Amanda Wilson
2004-04-28 02:40:40 UTC
NYPD Blue Summary/Review by Amanda Wilson aka ***@aol.com.
"Traylor Trash"
Season 11, Episode 20
4/27/04
Teleplay by Matt Olmstead
Story by Bill Clark & Matt Olmstead
Directed by Mark Tinker
My hope is rewarded! A pretty fine episode. If you missed it, please read the
following summary then sit in detention Wednesday afternoon. The review
follows:
Summary:
TRAYLOR TRASH: Kevin Traylor is found shot in the chest in the apartment he
moved into a few months ago when he left his wife Donna. Greg and Baldwin think
someone ransacked the apartment looking for something. A check of Traylor's
background shows he has a record, mostly for drug offenses. They also find he
was involved also in a church called the Blood of the Lambs.
Kevin's wife Donna comes in to talk to the detectives. She says she's in shock,
and it's not clear that she's not because she's a mouse, an extremely meek, shy
woman. She tells the detectives her husband cleaned up from drugs a year ago
and that since he found God, he's been right. They ask if she knows why he'd
have several photographs of different cars parked outside the same massage
parlor, but she can't give them any hints about that. Before she leaves, she
tells them she thinks maybe someone from his past has done the crime.
Greg and Baldwin go to visit the church. It's a storefront right next to the
Pussycat Massage parlor, the same one in the photos Kevin took. They walk in
during an electric guitar sermon about dog vomit and sin being delivered by the
Rev. Mercy Hawks. When Baldwin flashes his badge, the service is ended. Hawks'
female followers seem to adore him in a Kool-Aid kind of way.
Rev. Hawks, who apparently has no knowledge of the history of world religions,
tells the cops Kevin was a good Christian and therefore could not have had an
acrimonious relationship with anyone. He says he knows nothing of Kevin's
relationship with his wife, but he does explain the photos. One of Kevin's
missions was to educate the sodomites at t he massage parlor and turn them on
to Jesus. Rev. Hawks also admits that he and most of his followers have had
checkered pasts, a time of their lives they refer to as BGG--Before God's
Grace. Greg senses Hawks is still a liar and asks him his real name. Hawks kind
of chuckles and gives it up so they can check his record.
A check of Kevin's phone records shows a few recent calls from a guy named
Lonnie Wells. Lonnie is brought in and starts off the interview with a lie
about calling Kevin. He ends up telling them he not only called Kevin, but went
to his apartment to have it out with him over a photograph of his car outside
the massage parlor. Seems Kevin mailed it to Lonnie's wife and Lonnie's wife
put him out. Lonnie swears he didn't kill Kevin but he does admit to punching
him.
While the detectives check out Lonnie's alibi, word comes that Kevin has died
from his wounds and the case is now a homicide. And CSU brings in a lead that
changes the case completely: a video tape found hidden in Kevin's apartment. It
shows Rev. Hawks having kinky sex with Donna. At one point on the tape, he ties
her up and beats her with a belt.
The Rev. is brought in to explain this. He's a sorry excuse for Jim Jones or
Charles Manson, but the cops know he's got a hold on his female parishioners.
He tries to lie for about a minute then admits knowing about the tape. He says
Kevin made it to prove Donna was cheating on him. He says he and Kevin talked
about it and that he advised Kevin to get control of his life and his wife, to
make her submit to him like a wife should. He says also that Donna seduced him.
She's a sinful woman who allowed the devil to work through her, and that he
fell victim to Satan's ways through her. He says he told Donna God would
forgive them, and they both forgot about it. He also notes that he has an alibi
for the time of Kevin's murder.
Rita and Kelly interview Donna this time. They explain to her that they think
it might be easier for her if she talks to women, and that women may be able to
provide an insight that the male detectives might not have. Donna is told what
Hawks said and she says she guesses she seduced him. She says Satan seduced her
and she then seduced Hawks. She is reluctant to say anything about Hawks until
Rita mentions her daughter and just tells Donna to wake up. Donna finally tells
them that Kevin threatened to expose the tape if she didn't give him their home
and daughter, and that he also threatened Hawks. He wanted to take over the
church and told Hawks he'd reveal the tape if Hawks didn't resign. Hawks had
Donna get the tape away from Kevin. Rita and Kelly sense that she did this
thing under some sort of spell and they try to get her to implicate Hawks.
Donna is on to them very quickly, however, and is careful to step around the
words they try to put in her mouth. Still under Hawks' spell, she won't
implicate him. She takes all the blame for Kevin's murder. She gets close to
revealing the power Hawks has over her but stops. She tells them she wanted to
protect the church and knew of nothing else to do. Rita suggests she could have
instead told Hawks to shove it up his ass. Donna only smiles and tells Rita
Hawks is a prophet.
Greg and Baldwin are not happy with this news. They wanted to shut Hawks down
if not send him to jail. They try bluffing him by telling him that Donna
implicated him. He doesn't buy it and he tells them so. They let him walk,
which he starts to do with quite a satisfied smirk. Baldwin stops him with one
of his giant haymakers and tells him that the tape will most definitely be
accidentally released and that he'll have to pack up his circus and leave town
anyway.
PEELER: The Peeler case continues to unravel around Andy. The neighbor they
suspected comes up negative for a DNA match in Cindy Clifton's murder and the
father is lawyered up. They go to the wife's place of work to try to get her to
talk. She's angry with them, too. They explain they want the DNA to eliminate
people from the suspect list but she is still offended. Nevertheless, she
begrudgingly agrees to help. Cindy was killed over a holiday weekend and the
mother gives up the names of all the family members who were in attendance.
