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From: Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Re: Law & Order "A Price to Pay" 2/27/2025
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:14:22 -0800
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On 2/28/2025 2:19 PM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
> 
>> Law & Order - "A Price to Pay" - I was half asleep towards the second
>> half of the episode so I wasn't paying full attention.  But from what I
>> saw team L&O investigated the murder of an actor.  I slept through the
>> motive part of the episode, but I think I saw the end which switched
>> focus from the killer to a reluctant witness.
> 
> You fell asleep during the bestest episode ever! The script was well
> plotted and gave everybody clear motivations!
> 
> In part it was based on the death of Matthew Perry,

Good catch. With so many celebrity deaths over the past few days, I was 
surprised to see this as the plot of the episode.

  but why this actor,
> perfectly healthy while Perry wasn't, used a hell of a lot of ketamine
> made no sense. How the cops came across the drug dealer made no sense
> either.
> 
> Shaw encountered his old training officer at a retirement party for a
> detective from his previous precinct, but the guy hadn't been a cop in
> decades. The timing made no sense. He must have been a cop for 15 years
> to be a T.O. Then he joined the Marines in his mid to late 30s? It would
> make sense if he had some sort of professional specialty but he wasn't
> even a military police officer or shore patrol.
> 
> How long has Shaw been a cop, 10 years?
> 
> There were several people preying on the actor, including a corrupt
> doctor writing ketamine prescriptions. The doctor was all set to take a
> plea and testifyy against the drug dealer, but Price's case got ruined
> because the witness for the prosecution committed suicide.
> 

Why did he kill himself?  Didn't his lawyer negotiate a sweetheart deal 
for him?


> Price asked the judge for a two-week continuance, but she gave him till
> the next commercial break.
> 
> Riley and Shaw did negligible investigation. But Detective Yee did all
> the work, miraculous finding evidence in video footage. I've never
> understood how she finds so much video footage, never physically leaving
> the police station.
> 
> In The Plot Twist You Never Saw Coming, Shaw spots his old T.O. in the
> footage Yee found. He's a customer of the murderer.
> 
> You know? It's almost a relief when the episode goes from mediocre to
> relentlessly awful as we all expect this to happen.
> 
> Due to PTSD, the Marine has some sort of light duty assignment in New York
> with subsidized housing, but he's receiving zero medical care. He decided
> that ketamine will treat his PTSD. But he'll get discharged from the
> Marines and will lose his subsidized home if his bosses learn any of this.
> 
> As a former detective, he sees that his drug dealer has blood on her
> shoes, the very shoes she disposed of, which is why Price is prosecuting
> a case with no circumstantial evidence. Price doesn't do this all the
> time, just the prosecutions he does on Thursdays.
> 
> Shaw, Riley, and Brady approach Baxter, begging him not to use him as a
> witness. Shaw argues the unfairness, 'cuz no one cared that the actor
> abused significant amounts of ketamine whereas the Marine is using just
> enough to keep his symptoms at bay.
> 
> Now, Shaw's argument is beyond stupid. The actor isn't losing his career
> and isn't being prosecuted for one reason: He's the murder victim. He
> may have been a drug abuser and stiffed his ex wife on alimony but he
> was murdered because he didn't pay his drug dealer. 

I think I slept through that detail.  But if they murder him, then how 
do they expect to be paid? Seems like they could get a lot more money 
out of him if he was alive and using.

Cops and prosecutors
> are supposed to send a strong signal to society that murder is taken
> seriously and that they seek justice on behalf of the dead.
> 
> Baxter wants the witness on the stand regardless of consequence.
> 
> Now, Price and Maroun have been directly informed that this witness will
> not come forward voluntarily, and they know that as a former detective
> he can recognize evidence of foul play and STILL didn't come forward,
> that they need to immediately supeona him.
> 
> Maroun decides to wait 18 hours to serve the supeona.
> 
> Off screen, Shaw warned him off. He talked his bosses into transferring
> him to Okinawa.

I think I must have slept through that bit too.  I thought the friend 
testified or am I misremembering it?

  Price and Baxter discuss whether he can be forced to
> return to take the stand but Price again emphasizes that the judge won't
> agree to a continuance.
> 
> Uh, he might have asked anyway.
> 
> Baxter orders a plea. Man 2
> 
> The actors relatives are disappointed. Price confronts Shaw, and tells
> him he can be prosecuted for witness tampering. Shaw smarmily justifies
> his behavior. Episode ends before Price picks up the LART to pound the
> clue into the side of Shaw's skull.
> 
> I nominate this episode as Shaw's must unethical behavior yet.

Thanks for the summary!  A lot of times if I fall asleep I'll rewind 
back and rewatch the next day.  I must have slept through more than I 
realized or I wouldn't have hit the delete button at the end.