"Lady's Man" Recap

My goodness, has it really been three weeks since this episode aired? I must be losing my touch, but better late than never, I suppose. Enough with the "chitchat" and on to some general observations about the last Goren/Eames installment of Law & Order CI.

Well, right off the bat, I have to say that I liked this episode…a lot. I would not give it an “excellent” rating, because I reserve that for only very special stories, but it’s up there pretty high on my list. It was just so very wonderful to see playful, sardonic, aggravating, taunting, exasperating, and…most importantly…“laughing” Bobby back in action. He’s healing, and I’m glad.

Okay, my first observation and complaint is…if we can get a "nekked" butt shot of the guy diving into the ocean, why can’t we get something “similar” of Bobby in the shower? That’s all I’m sayin’.

And now it's time for a confession. I have never been fond of those knit hats they wear, and – yes – I know it’s cold, and they need to keep their heads warm. So, I have to say a grateful "thank you," to Vincent D'Onofrio for braving the elements and not donning a “penis” hat in this episode. Sorry, but that’s what they look like to me, and it's not just Bobby and Eames. No one looks attractive in those things. Bobby does look all cuddly-wuddly in that big ol’ coat he’s wearing though. Good choice on that score from the wardrobe department.

Teacher Bobby is back. At the "crime scene" by the river, he said the jellyfish sting was a nematocyst and then when Rodgers pointed out the…uh…makeshift “surgery” that had been inflicted upon the victim, Bobby goes on to explain how in Ancient Rome, they would do a total removal of the genitals of young slave boys to make them charismatics. Remember back in Season 1 when Eames said she learns something new from Bobby everyday. Well, the beat goes on.

And look at Rodgers, getting in on the “fun” with her, “I love saving the best for last,” comment.

My first question: Why was this pipsqueak attorney even at the crime scene? If the victim was some sort of high profile local “celebrity,” albeit of the lowest, skankiest caliber, then why send this dude? Yes, I get that he was the prosecutor on the original case, but he botched it and got reassigned to purgatory for his efforts. They make it clear that he is less than a nobody in the DA’s office, so he was an easy suspect from the get-go. Plus I didn’t much care for the arrogant way he treated Eames and Bobby...throughout the entire episode.

Poor Bobby, having to explain to this "twit" that the jellyfish sting could not have been inflicted after he was shot because the immune system would have shut down and no reaction would have occurred. How does he "suffer" these insufferable fools? Oh, and I read in a couple of places after the show aired that it is not all that uncommon to find jellyfish in the East River, so the writers goofed...again.

And there is Bobby's badge number…clear for once…4376.

The ever clever and astute Bobby picks up on the “tension” between Eames and Mulrooney. He looks back and forth between the two and tucks the thought away for later discussion with Eames.

I thought the scene with the widow and her husband’s friend was reminiscent of the “piss me off” scene from “Ill-Bred” back in Season 3. Bobby is obviously irritated by the guy, so he asks the wife, "Does he have to be here?" Then, before she can answer, he says the same thing to Eames, who then repeats the question to the guy. Cute.

Okay, here’s another question. If Boz’s buddy, Craig, showed up at the beach after everything had happened, how did Mulrooney manage to dispose of the victim’s car and the dune buggy? Plus, what about the car Mulrooney drove to Atlantic Beach to begin with? If he used that to transport the body back to the dump site, should they not be able to find some sort of DNA in his car? I mean, they're always finding a hair or a drop of blood or some minuscule piece of evidence to nail the perp. Yet, nary a word was mentioned as to the disposition of the vehicles used to get back and forth to the beach let alone obtaining a warrant to search said cars...even if somebody was looking for them...which evidently they weren't.

Sometimes...I think I think too much.

I loved their rhetoric at the beach when they’re discussing what might have happened to Boz’s hacked off…ahem…appendage. Speculations ranged from the killer might have taken it to it being washed away with the tide to …my personal favorite…"seagulls are always hungry." Ewww! Leave it to Bobby!

There are a lot of good scenes in this episode. So many, in fact, I am having trouble deciding which one is my favorite. For example, when they’re in Ross’ office, watching Boz’s taped report, and he says he’ll "...have more next week," Bobby says, “Nah, I don’t think so.” And I do declare, but just hearing Bobby utter the phrase, “all nighter” makes me go all weak in the knees.

This scene leads into Ross asking Goren to give him and Eames the room for a moment, so that we can see the “obligatory,” “we really should remove you from this case because you’re too close to it,” scene. But just like in “Endgame” and “Amends” the writers wave their magic wand and Eames and Goren get to keep the case. After all, Eames is the "best" he’s got. And that is all I’m going to say about that.

