We open with a big fancy award ceremony honouring a Dr.
Tyler Forrester who seems surprisingly unhappy about the big speech being made
by a close friend of his about what an amazing guy he is.
And the cops – including Henry, Hanson and Jo - find Tyler’s body later, in a flat in Harlem (way below what he could afford since his father is a billionaire) seeming to have been bludgeoned by his own little award statue. Henry seems very interested in the man’s ring. Jo snarks Henry’s rather pretentious language (more snark is needed!) and notices that the lock has been tampered with from the inside – it’s not a break in (and Jo got to notice something rather than following Henry around and being wowed!)
For more mystery, when they get the body on the slab they
find he has Roman numerals tattooed on his chest and Jo’s research shows he was
pretty much a loner devoted entirely to his work. When they interview his
father (and, yes, Henry is in the interview, of course he is) they find that
Tyler had pushed him and his ex-wife away – and that while Tyler’s dad is
rolling in money, Tyler refused to accept any of it and any money he earned he
tended to give away.
Time for an Abraham cameo (who just accepted a client’s
story of their deceased father’s precious antiques despite recognising them as
knock offs) when Henry arrives to talk sadly about how Tyler’s dedication to
medicine caused him to neglect his family – which Abe runs with since he
remembers his own medical parents (Henry and Abigail) being similarly obsessed
and brings up a baseball game he missed when he was 10 because of it (I have
the feeling this is an oft repeated complaint).
At the funeral, everyone is wearing the same ring – class rings for an extremely exclusive school (and Jo, from a very poor neighbourhood, snarks heavily). They pick out one man, Paul, who Henry declares is on cocaine (because of Henry powers), we meet Cassandra, a lawyer who snarls at them and Carter who was the man making the nice speech about Tyler at the award ceremony. He confirms that Tyler was pretty much out of touch with everyone. Henry sees a date on a photograph (depicting Tyler and the other three) – 10th June 2005 and decides to ask Carter about it – he denies the date being special but looks awfully shifty while doing so. The date is the same date as Tyler’s tattoo – if viewed in a mirror. (Brief moment where it’s presented as ridiculous that Jo would have a mirror to help her apply make up – are we pretending she doesn’t wear make up? Really?)
Talking to Tyler’s mother, they learn that was the day
Tyler and his friends graduated, went away from the summer – only Tyler
returned early and a changed man. She describes him as sad and how he stopped
accepting money from them
Back in the lab, Lucas (in between trying to crack Henry’s
past) reveals the murder weapon was covered in diesel fuel used in boats and a
teeny tiny human hair on the body.
In the police station, Joanne Reece (I’m going to keep calling her Reece since she and Jo have the same first name) talks to Jo about killing someone last episode; she shares her own experiences about how killing someone, even if you have to, can affect you.
Back to investigation and questioning the three friends –
where there seems to be a lot of jealousy between the men about Cassandra.
Henry uses her Sherlockian-ness to conclude Cassandra was seeing Tyler (they
had matching necklaces) and also Carter (Carter had a wrapped present of Chanel
perfume in his office – perfume Cassandra wears. Apparently perfume only she
wears, not anyone else in the entire world). And Paul is also interested, Henry
guesses.
A tech shows them a video file she pulled off Tyler’s
phone – in it Tyler begins what sounds like a confession addressed to Mr and
Mrs Meecham before he’s stopped by Paul. They go to his flat – and find him
unconscious from an overdose. Henry geniuses a quick cure
Some convenient clues are left very conveniently for
Henry to find (and a brief flashback about Henry being shot once prompted by Jo
asking why he’s a medical examiner and not a physician).
Jo has some news on the Meechams, their 17 year old son disappeared around the time of the tattoo – and lived where Tyler and his three friends were spending their summer. And Paul was in the area just before Tyler’s funeral.
They head to the town (and Jo reveals her past with a
scholarship to an elite private school and the experience that left her duly
wary of the wealthy). Checking a series of clues leads them to a spade which
leads them to search for and find a grave – containing and old body, probably Robert
Meecham
The conclusion is they killed Robert Meecham and tried to
go back to move the body but, after 9 years, forgot where it was buried.
Super DNA tests conveniently not only confirm the body is Meecham (killed in a car accident) but even finds traces of DNA from Tyler’s three friends. And Cassandra’s hair was found on Tyler’s body. Henry wows everyone
The three are brought in and after questioning they admit
to hitting Meecham in a car (but not who was driving) but all deny killing
Tyler.
Some more clues later and Henry realises one of the
unknown “charities” that Tyler was donating to appeared to be the petrol
station they visited to catch the three on CCTV – and it also links to some
other evidence at the crime scene by Tyler’s body – including the fuel found on
the murder weapon. They go and find the owner and question him about what he
saw when Meecham was killed. He shoots at them – hitting Henry.
Jo chases the man down but as she holds him at gun point
she has a shaky flashback to the killing last episode. Henry decides to stagger
in because it’s going to take more than a bullet wound to deny him the chance
to monologue (about blackmail in case we missed it). Henry advances on the man
despite Jo’s warnings and when he turns to shoot Henry, Jo shoots him – but not
fatally.
Jo reports everything to Reece and she checks up on her
about the shooting – arranging to meet her later, taking her to the gun range
to help her get over her hesitation.
Jo also has hard words for Henry and his complete lack of
survival instinct.
Back at the shop Henry and Abe discuss secrets and Abe’s
deepest secret and regret –and we finally get an explanation for all the random
flashbacks this week – When Henry saw that man shot rather than stay and help
him, he fled so he could die where witnesses couldn’t see him; he chose to
preserve his secret over trying to save a life which, in turn, shook his faith
in being a doctor. He took it as a breach of his Hippocratic oath.
Jo pushed back a little (albeit only a little) against
Henry’s know-it-allness in this episode which I appreciated. She’s spent most
of the season so far following Henry around and being wowed by his genius. This
episode she brought a little info herself and they fenced back and forth with a
bit of fun wit I appreciated.
but there’s still a rather ridiculous amount of Henry genius-ness. Yes he’s the protagonist and it’s all built around his brilliance and, yes, like any crime drama that means him being inserted in places he doesn’t really belong (like the interview room. But I’ve watched Silent Witness I can tolerate pathologists being clumsily rammed into all kinds of weird and inappropriate situations) but we have dubious moments (like the Chanel perfume linking two characters despite the fact Chanel must be worn by any number of women) and also times when he takes charge with brilliance when he really shouldn’t – like him finding the body. Isn’t that one thing Jo – or any other character – could be better at than him?
