throwers, and so the flame was twice as big. It shot all the way to the ceiling, igniting it. This was the thrower immediately next to the bass player. The stage manager explains that everyone, including the band members, knew how to set up the devices, so the detectives just need to figure out why someone would fill the device more than usual. One of the roadies offers a possible motive: Teddy had recently discovered that the bass player was "banging" a groupie Teddy was involved with. This groupie tells the detectives that she saw Teddy with another groupie: Terry, the 18-year-old. Hmm. Terry never mentioned anything about that.

They reinterview Terry, who says the sound guy was not backstage when everyone else was, so maybe he over-filled the flame-thrower. The soundman says he's innocent, but finally offers some useful information: Terry kept saying how he wanted the flames bigger, figuring that a bigger spectacle would lead to more energy and more fans, and this would somehow launch the band back into the big time again. A shoddy theory of success, but Teddy, when questioned, admits this. After a conversation with Lt. Van Buren, Briscoe and Green arrest him.

His confident defense attorney tells McCoy to buy a new suit -- she's filing a motion to allow tv cameras in the courtroom. Something about ensuring that her client is crucified in public, she says. Even though it's against New York law, the judge allows it, over McCoy's strenuous objections.

At trial, Terry the 18-year-old groupie changes her testimony and now claims that she was having sex with Teddy in the tour bus at the time that the device would have been rigged. Of course, this gives Teddy a perfect alibi. McCoy and Southerlyn are stunned, and are convinced the girl is lying to protect Teddy out of some misconceived idea of love or loyalty. They pressure her to change her story but she refuses. They even try to get her mother -- who is obviously stunned to learn her daughter is having sex with 52-year-old men -- to pressure her daughter to change her story. Time for the big Family Meeting in the Conference Room™! Can you see it coming? Turns out the girl is the illegitimate secret DAUGHTER of Teddy. (We should have guessed..."Terry and Teddy"? Come on, what are the odds of that?!) She says she was lying to save him, her father. Her mom gives everybody a lot of lip about how it's not worth it, but the daughter is insistent and then CONFESSES to setting the fire herself, because she wanted her dad to be in the big time again. Way to go, honey. You're both famous now.

In the epilogue, Southerlyn tells Branch and McCoy a lame story about how she tried to impress her dad by playing tennis, but he would just to "paperwork" at her matches. Poor, put-upon Serena. Life is so hard.

Casting note: Teddy the lead singer is played by a guy named John Doe. Although there are a couple of John Does in the world, this one was the lead singer of the 80s punk band "X," who I think I've actually seen in concert at a rock club about the size of the club in the episode. John has been acting for a long time, and was a regular on Roswell.

Posted by adm at March 11, 2004 08:57 PM

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