LAW & ORDER {LAW AND ORDER}: OBSESSION (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramas that deals with the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of criminals. The first half of each episode concerns the police procedure that leads to the arrest of a suspect, while the second half covers the efforts of the district attorney to prosecute the case. In this episode, a controversial author and television host, Larry Shea, is shot and killed after a book signing. His driver, the sole witness, can only offer that the killer was wearing a red hat. An antique German Luger is found with a fingerprint, and Van Buren suspects that the shooter may have been the woman suing Shea for sexual harassment, Melinda. Shea's wife Miranda states that she was shopping with her son at the time of the murder and adds that Melinda recently received a large settlement. They next question a documentarian who tried to provoke Shea into having a "meltdown" on camera, but he also provides an alibi. The Luger is proved to be the murder weapon, and a student says that he saw a woman in the red hat on the subway. Shea's assistant explains that despite his denials, Melinda received $3.5 million from the network, possibly because she had tapes proving the harassment. Melinda states that she signed a confidentiality agreement but was "blacklisted" by Shea, and the detectives speculate that she killed him for ruining her media career.
Melinda's alibi is then disproven by an ATM camera, and she admits that she was with a reporter at the time and gave him the tapes of Shea, violating the confidentiality agreement. She denies killing him, however, and the red hat is found containing a blonde hair. They trace the logo on the hat to a rehab facility and learn that Miranda attended their retreats, and she acknowledges her addiction and produces her own hat. Further questioning leads the detectives to her rehab friend Karen Nix, who voices her dislike of Shea, and they find that another woman has a restraining order against Karen. The woman, Alana, explains that Karen pursued her aggressively for a relationship, and the hat hair and fingerprint are soon matched to Karen. When Green and Fontana arrest her, they find a "shrine" to Miranda in her home. Karen's lawyer claims that she killed Shea to save Miranda, with whom she was having an affair, from Shea's emotional abuse. Miranda, however, refutes everything, claiming that Karen is mentally ill. Borgia interviews Will, the son, and he also denies any affairs or abuse. Looking at her credit card changes, the detectives find that Miranda did have a fling with her trainer, Thomas, who hints that she was also seeing a woman and cared only about her husband's money, and they guess that she killed him to prevent him divorcing her and leaving her with a small prenup sum. Karen is crushed to hear about Miranda's denials, and they realized that Miranda exploited Karen's feelings for her to manipulate her into murdering Shea.
Karen testifies that Miranda "begged her" to kill Shea, though the defense lawyer suggests that she killed him on her own out of possessive jealousy over Miranda. Thomas states that Miranda acknowledged affairs with women and hinted strongly that she wanted Shea dead, but Miranda continues to deny everything and claims that she genuinely loved her husband. Branch urges Borgia to reach out to Will, and though he at first refuses to take sides, Borgia gently convinces him to tell the truth. He takes the stand and uncomfortably admits that he once witnessed his mother in bed with Karen, proving that she is lying. The defense attorney attempts to argue that he, Will, stands to inherit everything if his mother is sent to prison and therefore has reason to lie, but the jury is convinced by his story and finds Miranda guilty of orchestrating her husband's death. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: February 9, 2005 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:55
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:85397
- GENRE: Drama, police/detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1990-2010
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Peter Jankowski … Executive Producer
- Roz Weinman … Executive Producer
- Eric Overmyer … Executive Producer
- Matthew Penn … Executive Producer
- Dick Wolf … Executive Producer, Created by
- William N. Fordes … Co-Executive Producer
- Arthur W. Forney … Co-Executive Producer
- Peter Giuliano … Co-Executive Producer
- Richard Sweren … Co-Executive Producer
- Wendy Battles … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- Gary Karr … Supervising Producer
- Nick Santora … Producer
- Lois Johnson … Producer
- Kati Johnston … Producer
- Rebecca Saionz … Co-Producer
- Alfonso I. Delgado … Associate Producer
- Constantine Makris … Director
- Alfredo Barrios Jr. … Writer
- Mike Post … Music by
- Dennis Farina … Cast, Detective Joe Fontana
- Jesse L. Martin … Cast, Detective Ed Green
- S. Epatha Merkerson … Cast, Lt. Anita Van Buren
- Sam Waterston … Cast, Jack McCoy
- Annie Parisse … Cast, A.D.A. Alexandra Borgia
- Fred Dalton Thompson … Cast, D.A. Arthur Branch
- Dana Eskelson … Cast, Karen Nix
- Gerry Becker … Cast, Gerard Wills
- Joseph Cross … Cast, Will Shea
- Sig Libowitz … Cast, Stan Shatenstein
- Marlyne N. Afflack … Cast, Alana Sinclair
- Paula Devicq … Cast, Miranda Shea
- Timothy Adams … Cast, Thomas McGrath
- Caris Vujcec … Cast, Melinda Phelps
- Peter McRobbie … Cast, Judge Walter Bradley
- John Cariani … Cast, Julian Beck
- Gabriel Barre … Cast, Tyler Browning
- Glynis Bell … Cast, Miriam Johnson
- John Leonard Thompson … Cast, Jake Lippman
- Daniel Ahearn … Cast, John Farrell
- Edward James Hyland … Cast, Limo Driver
- Frank Harts … Cast, David Jacobson
- Patch Darragh … Cast, Jason Stanford
- Scott Schafer … Cast, Clerk
- George Bamford … Cast, Larry Shea
- Richard E. Hirschfeld … Cast, Asst. M.E. Brody
- Jacqueline Kristel … Cast, Laurie
- Erin Cherry … Cast, Susan
- Liza D'Agostino … Cast, Video Tech
- Amy J. Carle … Cast, Woman
- Brian Hotaling … Cast, Man
- Michael Ciminera … Cast, Uni
- Barbara Broughton … Cast, Foreperson