Senseless (Law & Order: Criminal Intent)

"Senseless" is a seventh season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Plot summary

The episode starts with a flashback to 1995 of two young boys in a barber shop.

The next flash back takes place in 2001 where three teenagers – two boys and a girl – can be seen playing on a park swing set. It is also revealed that the barbershop from the first flashback is for sale.

The next scene takes place in present-day (2007). The two boys from the barber shop (and another friend) and the three teenagers from the park cross paths one night at the park. An altercation ensues which results in the young lady being shot point blank in the torso. Her twin brother and their friend are then shot execution style.

Major Case sends Detectives Logan and Falacci to try to make sense of what happened at the park. Through their investigation they discover that the three young people who were shot were college freshmen who were attending college on academic scholarships. The crime appears to be completely random.

The two boys die instantly, and the girl, Naomi, is barely hanging on. When the utter senselessness of the crime hits Logan, he vows to apprehend the killers and bring them to justice. After 48 hours on the case, the detectives still have nothing much to report, but they catch a break when Naomi wakes up in the hospital and is able to give a description of the three boys that were involved.

The police sketches bring the case back to the two boys from the barber shop – Hector and Paco. Paco, the younger brother who is an honor student, is the first one brought in for questioning. When the name Felix is brought up, a frightened Paco confesses to the three killings and is put in a holding cell.

Logan and Falacci know he is not the killer, but hope his situation will get a confession out of his older brother. Hector, also unnerved by the name Felix, requires some deal talking (for his younger brother) from Logan before deciding to write down what really happened — naming Felix as the shooter of Naomi but he and Paco, under threat of death by Felix, as the shooters of the boys. Felix is visiting from Mexico on a 90-day visa, was arrested for assault and scheduled for deportation. Released on his own recognizance, he disappeared into the city for the past three years.

The detectives take a picture of Felix to Naomi, only to learn that she has been rushed back to surgery, with little chance that she'll pull through.

Logan and Falacci catch up with Felix and end up chasing him through the woods. Falacci soon finds herself being used as a shield, with a knife to her throat. Falacci is able to free herself from her assailant, but injures her arm in the process. They bring Felix back to the Major Case Squad interrogation room, where he admits to shooting Naomi.

Naomi dies from her injuries.

Cast

Trivia

• This is the only episode of the series that does not focus on the criminals.
• This is the last episode to feature Falacci as Logan's partner. Det. Megan Wheeler, Logan's previous partner, eventually returns in the episode "Contract".
• This episode draws heavily from a real-life incident, just four months earlier (4 August 2007) in which three college students were killed in a Newark park by members of the MS-13 gang.^[1]

References

1. ↑ "TV show based on Newark shootings troubles victims' families". The Star-Ledger. Advance Publications. 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2016-05-22. 

External links

• IMDb entry
• Official Website
• TV Guide Episode Recap