They decided to look at Mr. Clifton's brother, Simon.
Andy and Clark's visit to Cindy's Mom is not appreciated at all by Mr. Clifton
who arrives in the squad room plenty pissed off. They explain the need for DNA
again and again Clifton expresses how much it pisses him off. Finally, he says
he'll give them a DNA sample. He grabs a file of some sort off Andy's desk,
throws it on to Kelly's desk and hockers up a big puddle of spit which he
deposits on the file surely splattering Kelly. He storms out. Andy collects the
DNA and sends it to the lab.
Simon Clifton comes in next. He's just as angry as the rest of the clan over
being called in but agrees to go to the lab and give a DNA sample. He also
suggests they look into Mrs. Clifton's nephew Sam Jeffers. Sam is not on the
list Mrs. C gave them, and the angry Simon won't tell him why he's important.
Forced into what Andy calls a board game, they bring Mrs. Clifton back in to
explain Sam. She says she didn't put him on the list because he was only 16 and
couldn't have killed Cindy. When they ask her why she hid his presence from
them she coughs up the story that Sam is really her son. She got pregnant out
of wedlock in her youth which was a major embarrassment to her family. Her
father made her give the child to neighbors, and when she married, her
husband--Cindy's father--made her agree that whenever the boy visited she would
have to pass him off as her nephew. Sam knew she was his mother but he was
forced to play along with the story in order to be able to see her. She says
she hasn't talked to her son in a long time.
Andy's old partner stops by to admit he screwed things up and to offer his
help. He says he's been feeling really bad about it all. Andy is grateful for
the help. Joe is going to use his old contacts to check on sex offenders who
were released in that area at that time.
Sam is brought in for a chat. Junior encourages him to smoke so they can get
DNA but he refuses. Sam is extremely nervous and jittery, and he won't make eye
contact with the detectives at all. His body language suggests he's terrified
and just barely able to contain murderous rage. The anger pops out in small
bursts as he talks about how crazy it was to have to keep the secret of his
birth, how much he hates his mother's husband and how angry he was at her for
carrying on the charade. He says he confronted her about it when he turned 18
and that they haven't spoken since. He says he was close to Cindy, but doesn't
want to seem to talk about it. He says he never was angry at her because she
was too young to be caught up in everything. He asks if his mother left him a
message. When he hears she didn't, he just sort of twitches. They don't ask him
for or try to get DNA beyond the cigarette attempt, but they do tell him
they'll stay in touch with him. He seems OK with that. Andy thinks he's worth a
hard look and doesn't want to spook him into lawyering up.
Mr. Clifton calls Andy and Junior and invites them over to his house. Once
there, Mr. Clifton talks to them about Sam and how he knows he's responsible
for the young man's anger. He apologizes to Andy for his irrational behavior
earlier and vows to help in any way he can. He says he asked them over to let
them see Cindy's bedroom, which they've left untouched all the years she's been
gone.
Later, Sam is brought back in for questioning. He's even more nervous this time
and fires up a cigarette right away. He gets about two hits off it before Andy
tells him to put it out because it's bothering him. Sam is annoyed but that
quickly turns to dread when Andy throws a bunch of family photographs from
Cindy's room down in front of him and asks why Cindy would have scratched his
face out of every single one of them. Sam meekly suggests he did something to
piss her off. Junior then pulls a surgical glove out of a drawer and snaps it
on his right hand. He picks up Sam's cigarette and explains how they're going
to send it to the lab for a DNA test. Sam says they don't have his permission
for that but Junior explains that they don't need it. He's standing in front of
Sam as Andy is seated in a chair behind him, literally breathing down his neck,
telling him how he's not going to stop until he finds who killed Cindy and also
allowed an innocent man to go to prison.
Sam is terrified. He says he did not kill Cindy, and repeats that several
times. He does admit to playing doctor with her the weekend before she was
killed but says it wasn't rape.
After the interview, word comes that Mr. Clifton and his brother both came back
negative for DNA matches.
Much later, there's even more disappointing news: Sam came back negative, too.
Cindy's killer is still at large.
Andy goes to Peeler's final hearing, the one where he got the paper work that
vacated his sentence. Leonard is cold toward him but agrees to listen to what
Andy has to say. Andy tells him he was a young detective then stop himself. He
says even though every witness lied, he still knows it was his job to put the
right man away. He apologizes for the way things turned out for Leonard, and he
holds out his hand for Leonard to shake. Leonard stands solid. He tells Andy he
accepts the apology but he walks away from Andy's outstretched hand. Leonard's
mother then approaches. She tells Andy no one ever apologized for all this mess
except him. She says Leonard is still too close to the matter to appreciate the
apology, but she says she can appreciate it and will shake Andy's hand.
TASMANIAC DEVLIN: Junior's old flame, Dr. Jennifer Devlin shows up at the squad
looking quite a lot different from the demure, slinky, sexy physician she used
to be and looking a whole lot more like a wonky little flower girl who got lost
at Hell's Angels rally. She's cut her hair shorter and put a big, red streak in
it, the kind you see when the freaky Goth girls (and guys) decide they need a
pop of color to bring out the red in the vials of blood dangling from their
necklaces.
