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Cast | Notes | Pictures | Quotes | Synopsis - Official | My Summary | My Review

Cast

Directed by Frank Prinzi
Written by Warren Leight

Notes

• Season 5, Episode 13

Pictures

Jonas's first scene
Jonas talking to his sons
Jonas at dinner with Anna
Jonas realizing Trip is dead

Quotes

Who was your favorite guest star?
Sometimes it's fun for me too, like in "Proud Flesh," where we were getting A Clockwork Orange imitations on the set (from Malcolm McDowell). Law & Order: producer Warren Leight 11/16/06 Meevee

Synopsis - Official

Malcolm McDowell plays a radio magnate whose Chinese-born wife (Cindy Cheung) is being investigated by Goren and Eames for the murder of his son from a previous relationship. A professor and a businessman are also questioned about the crime.

My Summary

    Emma is having her fourth birthday party and as the family arrives her father Jonas Slaughter comes out to greet them. His son Trip from a previous marriage comes in and he hugs him. He asks where Grace and the girls are. He says at school. Jonas's wife Anna-Leung Slaughter is Chinese and brings Trip into the kitchen. Emma speaks near fluent Chinese. Jonas's daughter in law Jillian is there and says how nice that she speaks Moo Goo. She says she's so smart at 3, but will never look like family anyway. Anna tries to correct her.
    In the living room Jonas says to his son Chance he'll outlive both of them. Emma comes in with a video camera and records them. Jonas tells them he's got tickets to the hockey game tomorrow and invites them. They say they have to move. At dinner Jonas tells a joke and Anna laughs. Jillian says she's married now, so she doesn't have to laugh so hard at his jokes. Emma wants her cake, so Anna goes in to get it. Trip is drunk and tries to make a pass at her. He wants her to do like she does on his dad and she pushes him off. Jillian sees this and blames her. 
    Chance takes Trip out since he's wasted. The next day Jonas goes to pick up Trip at his hotel and tells his Emma to make lots of noise and jump on him since he had too much to drink. It turns out he won't be waking up though, he's face down dead. He sends her out of the room. 
    Goren and Eames are called in. It turns out Trip he moved in a month ago because of marriage trouble. They will talk to the neighbors. It turns out he was murdered by being strangled from behind with a tie. He's also wearing a full latex body suit. He had shaved down in the tub before. His watches are missing and there's a book "The Inverted Learning Curve" by Larry Lewis Ph d nearby. They talk to Jonas, who says it was his fault for working him too hard. Chance arrives to take over and Jonas says he's his right hand. He says Trip had cufflinks and a family ring, same as his which are gone. He was killed last night and they tell him about the sex games, but he blows it off. 
    They go to talk to Trip's wife. She says the kinkiest he ever got was turning down the TV during sex. They say she was reconciling with him. She denies it. She wanted out long ago, but he kept tying her up in court. They says she stands to inherit everything. She says everything is locked up in a trust, so she gets nothing. She has to go
    Hauser College 1/10 - they go to talk to Larry who wrote the book found at the crime scene. He says one of his students might've put it there. He was screening Wall Street for his students that night, but he wasn't there since he threw his back out. They notice he has an expensive watch which he says is from an admirer. He then takes off suddenly. They notice he is shaved down like Trip was and think they might be lovers.
    Shelia Dwyer's Apt 1/12 - she is a dominatrix, but doesn't give happy endings. She doesn't know Trip and was working the night of the murder as a 911 operator - her real job. She knows Larry, but won't tell them what he told her. He teaches business ethics and comes to her. He says sold out, sold his wife out to a billionaire, he's weak. It turns out he used to be married to Anna.
    They talk to Mr. Landau who was Trip's neighbor. He says he went to sleep early since he had a flight the next day. He didn't hear anything since he was listening to music. His key card shows his  door was opened at 9:19pm. He didn't know it could do that and says he went to get ice, but didn't see anything. 
    They search online about Larry's marriage to Anna. There is no record that Larry was married to Anna. It turns out Larry used to work for Jonas on his radio station. He was on a book tour when Jonas got married.
    Princeton 1/14 - they find pictures of Larry. He went to China with his family and Anne was the nanny they brought home. She married Larry to get into the country. Then 2 years later she married Jonas. Larry got paid off, the marriage was annulled.
    Jonas is at home watching the tape of Trip from the party. The police arrive and say that Trip was in contact with Larry about Anna. Jonas says he had the marriage annulled because he didn't want Larry spreading lies about Anna. He tells Goren to try the candies in the bowl next to him since they are from Turkey and are the best there is. He says Larry tried to blackmail Trip. They need to talk to Anna in private. She says Larry won't leave them alone. Larry was nice to her at first, she allowed her to study in the US. Larry was married at the time and said he owed her and his marriage was dead, so they got involved. The wife found out about the affair and they got divorced. She married Larry so she could stay here since she couldn't go back to China. He used to force her to play sex games so when she got her green card she took off. She hooked up with Jonas and he didn't judge her even after she confessed everything. He treats her very well.
    They bring Larry back in. He says Trip called him the night he was killed and wanted to meet him at a bar. They say he was blackmailing Jonas. He says no, Trip wanted dirt on Anna because she stands to inherit the family trust. He wanted to get her out of the way. He says he didn't save Anna, she saved herself, she played him and is playing Jonas. Ana is rewriting the family trust. They now think Anna might've done it and they need to talk to her, but Jonas could cover for her.
