Icarus Recap: L&O Criminal Intent S10 E7

“Icarus” (June 19th) was the next-to-last episode of “The Final Eight” (Law & Order: CI). Eames got all the one-liners. Singer, songwriter, poet and artist Patti Smith made a special appearance as a friend of Det. Goren’s who knows a lot about Greek mythology. Here is the cast:

Marc Landry is a big TV sitcom star, starring in a Broadway play called “Icarus.” As his adoring fans wait, he arrives 10 minutes late to prepare for the opening. The stage manager tells him director Amanda Rollins has his understudy in costume already. Amanda berates Marc about hitting the right note. Her assistant (the dramaturg), Roger Porter offers her a salad, saying she has to eat. She wants a drink and tells him to get producer Evan Korman on the phone. She tells Korman that Marc has to go because “he’s getting laughs in places where the audience should be crying.” Korman retorts he’s losing $20 grand in ticket sales every night because she ripped out 200 seats to build her labyrinth.

Composer, Adam Winter brings Marc a bouquet of flowers with peacock feathers he found outside the door. Amanda emailed Adam claiming Marc said the Minotaur song isn’t big enough. Marc denies it. He thinks the song is brilliant. Adam joins in as Marc starts singing “I’m getting higher and higher, I’m gonna touch the fire.”

On stage, while Marc flies toward the sun, Adam and Amanda quibble, then watch in horror as Marc’s rigging breaks and he falls to his death.

Major case is called in because the rigging was sabotaged. Det. Goren and Det. Eames speak with the stage manager. She tells them Donald Cogan was responsible for the rigging and checked it, but big star, Marc Landy wanted to get the last say. He was used to being the boss. Goren wants to know if the other actors resented Marc’s fame. “Resentment, envy, insecurity,” the stage manager says, “They’re practically job requirements.”

The Investigation Begins:

Cogan tells the detectives all he knows is it wasn’t him or his team. They wouldn’t do anything to damage wings that took 3 months to complete. “Amanda’s a perfectionist. We all support her vision but safety is our No. 1 priority.” Eames brings up all the other accidents reported in the Post but Cogan says they worked out the kinks. Goren the snoop picks up a photo of Cogan with his four sons and finds out he’s divorced.

Roger Porter comes in to let the detectives know Amanda will cooperate fully. Eames drily says “How nice of her.” In Marc’s dressing room. Goren notices the peacock feathers and comments that someone may have been trying to jinx Marc. They are bad luck in the theatre. Roger has no clue where they came from.

Amanda claims Marc was part of their family and the accident was like a terrible dream. Goren remarks on her obsession with Greek mythology in 3 movies and her last play “Pandora.” He admires her presentation of the labyrinth on stage. She says it represents a journey of discovery, a pilgrimage to the truth. “Our job in a nutshell,” Eames observes.

Back at Major Case, Captain Hannah show Eames a NY Post headline “Icarus Falls.” He says the accident caused ticket sales to double. Eames speculates that someone may have taken offense at Landry’s Twitter campaign over safety issues after Gwendolyn Swift, the actress playing Ariadne, broke her leg. A stuntman broke 3 ribs. Marc tweeted he would defend Gwendolyn “to the death.” These things take on ominous meanings in retrospect. At the theatre, Amanda thinks the show must go on. Roger wants to make sure they have OSHA clearance, Adam is horrified and Evan wants to focus on the memorial.

The detectives visit Donald Cogan again, putting the screws to him about prior accidents and his divorce lawyer’s bill. They know he is not the one to put a screw in the wrong place. They know something is going on. Cogan folds almost immediately, admitting Evan Korman paid him $50,000 for Gwendolyn’s accident and the stuntman. Korman didn’t put him up to sabotaging Marc’s rig, but he knew Evan would cash in on Marc’s fall anyway. “And they say there’s no creativy in the theater these days,”  Eames deadpans.

Evan has his attorney with him when confronted with this accusation. He categorically denies everything on the grounds it would shame his family’s honor. He’s a third generation producer. Goren says he has a potential “Spiderman” on his hands, embarrassing headlines, an industry joke. Back at Major Case, Captain Hannah thinks the producer killing off a cast member is a little melodramatic. The D.A. is looking into the insurance angle and they find out the peacock bouquet was ordered by the understudy, Bryce Calder.

Bryce says the peacock feathers were a joke he’s sure Marc didn’t even get because he was a moron. Goren thinks Bryce resented Marc getting a role he was more qualified for. Bryce was nominated for an Obie. “You googled me,” Bryce says, “I’m flattered.” Bryce says that’s show biz, they get a big name. He only saw Marc for two seconds and went to Sardi’s. A Sardi’s server confirms Marc’s alibi and also gives them a lead about Times’ critic, Michael DeWitt, cozying up with Amanda.

This leads them to investigate Amanda more closely. They go to Marc’s memorial in Times Square where Bryce and another cast member are singing a song about “hubris.” Amanda appears to be drunk and when Evan cuts her “performance” off, she starts yelling she wasn’t finished. Eames cracks that they should have sold tickets to the memorial. They interrogate Amanda but, drunk or not, she’s not confessing. The actors are like her children. “Your naughty children,” Goren says. Her attorney puts a stop to the interrogation.

Roger defends Amanda outside, and again reminds Goren he is a dramaturg. Goren decides to speak to an old friend, Cleo Andrews, a mythology teacher at Columbia to check out a theory. Cleo says Icarus is her favorite metaphor for failed ambition – hubris. They discuss the ball of yarn Daedalus gave Theseus to help him find his way out of the labyrinth. An angry King Minos imprisons Daedalus and Icarus in the labyrinth. Goren explains how Amanda’s labyrinth wasn’t like Minos’ prison. Hers was a circle with one path, leading Goren to believe the killer thought there was only one path. Cleo expresses her faith in his ability to solve the puzzle.

Spoiler: Solving the crime

After his therapy session, Goren and Eames find out Adam Winters was sleeping with Landry and Amanda made arrangements with the limo driver to make Marc late so she could put Bryce on. Then she called the driver, changing her mind. She denies it. They suspect the dramaturg of making the call. Things begin to crystallize when it turns out the insurance contained a “force majeure” clause specifically linked to Marc Landry. If the lead actor is injured or dies, all investors get paid in full.

Goren confronts Evan Korman, pretending he needs help in getting Roger to confess. Eames brings in Roger, whose fingerprints were found on the rig. Roger says he may have touched it during the stunt rehearsal. Evan says he is sure Roger’s intent was only to hurt Marc, not kill him. Roger says no way and Goren springs the trap on Evan. As Evan tries to talk his way out of it, Amanda appears and helps bury him. Evan tries to blame it all on Roger but the dramaturg isn’t going down alone. He pulls out a tape recorder and says he recorded all of their conversations, ironically, to make sure he got it right. “I wanted to do a good job for you, you prick,” he yells. Evan calls him a lying cheating criminal. Roger says he learned from the best. They are both hauled off in cuffs as Goren asks what made them think they could get away with murder. “Hubris,” Amanda replies. “Show’s over,” Goren says and they pass by a falling Icarus painting.

Despite all the dramatics and sarcastic one-liners, it wasn’t really murder, was it? There really was no intent.