Junior is not only surprised to see her, but he's surprised to see her looking
like that. He's even more surprised when he takes her in the coffee room to
talk, and before he can say hello she shoves her tongue down his throat. She
chatters like a spider monkey that he needs to pack a bag, tell his boss he's
taking a little trip and then drive two days straight with her to South Beach.
She's totally manic, and Junior tries to be careful. He tells her he can't go.
She demands to know if he's seeing someone. When he asks if she's taking her
meds, she gets angry and storms out. He asks to see her later but she barks out
a bizarre response and slams the door.
A short time later, Rita and Kelly are leaving the precinct and find Jen
outside waiting for them. She approaches Kelly and introduces herself as John
Clark's girlfriend. Kelly, who barely knows Clark much less Jen, says, "OK."
Jen asks to speak with her privately and Rita makes herself scarce. Jen begins
by telling Kelly that she and John are soul mates who belong together despite
their recent set back. Kelly interrupts to tell her this is personal stuff and
she doesn't want to hear it. Jen presses on, becoming a little agitated and
finally asks Kelly to just leave him alone. Kelly tells her there's nothing
going on, and at this, Jen becomes angry. She says she knows there is something
between them and proceeds to babble an insane little rant. Kelly realizes the
girl is way off balance and decides to handle her gently and tell her what she
wants to hear. When Jen asks her to leave Clark alone, Kelly assures her she
will and tells Jen not to worry about it. Jen is greatly relieved and hugs her
like a long lost sister.
Later, Kelly pulls Clark aside to talk about the matter. Clark explains that
Jen is not his girlfriend now. He apologizes, tells Kelly he'll handle it since
Jen has no family in NY.
PJohn later tells Junior that his attempts to reach Jen at the hospital are a
bust. Someone called to say she no longer works there.
Junior goes to her house where she won't answer the door right away. He calls
to her a few times and she tells him she doesn't want to go to South Beach
anymore. After more prompting, she finally opens the door. It looks as if she's
covered in blood and has is smeared on her face but Junior sees quickly that
it's paint. Still, it's red paint, and it's everywhere. She lets him in, still
as jittery as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. She tells him she was
painting because she wanted something alive and raw. She's got half the kitchen
smeared with red paint and it looks pretty raw, all right. Alive? Well, that's
another matter.
Junior approaches her slowly and tells her things aren't right. He hugs her but
she remains stick straight, her eyes just darting around the room. She explains
a little more about the personality conflict that ended her medical career and
how they also found out about her condition. He tells her he wants to get her
help. She's reluctant, but he insists gently. She agrees but only if he'll go
with her and stay a while. He says he will and he hugs her again. This time she
responds a little, telling him she sure could use a friend.
Review:
TRAYLOR TRASH: Guest actor Robin Weigert made this one for me because I'm
currently in the midst of an obsession with Deadwood on which she plays
Calamity Jane. She showed fantastic range in this role; aside from the murder,
Donna couldn't be more different from Jane. Other than that, I thought the
story was solid enough--I didn't expect the video tape angle at all -- but
wanted to see more of the cult-like influence Hawks supposedly had over Donna
and his other followers. An attempt was made at this by having the woman at the
church puppy up to him, and Weigert conveyed it perfectly when she called Hawks
a prophet, but I'd have been more sold on the concept if the man playing Hawks
had actually had put some sort of magnetism into the role himself. He didn't.
He just seemed like your average skel to me.
Greg came off like a regular smart detective and Baldwin putting his big paw on
Hawks' chest was effective.
PEELER: Nice to see this arc back on track after last week's mishandling of it.
It's almost as if this episode sought to and succeeded in curing most of last
week's ills. There were no silly CSI close-ups -- in fact, one little shot of
Sam which made you think they were handing you the killer on a silver platter
turned out to be nothing more than a close up of a twitchy little guy who's
just fucked up from his wacky family.
Thank you everyone for not making the Dad the killer. And thank you further for
not making anyone else who seems so obvious or has been used so many times in
similar cases the killer. It's not good to invest so much of our time and
emotion in a story arc with a cheesy payoff.
Of course, there's no guarantee we won't get a cheesy payoff, but I have hope
this week. If I were a betting girl, I'd lay my money on Joe having some big
hand in solving this case. I kind of hope that doesn't happen because it would
be too obvious, but it's better than making the Dad the killer. So, we're on
the hook for another week and that's good.
Lots of other things to like about this part of the show: The scenes with Sam
were excellent. The actor playing Sam did an outstanding job, for one thing.
The decisions to have Sam not make eye contact and be so completely active
while sitting so perfectly still were very good. He was a little bomb ticking
and a terrified rabbit at the same time. In the first interview, you could see
Andy thinking about whether to ask him for DNA and deciding against it. In the
second interview, there were two brilliant things that stood out. One was
having Clark snap that surgical glove, a sound that, from what I understand,
makes most men pucker up tighter than the lid on a pickle jar. The second was
having Andy seated behind Sam where he could literally breath down Sam's neck.
Two really fine decisions made there. They added so much to the scene.
I was a little disappointed again in the Andy/Peeler encounter. It didn't seem
to add much to the story, frankly. The layers were missing. Peeler playing the
Offended Black Man was a cliche, for one thing. Oh, and we've seen Andy
apologize like this before. Cut this scene and you haven't lost a thing.
TASMANIAC DEVLIN: Clark returns to his earlier failed rescue to make another
try! OK, aside from the fact that this poor guy can't stay away from damaged
chicks, I thought this story worked pretty well.
