| "Weeping Willow" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | CI, Episode 6.10 | → |
| Production number: 06010 First aired (US): 28 November 2006 First aired (CAN): 28 November 2006 First aired (AUS): 26 April 2007 | ||
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| Teleplay By Stephanie Sengupta Story By Stephanie Sengupta & Warren Leight Directed By Tom DiCillo | ||
Logan and Wheeler must determine if a kidnapping depicted on an Internet video was an actual event, and figure out how to find the alleged victim.
Plot[]
In what appears to be an Internet vlog, a teenage girl nicknamed "WeepingWillow17" and her boyfriend Holden (Michael Goduti) are interrupted when two men in masks storm into the room and apparently kidnap them on-camera. Detectives Logan and Wheeler begin investigating the so-called "cyber-kidnapping", which they and the public suspect could be an Internet Hoax. Eventually, the supposed kidnappers release an online video with Willow and Holden tied up, claiming they will kill them both if 100,000 people do not purchase their online videos for $1.99 each within 48 hours. The news media covers the story, and speculates on the possibility that it is a hoax. Eventually, a video is released in which Willow provides her real name, Lisa Willow Tyler, as proof that she is real. Logan and Wheeler visit her parents, who are elderly farmers that believe Willow is doing charity work in Africa; the police learn Willow has lied to her family and tried to achieve Internet fame to escape her dull life.
Wheeler suggests responding to the kidnappers "on their own turf" via a video blog. In response to Wheeler's video, the kidnappers make another vlog and cut off Holden's ear on-camera to prove they are serious. Although the ear is mailed to forensics and proven to be real, police quickly discover that Willow and Holden placed an online advertisement seeking actors to play kidnapper roles; they soon identify actor Reggie Luckman as one of the kidnappers in the WeepingWillow17 videos. Yet another vlog is released, this time with Holden escaping his bonds and shooting one of the kidnappers, before being shot himself by Reggie. Police come to the scene and find Holden alive, along with the dead body of one of the supposed kidnappers named Todd. Holden insisted the on-camera shooting was fake, and that Reggie shot Todd over a dispute over money after the video was filmed. Holden says the kidnapping videos started as a hoax, but that Reggie has now actually kidnapped Willow.Additional live WeepingWillow17 videos are shown online, which police trace to a van in Union Square, where they find Willow and arrest Reggie. During interrogation, Reggie says he did not know Todd was really dead; he insists he fired a prop gun with blanks to scare Holden into splitting the money from the videos with them. Police soon learn the wadding from a blank was accidentally fired into Todd, and a horrified Reggie faces manslaughter charges. Willow, claiming to have simply been seeking fame as an actress, is released without criminal charges. The episode ends with Logan and Wheeler watching a video of Larry King interviewing Willow on a giant screen in Times Square.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan
- Julianne Nicholson as Detective Megan Wheeler
- Eric Bogosian as Captain Danny Ross
Recurring cast[]
- Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
- Gary Patent as Ira Whipple
- Neal Jones as Chief of Detectives Bradshaw
- Pat Murphy as Dawn Condor
Guest cast[]
- Michelle Trachtenberg as Lisa Willow Tyler
- Michael Goduti as Holden Foster
- Pedro Pascal as Reggie Luckman
- Julie McNiven as Suzie Waller
- Chet Carlin as Frank Tyler
- Kate Weiman as Jean Tyler
- Nance Williamson as Rosalie Palmer
- Brian Slaten as Mr. Lore
- John Wu as Miles
- Clifford Endo Gulibert as Bob
- Aya Cash as Lori
- Trevor Oswalt as Todd
- Wallace Shawn as Film Professor
- Cinqué Lee as Holden's Classmate
- Larry King as Himself
- Tracey Conyer Lee as Reporter #1
- Paul Juhn as Reporter #2
- James Ball as Reporter #3
- Sherman Alpert as Man in Park
- Jessica Williams as Tasha (uncredited)
References[]
- YouLenz
- CNN
- WeepingWillow17
- FreeWillow17
- Elmira
- New York Film Academy
- Rescuing Rita
- Union Square
- James Cameron
- Quentin Tarantino
- James Dean
Quotes[]
- Det. Logan: Please don't tell anyone about this for now.
- Professor: Don't worry. He doesn't deserve the publicity.
- Capt. Ross: So who wants to go on camera?
- Det. Logan: Wheeler.
- Det. Wheeler: Not me. (pause) No!
- [After Logan and Ross watch the vlog kidnapping]
- Logan: What the hell was that?
- Ross: We may have just witnessed the first cyber-kidnapping.
- [About the vlog kidnapping]
- Ross: You think it's real?
- Logan: I don't know. Gimme a body with some blood on it at a crime scene, I'm a happy camper.
Background information and notes[]
- The song in the cold open is "Fearless (Richard Vission Edit)" by The Bravery.
| Previous episode: "Blasters" |
"Weeping Willow" Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 6 |
Next episode: "World's Fair" |