Angelgrove (Season 18, Episode 13)
Premise: The stoning of a SoHo art dealer first points toward Islamist threats, then to her devout college-age son and the pastor of an extremist Christian youth camp, whom Cutter tries as an accomplice.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 18, Episode 13
- Detectives
- Det. Cyrus Lupo (Jeremy Sisto), Det. Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Michael Cutter (Linus Roache), ADA Connie Rubirosa (Alana de la Garza), DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston)
- Guest stars
- Sean Astin as Pastor Hensley, Will Denton as Jason Lortell, Sean Cullen as Matthew Lortell, Christine Estabrook as Hensley’s attorney, Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
- Director
- Darnell Martin
- Writers
- David Wilcox & Stephanie Sengupta
Summary
The Investigation
“Angelgrove” starts with the stoning murder of art dealer Audrey Lortell, 42, on the terrace of her SoHo apartment; Rodgers counts more than 30 blows, most landed after death. An Albanian painter, Konstandin Vassinsky, had pulled his work, including a canvas called “Fatima’s Jihad,” from her gallery after threats he blames on Bronx bakery owner Anton Vasic, but FBI agents watching Vasic vouch for his whereabouts. The agents have also been recording Audrey’s calls after keyword monitoring flagged her painting titles, and the recordings expose her affair with Vassinsky. Her husband, Matthew, says he knew and forgave her.
Her son, Jason, has quietly dropped out of college in Oneonta. Detectives track him to a house full of drug users, where his shoes carry blood of his mother’s type. He quotes scripture, and a man named Hensley claims to be his counsel until he admits he is Jason’s pastor. Jason is arrested and tells the arraignment judge that Jesus is his lawyer. Dr. Olivet finds him competent, but a defense expert’s fMRI scans of a so-called “God spot” persuade Judge Ambrosius otherwise.
The Trial
Calls from a girl named Brenda lead Rubirosa to Angelgrove, a Christian camp near Oneonta. Brenda’s videos show Hensley shaming children into public confessions as they chant for war on Muslims and blasphemers, and they show Jason calmly coaching basketball the day before the killing, so the judge reverses herself. Jason tells Cutter he went to save his mother’s soul after Hensley taught him to heed his revelations, and that two boys from the camp, aged 12 and 10, rode along.
Cutter charges Hensley as an accomplice. Testifying for the prosecution, Jason says Hensley told him to set his own house in order before leading Christ’s army and sent the boys to witness it. Hensley testifies that the Bible endorses stoning adulterers, that a Muslim lover imperiled Audrey’s soul and that Jason is a saint. His lawyer invokes the First Amendment, while Cutter’s summation calls the camp a brainwashing operation. When a juror is caught consulting a Bible during deliberations, the judge replaces him but denies Cutter’s request for a mistrial.
Spoiler, the ending: The jury finds Hensley not guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The prosecutors take small comfort that Jason, who faces about 15 years behind bars, will not be leading Hensley’s followers anytime soon.
Why it stands out
- Sean Astin guest stars as Pastor Hensley, who testifies that Christians must answer jihadists with an equally extreme army of their own.
- Jason’s competency turns on brain scans of a so-called “God spot”; the judge first finds him unfit, then reverses after videos show him acting rationally.
- Audrey lands on a federal watch list after automated monitoring flags the titles of the paintings she represents.