Chandra West was superb. She was more than just frighteningly manic, she wove
a whole lot of pain and vulnerability into that sped-up dance of hers. She had
to move at break neck speed and push her over-the-top excitement but she also
hit several lower, mournful notes. A few that stand out: the look on her face
and the movement of her body when she hugged Kelly. Another was the way she
delivered the line about how she didn't want to go to South Beach anymore. And
yet another when she told Clark she needed a friend but held back a little in
accepting his second hug.
I'm now wishing Chandra were playing the part of Kelly Ronson. At any rate, I
guess I won't mind it if Clark gets her some help and we can see her a little
bit again. Maybe as she boards the bus back to Fort Wayne or something.
QUICK HITS:
*Another Sipowicz is waiting in the wings. I'm guessing we'll have another
little Andy, Jr., season's end. The Sipowicz's are going to have to think
about putting Connie back to work or getting a bigger, cheaper place to live in
the suburbs.
*Funny how Devlin zeroed in on the blonde in the squad as Clark's girlfriend
totally missing Rita who actually did sleep with Clark. And odd how Rita had
nothing to say about it all. I guess she and Kelly dished in the car off
screen.
*Hint for astute viewers: Read the opening credits for who wrote the teleplay
and who directed and when you see Matt Olmstead near the word "teleplay," you
know you've got something pretty good coming (also applies to Nicholas Wootton
nearly every single time). Same when you see Mark Tinker after the words
"Directed by."
*Lots of fun little Tinker-esque camera angles. I can usually pick his episodes
out of the pack without credits. I guess being able to take a fresh look at an
11 year old show is why he gets the extra 50 cents a week in his paycheck.
(Used to be 75, but they had to make budget cuts to keep the show on for
another year.)
*Hank!
*A chemist dropped me a line last week to say how unrealistic the part of the
Peeler story regarding DNA testing was. Since Cindy is Clifton's daughter, he
says it would be easy enough (for someone with 7 thousand degrees in molecular
molecules which I'm pretty sure this guy had in addition to his chemistry
degree) to find out if the semen inside Cindy was from such a close relative.
Since I failed molecular molecules, I cannot vouch for this but it seemed to
make sense to me. The chemist says that since there is DNA from the killer and
DNA from Cindy, you could compare the two to see if there are any common
alleles. If so, the cops would then look at relatives. If not, they'd look at
non-relatives. (Where was this chemist during the OJ Simpson trial?)
*PJohn speaks! It's been toooooo long. He better remember a baby gift
appropriately wrapped.
*Here's a nice little thing: setting the first scene with Mrs. Clifton in a
library. The metaphor about knowledge was nice, but beyond that, the quiet
setting provides a really nice backdrop for her anger. When she shouts, it
really stands out.
*Mercy Hawks. Get it? Ha!
*Cindy's room: Andy thought it was creepy, but I didn't get that feeling. It
looked pretty normal to me. The old computer was cool and the older looking TV,
but where were the Bon Jovi posters? Now *that* would have been creepy! (Even
creepier: Posters of that 80s teen heartthrob from Saved By the Bell.)
*Eddie is trying to brand his own boss phrase. Fancy had "Keep me posted",
T-Rod had "Where are we on this?" and now comes Eddie with: "Tough break guys.
Just keep working." Or will it be "Jesus or Hell, your choice." Maybe it's too
early to tell.
*Another week. Another missed opportunity for Baldwin and Greg and Rita and
PJohn to have any mention of their lives outside work.
CAST LEGACIES by the mysterious J.(ennifer?) L. Garner:
Previously on NYPD Blue: Jessalyn Gilsig as Det. Kelly Ronson, Chandra West as
Dr. Jennifer Devlin, Ron Dean as Joe Brockhurst, Bruce A. Young as Leonard
Peeler, Francis X. McCarthy as Gerald Clifton, Lorinne Vozoff as Sharon
Clifton, Dakin Matthews as Simon Clifton, Mike Sabatino as Officer Martelli.
Not Previously on NYPD Blue:
Robin Weigert (Donna Traylor) -- currently plays Calamity Jane on Milch's HBO
series "Deadwood". Has also had roles on "L&O," the HBO TV-movie "Angels in
America," and the Mary Tyler Moore reunion movie.
Lance Guest (Mercy Hawks) -- starred in the '80s cult classic film "The Last
Starfighter." Other roles include a regular character on "Life Goes On," a
recurring role on "Knots Landing," and guest spots on "JAG," "X-Files," and
"St. Elsewhere."
Leo Marks (Sam Jeffers) -- guest spots include "10-8," "Frasier," "Homicide,"
and "L&O."
Mark Brady (Ken Uggams) -- had a role in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park."
Betty A. Bridges (Clara Peeler) -- has most recently appeared on "Cold Case,"
"The District," "Ally McBeal," and "7th Heaven."
Bob Margitich (EMS) -- the only credited role I could find for him was an
appearance on "Knots Landing" back in 1990.-
Laura Milby (enthralled woman) -- appeared on an episode of "The O.C." last
year.
LINES OF THE WEEK:
"As a dog would return to his vomit so a fool returs to his folly." The Rev.
Mercy Hawks.
The Rev. Hawks after Baldwin informs him his little sexcapade will be made
public one way or the other: "May peace be wth you."
Baldwin, forgoing the traditional "And also with you" for "Beat it."
NEXT WEEK: Another twist in the Clifton murder; Clark is Be-Devlined again and
Baldwin's new son goes to court. Sounds good! (Nicholas Wootton writes this
one.)