I’m confused…which is not all that unusual when I’m knee deep into a LOCI episode, but are we to understand that the creepy DA guy broke into Eames’ house twice...once to get the red silk blouse (or did he swipe that from the dry cleaner's store) and again when they show "her" rifling through Eames’ underwear drawer and picking up her wedding picture? A ballsy move for the little twerp, don't you think? And for what purpose? He/she had already planted Eames' red silk blouse in the hotel room. Why risk breaking into Eames' home...which leads me to another observation. Eames must have one lousy security system if this birdbrain and Jo, she of the "Blind Spot" episode in Season 6, had the wherewithal to break-in undetected.

I’m leaning toward the scene with “Faith Yancy” – and we all know who she’s modeled after – as being my “pick” of the show. I love it when he plops down in her chair, just seconds before air time…and is in absolutely no hurry to leave. Just look at him “ape” for the camera. As usual, he gets what he wants; when Faith says, “I’m not going to dignify that with a response,” Bobby shrewdly counters with, “You just did.” And with that, he relinquishes her chair and has to duck in front of the camera to avoid being caught on air. Yeah, I like this scene a lot. Eames seemed to enjoy it, too.

Okay, what’s up with shooting the scene through the interview room window? It makes for cloudy and crappy quality screen capping photos. It’s the scene when Bobby interrupts Eames when she's talking to Mulrooney and ultimately asks her if she slept with him. She is temporarily spared from answering him, however, by Ross’ timely interruption.

I love the scene when they’re talking to Craig in the interrogation room and Bobby is standing behind him. He, of course, wants to keep the liaison with the redhead a secret from his wife and, when he asks if they can keep this "quiet," and turns around to look at Bobby behind him, the small, "knowing" smile on Bobby’s face changes to one of benign indifference in the blink of an eye.

I am finding that this episode has several noteworthy scenes. For example, when the swizzle stick they find in the hotel room leads them to a bar that Eames used to frequent with the smarmy Mulrooney. Eames gets the "convenient" phone call, which then allows Bobby to question the bartender at will. Afterward, as they are walking toward the door, Eames asks, "You find out everything you wanted to know…about me?" Bobby responds with a self-satisfied, "Everything." And as they're going through the door, he ends with, "Bourbon, huh? Bourbon?”

Then there is the scene when Bobby is reviewing the deposition tape from the ten-year-old trial and Eames gets all pissy with him when he says the tape mentions this letter she never told him about. She gets defensive and tells him that maybe Ross should reassign the case and starts to leave the room to search out the captain. But she stops when Bobby says, "I'm asking questions. You know, that's what we do. Right? We ask questions." Then she goes on to tell him about the letter the victim left pointing the finger of blame at her husband in the event something happened to her. Eames found the letter, but the handwriting analysis proved it was not the victim's handwriting, so the defense attorney "suggested" that Eames planted it.

Time for me to interject another question: Now, if that has been on Eames' record for ten years and she has been with Major Case for eight-plus years now, how did she make the jump to Major Case so soon after having such a serious blemish attached to her record? Don't get me wrong, I never believed for an instant that she did it, but since Bobby is the one...in effect...who clears her ten years after the fact, I'm just curious as to Major Case's recruiting qualifications, that's all.

Continuing on, it finally hit me about a quarter of the way through this scene that Bobby was actually conducting a "mini" interrogation of Eames, so he could...you know...help his partner. It was a softer, gentler Bobby interrogation-style, but since he has this compulsion to get at the truth...make no mistake...he was treating her like a witness. When he asks her if she still feels guilty, she counters with, "Why are you taking this tone with me? You don't know what I feel." Ah...Bobby said something like that to Ross in "Endgame" just before Ross kicked him off the case...for about thirty seconds.

I chuckled at Bobby when they were in Mulrooney’s office, and he opens a door and is surprised to discover it is a closet, prompting him to say, "Is this a closet? He’s got a closet. We don’t have a closet." Then Bobby proceeds to whittle away at whatever is left of Mulrooney's self-esteem by reminding him that he has "been in all kinds of law…for a while." The final nail in the coffin being Bobby's reminder to Mulrooney that his former paralegal is the heir apparent to Jack McCoy...nice and rare reference to the mothership...and points out that, if he hadn’t left, Mulrooney would probably be the one in line for McCoy's job.

Then there is the scene at Mulrooney’s dad’s house. I started to leave this one out, but the old coot...Harry...acted like such a condescending jerk to Eames, I thought it was worth mentioning. I did like his line to Bobby when he said he didn't trust anyone in a suit…no disrespect...and Bobby counters with, “I’m with ya on that.” Then Harry recognizes Eames' name and says he remembers his son talking about her, but he thought Kevin had made her up. You know...a woman cop...he "hoped" she was up to the challenge. I repeat...jerk.

Next, this clueless old fart starts to describe the "type" of woman his son preferred and throws an offhand “no offense” in Eames' general direction. The implication being that Eames didn't fit the requisite stereotype...lucky Eames. Then he ended with a, "but there's nothing wrong with a woman that can handle a firearm." I love watching Bobby's facial expressions as he reacts to this Neanderthal's comments throughout the entire scene. For example: when Harry says Kevin stopped coming around after his mother passed away…it’s like you can read Bobby's mind…and it's saying...Gee, I can't imagine why. Or perhaps, "no shit" would be a more apt interpretation. And there is another “close to home” moment for Bobby when Harry says the kind of "closeness" Kevin had with his mother was different than that between a father and son.

