Cold CaseStreet Money
Original Air Date: 30 Nov 2008
Amanda - TwoCents Reviewer
amanda@thetwocentscorp.com
I’m going to come right out and say that this is one of the most complicated, yet fascinating, cases I’ve ever seen. Maybe it’s the writing (Christopher Silber always keeps me guessing), maybe it’s too much leftover turkey, or maybe it’s just that I don’t understand politics. In any event, I found it full of twists and turns. So hold on tight, because we’re about to hit the streets.
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[photo: CBS.com]
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I’m going to come right out and say that this is one of the most complicated, yet fascinating, cases I’ve ever seen. Maybe it’s the writing (Christopher Silber always keeps me guessing), maybe it’s too much leftover turkey, or maybe it’s just that I don’t understand politics. In any event, I found it full of twists and turns. So hold on tight, because we’re about to hit the streets.
ReplyDeleteThe case centers on the murder of upstart political candidate Dexter “Dex” Collins, found shot to death in the neighborhood he worked to save. Since crack paraphernalia was found near his body, it was assumed that the anti-drug candidate had fallen prey to the lure of the streets and was shot by a dealer. However, a prisoner informs Lilly and Scotty that he heard the confession of a now-dead witness. They initially dismiss his claims, but when the murder weapon turns up in the exact same disgustingly clogged drainpipe that the prisoner said it would be, the detectives reopen the case.
Scotty and Vera interview Dex’s campaign manager, Cassie Michaels, who says that Dex refused to pay his way into the city political machine, preferring to earn, not buy, votes. She recalls how Dex brought the community skeptics into his apartment to prove that he wasn’t an outsider and talked about his father’s faith that hard work, and heart, would pay off. This not only won over the skeptics, but provided his campaign slogan, Faith.
In an interview with Dex’s father, Ronnie, Lilly learns that Dex stood up to the drug dealers of the Sixth Street Mafia. Ronnie points to an old friend of Dex’s, Victor Nash, a dealer who resented Dex’s interference. Lilly and Scotty locate Victor, who claims to have been at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting the night of the murder. He says Dex helped him straighten up and get clean, even giving him a job in the campaign. Victor recalls a rally for Dex that was supposed to be held at the restaurant of supporter Warren Wilson, which was shut down due to health and fire code violations. Victor blames Dex’s opponent, Councilman Grover Boone.
Meanwhile, Kat has located the gun owner, Jay Quick, who apparently has been running quite the gun racket. An amusing new ADA, Curtis Bell, is in on the interview, and despite his clumsiness, nevertheless cleverly convinces Jay to give them the buyer: Jorge Gomez.
Lilly interviews Warren, who details the harassment he received from Boone, then points to one of Dex’s supporters, developer Frank Mulwrey, who donated over $50,000 to Dex’s campaign in exchange for his silence on a plan to redevelop a housing project. Instead, Dex returned the money, then took to the streets the next day to speak out against it. In a chat with Mulwrey, Lilly and Vera learn that Cassie was taking street money behind Dex’s back.
Scotty revisits Cassie, revealing his knowledge that she and Dex were more than just friends, and theorizing that Cassie still had feelings for Dex. Cassie admits to this, but insists she was protecting him from himself. She recalls an argument with him wherein she urged him to work the system, and made it clear to him that the campaign was about what they could do together. Sensing her over-involvement, Dex gently fired her, but they were interrupted by Ronnie informing Dex of a reporter wanting a comment on an incident in June, 1987.
The incident, as Lilly learns from Ronnie, was Dex’s arrest at age thirteen for dealing drugs. Dex and Victor were arrested together; Dex’s charges were dropped due to his high grades, but Victor spent two years in juvenile detention. Ronnie blames Victor for telling the reporter, but an interview with Victor reveals that the culprit was really Boone. Victor says he was completely stoned one night when Dex came over, took his crack away from him, then showed him photos of Boone with a stripper. Victor says Dex told him he was on his way to confront Boone with the pictures only a few hours before his death.
Enter the best interview of the episode: Stillman and Boone. I love it when Stillman gets a chance to shine, and this was no exception. Boone tells of how Dex came over with the photos, and instead of threatening him with them, offered him a deal: he’d give Boone the photos, no questions asked, if Boone would keep quiet about the drug arrest.
All these loose ends tie together nicely when Kat and Jeffries figure out that Jorge was arrested in 2004 and bailed out by his boss, Warren Wilson, who we also learn took the photos and wound up with the murder weapon. Confronted with this evidence, Warren confesses, saying he was caught in the middle between Dex and Boone. He took the photos, hoping Dex would use them as a weapon against Boone, but was furious when Dex refused to take the bait. Warren, already panicked about losing his restaurant, felt betrayed, accused Dex of becoming just like every other politician, and shot him dead.
With such a complicated case, there wasn’t much time for the detectives, but Lilly’s still quasi-stalking Paul Cooper. She’s apparently written a bunch of letters to him, which Scotty finds and confronts her about, in one of those charming scenes where she feeds him bull and he doesn’t buy it, and we later see her at Cooper’s house again depositing all the letters in his mailbox. (Federal offense, there, Lil). I’m personally ready for this story arc to move forward already. Enough with the stalking. Meanwhile, Frankie seems to still be in the picture, as evidenced by a hilariously snarky scene with Scotty and Vera. So that’s my two cents, which, in 2005, would buy 2/99ths of a song on iTunes. As always, I’d love to hear yours!