Very enjoyable episode, drily cynical and full of zingers. The fourth CI by playwright Jacquelyn Reingold (also of "Maltese Cross", "World's Fair", and "Renewal") and easily her best. Not, perhaps, this year's submission for the GLAAD Media Awards, what with the lesbian-run extortion ring (but considering that the episode was also full of sniveling, feeble straight men, it sort of balances out in context). Really nice turns by perennial guest star Josh Pais (in his twentieth L&O apperance) as the pretentious middle-aged-crazy writer and Lola Glaudini as the bent lawyer (I died laughing when Falacci asked her how much longer she'd be able to manipulate men with sex, and she responded "You tell me, honey!").

See, I didn't get this. It seemed irrelevant and random. Or maybe Lurchy (that's what I've decided to call AW. Have you seen her walk? Maybe her backstory is that she's Casey Novak's cousin.) is just so asexual to me I didn't get it.

Although not a bad episode, although if I was a CI purest it would bug me. While the slide away from what CI was supposed to be has been happening for a long time I thought this episode was pure mothership.

Couple of things I like though. More Rodgers - yea! I want her in every ep. (In fact I want 1 ep, and just 1, where she is front and center. I think she deserves it after all this time). I liked the capt being out in the field and I like them being in the 1 PP cafeteria ( this seems to be a mandatory scene in all episodes now) the switch up in scenery is good I think. I'm getting a little bored with the coffee fixation though. Knowing that Falacci would rather use her "princess" coffee mug instead of disposable isn't character development and doesn't make up for what is either lousy acting or the fact that Falacci is a smug creep in terrible eye makeup.

Huh. I guess I really don't like her do I? I liked Wheeler best. Although it's not much of a litter to choose from.

I thought it was a pretty decent ep. Some good one liners. Hit the old school CI formula really hard with this one. The mystery and ultimate baddie weren't all that hidden (which is good and bad), and watching the way the investigation gets around to it was interesting. Glad to see some good old fashioned Criminal Intent questionable constitutional trickery there at the end. I've missed it.

"Piss off, Firecrotch!" heh.


Made me think OMG almost as bad as with Michael O'Keefe last week. And Jim Gaffigan before that. I assume Lee Tergesen or Jay Sanders will be popping up in another week or two. Cause DAMN. It's really distracting to have someone who's not only been in a few L&Os, but to get them again when they've previously had significantly memorable roles bugs the hell out of me. That may not be that big of a deal, but it chafes me.

I like the Logan - Falacci pairing somewhat, but I really like that Falacci is not becoming a sympathetic kind of character. She's young and obnoxious and know-it-all and presumptious and pretty much ticks everyone off, which is a far cry from the ready-made super sleuths we often get when new characters get partnered in for a while. She's immature and somewhat untested, and pairing her with someone like Logan who's been through the ringer, very good match-up. I'm not completely sold on her as she does kind of bug. I'm ready for Wheeler to return I think.

Damn head cold -- I fell asleep before the final act. Did the wife play a part with the set-up? Between the earrings and the polaroid going missing at the studio, I started to suspect she was mixed up in it.

I'm actually liking Falacci (and Alicia Witt) a lot more than I expected to -- her ability to speak Greek just confirmed to me that she's basically a rewritten Barek, pumped up on caffeine. Come to think of it, she's the character equivalent of the new theme music -- she sticks out as hyperactive, but that's because everyone and everything else in this franchise has developed such a low-key, somnolent tone...

No. It was the guys girlfriend Tammy, and her lawyer who were in on it. Tammy's lawyer was the set-up woman. They found out she was fired from her job for sexually harrassing her female secretary. The bartender had a dvd that they blackmailed him with featuring him and the lawyer--that's how they found out. So they had the bartender come in for a line up and say Tammy was the blond to sort of con them.

They also realized it wasn't the author because he tried to kill himself a couple of times before succeeding and they realized he couldn't tie a knot, let alone truss up that woman or tie that planter holder at his home in the knots.

As they were escorting Tammy to her cell, she kept asking all sorts of questions, the lawyer made an error and said something the cops picked up on so they knew they had her. Then she basically said Tammy was worthless (this after telling her in the car earlier she wanted her so much and they started kissing).

Did anyone notice Logan eating that sandwich during the medical exam, and Rogers took it and threw it away?

I did, and almost snorted up my soft drink. More Rogers, please!
I'm starting to really like AW as Falacci. I think she and Noth really work well together, in spite of the fact they've only been partnered a couple of eps so far.
I too laughed at the part when I got it, I think Falacci did too.
As a lesbian, it was annoying to have the lawyer lady turn out to be the big brain behind it all as well as the killer (like that hasn't been done before! :sarcasm: ), but overall I enjoyed the episode.
I'm liking Noth more and more on CI as Logan. AW can stay, IMO, if for some reason Julianne Nicholson doesn't come back as Wheeler, who I really like.

