John Lange, a nondescript salesman, suddenly becomes famous in all the wrong ways;
on a seemingly normal Friday morning, he is pushed into the path of a subway train and
is pinned between two cars. It is determined that he has no chance of survival; as a result,
Pembleton and Bayliss are called to the scene.
The emergency medical technician shows Pembleton the extent of the damage to Lange's
body; as he was being dragged along the ground by the train, his legs twisted around,
severing his spinal cord and heavily damaging some internal organs. Pembleton softly
says that he'd heard of this kind of thing happening in New York, but not in Baltimore;
the EMT surmises that this incident would put Baltimore "in the big leagues."
Bayliss calls for backup because of the many witnesses; he then interviews a man named
Larry Biedron, who says that he was the one who pushed Lange, but that it was completely an
accident. Emergency medical crews and firefighters work feverishly to try to get
Lange out; Pembleton realizes that it is all a ruse to give the victim hope for survival, seeing
as everyone has told him that Lange is a goner as soon as he is moved. Pembleton asks
Lange of any family members who can be brought to the scene immediately; Lange tells him
about his girlfriend, Sara Flanigan, who he knows is jogging around the Inner Harbor. She
is described as short with brown hair and a blue jogging suit. Lewis and Falsone show up to
help with the witnesses; Pembleton gives them the description of the girlfriend and tells
them to look for her.
Bayliss receives conflicting views about the incident from the witnesses; some say that
Biedron had pushed Lange by accident, some on purpose; some even say that Lange had pushed
Biedron. Meanwhile, Pembleton searches for a relationship between the two, but
it is clear that they don't know each other. A medic explains to Lange the procedure they're
using to try and save him; air bags will be used to get him out, a defibrillator will
be hooked up to him because his heart will stop when the train is moved, and a police
escort will take him to the hospital. Lange asks Pembleton about his own life; to
Lange, Frank is one of the lucky people: he has a good job, a loving wife, and two
kids. More than once, Frank seems fed up with Lange's defiant behavior, but nevertheless says with
the victim throughout.
Lewis and Falsone cover every inch of the Inner Harbor, but are unsuccessful at finding
Sara Flanigan; during their search, they wax reflective on many topics dealing with
death and degeneration. Bayliss puts Biedron's name through the computer and comes up
with a bundle. He catches Biedron in a lie about how long he has been in Baltimore; Biedron
says three years, the computer says six months. Bayliss finds that Biedron is a Chicago
native and that he had been involved in an incident very similar to the current one in
Chicago; the catch is that Biedron was declared mentally insane during the course of that
investigation and had stayed 18 months in a Windy City mental hospital called Diversey.
Lange's condition steadily gets worse, with flashes of pain occurring regularly;
Frank is determined to keep him awake until Sara is found. He tells Lange personal details
of the time he had his stroke, in an attempt to show that everyone is unlucky in his
or her life; he informs him about the utter humiliation on how a nurse had to watch him take
a dump every day to track his health. Lange wonders why God invented pain; Frank answers that
pain is the one thing everyone has in common. Suddenly, Lange takes a turn for the worse;
Frank, fully aware that he is about to die, prays that God will take Lange home. Lange loses
consciousness and air bags are used to release him, but it is no use; he is dead the moment
he is pulled from under the train, his last words being "I'm okay."
Frank gets up to leave the station, but stops by a squad car to have a good long stare
at Biedron. Frank and Tim then get into a car and speed away, passing a brown-haired
jogger wearing a blue suit. Sara Flanigan runs past all the fire trucks and paramedic
vans, wondering what happened in the subway today.
Notes: Baltimore-based rock group Love Riot appear in this episode singing "Killing Time," a song created exclusively for the show. |
Starring
Richard Belzer Det. John Munch
Andre Braugher Det. Frank Pembleton
Reed Diamond Det. Mike Kellerman
Michelle Forbes Chief ME Julianna Cox
Peter Gerety Det. Stuart Gharty
Clark Johnson Det. Meldrick Lewis
Yaphet Kotto Lt. Al Giardello
Kyle Secor Det. Tim Bayliss
Jon Seda Det. Paul Falsone
Callie Thorne Det. Laura Ballard
Guest Starring
Vincent D'Onofrio John Lange
Bruce MacVittie Larry Biedron
Wendee Pratt Paramedic
Kristin Rohde Sgt. Sally Rogers
With
Lisa Matthews Band Member
Tom Teti Transit Supervisor
O'Bryant Kenner Commuter
Laura MacDonald Jogger
Charles Wellington Young Conductor
Shari Elliker Woman
John Lumia EMT #1
Russell Andrews EMT #2
Music heard in Subway
Love Riot Killing Time
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