'Law & Order' Season 21 Episode 2 Recap: Nolan destroys an ego-maniac for misusing 'Me Too'
Season 21 of the original ‘Law & Order’ series started on an amazing and made us feel like it never went off air. However, the stakes get even higher for the NYPD detectives and the office of the DA as they tackle one of the most difficult cases of their professional careers. The second episode begins with a couple who trips over a dead body on their way to the park at night.
The woman gets really scared and screams. They call the police and the team arrives at the crime scene in no time. Bernard (Anthony Anderson) and Cosgrove (Jeffrey Donovan) take a look at the dead man who appeared to be wearing a suit and has two large wounds on his chest and stomach. They go through his coat and find a pen, which leads them to his business partner and fiancé, Nina Ellis. The detectives give her the news of the man’s death and she is devastated to hear what happened with her fiancé.
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While interrogating her, the detectives found that some of her statements were a bit off. The investigation leads them to a man who previously threatened Kyle a few times. The reason for all those threats was the cancer machines built by Kyle’s company. The company gave them false promises and the man blamed Kyle for ruining his life. As the detectives move forward with their investigation, they get to know that some people sitting at the top of the chain knew about the faulty machines and didn’t do anything.
They also visited the company’s former CEO Derek Seaver and they found it odd that he left when the company was going public. However, they soon get a top that a gun was found near Seaver’s home and he was called in for questioning. That’s the time, he revealed that the reason for leaving the company was the faulty machines and how Nina gave incorrect data so that the company could get approval from FDA.
Police issued a search warrant against Nina and searched her residence, where they found some blood stains on her coat. The evidence was shared with District Attorney’s office and as soon as they got to know about the case, they knew how hard it will be for them to convict Nina. The authorities didn’t allow Nina to leave the country and when she left the courtroom, she knew what to do. She used the media to make her look like the victim and the media used her for TRPs.
The DA office knew that the test results weren’t admissible in the court and they would have to show the jury who the woman is. The opening argument of Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price called her a “cold-blooded” killer who killed her fiancé for the sake of business. But Nina turned the entire case when she came out and told everyone that Kyle was abusive. She told the jurors that she had the fear of losing her life because of the daily abuse. The “fake” story managed to put her in the driving seat and some of the jurors sympathized with her.
Although the team decided to present Nina with a deal, they eventually went out to convict her. Nolan presented the data she forced for the FDA approval and told the court that the results were just 50% accurate. He also attacked her character and said that the abuse claims were false. Nina didn’t back down and said that Kyle injured her arm three months ago. Nolan was furious and wanted to the results of her injury. They found out that she broke her arm while playing polo and it was revealed that it was indeed Nina who killed her fiancé.
The jury found Nina guilty of murder.
'Law & Order' Season 21 returns to NBC with a new episode every Thursday at 8 pm EST.