|
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Baggage
Episode 2.11 - Jan. 11, 2003
Lee Tergesen plays Keith Ramsey, an airline baggage supervisor who
finds himself being questioned after his colleague,
Jenny Sullivan, is found beaten to death in
the trunk of her car.
Detectives Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe)
are the lead investigators in this edition of the "Law &
Order" franchise. (Both actors have ties to Lee in other works
-- most notably D'Onofrio in "Bark." Erbe was in
"Oz," as death row inmate Shirley Bellinger, but her story
line did not intersect with Lee's.)
Ramsey is friendly and cooperative with the detectives as they
search Jenny's locker and question her co-workers. They discover a
history of harassment, but Ramsey, her immediate supervisor, claims
he had no problem with her asserting her ideas and did not condone
the behavior of her co-workers.
Upon investigating files of complaints, however, the detectives
realize that even though Ramsey claimed to have reported the abuse,
he didn’t. The only complaints he filed were about Jenny’s
ideas.
This brings about the first twinge of doubt concerning Ramsey's
nice-guy persona.
The detectives find Ramsey in a high-class bar, sipping a martini
and eyeing high-maintenance women. It's all very
un-baggage-supervisor-like. They quiz him about the harassment
reports, but he explains it away.
The case becomes more complicated when the detectives realize
Ramsey is involved in a mail theft and identity fraud scheme --
providing motive for the murder.
Despite all the trouble that's brewing around him, Ramsey
continues his pursuit of high-end women. The detectives interrupt
his one final flirtation in a classy bar and bring him in for
questioning.
The detectives have searched his apartment and discovered his
stash of trinkets that he's taken from all the women who have
rejected him. Goren scatters the collection of gold lighters, silver
card cases and the like all over the table, and Ramsey calmly tries
to explain it away.
Under Goren’s characteristically intense interrogation, Ramsey
finally shakes his calm facade. He explodes in anger and admits he
killed Jenny because he couldn’t stand the fact that even though
she loved him, he thought she was too dumpy and low-class for him,
and he had to get rid of her because she was getting in the way of
his scheme.
Lee's No. 1 booster, Anne,
provided this commentary:
This
is by far my favorite guest-starring performance of Lee's. There
were moments when I hated Keith Ramsey and moments when I felt sorry
for him, but I was always fascinated by him. Lee's
performance
was so subtle, so flawless that I was sitting with my mouth hanging
open by the time the show ended.
He
played the part of the innocent-but-supportive co-worker
brilliantly. Even as his guilt was shown and the cops had him
cornered in the interrogation room, he continued the guileless act
so well. The play of emotions over his face as he slowly realized he
was caught was just masterful. The blow up at the end was perfect
because it was so unexpected of the character.
|
