"Poison" Quotes

Talk about your "ripped from the headlines" stories, albeit this particular crime occurred way back in the fall of 1982 in Chicago and was never solved. According to Snopes, the case is still officially listed as "unsolved," and actually appears to have been a bona fide "random" poisoning and not an attempt to cover up the murder of one individual by randomly killing six others.

Oh, well, such are the plots of television crime dramas; especially the Law & Order genre.

I really liked this episode. I suppose because I recognized the subject matter instantly and remembered the horror of the event and the subsequent effect it had on all of us. I mean, you can't buy a pack of gum today without fighting your way through layers of tamper-proof packaging. That may be a wee bit of an exaggeration, but it sure feels true.

Anyway, on to the episode and our tenacious detective. Immediately after putting the obnoxious hospital attorney in his place by informing him that the hospital was on the hook for the murders, we get a peek at the famous "Goren" nose. Ah, that cute little pug-nose to which virtually every scent known to man can be detected.

Right away we learn that Bobby is a zealous profiler; he rattled off, with great relish, the probable traits of the "Angel of Death." And though we will ultimately discover in later episodes that Bobby does not always gracefully accept the fact that he can, in fact, be wrong, in this episode he immediately backed off the prime suspect...the nurse...once he ascertained that she did not "fit the profile."

Nope, Bobby did not like it one little bit when the "brass" did not concur with his reassessment of the case. Indeed, he took umbrage, as evidenced by his haughtily spoken, "I'm telling you, she's not the one. There's someone else."

If we didn't know this already, we learned that Bobby doesn't mind breaking the rules and going over his superiors' heads if it saves lives. Case in point...the leak to the press. Oh, and it was nice to see the crossover in this episode; i.e., the brief scene with Ed Green and Lennie Briscoe from that mother of all ships known as "Law & Order."

What else did we learn about Bobby in this episode? Hmm...let's see. Well, he has "sources." Watchdog groups, in fact, that Eames sardonically refers to as, "tree huggers." He likes looking at wedding pictures, and our gallant detective always has a linen handkerchief at the ready for any given situation...in this case...a distraught murder suspect in the interrogation room.

I really liked the feisty attorney, O'Brien, who was hired to defend Mrs. Marlin. I would like to have seen her character in a recurring role, but that did not happen. I think she could have given Carver a run for his money.

Finally, Bobby sure can lay out a good trap once he has the villain in his sites. I just love how he and Eames manipulated Trudy into providing them the very evidence they needed to put her away once and for all. I believe that horrible woman would have let her mother take the wrap for the senseless murders she had committed...and for what...baby clothes. I guess the love of money truly is the root of all evil.

And now to the slideshows. This one had more scenes and quotes and dialogue that struck my fancy than usual, thus the extra slideshow.

Poison Part I


Poison Part II


Poison Part III


Poison Part IV