    At Jonas home Anna is singing to her daughter in Chinese. Jonas says they are whispering about him. She says she needs to take her to China to make her speak better.
    They go to talk to Landau again because Goren says he was in Turkey and that's where Jonas's candy is from, so they must've done business. He says they were on a flight together out of Turkey.  Jonas came to see him about business and then had his two bodyguards tell him not to mention seeing Anna at Trip's on the night of the murder. They would make it worth his wife. Eames says that's love flying half way around the world to protect your wife after she murdered your son.
    They talk to Chance at his house. He says Trip was leaning on Larry for information to find out if Anna was playing Jonas for a fool. Anna wants the trust changed for the money to go to Emma and  any future kids they have. He and Jillian are moving out to Washington state to get fresh air for their kid since Jillian is pregnant. Chance says he's not Jonas's right hand man, he exaggerates. Jillian says she walked in Trip and Anna. Neither of them like her. They think Anna could've flirted to get access to Trips hotel room.
    Pawn shop 1/20 - some of Trip's jewelry showed up, but not the watches. Anna didn't bring them in. The owner got them from her husband's friend's daughter. The woman, Mrs. Cho is also a dominatrix, Larry gave him the jewelry as a payment to train him for a session. Now they think Larry tried to get all fingers to point at Anna. He wanted SST from her
    They bring Larry in and tell him what they found out. He hired Mrs. Cho to impersonate Anna. Larry says there is nothing low about being dominated or to encase yourself in latex to purify yourself.  He says it's a very important lifestyle to him. Larry doesn't know SST is sissy slut training so now they think everything was planted to make Anna look innocent.
    At Jonas's house his lawyers are there and they say for him not to sign the papers because Anna is a suspect. He says how dare they say these things about his wife while he's in mourning over his son. He throws them out and asks Chance what he thinks. He says it's his call. Jonas says it's his call too, but he doesn't have to say it and rips the papers up.
    Back at the station they analyze Mrs. Cho's tracks. She gets paid in cash, has no cell phone and  travels all around the world, but no trips match Jonas's schedule. It turns out that Landau the oil security consultant's schedule matches hers. She might be a whore for him. They then realize that Trip and Laundau's rooms were connected.
    They go to the room and find out the lock was drilled out and replaced. They now think Landau the killer.
    They bring him in and show him pictures of Mrs. Cho. He says he doesn't know her. They have pictures of him with Mrs. Cho as she travels with him. He goes to countries without oil, so he's up to something else. He wants to talk off the record. He worked for Trip to find dirt on Anna. He presented Jonas the dirt he found and he was disgusted with Trip. He was then hired away by Jonas and saw things his way. He won't confess to killing Trip, he wants to make a deal. They think Jonas had Landau kill trip and implicate Larry. Chance wanted out of the family and was leaving. They think Jonas is repositioning Chance to stay with him.
    Jonas watches the tapes of the party again. He seems to be swirling in thought. Anna comes home and calls for him. He says there are two witches in the lobby who called Emma her little yellow kid and accused her of killing Trip. He says he's going back to work tomorrow and it's time for her to take Emma back to China. She isn't happy about that.
    Chance says Jonas would never divorce Anna since they are both stubborn. He can't leave his dad all alone now. Jonas told him last night he's sending the girls back to China, he wants to be near his real family. He says it's not love, it's pride.
    They go to arrest Anna and she says she can't leave her daughter all alone. She calls Jonas and he says he's coming home. She says Larry killed Trip. She knows she's innocent and Jonas knows it too. She says she's never been to Trips' room. They explain that Jonas has been covering all her tracks for the last 2 weeks. He must think she's guilty if he covers up everything for her. She can't believe Jonas is doing all this. Jonas comes home and is glad she's still there. He wants to talk to Anna alone. He kisses her, says they have no case and she can fly out tonight. He says he took care of them seeing her at Trip's hotel. They don't know the truth, they just think they do. He paid off the woman about the jewelry. He knows she is innocent, was just trying to protect her since people were trying to hurt her. She wants to know who killed Trip. He says Trip was lost and he had to have him killed. She says family is everything. He says he had to save their family and spread enough around to create all kinds of reasonable doubt. He says to get this over with. He calls the cops back in and finds they left Emma's camera on to record him. She can't believe he was sending her away to China and they show him the tape. She says she did everything to honor him. He says Trip was right, she's yellow trash, she was going to steal his trust fund. She says she wanted a little for their child. He says she's a peasant. They take Jonas away. She says she can't believe he did this. He says Chance is his son, since he looks and talks like him.
    Bail hearing 1/27 - A.D.A. Ron Carver says Jonas is a flight risk since he has houses in 5 countries. His lawyers say he wants to clear his name, he's not going anywhere. The judge lets him go on his own recognizance. Outside Jonas talks to reporters with Chance at his side. He says he will be cleared. Then Anna comes out and all focus goes on her. Chance tells her she's poison, she ruined his family and goes to shoot her, but the cops shoot him down first. Jonas runs to him and Chance confesses he killed Trip, he was going to ruin the family with dirt on Anna, then he dies. The reporters get his confession on tape. Jonas cries and runs out of their with Jillian. He tells her to protect his grandson and not to look back. He yells to take care of his boy. Goren asks Jonas if he's proud that his son lied for him. He says that's what sons' are for and leaves. Anna turns and walks the other way.

