Prisoner of Love (Season 1, Episode 10)
Premise: An artist’s death looks like an accident during a sex game, until photographs show someone was watching.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 1, Episode 10
- Detectives
- Sgt. Max Greevey (George Dzundza), Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty), ADA Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Frances Conroy as Elizabeth Hendrick, Larry Keith as Henry Rothman, Amy Aquino as defense attorney Erica Stohlmeyer
- Ripped from the headlines
- Drawn from the Andrew Crispo “Death Mask Murder” case.
- Director
- Michael Fresco
- Writers
- Story: David Black; Story & teleplay: Robert Stuart Nathan
Summary
The Investigation
“Prisoner of Love” opens with the body of Victor More, an artist known for sadomasochistic imagery, found hanging in his loft in a way that mirrors his own work. The medical examiner finds he died of asphyxiation during sexual activity, and the press treats it as a lurid suicide. Evidence at the scene suggests he was not alone. Greevey, uncomfortable with the case, wants off it, and Cragen tells him no.
Greevey and Logan work their way through More’s world of clubs and private arrangements to Henry Rothman, the city’s Commissioner of Artistic Affairs, who backed More’s career. A fingerprint puts Rothman at the scene. The detectives also find that Rothman is tied to Elizabeth Hendrick, a wealthy arts patron, and that she appears to be the one giving orders. Phone records show Rothman and Hendrick were in frequent contact, and the more the detectives learn about the pair, the less Rothman looks like the one in charge.
The Trial
Stone believes Hendrick, not Rothman, was in control the night More died. A wiretap captures her directing Rothman, and a search of her home turns up drugs and equipment linked to the scene. Rothman agrees to testify that Hendrick told him to let More die. Stone’s goal shifts from convicting the man at the scene to reaching the woman he believes was directing him.
The case moves to a grand jury, where Hendrick testifies on her own behalf. Rothman then reverses himself and takes the blame alone, apparently at her direction, leaving Stone without his witness. With Rothman’s recantation, the case against Hendrick seems to collapse, and she appears to have walked away untouched.
Spoiler, the ending: Rothman takes his own life, leaving behind photographs that show Hendrick present as More died. The episode ends with Hendrick under arrest. The case that seemed lost is suddenly alive again.
Why it stands out
- The victim’s career was backed by the city official responsible for arts funding, pulling public money into a private scandal.
- It is an early example of the series ending at an arrest rather than a verdict.
- Greevey asking off a case, and being refused, shows a rare crack in his professionalism.