EPISODE OF THE WEEK: PHANTOM

[ragincajun]

How did Charlotte and Gerry meet? Was she telling the truth when she said they met at Harry Winstons? Did Gerry think she was wealthy in her own right and then later discovered the money was stolen?

I think Charlotte was telling the truth, I think Eames and Goren got her flustered and they met at < was it a cigarette holder convention or something like that> already forgot. He probably thought since she lived in a nice apartment and was an exectutive she had money and needed to bring in more money to help support his family. Probably when her brother got out of prison she had to tell him the truth.

Would Gerry have killed Charlotte on their way to "dessert" if Frank hadn't shown up? Well if Frank hadn't shown up and Gerry hadn't killed him, then Goren and Eames wouldn't have tied Charlotte to Frank, then Gerry wouldn't have had to kill her then. But eventually he would have had to kill her, I think he killed her now, because he knew it was a matter of time, before the cops would get to him through her. But in time she wanted more, or she would have wanted her money back.

How about that Carver turning on the charm with the woman at the UN? I love that scene.

He wanted info fast, and turned on the charm to get it.

How could the wife not know about Gerry not paying income tax? Her naivety bothered me on many levels.

For a woman not working and two kids in school, how could she not know anything. What the hell did she do all day long.

Every time I watch the ending, I think, "Hey Bobby, you left your jacket on the back of the chair!"

Never noticed that.

[DonnaJo]

How could the wife not know about Gerry not paying income tax? Her naivety bothered me on many levels.

Agreed ,Summerfield. Not to mention the part where they didn't have any credit cards, bank accounts.... "nothing but the footprints in the snow" per Goren. Maybe the wife had an account in her name only, but wouldn't you question why? I would.

This is mean, but Tessa is somewhat responsible for her husband's resulting criminal behavior. Sounds like the poor guy didn't want to disappoint her, either. What did Goren say to Gerry, "And then there's Tessa, who has all of her hopes pinned on you?"

[Patcat]

I can't speak to Tessa not knowing about her family's financial situation, except there are many wives and husbands who are content to let the other spouse deal with everything in the financial world. Since Gerry sold himself as an economist, perhaps Tessa, along with her parents and Gerry's parents, saw him as someone who could deal with financial matters far better than anyone else.

Gerry's deception, by the way, is based on the true case of a French or Belgian man who managed a similar coverup for nearly twenty years. I can't remember if anyone was actually murdered in the real world.

As for what Tessa did all day, she might have had a job that wasn't mentioned. Perhaps she did volunteer work at the school or with other organizations. And raising two kids can be a tough job.

Patcat

[ragincajun]

awww so Charlotte, woke from her Coma to become a sheriff, and work with another coma physic. lol jk, need for Law and Order new season to start.

[musicwench]

summerfield said:

More thoughts and questions regarding Phantom:
How could the wife not know about Gerry not paying income tax? Her naivety bothered me on many levels.

Having been a tax preparer for a couple of tax seasons now, I can honestly say, on that level she was very believable. I've met so many people where one spouse takes care of the finances and the other just shows up to sign paperwork. It's amazing. And it's not just stay-at-home mom types. One guy pretty much hands the paycheck to the wife and she takes care of all the bills and all the taxes, etc. The guy knows nothing.

Also, my mother let my father handle all the taxes and finances so when he died, I ended up picking up all the slack and she had no idea even how much money they had. Seriously. There really are people out there who are like that.

[DonnaJo]

Good examples musicwench.

Yet, you would agree that it's a little unusual to see a young couple with a wife so happily clueless about every aspect of their finances (especially in New Jersey, LOL) and not even curious to visit her husband's place of employment or meet a colleague or fellow employee of his in 16 years.

Well, it did work for the story.

[Summerfield]

Yeah, it worked for the story, but really... it wasn't very realistic. A ten year old knows income taxes are due sometime in April.

As far as Tessa spending her days...Well we know she spent two months helping the children cut, color and paste. Weather permitting, she spent hours untangling windchimes.

[Techguy]

I'm a bit late to the discussion so I really can't add anything new.

This episode is a classic from what I call CI's Golden Age when Goren was at his psychoanalytical best, the villains were original and reprehensible, and the stories grabbed my attention from beginning to end.

The gun...yes, I also believe it is a shotgun with two shells. I believe Gerry had every intention of not only killing his two children but walking away scott free. He's a coward but won't take the easy way out and do himself in. He intended to sacrifice his children and then start his life over again with another identity and another scam. He's a complete lowlife, one of CI's best most despicable villains ever.

His wife is a dolt and clueless, but since it worked for the story, I'll let this aspect of the plot slide. It's still an awesome episode.