Thanks for the recap, Butterstick. I also missed the end.



Succeeding? That's sad. Okay, he was a jerk, but still.

I didn't mean it like that. I meant that he finally killed himself. I guess it was a poor choice of words on my part. Sorry.

Actually I take the exact opposite approach. As a lesbian I look forward to a day when a lesbian can be the villain and no one gets offended.

But that's just me.

I think I'm the only one who is actually enjoying the dark feel to this season.

Touche', Femvamp, you have a very valid point and I agree with you. I guess I've just conditioned myself to earlier portrayals/stereotypes: "evil lesbian" is nutso and kills, or "good" lesbian is brutally killed just because she's a lesbian.
I gotta get out of that kind of thinking, huh?
Thanks for the reality check, really. :-)

Perhaps I should be taken out back and shot, but I'm liking Firecrotch.

I know! The red-headed spitfire cliche and everything!

I like that she's young (although it bugged me at first- how does someone that young make detective and in that unit? blah-blah qualificationscakes, whatever, I'm over it), but her energy is a nice change from the broken 40-somethings and their somber nodding. I even like that she's bossy and the ultimate know it all (she speaks Greek? I was hoping for a revelation that all she said to him was, "More drinks, please", you know like some people learn to do in ten languages as a party trick?) and love some of the looks she's getting from Logan. I'm sure I'd be making even less subtle faces at her if I were him. I thought the purple princess mug was great. It made me laugh at my tv. Could you imagine Eames or any of the other L&O detectives with something like that? It might not be deep character development, but it says something about her attitude. Her response to the whole, "You tell me, honey" was to smirk, which was great. No grand denials that she's a cop and professional and feigning shock that she's attractive. Good stuff. She's kind of fun and kind of a bitch. She's got me on her side for now.

My only request is that given her youth and inexperience that she screws up something soon. I hope it's big and Logan throws her princess mug across a room. And that she promptly replaces it with a pink one.

Best episode in a while. Lots of little good things, like the sandwich, and nothing that really stood out as bad. I liked how Falacci showed the earrings to the wife -- nice and direct.

I liked this episode. Nice misdirection with Anya (the murder victim, I think that was her name) receiving the "I need to see you tonight" and the writer receiving the "Can't make it tonight" messages, as if they were eMailing one another.

Am I right in thinking that the lawyer was playing a long con on Tammy?

When Logan & Falacci were interviewing Olga (was that the babysitter's name? I'm terrible with names today!) on the street, mr.fastiller blurted "St. Stans!" The interview was filmed across the street from our parish church, St. Stanislaus Kostkas, outside of Okruszek Bakery. Also, the establishing shot outside Nick's diner was the Clinton Diner, which has been in loads of films/shows: HOLLYWOOD IN QUEENS. Wierd seeing places I see everyday on TV, particularly when they're not in Manhattan.

Interesting thought. Thinking that, she could have used Tammy until she got rid of her by either dumping or killing her, then recruited some other women to help her in her blackmailing scheme.

Since she took pictures, she would have the opportunity to blackmail Tammy as well.

Much as I love any and all instances of RogersSnark, she may have been making a valid point about Logan possibly contaminating the evidence/victim. The few morgues I have been in have all had big, prominently-placed signs along the lines of "No Food Or Drink Allowed". In any event, Logan was being unprofessional bordering on rude by eating in someone else's workspace without permission. This ain't the squad room, Mikey. They do sciencey stuff here!

I liked the Princess mug and like AW, but it sounded to me like she was yelling for no reason in that scene. Also, when they were watching the video and Logan predicted he's going to "flip her over" because you don't go missionary when you're cheating -- Falacci's reaction was awesome, like "Oh, please" meets "Oh, shit, I never thought about that."

that mug looks handmade from one of those diy pottery stores

I wonder if Falacci has a kid at home

According to USA's site, she has three.

It seems like they have been airing this episode a lot over the past few months. It is probably one of my favorite, if not my favorite Noth episodes.

I realize that the husband did cheat on his wife, but I did feel bad that he cashed in his own chips. There were a lot of plot twists during this episode. I just get annoyed that it seems like it takes the prime suspect to fold in his cards, before the detectives start looking for other suspects. Yes, Logan did have his doubts about the man's guilt, but it really didn't lead anywhere until after the suspect offed himself. The really sad thing is that the suspect tried killing himself multiple times before he finally succeeded. I was surprised that a suicide watch wasn't put on him, given how erratic his behavior was. Especially when no one would believe him and he had no emotional support from anyone. He was in essence all alone, physically and emotionally.