‘Last Street in Manhattan’ Recap. L&O: Criminal Intent S10 E4

Criminal Intent’s 4th episode, “The Last Street in Manhattan” (May 22nd), opens up with hot shot exec David Kellen (David Alan Basche) eyeballing pics of some really beautiful, really smart and really accomplished ladies with Stephanie Miller (Julie White), owner of a high priced dating match service (and we do mean high-priced! He’s shelling out $200,000). He decides on Andrea (Beatrice Rosen), a model with a Ph.D from Yale. She’s a French lit teacher and proud possessor of an IQ of 175. “Does she have a lazy eye,” David jokes. “Brush up on your Proust,” Stephanie tells him.

Next we’re in a bar, where the owner, Sean (Jack McGee) is getting an awful beating from psycho boy, Jack Driscoll (Nick Chinlund) for being a snitch. As his daughter, Vanessa (Alexandra Silber) later ministers to his wounds, Sean says “I’m a bookie, not a snitch.” Sean also quotes some F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Life is essentially a cheat and its conditions are those of defeat.” Score so far: two literary references, two criminals, although one’s only a bookie.

David and Andrea are out on their date when his ex-girlfriend, Nikki Vansen (America Oliva), shows up and tries to throw a damper on their tete-a-tete (it wasn’t going all that great anyway). Nikki follows him into the men’s room to let him know they’re through. Seemed like David already knew that and didn’t much care. After he puts Andrea in a cab, he makes a threatening phone call, bellowing: “I know what you’re doing, Skinner, and you’re a dead man!” He then narrowly escapes getting hit by a car, yells after the driver, turns and continues crossing the street. And voila! he’s a dead man, after getting shot twice in the chest.

Det. Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Det. Eames (Kathryn Erbe) arrive at the scene and determine they were called because the victim is another “Master of the Universe.” The two shots in the chest means it was personal but the shooter tried to make it look like a robbery, making off with the cash, but leaving David’s wallet. Goren notices he has a cheap department store watch with a round face on but there’s a square tan line under the cheap replacement, Eames brilliantly observes: “Until recently, he was wearing a different watch.”

Rounding Up the Suspects

David’s secretary tells the detectives David dined at Le Chat Blanc the prior evening, but she knows nothing about his personal life. His closest business partner is the mysterious Skinner, recipient of David’s last threat. David also was brushing up on Dr. Marcel Proust. Eames says she gave that up in college “after the first million pages.” Goren says it picks up after the second million. Over at Le Chat Blanc, a waiter reveals he heard David say something like “Le temps recherché,” but Goren corrects him: it’s “Le temps retrouvé” — the past recaptured. They catch up with Astin Skinner (Eric Sheffer Stevens) who admits David left a threatening message after Goren warns him they can recover deleted messages. But it was no big deal, Skinner says, and David’s death is bittersweet. He’s now the new CEO. He also lets them know what a killing he and David made on Salton Foods. When they catch up with Nikki, they learn her new boyfriend is Skinner!

They also tie Vanessa, the bookie’s daughter, into David’s love life. It later turns out she gave David the cheap watch. She’s responsible for the episode title, too, living in Inwood on 218th street, “the last street in Manhattan, where the Hudson meets the East River.”

An eye-witness, Michael Connelly, shows up claiming Nikki was the shooter,  but she is able to convince Goren she’s not their perp. Connelly’s ties to Inwood lead them back there where Eames grew up. She reminisces about quarter cherry popsicles at Mr. K’s and getting dumped by Danny Quinlan in front of Moran’s for kissing Nick Farrell at recess. “Ooh, lucky Nicky,” Goren says. They visit Vanessa, who denies knowing the Connellys. The detectives try all their psychological tricks, but Vanessa tells them David was a good and kind man. They’re not going to get her to crap on his memory. They leave certain Vanessa knows more than she’s letting on. Michael Connelly turns up on a slab in the morgue, after being shot execution-style and dumped him in the Inwood Harbor (Tubby Hook).

At long last, they tie lowlife monster and “douchebag” Jack Driscoll in through Connelly’s brother, Greg. He worked for the extortionist, loanshark and murderer who managed to never spend a day in jail. Jack Driscoll denies knowing David Kellen, or even that Vanessa was dating Kellen. Some allegations of insider trading at Salton Foods make Driscoll lawyer up. After the detectives lean on bookie, Sean, he admits owing Driscoll $70,000.

The Mandatory Visit with the Doctor

Cut to Goren pissed off in Dr. Geisen’s office, complaining about Sean as a father. The doctor gets him to open up about how his father used him for a cover while he had an affair with a woman named Maggie. Goren got used to lying to his mother at his father’s encouragement. Goren’s childhood lesson, “Everybody lies all the time,” serves him well in his job. They spar over the meaning while Geisen demonstrates how he uses it to put distance between himself and others, even in intimate relationships.

Solving the Crime

After “a circle of life” visit to Eames’ dad (played by Raymond J. Barry), who has Irish Alzheimer’s (he forgets everything but the grudges), Goren suddenly makes some connection about the stock leak and says they better move before someone else gets killed. It looks like someone else already has as they are at Sean’s bar and tell Vanessa they are really sorry, but they think Driscoll killed her father. She admits that she let Driscoll in on some stock tips she overheard from her lover, David. Then trying to undo the damage, she told David about Driscoll. After she comes clean, the detectives come clean, too. Her father isn’t really dead. They hated to make her think so, but it was an Inwood thing — the only way to get her to tell the truth.

“She tried to save her father’s life and it cost David his,” Eames observes.

Goren responds with some more F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy.“