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« Law & Order: CI
Episode Recap: "Self-Made"
Kira — an up-and-coming writer who was part of the elite literary circle of New York, but whose personal and home lives took place in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn — was juggling life in two worlds, and on the night of her short-story reading, they both came crashing down. Kira is found tortured and shot in her apartment — left to bleed to death.
Detectives Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Eames (Kathyrn Erbe) arrive on the scene and the clues start to fall into place. Goren first notices the artificial hair extensions and coil burns on Kira, and when he discovers a speaker box with green dust and crystallized resin, he suspects that the murder was drug related. Eames, on the other hand, noticed men's clothes in the room and a Scarface DVD and thinks a live-in boyfriend may have had something to do with it. The high-school sweetheart boyfriend, "D Tour," is in trouble with some drug dealers, and while he is hiding out at home with his mom, he is found badly beaten. Lucky for D Tour his alibi check outs.
In the elite literary world, we meet young best-selling author TJ Hawkins, who writes about the hard times he has endured in life so far. I loved the scene of Eames and Goren at the book signing. TJ seems to be easily enticed and he puts on a show of resistance for his fans at the signing when Goren took him in. But as Eames put it, "he is a poser without a motive." Or is he?
TJ’s alibi leads the detectives to his and Kira's mentor, Lionel Shill. He was an odd person from the start — you just knew something was off. He confirmed TJ’s alibi, as well as his own, and pointed the finger at the book agent Gareth Sage — who had a bad history with women. Gareth was just your typical sleazy agent; he had no reason to kill Kira. Yes, he was a womanizer and lied about driving Kira home, but we knew we could check him off the suspect list. He, however, pointed the finger back at Kira's mentor Lionel, telling Eames and Goren to take a look at his new unpublished book.
Further investigation brought out that truth was more fiction then non. Seems TJ never was in prison nor spent time in a juvenile detention center. He was a phony and Kira found that out when she was assigned, thanks to Lionel, to review his upcoming book. The fallen mentor, Lionel, seems to be pulling the strings as he is using his new on-the-rise writers to regenerate his dimming career. The big divulge is that Lionel had stolen the material and voice of Kira’s new book and was going to publish it as his own. He used TJ’s temper and insecurity with his writing ability to wind him up, gave him a gun and drugs, and told him to be the man he wrote about. TJ murdered Kira because she was going to expose him, and Lionel for that matter, as a fraud.
Great Goren moments this week:
• Playing with Lionel's sculptures in his office
• Later roughing up Lionel, demanding for him to confess to being a fraud. Which was kind of creepy, yes?
• Picking a fight with TJ at the boxing ring. "Sorry about all these flies." And I also loved Eames' "Oh, Bobby."
No new episode next week due to the holiday, but USA network is airing a Law & Order: SVU and CI marathon. So enjoy your turkey dinner with a side of CI. In two weeks we join Falacci and Logan on the football field.
Let me know what you thought of this week’s episode. For more Law & Order: CI, check out our Online Video Guide.
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Nov 16, 2007 12:17 AM
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I was a bit bored and pretty much disappointed with last nights episode. Lately I have found the Eames/Goren episodes to be a bit stale. I much prefer going with Logan and his young partner - the episodes just seem fresher and more interesting.
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Nov 16, 2007 11:48 AM
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I liked this episode. Eames' "Oh, Bobby" was priceless.
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Nov 16, 2007 2:48 PM
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Loved "Self-Made"! Looks like Bobby Goren is getting a little more impatient and aggressive with each eppy this season. It's obviously building up to something. Eames expressed concern, verbally and facially, several times during the episode. I'm really enjoying ALL the CI episodes this year!
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Nov 16, 2007 4:42 PM
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While this week's plot was both confusing and a bit boring, I'm really enjoying the show since it moved to USA. It seems a little freer, and definitely more promoted by USA than it ever was by NBC. I like seeing "loose cannon" Bobby Goren. Yes, he needs to reel it in and be more professional and treat suspects with a little less hostility when he takes their actions personally, but he had a rough year, so I'll cut him some slack. It's just so much fun watching Vincent D'Onofrio cut loose.
Eames' "Oh, Bobby!" was awesome.
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Nov 16, 2007 8:43 PM
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This is by far one of my favorite shows. Something I would like to see happen soon is for Bobby Goren to get laid!! not fall in love, that would take focus away from his cases, but a good ole fashioned 'shoopin' would do him some good.
Logan seems to be the resident hound dog, and there have been episodes where he has, even if briefly, had a bit of a romance and I know one of the 'rules' for L&O, L&O SVU, and L&O CI is to not get to involved in their personal lives and make it too much like a soap, but the poor guy has been solving cases for how long? the writers finally gave us a glimpse at his personal life, what he went thru with his mom, the situation with his brother, so dont you think it's time the poor guy 'get some'?
it might keep him from throwing as many 'nutties', although those are always entertaining to watch.
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Nov 18, 2007 2:37 PM
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Something I would like to see happen soon is for Bobby Goren to get laid!!
justkat1, it seems like the only women who like Bobby are the criminals. Nicole Wallace, the nurse who killed the radio shock-jock, maybe the FDA woman who killed her co-worker with cat hair. Bobby needs to find a smart, non-homicidal woman for some shagging! 
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Nov 25, 2007 4:21 PM
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