The season is winding down!
Stick around with me--
Amanda Wilson
"Traylor Trash"
Season 11, Episode 20
4/27/04
Teleplay by Matt Olmstead
Story by Bill Clark & Matt Olmstead
Directed by Mark Tinker
My hope is rewarded! A pretty fine episode. If you missed it, please read the
following summary then sit in detention Wednesday afternoon. The review
follows:
Summary:
TRAYLOR TRASH: Kevin Traylor is found shot in the chest in the apartment he
moved into a few months ago when he left his wife Donna. Greg and Baldwin think
someone ransacked the apartment looking for something. A check of Traylor's
background shows he has a record, mostly for drug offenses. They also find he
was involved also in a church called the Blood of the Lambs.
Kevin's wife Donna comes in to talk to the detectives. She says she's in shock,
and it's not clear that she's not because she's a mouse, an extremely meek, shy
woman. She tells the detectives her husband cleaned up from drugs a year ago
and that since he found God, he's been right. They ask if she knows why he'd
have several photographs of different cars parked outside the same massage
parlor, but she can't give them any hints about that. Before she leaves, she
tells them she thinks maybe someone from his past has done the crime.
Greg and Baldwin go to visit the church. It's a storefront right next to the
Pussycat Massage parlor, the same one in the photos Kevin took. They walk in
during an electric guitar sermon about dog vomit and sin being delivered by the
Rev. Mercy Hawks. When Baldwin flashes his badge, the service is ended. Hawks'
female followers seem to adore him in a Kool-Aid kind of way.
Rev. Hawks, who apparently has no knowledge of the history of world religions,
tells the cops Kevin was a good Christian and therefore could not have had an
acrimonious relationship with anyone. He says he knows nothing of Kevin's
relationship with his wife, but he does explain the photos. One of Kevin's
missions was to educate the sodomites at t he massage parlor and turn them on
to Jesus. Rev. Hawks also admits that he and most of his followers have had
checkered pasts, a time of their lives they refer to as BGG--Before God's
Grace. Greg senses Hawks is still a liar and asks him his real name. Hawks kind
of chuckles and gives it up so they can check his record.
A check of Kevin's phone records shows a few recent calls from a guy named
Lonnie Wells. Lonnie is brought in and starts off the interview with a lie
about calling Kevin. He ends up telling them he not only called Kevin, but went
to his apartment to have it out with him over a photograph of his car outside
the massage parlor. Seems Kevin mailed it to Lonnie's wife and Lonnie's wife
put him out. Lonnie swears he didn't kill Kevin but he does admit to punching
him.
While the detectives check out Lonnie's alibi, word comes that Kevin has died
from his wounds and the case is now a homicide. And CSU brings in a lead that
changes the case completely: a video tape found hidden in Kevin's apartment. It
shows Rev. Hawks having kinky sex with Donna. At one point on the tape, he ties
her up and beats her with a belt.
The Rev. is brought in to explain this. He's a sorry excuse for Jim Jones or
Charles Manson, but the cops know he's got a hold on his female parishioners.
He tries to lie for about a minute then admits knowing about the tape. He says
Kevin made it to prove Donna was cheating on him. He says he and Kevin talked
about it and that he advised Kevin to get control of his life and his wife, to
make her submit to him like a wife should. He says also that Donna seduced him.
She's a sinful woman who allowed the devil to work through her, and that he
fell victim to Satan's ways through her. He says he told Donna God would
forgive them, and they both forgot about it. He also notes that he has an alibi
for the time of Kevin's murder.
Rita and Kelly interview Donna this time. They explain to her that they think
it might be easier for her if she talks to women, and that women may be able to
provide an insight that the male detectives might not have. Donna is told what
Hawks said and she says she guesses she seduced him. She says Satan seduced her
and she then seduced Hawks. She is reluctant to say anything about Hawks until
Rita mentions her daughter and just tells Donna to wake up. Donna finally tells
them that Kevin threatened to expose the tape if she didn't give him their home
and daughter, and that he also threatened Hawks. He wanted to take over the
church and told Hawks he'd reveal the tape if Hawks didn't resign. Hawks had
Donna get the tape away from Kevin. Rita and Kelly sense that she did this
thing under some sort of spell and they try to get her to implicate Hawks.
Donna is on to them very quickly, however, and is careful to step around the
words they try to put in her mouth. Still under Hawks' spell, she won't
implicate him. She takes all the blame for Kevin's murder. She gets close to
revealing the power Hawks has over her but stops. She tells them she wanted to
protect the church and knew of nothing else to do. Rita suggests she could have
instead told Hawks to shove it up his ass. Donna only smiles and tells Rita
Hawks is a prophet.
Greg and Baldwin are not happy with this news. They wanted to shut Hawks down
if not send him to jail. They try bluffing him by telling him that Donna
implicated him. He doesn't buy it and he tells them so. They let him walk,
which he starts to do with quite a satisfied smirk. Baldwin stops him with one
of his giant haymakers and tells him that the tape will most definitely be
accidentally released and that he'll have to pack up his circus and leave town
anyway.
PEELER: The Peeler case continues to unravel around Andy. The neighbor they
suspected comes up negative for a DNA match in Cindy Clifton's murder and the
father is lawyered up. They go to the wife's place of work to try to get her to
talk. She's angry with them, too. They explain they want the DNA to eliminate
people from the suspect list but she is still offended. Nevertheless, she
begrudgingly agrees to help. Cindy was killed over a holiday weekend and the
mother gives up the names of all the family members who were in attendance.
