The fifth series of the crime drama spin-off focusing
on an elite group of New York cops continues. In

this week’s episode, the investigation into a young
man’s death leads Detectives Goren and Eames
into a world of blackmail, lies and family secrets.
After a building’s residents complain about
strange-tasting tap water, a grisly discovery is
made in the water tower on the roof: the body of
Eric Newsome, a young man who was reported
missing a few days ago.
A camera discovered on Eric is found to have
pictures of sculptures, hard-to-reach walls,
ceilings and other parts of buildings on its memory
card: “the record of an urban explorer,” in Goren’s
words. When the detectives speak to Eric’s sister,
Nikki, she explains that she, Eric and their friends
were partial to breaking into buildings and
exploring, but never stole anything or hurt anyone.
However, it seems that Eric went on an expedition
that the others did not know about: there is a
photograph on his camera of a location that Nikki
does not recognise. “Whatever secret he was
keeping from his friends, looks like it came back
and bit him,” says Eames.
The detectives eventually work out that Eric had
secretly broken into a hospital storage room, from
which he stole the file for a patient called Victoria
Carson. They track Victoria down and find out that
she has a daughter, Lisa, with spina bifida – and a
son, Drew, who happens to be Nikki’s boyfriend.
Victoria explains that she is currently embroiled in
a $20 million ‘wrongful life’ lawsuit against her
obstetrician, Dr McKenna. She wants
compensation because the doctor did not tell her
to undergo the tests that would have revealed the
unborn Lisa’s condition, and was therefore denied
the chance to make an informed decision about
her pregnancy.
Victoria also tells the detectives that she had
found out she was pregnant with Lisa when she
went to the ER with stomach cramps. A search of
Eric’s apartment uncovers a safe containing a
letter from the ER doctor to Dr McKenna, advising
him to have the tests carried out. It appears that
when Eric stole the file for Victoria, he kept hold of
the letter for blackmail purposes – but it later
transpires that Eric did not know about the
lawsuit, so had no motive for keeping the letter.
Goren then notices that the letter has been
altered to look like it was addressed to Dr
McKenna but was actually a letter to Victoria,
warning her to get the tests. A visit to Victoria’s
mother-in-law sheds some light on why she did
not do so: Victoria had purposefully got pregnant
so that her wealthy fiancé would feel obliged to
marry her. When she found out that her child
might have spina bifida, she deliberately chose an
obstetrician whose religious beliefs would
prevent him from giving her the motivation to have
an abortion.
The detectives realise that Drew knows what
his mother did, and deduce that he is hiding this
information from his sister. They bring Drew in for
questioning, and are surprised when he admits
killing Eric, claiming that Eric wanted to blackmail
the family. He claims the letter to McKenna is real,
but Goren knows that Drew altered it to put the
blame on the doctor.
Drew refuses to implicate his mother – but
Goren reminds him that Victoria will callously
abandon Lisa, who she sees as a burden, the
moment Drew is out of the picture. Will Drew
continue to protect his sister from the truth? And
will the detectives discover the real reason for
Eric’s involvement in the complex case?