[batescitybabe]

I DVR'd this episode and happened to watch it today. Having some of the comments here in mind, I noticed the part where Goren goes into the hotel room. He says, "The maid gave me a pass key."
I also believe that he would have killed those children if Goren hadn't stopped him. All Rankin could think of was himself. I think he truly believed that he was helping them by shooting them. And I laughed out loud at the scene with Carver flirting with the UN worker; especially at the look that Eames shoots Goren. A very good story.

[meggyd]

This was one of the first episodes I saw and I really liked it. I knew that it was an above normal cop show when I was really surprised when the vicious looking criminal got into the car with the weedy ordinary bloke, but it was the criminal who turned up dead in the garden. I used to love that confounding of our expectations.

I was totally with Goren and his disgust over the "two bullets". Somehow it would have made Jerry a better person if he'd been going to kill himself as well. The fact that he thought he could murder the two children and then just walk away just showed how completely depraved he was. And I keep thinking of the poor father in law murdered just because he wanted to do something completely normal with his own money.

I am used to Goren's encyclopedic knowledge, but how he knew what the Swahili word for "midwife" was is completely beyond me. It is a word you'd think only someone who spoke the whole Swahili language well would know. Surely they could have come up with another word that Goren recognised that wasn't quite so unusual, yet still be something Jerry wouldn't have been working with. Eames could have looked up the definition on Babelfish or something. Why would Goren know the Swahili word for midwife?

I liked Carver charming the UN official, and the looks Goren and Eames exchanged. Surely they couldn't be surprised, having charmed or scammed information out of people so many times themselves? I also liked the interaction with the other detective, which gave a picture of them being part of a larger crew. Most of the time they seem to work in complete isolation.

I also liked this because the murderer was an "everyman" in the suburbs. Evil is more than bank robbers and mob hits and a lot more subtle. The poor wife, she'll never trust her instincts about anything again.

A top episode.

[tabitha]

Aug 14, 2007 9:13:50 GMT -5 Patcat said:

Airs August 15 at 6 pm (EST) on the USA Cable Network

First aired March 17, 2002. Sixteenth episode of the first season.

Directed by Juan J. Campanella

Written by Marlane Gomard Meyer and Rene Balcer

Guest Actors: Michael Emerson (Gerry Rankin): Brooke Smith (Tessa Rankin): Cara Buono (Charlotte Fielding)

Synopsis: The discovery of the body of a recently released bank robber leads Goren and Eames to the man's sister, who may have built a new life using her brother's stolen money. An attack on the sister uncovers a man desperately trying to maintain life built on a pyramid of lies.

Quotes:

Goren: "One thing this line of work teaches us is that guys will
do anything for love."
Eames: "Or money."

Goren: "That's what I live for, Valdez, making your life easier."
Valdez: "So I assume you'll be by later to wash my car?"

One of my favorite episodes, and guessing from some comments, a lot of others. What makes a great LOCI episode, does this one fit that category, and if so, why?

If he hadn't become entangled with Charlotte and her brother, would Gerry have been caught eventually?

Gerry shows considerable ingenuity in maintaining his illusions. Could he have used his talents in a more productive way?

What will happen to Gerry's family?

Is Charlotte more victim or villain?

Does Charlotte's tragedy get lost in the resolution of this case?

There are moments in LOCI that take my breath away. The end of this story is one of those. Even though I know Goren will walk away from the confrontation with Gerry, I find myself holding my breath every time I see it. Some questions about that:

Did Gerry truly plan to kill the kids and then run away?

Did Goren do the right thing by entering the hotel room and confronting Gerry?

Why did Gerry leave the hotel room door unlocked?

What was Eames doing while Goren confronted Gerry?

How do you think Eames and Deakins reacted to Goren's actions?

Did Goren walk away unscathed from this?

Comments: Micheal Emerson, now of LOST, gives a wonderful performance as Gerry Rankin, creating an ambivalent character who almost wins the audience's sympathy until we learn what a monster he is.

This is the episode that confirmed my great admiration for Detective Robert Goren. His mind is quick and adaptable enough to realize what Gerry is about to do and to deal with it. In spite of having a pretty good idea of what he may face, Goren confronts Gerry, and, again using that mind, manages to save everyone--Gerry, the children, and himself.

As always, please feel free to make your own points. These are just suggestions to get us started.

Patcat

[tabitha]

I felt immense sympathy for Jerry Lincoln, picturing him sitting for eight hours inside of a greenhouse, terrified to disappoint his children. Anyone feeling that alone is pretty much, got my sympathy all the way through the part I differ with is anyone who felt so absolutely nothing would never want to disappoint their kids, but they would turn that gun on themselves. That’s what I would do except that I have identical, twin daughters, and I would never want to deprive them of having a parent.

Charlotte never got my vote of sympathy. I’m sorry, even though she obviously had some psychological damage making it so obvious that stature was so important to her. She ignored her brother she took his money. I was happy when she was gone.

Brooke Smith only read her lines. Maybe she was like me ADHD with autism brilliant and yet not a grasp of the obvious on every day things she still a fantastic actress.