They decided to look at Mr. Clifton's brother, Simon.
Andy and Clark's visit to Cindy's Mom is not appreciated at all by Mr. Clifton
who arrives in the squad room plenty pissed off. They explain the need for DNA
again and again Clifton expresses how much it pisses him off. Finally, he says
he'll give them a DNA sample. He grabs a file of some sort off Andy's desk,
throws it on to Kelly's desk and hockers up a big puddle of spit which he
deposits on the file surely splattering Kelly. He storms out. Andy collects the
DNA and sends it to the lab.
Simon Clifton comes in next. He's just as angry as the rest of the clan over
being called in but agrees to go to the lab and give a DNA sample. He also
suggests they look into Mrs. Clifton's nephew Sam Jeffers. Sam is not on the
list Mrs. C gave them, and the angry Simon won't tell him why he's important.
Forced into what Andy calls a board game, they bring Mrs. Clifton back in to
explain Sam. She says she didn't put him on the list because he was only 16 and
couldn't have killed Cindy. When they ask her why she hid his presence from
them she coughs up the story that Sam is really her son. She got pregnant out
of wedlock in her youth which was a major embarrassment to her family. Her
father made her give the child to neighbors, and when she married, her
husband--Cindy's father--made her agree that whenever the boy visited she would
have to pass him off as her nephew. Sam knew she was his mother but he was
forced to play along with the story in order to be able to see her. She says
she hasn't talked to her son in a long time.
Andy's old partner stops by to admit he screwed things up and to offer his
help. He says he's been feeling really bad about it all. Andy is grateful for
the help. Joe is going to use his old contacts to check on sex offenders who
were released in that area at that time.
Sam is brought in for a chat. Junior encourages him to smoke so they can get
DNA but he refuses. Sam is extremely nervous and jittery, and he won't make eye
contact with the detectives at all. His body language suggests he's terrified
and just barely able to contain murderous rage. The anger pops out in small
bursts as he talks about how crazy it was to have to keep the secret of his
birth, how much he hates his mother's husband and how angry he was at her for
carrying on the charade. He says he confronted her about it when he turned 18
and that they haven't spoken since. He says he was close to Cindy, but doesn't
want to seem to talk about it. He says he never was angry at her because she
was too young to be caught up in everything. He asks if his mother left him a
message. When he hears she didn't, he just sort of twitches. They don't ask him
for or try to get DNA beyond the cigarette attempt, but they do tell him
they'll stay in touch with him. He seems OK with that. Andy thinks he's worth a
hard look and doesn't want to spook him into lawyering up.
Mr. Clifton calls Andy and Junior and invites them over to his house. Once
there, Mr. Clifton talks to them about Sam and how he knows he's responsible
for the young man's anger. He apologizes to Andy for his irrational behavior
earlier and vows to help in any way he can. He says he asked them over to let
them see Cindy's bedroom, which they've left untouched all the years she's been
gone.
Later, Sam is brought back in for questioning. He's even more nervous this time
and fires up a cigarette right away. He gets about two hits off it before Andy
tells him to put it out because it's bothering him. Sam is annoyed but that
quickly turns to dread when Andy throws a bunch of family photographs from
Cindy's room down in front of him and asks why Cindy would have scratched his
face out of every single one of them. Sam meekly suggests he did something to
piss her off. Junior then pulls a surgical glove out of a drawer and snaps it
on his right hand. He picks up Sam's cigarette and explains how they're going
to send it to the lab for a DNA test. Sam says they don't have his permission
for that but Junior explains that they don't need it. He's standing in front of
Sam as Andy is seated in a chair behind him, literally breathing down his neck,
telling him how he's not going to stop until he finds who killed Cindy and also
allowed an innocent man to go to prison.
Sam is terrified. He says he did not kill Cindy, and repeats that several
times. He does admit to playing doctor with her the weekend before she was
killed but says it wasn't rape.
After the interview, word comes that Mr. Clifton and his brother both came back
negative for DNA matches.
Much later, there's even more disappointing news: Sam came back negative, too.
Cindy's killer is still at large.
Andy goes to Peeler's final hearing, the one where he got the paper work that
vacated his sentence. Leonard is cold toward him but agrees to listen to what
Andy has to say. Andy tells him he was a young detective then stop himself. He
says even though every witness lied, he still knows it was his job to put the
right man away. He apologizes for the way things turned out for Leonard, and he
holds out his hand for Leonard to shake. Leonard stands solid. He tells Andy he
accepts the apology but he walks away from Andy's outstretched hand. Leonard's
mother then approaches. She tells Andy no one ever apologized for all this mess
except him. She says Leonard is still too close to the matter to appreciate the
apology, but she says she can appreciate it and will shake Andy's hand.
TASMANIAC DEVLIN: Junior's old flame, Dr. Jennifer Devlin shows up at the squad
looking quite a lot different from the demure, slinky, sexy physician she used
to be and looking a whole lot more like a wonky little flower girl who got lost
at Hell's Angels rally. She's cut her hair shorter and put a big, red streak in
it, the kind you see when the freaky Goth girls (and guys) decide they need a
pop of color to bring out the red in the vials of blood dangling from their
necklaces.
Junior is not only surprised to see her, but he's surprised to see her looking
like that. He's even more surprised when he takes her in the coffee room to
talk, and before he can say hello she shoves her tongue down his throat. She
chatters like a spider monkey that he needs to pack a bag, tell his boss he's
taking a little trip and then drive two days straight with her to South Beach.
