Balance of Power (Season 23, Episode 7)
Premise: A self-made investor is beaten to death after $25 million disappears from his accounts, and new District Attorney Nicholas Baxter’s first case tests Price when the accused offers to trade evidence against a movie star.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 23, Episode 7
- Detectives
- Det. Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks), Det. Vincent Riley (Reid Scott), Det. Violet Yee (Connie Shi)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy), ADA Samantha Maroun (Odelya Halevi), DA Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn)
- Guest stars
- Bailey McCall as Jessica Reese, Zeljko Ivanek as defense attorney Charles Banks, Piper Rae Patterson as Melissa James, David L. Townsend as Derek Parker, Natalie Smith as Elizabeth Barlowe
- Ripped from the headlines
- Barlowe’s fortune, made by rallying small investors behind a stock that Wall Street funds had bet against, appears to draw on the January 2021 GameStop short squeeze, driven largely by users of Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets forum.
- Director
- Carlos Bernard
- Writers
- Art Alamo & Ted Malawer
Summary
The Investigation
“Balance of Power” opens with a young woman leading investor Jonah Barlowe out of a bar to a man who attacks him. The next morning Barlowe is found dead at home, struck with an Atlas statuette; his cash and Rolex are untouched, but his phone and laptop are gone. Nicholas Baxter, sworn in as district attorney half an hour earlier, drops by the scene and promises an open relationship with the police. Barlowe turned $20,000 into $75 million by urging online followers to buy Reels Rental, a struggling stock that big traders had shorted.
The man from the bar, Dominic Sargento, lost $280 million on that bet, but traffic video shows him asleep in his car. A blonde hair on Barlowe’s sleeve comes from a woman. His ex-wife, Elizabeth, says she left over the money, took nothing and had been invited back. Videos in his safe lead to Melissa James, a former BDSM partner whose alibi holds. Barlowe then turned to a “financial dominatrix” known online as MoneyMama, who controlled his accounts. The day before he died, $25 million went to a bank in Panama, and a Range Rover he bought her leads to Jessica Reese, who runs before she is caught.
The Trial
Baxter begins shaking up senior staff and tells Price he needs a team that shares his outlook and a win in his first case. Messages on Reese’s phone show Barlowe threatening to report the theft shortly before she came over, but a patrol officer guarding the phone answered a call before any warrant, unlocking it, and the judge suppresses everything it held. The Panama bank ignores a subpoena, leaving no proof of motive.
Riley testifies about the hair and phone data; defense attorney Charles Banks calls both inconclusive and points to James. The prosecution finds Derek Parker, who paid Reese $50,000 when she threatened to send screenshots of their messages to his friends, and he testifies. Banks then offers a trade: Reese has videos and texts in which actor Evan Connelly describes raping at least ten women. Baxter favors ten years for manslaughter, calling a serial rapist the bigger danger, and Maroun agrees with him. Price accepts only if the claims can be verified, but the judge refuses more time, Baxter does not call back in time, and Price lets the deal lapse.
Spoiler, the ending: Price argues that Reese killed Barlowe to keep control of him, and the jury convicts her of second-degree murder. Baxter congratulates Price and apologizes for being unreachable. Price says he takes every case seriously, and Baxter simply says he will see him tomorrow. The claims against Connelly are left unexplored.
Why it stands out
- Tony Goldwyn makes his first appearance as District Attorney Nicholas Baxter, McCoy’s successor, and joins the main cast from this episode.
- Baxter introduces himself at a crime scene minutes after being sworn in, saying he has not visited one in more than 30 years.