Nurse Andrea Blake is found unconscious at the bottom of the stairwell in her apartment building. She claims it was the result of a confrontation with the man who had been stalking her. Briscoe and Curtis realize that she lied about the confrontation but not about receiving e-mails and calls from the stalker. They believe that a voyeur named Lewis Dutton, who takes secret photos of undressed women and puts them on the Internet, is the culprit and arrest him. After they tell her she has nothing to worry about, despite her pleas that it is not Dutton and her attack was real, Andrea is attacked and stabbed to death at her apartment. She did manage to call 911 during her attack, which leads to Russell Lowery. He had become obsessed with her when he was incarcerated and worked in an in-prison telemarketing job. There is weak circumstantial evidence against him and the defense gets the 911 taped suppressed thanks to Blake's faked attack. Briscoe, feeling guilty, goes to McCoy and Ross, telling him that he now believes Blake was attacked in the stairwell. Briscoe holds up on cross examination, but states that Curtis would back him up, getting the tape back in. Van Buren and Curtis are furious, especially since Curtis is being called by the defense. He makes it clear to Briscoe he will not back up his change of heart. Looking to strengthen the case, Ross discovers that Curtis told Blake's employer she was in danger; had he said she was lying, she would have been fired and forced to pay restitution for the extra security. McCoy uses this on the stand, much to the embarrassment of Curtis. Lowery is convicted, though a rift has been created between Curtis and Briscoe.
Tropes present
- Ambiguous Situation:
- Whether Briscoe genuinely had a change of heart or perjured himself in order to keep Lowery from escaping justice. Only McCoy doesn't ask serious questions about his change of heart. It certainly seems suspiciously convenient, and he makes a rather cavalier joke about how close to perjury he is, yet Briscoe never breaks and insists he is being sincere. He also makes some good points, like how someone faking an attack is unlikely to break expensive jewelry, but use something cheaper. His argument that he re-thought the initial attack after Andrea was murdered is also a logical action for a veteran police detective. This also brings up...
- Whether Andrea did fake her initial attack or not. The episode gives no definitive answer and is left to interpretation. She never breaks under pressure from Briscoe and Curtis, but she is also clearly desperate enough to do anything for help.
- Blackmail: Russell Lowery discovered his supervisor at his call center job was embezzling, so he used the information to gain access to the supervisor's unfiltered computer in order to stalk Andrea from behind bars.
- Chekhov's Gun: After Briscoe and Curtis dismiss Blake's attack as fake, Ross tells Curtis Blake's employer wants to know if she was lying about being stalked. Curtis says he will take care of it. It is later discovered that he told the employer she was being stalked, saving her from being fired and sued for the cost of security. McCoy uses this to strengthen his case and secure a conviction.
- Dude, Not Funny!: Van Buren angrily tells Briscoe he is an "inch" from perjury, but he counters he is only "a foot, maybe a foot and a half", drawing this response from his superior.
- Loophole Abuse: Lowery trades a carton of smokes to another prisoner to find out where Andrea has moved to get away from him. The prisoner does this by using the Freedom of Information Act to get Andrea's information from the voter registry.
- Nothing Personal: McCoy tells this to Curtis after the trial, where he forced him to admit on the stand he told Blake's employer she wasn't lying about her stalker. He shows no hard feelings to the ADA, but Briscoe is another story.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Andrea's mother says that the DAs didn't do enough to protect Andrea, and that even the 911 call is inadmissible.
- Stalker with a Crush: Russell Lowery notices Andrea during his telemarketing job and he stays obsessed even after his release.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Curtis and Van Buren are not pleased with Lenny's change of heart. Not only does it appear to be a clear violation of police ethics, in the greater picture, makes the NYPD look like they are willing to perjure themselves to put a suspect away.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Andrea (possibly) faked her first attack to get the attention of the police on her very real stalker. It does not work; Lowry gets to her.