She's totally manic, and Junior tries to be careful. He tells her he can't go.
She demands to know if he's seeing someone. When he asks if she's taking her
meds, she gets angry and storms out. He asks to see her later but she barks out
a bizarre response and slams the door.
A short time later, Rita and Kelly are leaving the precinct and find Jen
outside waiting for them. She approaches Kelly and introduces herself as John
Clark's girlfriend. Kelly, who barely knows Clark much less Jen, says, "OK."
Jen asks to speak with her privately and Rita makes herself scarce. Jen begins
by telling Kelly that she and John are soul mates who belong together despite
their recent set back. Kelly interrupts to tell her this is personal stuff and
she doesn't want to hear it. Jen presses on, becoming a little agitated and
finally asks Kelly to just leave him alone. Kelly tells her there's nothing
going on, and at this, Jen becomes angry. She says she knows there is something
between them and proceeds to babble an insane little rant. Kelly realizes the
girl is way off balance and decides to handle her gently and tell her what she
wants to hear. When Jen asks her to leave Clark alone, Kelly assures her she
will and tells Jen not to worry about it. Jen is greatly relieved and hugs her
like a long lost sister.
Later, Kelly pulls Clark aside to talk about the matter. Clark explains that
Jen is not his girlfriend now. He apologizes, tells Kelly he'll handle it since
Jen has no family in NY.
PJohn later tells Junior that his attempts to reach Jen at the hospital are a
bust. Someone called to say she no longer works there.
Junior goes to her house where she won't answer the door right away. He calls
to her a few times and she tells him she doesn't want to go to South Beach
anymore. After more prompting, she finally opens the door. It looks as if she's
covered in blood and has is smeared on her face but Junior sees quickly that
it's paint. Still, it's red paint, and it's everywhere. She lets him in, still
as jittery as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. She tells him she was
painting because she wanted something alive and raw. She's got half the kitchen
smeared with red paint and it looks pretty raw, all right. Alive? Well, that's
another matter.
Junior approaches her slowly and tells her things aren't right. He hugs her but
she remains stick straight, her eyes just darting around the room. She explains
a little more about the personality conflict that ended her medical career and
how they also found out about her condition. He tells her he wants to get her
help. She's reluctant, but he insists gently. She agrees but only if he'll go
with her and stay a while. He says he will and he hugs her again. This time she
responds a little, telling him she sure could use a friend.
Review:
TRAYLOR TRASH: Guest actor Robin Weigert made this one for me because I'm
currently in the midst of an obsession with Deadwood on which she plays
Calamity Jane. She showed fantastic range in this role; aside from the murder,
Donna couldn't be more different from Jane. Other than that, I thought the
story was solid enough--I didn't expect the video tape angle at all -- but
wanted to see more of the cult-like influence Hawks supposedly had over Donna
and his other followers. An attempt was made at this by having the woman at the
church puppy up to him, and Weigert conveyed it perfectly when she called Hawks
a prophet, but I'd have been more sold on the concept if the man playing Hawks
had actually had put some sort of magnetism into the role himself. He didn't.
He just seemed like your average skel to me.
Greg came off like a regular smart detective and Baldwin putting his big paw on
Hawks' chest was effective.
PEELER: Nice to see this arc back on track after last week's mishandling of it.
It's almost as if this episode sought to and succeeded in curing most of last
week's ills. There were no silly CSI close-ups -- in fact, one little shot of
Sam which made you think they were handing you the killer on a silver platter
turned out to be nothing more than a close up of a twitchy little guy who's
just fucked up from his wacky family.
Thank you everyone for not making the Dad the killer. And thank you further for
not making anyone else who seems so obvious or has been used so many times in
similar cases the killer. It's not good to invest so much of our time and
emotion in a story arc with a cheesy payoff.
Of course, there's no guarantee we won't get a cheesy payoff, but I have hope
this week. If I were a betting girl, I'd lay my money on Joe having some big
hand in solving this case. I kind of hope that doesn't happen because it would
be too obvious, but it's better than making the Dad the killer. So, we're on
the hook for another week and that's good.
Lots of other things to like about this part of the show: The scenes with Sam
were excellent. The actor playing Sam did an outstanding job, for one thing.
The decisions to have Sam not make eye contact and be so completely active
while sitting so perfectly still were very good. He was a little bomb ticking
and a terrified rabbit at the same time. In the first interview, you could see
Andy thinking about whether to ask him for DNA and deciding against it. In the
second interview, there were two brilliant things that stood out. One was
having Clark snap that surgical glove, a sound that, from what I understand,
makes most men pucker up tighter than the lid on a pickle jar. The second was
having Andy seated behind Sam where he could literally breath down Sam's neck.
Two really fine decisions made there. They added so much to the scene.
I was a little disappointed again in the Andy/Peeler encounter. It didn't seem
to add much to the story, frankly. The layers were missing. Peeler playing the
Offended Black Man was a cliche, for one thing. Oh, and we've seen Andy
apologize like this before. Cut this scene and you haven't lost a thing.
TASMANIAC DEVLIN: Clark returns to his earlier failed rescue to make another
try! OK, aside from the fact that this poor guy can't stay away from damaged
chicks, I thought this story worked pretty well.
