L&O season 3: Episode 3
Apr. 17th, 2026 07:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabotabbyThis one was good by Law & Order standards, in that while the dialogue and acting were quite bad* and I called the murderer almost immediately, it actually performed a socially useful function.
However, it deals with infanticide and I'm putting everything under a cut.
Cara, in prison for killing her infant daughter, is released when it turns out that there is potentially exonerating evidence—a single blond hair—that was not disclosed in her trial. She mentions to her ex-husband and stepdaughter, who loathe her, that she has more than just the hair as evidence. She's staying in a motel when she is murdered via a hairdryer in her bathtub.
The initial suspect is the ex-husband, but he was in Kingston at the time of the murder. The cause of death is Shaken Baby Syndrome, at which point I was like "no! We can't be doing this! The science on this is garbage!" at the screen but lo and behold this is what the episode was about, and another forensic pathologist (not our Lucy whomst we stan) says that he actually thinks the time of death window is wider, which means that both the step-daughter and her hookup, who is a blond guy, are now suspects. The blond guy stole the hard drive where Cara was collecting evidence, so he looks good for it except that he both has an alibi and provides the hard drive, so it's not him. When they look through it, they discover that it's full of other cases, all single mothers who convicted of killing their children, and the same chief medical examiner, who is Commander Kelrec from Starfleet Academy, testified.
Ultimately Commander Kelrec killed Cara, somewhat accidentally, to cover up his malpractice in potentially hundreds of cases (though it was likely the blond kid who killed Cara's baby). There are some good bits from Lucy the ME and Theo the Crown even gets an opportunity to do something other than demand the cops give him more to go on. I really like some L in my L&O so that was nice. His motive is that his mother was horribly abusive and so he has it out for single moms, basically.
This episode hews pretty close to the real story of Charles Smith, and references the Innocence Project, which are both really important things to know about. It's brushed off with a quote from PD James at the end but this is one of the rare cases where a copaganda show tackles how a lot of forensics is junk science and in fact the legal system is heavily biased and fallible. So while this was depressing AF, especially on the heels of the Nygard episode, I do think it was quite a responsible story to tell.
Murder Count: No one else has been murdered here since yesterday, so the show's third murder accounts for 60% of all murders in Toronto.
* With the exception of Lani Billard. She only had three lines but still.
However, it deals with infanticide and I'm putting everything under a cut.
Cara, in prison for killing her infant daughter, is released when it turns out that there is potentially exonerating evidence—a single blond hair—that was not disclosed in her trial. She mentions to her ex-husband and stepdaughter, who loathe her, that she has more than just the hair as evidence. She's staying in a motel when she is murdered via a hairdryer in her bathtub.
The initial suspect is the ex-husband, but he was in Kingston at the time of the murder. The cause of death is Shaken Baby Syndrome, at which point I was like "no! We can't be doing this! The science on this is garbage!" at the screen but lo and behold this is what the episode was about, and another forensic pathologist (not our Lucy whomst we stan) says that he actually thinks the time of death window is wider, which means that both the step-daughter and her hookup, who is a blond guy, are now suspects. The blond guy stole the hard drive where Cara was collecting evidence, so he looks good for it except that he both has an alibi and provides the hard drive, so it's not him. When they look through it, they discover that it's full of other cases, all single mothers who convicted of killing their children, and the same chief medical examiner, who is Commander Kelrec from Starfleet Academy, testified.
Ultimately Commander Kelrec killed Cara, somewhat accidentally, to cover up his malpractice in potentially hundreds of cases (though it was likely the blond kid who killed Cara's baby). There are some good bits from Lucy the ME and Theo the Crown even gets an opportunity to do something other than demand the cops give him more to go on. I really like some L in my L&O so that was nice. His motive is that his mother was horribly abusive and so he has it out for single moms, basically.
This episode hews pretty close to the real story of Charles Smith, and references the Innocence Project, which are both really important things to know about. It's brushed off with a quote from PD James at the end but this is one of the rare cases where a copaganda show tackles how a lot of forensics is junk science and in fact the legal system is heavily biased and fallible. So while this was depressing AF, especially on the heels of the Nygard episode, I do think it was quite a responsible story to tell.
Plot: **** (Good plot. It didn't surprise me but that was mainly because the second we met the younger pathologist, I figured out that we were doing the Charles Smith story.)
Characters: *** (We find out that Graff was the victim of child abuse, which surprises no one. It gets a second point for lots of Lucy the ME getting emotional. It gets a third star for a brief role for Lani Billard (Busy from Ready Or Not) with a hairdo that looks awesome on her as one of the defence lawyers. Please cast her in more things.)
Toronto: * (This could happen anywhere, which is unfortunate as the real story did take place in Toronto. I didn't notice any particular interesting locations.)
* With the exception of Lani Billard. She only had three lines but still.