My Review

    Since this is one of the most popular shows on TV of course I was aware of it, but I've never watched it. I was excited for MM that he was getting such a high profile job, but worried it would be the same old, lame old villain role for him. Unfortunately my worries were proven correct.
    Basically I hated everything about this show and will never watch it again unless MM is back on by some kind of freak chance. The camera work was decent, but besides that...there was nothing to like. You know as soon as the crap hits the fan that MM is involved, isn't he always? It's almost the same role he played in Monk a few months earlier except without the humor. He just isn't given anything to do here until the end. After Chance is killed he shows some genuine emotion, at least for a minute, then goes back to being a bastard. Otherwise, there isn't much to see.
    They just throw you into the show introducing all the characters one after the other without getting to know them or to be sure who they are until much later. It's sloppy writing. Then so many are introduced that's it's tough keeping all the stories straight.
    The plot of the show is this: "he did it, he did it!!" It's a pathetic way to tell a story. First they think the professor did it, then the wife, then the neighbor, maybe the dominatrix, then MM. It's a joke. You know the show has to fill out an hour, so whomever they accuse or think committed the crime in the beginning is going to be innocent. It's like playing the old Clue board game, just whittling down the suspects until you've got the right one.
    The way that Goren suddenly connected Laundau to Jonas was some of the lamest writing I've ever seen. "Jonas has candy from Turkey, Laudau's been to Turkey, so obviously they know each other." What!? Talk about going out on a limb of coincidence, of course it turns out to be true, but the point is they had to stretch a mile to come up with the connection.
    Jonas's whole marriage to Anna doesn't make any sense at all by the time the show is over. He supposedly did everything he could to protect her by taking her away from Larry, getting the marriage annulled and having a kid with her. Anna even says he knew all her past and didn't judge her. This obviously implies unconditional love. Then at the end he just turns into a complete racist like he never loved her!? It makes no sense that an older white man would marry a younger Chinese woman, have a child with her, provide everything for her, but be a racist in front of the police!? I have no explanation for any of this.
    Jonas's confession starts out well. He planted evidence all over town and even the world with tons of suspects, just to create doubt all around. It disintegrates fast though. The way they "caught" Jonas was so childish and predictable by secretly taping him. Plus it is so stupid, because everyone knows it would be thrown out in court, so it does more harm than good to their case. The most bizarre thing is Jonas confesses to his wife he took care of Trip and then later Chance confesses to the murder?! Something didn't add up there. They don't explain what happened, but it seems like Chance was taking the fall for his dad. He conveniently "attempts" to kill Anna on TV, but it's really suicide by cop so he can confess the crime before he dies in front of the reporters. It's just by luck that he gets shot up, doesn't die, has enough time to confess and the police don't move in to secure the scene, cuff him and remove the weapon. Since he was still alive he could keep firing. Horribly weak writing. Jonas has crocodile tears, then runs off and isn't sad at all.
    I can't recommend the episode and certainly not the show if it's like this all the time, which I'm sure it is. I give a point for them giving MM the shot, but I don't fault MM's acting talents in any way. It's the writing that's sub par. The show has been on 5 years and there is multiple spin-offs of which this is one, so it seems time to hang it up for them. Too many chefs as they say.

Rating 1/10

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