Chandra West was superb. She was more than just frighteningly manic, she wove
a whole lot of pain and vulnerability into that sped-up dance of hers. She had
to move at break neck speed and push her over-the-top excitement but she also
hit several lower, mournful notes. A few that stand out: the look on her face
and the movement of her body when she hugged Kelly. Another was the way she
delivered the line about how she didn't want to go to South Beach anymore. And
yet another when she told Clark she needed a friend but held back a little in
accepting his second hug.
I'm now wishing Chandra were playing the part of Kelly Ronson. At any rate, I
guess I won't mind it if Clark gets her some help and we can see her a little
bit again. Maybe as she boards the bus back to Fort Wayne or something.
QUICK HITS:
*Another Sipowicz is waiting in the wings. I'm guessing we'll have another
little Andy, Jr., season's end. The Sipowicz's are going to have to think
about putting Connie back to work or getting a bigger, cheaper place to live in
the suburbs.
*Funny how Devlin zeroed in on the blonde in the squad as Clark's girlfriend
totally missing Rita who actually did sleep with Clark. And odd how Rita had
nothing to say about it all. I guess she and Kelly dished in the car off
screen.
*Hint for astute viewers: Read the opening credits for who wrote the teleplay
and who directed and when you see Matt Olmstead near the word "teleplay," you
know you've got something pretty good coming (also applies to Nicholas Wootton
nearly every single time). Same when you see Mark Tinker after the words
"Directed by."
*Lots of fun little Tinker-esque camera angles. I can usually pick his episodes
out of the pack without credits. I guess being able to take a fresh look at an
11 year old show is why he gets the extra 50 cents a week in his paycheck.
(Used to be 75, but they had to make budget cuts to keep the show on for
another year.)
*Hank!
*A chemist dropped me a line last week to say how unrealistic the part of the
Peeler story regarding DNA testing was. Since Cindy is Clifton's daughter, he
says it would be easy enough (for someone with 7 thousand degrees in molecular
molecules which I'm pretty sure this guy had in addition to his chemistry
degree) to find out if the semen inside Cindy was from such a close relative.
Since I failed molecular molecules, I cannot vouch for this but it seemed to
make sense to me. The chemist says that since there is DNA from the killer and
DNA from Cindy, you could compare the two to see if there are any common
alleles. If so, the cops would then look at relatives. If not, they'd look at
non-relatives. (Where was this chemist during the OJ Simpson trial?)
*PJohn speaks! It's been toooooo long. He better remember a baby gift
appropriately wrapped.
*Here's a nice little thing: setting the first scene with Mrs. Clifton in a
library. The metaphor about knowledge was nice, but beyond that, the quiet
setting provides a really nice backdrop for her anger. When she shouts, it
really stands out.
*Mercy Hawks. Get it? Ha!
*Cindy's room: Andy thought it was creepy, but I didn't get that feeling. It
looked pretty normal to me. The old computer was cool and the older looking TV,
but where were the Bon Jovi posters? Now *that* would have been creepy! (Even
creepier: Posters of that 80s teen heartthrob from Saved By the Bell.)
*Eddie is trying to brand his own boss phrase. Fancy had "Keep me posted",
T-Rod had "Where are we on this?" and now comes Eddie with: "Tough break guys.
Just keep working." Or will it be "Jesus or Hell, your choice." Maybe it's too
early to tell.
*Another week. Another missed opportunity for Baldwin and Greg and Rita and
PJohn to have any mention of their lives outside work.
CAST LEGACIES by the mysterious J.(ennifer?) L. Garner:
Previously on NYPD Blue: Jessalyn Gilsig as Det. Kelly Ronson, Chandra West as
Dr. Jennifer Devlin, Ron Dean as Joe Brockhurst, Bruce A. Young as Leonard
Peeler, Francis X. McCarthy as Gerald Clifton, Lorinne Vozoff as Sharon
Clifton, Dakin Matthews as Simon Clifton, Mike Sabatino as Officer Martelli.
Not Previously on NYPD Blue:
Robin Weigert (Donna Traylor) -- currently plays Calamity Jane on Milch's HBO
series "Deadwood". Has also had roles on "L&O," the HBO TV-movie "Angels in
America," and the Mary Tyler Moore reunion movie.
Lance Guest (Mercy Hawks) -- starred in the '80s cult classic film "The Last
Starfighter." Other roles include a regular character on "Life Goes On," a
recurring role on "Knots Landing," and guest spots on "JAG," "X-Files," and
"St. Elsewhere."
Leo Marks (Sam Jeffers) -- guest spots include "10-8," "Frasier," "Homicide,"
and "L&O."
Mark Brady (Ken Uggams) -- had a role in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park."
Betty A. Bridges (Clara Peeler) -- has most recently appeared on "Cold Case,"
"The District," "Ally McBeal," and "7th Heaven."
Bob Margitich (EMS) -- the only credited role I could find for him was an
appearance on "Knots Landing" back in 1990.-
Laura Milby (enthralled woman) -- appeared on an episode of "The O.C." last
year.
LINES OF THE WEEK:
"As a dog would return to his vomit so a fool returs to his folly." The Rev.
Mercy Hawks.
The Rev. Hawks after Baldwin informs him his little sexcapade will be made
public one way or the other: "May peace be wth you."
Baldwin, forgoing the traditional "And also with you" for "Beat it."
NEXT WEEK: Another twist in the Clifton murder; Clark is Be-Devlined again and
Baldwin's new son goes to court. Sounds good! (Nicholas Wootton writes this
one.)
The season is winding down!
Stick around with me--
Amanda Wilson