Which leads us to another great scene...the bar scene with Bobby and Kevin. So, was Bobby pretending to be a wee bit snockered when he sat down on the bar stool next to Mulrooney? I mean...the Elvis impression..."thank you very much," then grunting "oof, oof" when he spies the pretty lady like he did to intimidate the doctor in "Crazy." Then Bobby says, "Look at that. Nice." Then Bobby says she's "intimidating" and Kevin goes on to give an in-depth analysis of what the "lady" is probably like. Now that dialogue was reminiscent of the "ball buster" discussion Bobby had with the guy in the bar from "Baggage" in Season 2. Who said it was evident that the new writers had not watched the earlier seasons?

I guess my next question is: just how stupid is this Kevin? Does he not realize that Bobby and Eames suspect him and that is why they're doggin' him? Perhaps it's that arrogance thing he has going...he thinks he's too smart to get caught by the dumb gumshoe detectives. Case in point...he gets real chummy with Bobby at the bar and opens up and confides in him, but then Bobby has a way of getting people to do that, doesn't he?

A purely rhetorical question, but what did Eames ever see in this guy? I mean, I know she was in mourning and grieving for Joe, but...come on.

Meanwhile...back at the squad room…Bobby returns from his meeting with Mulrooney to tell Eames that he’s..."concerned." (With good reason...the guy is bonkers!) But Eames seemed surprised. Bobby goes on to tell Eames that Mulrooney doesn’t blame Boz for his life’s failings, he blames her for losing the trial. Her snarky, “You’re a hell of a detective,” makes me want to smack her. Yes, he is and he’s trying to save your skinny ass, Eames, so shut up and listen to him. I love it...Bobby thinks Mulrooney's "unstable." Now, there’s an understatement if ever I heard one.

There are just way too many "fun" scenes in this one…like when Bobby goes to Mulrooney's apartment. It was typical Bobby...going through stuff, opening doors, snooping about, pointing out there was "neat" Kevin and "messy" Kevin…almost like he was...you know...two different people. (Bing! By George, I think he's got it!) Then Mulrooney "maneuvers" him to the door and Bobby asks, "Are we leaving?" Funny. And once Bobby's safely in the hallway, Mulrooney makes a lame excuse about forgetting to send a fax and closes the door in Bobby’s face…something I would never, ever do.

Ah…finally...the “gotcha” scene. It was neat how Bobby stands up for Eames by telling Mulrooney that it was too bad for him that Detective Eames didn’t fudge her testimony. And notice how Bobby didn't even clue Eames in on his discoveries until the “big reveal” moment; i.e., that Mulrooney had forged the signature on the letter he planted. And it was a nice touch at the end when Bobby knocks Mulrooney into the table and hands Eames the handcuffs…very classy Bobby gesture. My final question is: did Mulrooney really have a “Sybil-like” alter personality, or was he just faking the whole thing as part of his scheme to throw suspiscion away from himself? I keep going back to the scene when “she” was rifling through Eames' underwear drawer. If he was truly channeling a woman, why would she want Eames’ lacy under things? Wouldn’t she be jealous of Eames?

Poor Bobby, how tiresome it must be for him to always be engaging in a battle of wits with an ill-equipped buffoon. Sorry, I'm still obsessing over the final scene and the comment that Mulrooney makes to Bobby about "if he wants expert psychiatric testimony, he’ll get a shrink." (If the guy only knew.) In true Bobby fashion, he ignores Mulrooney and goes on to say, "Carl Jung believed that "rage" is the female side of our nature...an aggragate of all the females in our lives...makes us strong." So, what is Bobby saying here...that all females are full of rage?

So, the whole point of this demented man's villainy was to make Eames feel the same failure that had haunted him for years? People are crazy.

One final observation...when Mulrooney is all stretched out at the end, up against the cell, and his jacket is open showing his shirt and his little tummy "paunch"…ain’t no way he was the one dressing up in woman’s clothing in that earlier scene.

One final chuckle, Bobby calls Mulrooney "sweetie" when he pulls him off the cell and starts to cuff him...before looking at Eames and deciding it really should be her collar.

Okay, my head really hurts now from all this pondering and speculating and conjecturing, which…make no mistake…I realize means absolutely nothing to anyone but me. And now I have the rest of the day...I started this last night and saved it in Blogger, hence the date and time stamp...to get ready for tonight's episode. Don't know about you, but I'd like to go "All In" with Bobby. Yeah, I thought so.

And now...after my long winded tome...you are rewarded with a lovely slideshow of Bobby and his sidekicks.

"Lady's Man" Slideshow