Poison Ivy (Season 1, Episode 8)
Premise: A police shooting during a drug arrest is ruled self-defense almost immediately, but Greevey doubts the gun found on the dead man was ever his.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 1, Episode 8
- 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
- John Finn as Freddo Parisi, Erika Alexander as Doris Carver, Erik King as Dorian “Silky” Ford
- Director
- E. W. Swackhamer
- Writers
- Story: Jack Richardson; Story & teleplay: Jacob Brackman
Summary
The Investigation
“Poison Ivy” begins with veteran patrolman Freddo Parisi shooting and killing a young Black man during a drug arrest and reporting that the man pulled a gun. The department is quick to accept his account. Greevey is not, and his refusal to let it go strains his relationships inside the precinct. The quick ruling of self-defense leaves little room for questions, and the detectives who raise them are not welcome.
The dead man is identified as Tommy Richardson, a Princeton student admired in his Harlem neighborhood for the money and time he gave to local causes. Greevey and Logan trace the gun found by Tommy’s body to a local dealer, Dorian “Silky” Ford, which raises the question of how it ended up in Tommy’s hand. The investigation also reveals an uncomfortable truth about Tommy: the money he gave away came from selling drugs, with a young woman named Doris Carver carrying them for him. With a white officer and a young Black victim, the shooting becomes a source of racial tension across the city.
The Trial
Stone and Robinette face pressure from several directions. Community leaders want the officer charged, police close ranks around Parisi, and some want the case settled quietly to protect Tommy’s reputation. Parisi already has a similar shooting on his record. Stone takes the case to a grand jury, and Parisi is indicted for murder.
The prosecution’s challenge is proving the gun was planted. The eyewitnesses who saw the shooting have reasons of their own to stay quiet, and Stone has to find leverage to get them to testify. The jury will hear both that Tommy sold drugs and that the gun in his hand may never have been his, and Stone has to keep the first fact from swallowing the second.
Spoiler, the ending: Testimony at trial indicates that Tommy was unarmed and that Parisi planted the dealer’s gun. Parisi takes his own life before the jury reaches a verdict.
Why it stands out
- One of the series’ first police-shooting cases, with neither the victim nor the officer presented as simply good or bad.
- Greevey, a loyal cop, is the one who refuses to accept the department’s account.