| "Avatar" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | L&O, Episode 17.02 | → |
| Production number: 17003 First aired: 29 September 2006 | ||
| Written By David Slack Directed By Vince Misiano | ||
Plot[]
The murder of a suburban housewife is discovered after a picture of her bloody corpse is posted on a popular website. Detective Nina Cassady's computer savviness proves an asset as she and Green investigate the case.
Summary[]
The police are notified after photos of a deceased woman end up on a social networking website called B-Friendz.com.
After Cassady & Green talk to the owner of B-Friendz, Jason Rundberg, they learn that the name of the user who posted the photos is REWind99, whose profile picture only shows a shadowed face with a large scar across his face.
The woman is later identified as Caroline Preston, a wife and mother of a teenage daughter. Douglas Preston, Caroline's husband, says that he doesn't know who would hurt his wife. The daughter, Molly says that she has a B-Friendz account, but didn't notice anything suspicious on the website. Douglas tells the detectives that Caroline had cheated on him before which leads them to a former lover, Bill Walker, who says that he hasn't seen Caroline in months.
The investigation leads the detectives to a lingerie shop where they learn REWind99's real identity: a paranoid schizophrenic named Richard Elam. As they search Elam's house, they discover photos from Molly's B-Friendz page. When they head to the Prestons' apartment, the house is in disarray & Molly is missing.
After talking with Elam's mother, the detectives track down Elam at a motel, who bolts with Molly when he sees the police. Elam is arrested, screaming that he saved Molly. Cassady comforts Molly, who claims that she was raped by Elam.
After Elam's arraignment, his attorney provides information to Rubirosa, showing that Elam was coerced by Molly into killing Caroline. Elam says that Molly would write on her B-Friendz page how her mother beat her & that she would call her mother a whore. He also says that Molly offered sex in return for killing her mother.
Rubirosa shows McCoy the older version of Molly's webpage which features pleas for someone to kill her mother and that she would provide sexual favors just like Elam said. When Branch asks if there's any evidence that Molly ever met Elam, there isn't any, but he was listed as a friend on the older version of Molly's B-Friendz page which indicates that at some point, she chose to "friend" him on her page.
When Rubirosa talks to Molly, she claims that she fought with her mom, but she changed her webpage after the fight blew over. She also denies Elam's claims that they met in person, saying that she just wanted somebody to talk.
When the police talk to Molly's friend, Clarissa Barnes, she says that the Prestons had their issues. When asked if Molly had a boyfriend, Clarissa says that Molly didn't have one. She directs them to a cafe where Molly used the computers there and the detectives discover IM (Instant Messaging) conversations she had. Detectives Ed Green and Nina Cassady arrest Molly at her school.
Molly's attorney, Ms. Stuart, wants misdemeanor obstruction with a year's probation, but McCoy wants second-degree murder with fifteen years in prison, stating that Molly's webpage proves a criminal intent for soliciting Caroline's murder. Molly insists that she didn't do anything wrong & she didn't want her mother to get hurt. She also reveals that she kissed Elam on the cheek to let him down easy.
Douglas blames the B-Friendz website for not having safeguards to block people like Elam, but McCoy points out that the website has them, but Molly didn't use them.
Outside the courthouse, Rubirosa is convinced that Molly knew what she was doing, but McCoy says that a jury might sympathize with her.
In court, Clarissa testifies that she warned Molly that somebody could hurt her mother because of what Molly put on her B-Friendz page, but Molly told her, "I hope that they do. Then the bitch will finally get what she deserves."
During Stuart's cross-examination, she brings up the time when Molly & Clarissa had a falling out over a boy and they used their B-Friendz pages to spread rumors about each other. Stuart points out that no reasonable person would believe what people put on their B-Friendz pages.
When Stuart brings Jason Rundberg onto the stand, she accuses him of being responsible for Caroline Preston's death because he received three e-mail complaints about Molly's B-Friendz page, but he didn't do anything about it. When Rubirosa and McCoy investigate the complaints, they learn that there were actually four. However, Stuart only introduced three of the four e-mails into evidence.
They are able to track down the fourth e-mail from a university football player named Gregg Robinson, who is reluctant to talk. When McCoy demands the original e-mail from Rundberg, he denies that the e-mail was edited. That doesn't satisfy McCoy and Rubirosa, who threaten charges of obstruction and pornography against him. Rundberg ends up giving in and produces the full, original e-mail.
In court, Gregg Robinson testifies he IM'd Molly after seeing her B-Friendz post offering her body to anyone who would kill her mother. He had sex with Molly, but when Gregg refused to kill Caroline, Molly freaked out, threatening to cry rape, but Gregg threatened to tell the police about her webpage if she did. He then contacted B-Friendz via e-mail telling them about Molly's page and urging them to take it down.
McCoy and Rubirosa offer Molly a deal of 10 years in prison, but she refuses to take the deal, despite her father's pleas to do so. Molly then blames her father for her mother's multiple affairs and her father slaps her, prompting McCoy to withdraw the deal. In the end, Molly is convicted of second-degree murder.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green
- Milena Govich as Detective Nina Cassady
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
- Sam Waterston as Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy
- Alana De La Garza as A.D.A. Connie Rubirosa
- Fred Dalton Thompson as D.A. Arthur Branch
Recurring cast[]
- Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
- John Cariani as Julian Beck
- Harriett D. Foy as Judge Arlene Jones
Guest cast[]
- Robert Stanton as Douglas Preston
- Brianna Steinhilber as Molly Preston
- Devin Ratray as Richard Elam
- Michael Bakkensen as Jason Rundberg
- Elizabeth Canavan as Lily Walker
- Gregory Dann as Sergeant Tom Webb
- Jay Wilkison as Gregg Robinson
- Julia Frisoli as Caroline Preston
- Patrick Carroll as Carl Barlow
- Olivia Mandell as Clarissa Barnes
- Diane Ciesla as Victoria Elam
- James DiSalvatore as Judge Gareth Morgan
- Tom Zemon as Bill Walker
- Kevin Collins as Walt Gaines
- David Marantz as Principal Kenworthy
- Johnny Sparks as Rich
- Dave Bowden as Uniform
- Brandon Slagle as Drummer
- Jason Denuszek as Galin
- Callie Thorne as Attorney Stuart
- Brandon Bales as Isaac
- Lauren M. Martin as Sarah
- Matthew Schecter as Thomas
- Erika Rolfsrud as Carla
- Trevin Lica as Glen
- Eric Storjohann as Clerk
- William Davenport as Foreperson
- Joseph DeBona as Juror #2
- Samuel Ray Gates as Trooper
- Sarah Mindlin as Shopgirl
- Joey Chanlin as Construction Worker (uncredited)
References[]
Quotes[]
| “ | For better or worse, B-Frendz is the new town square. People go there to be seen. | ” |
–Connie Rubirosa | ||
Background information and notes[]
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
Home of |
Penthouse of |
Flanigan's Cafe |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Supreme Court |
Supreme Court |
Supreme Court |
| Previous episode: "Fame" |
"Avatar" Law & Order Season 17 |
Next episode: "Home Sweet" |