Line #1 Recap/LawAndOrderS13E14StarCrossed


1	Directed by Creator/DavidPlatt
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3	Written by Creator/RichardSweren
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5	A car dealer, Hal Garber, is found beaten to death in a carjacking. The detectives are led to Tina Montoya, a wealthy fashion student who'd been at a bar the victim visited before his death; and her boyfriend Robbie Delgado. With evidence connecting Delgado to the car theft and several robberies, he's charged with murder. But Olivet finds that Delgado, who has a learning disability, doesn't have the mental capacity to plan a crime like this himself. It is more likely Tina manipulated him into stealing for her. When it emerges that she attended an important design showcase in the stolen car, she is charged with conspiracy to murder.
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7	Tina says she didn't know the car was stolen. She gives crocodile tears and tries to flirt with [=McCoy=]. He thinks her manipulation would sway a jury, and wants to cut a plea deal with her. However, Delgado now agrees to plead guilty to second degree murder if the charges against Tina are dropped. Southerlyn works out from the autopsy that Delgado's story of killing Garber doesn't add up - an accomplice (probably Tina) struck the fatal blow, and then Delgado hid the gun behind a restaurant Tina claimed her father owns. In fact, Mr. Montoya is just a cook there and not wealthy at all. He reveals Tina had visited him in the stolen car after the showcase, which contradicts what she told the police.
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9	This is enough to invalidate Delgado's plea bargain and reduce his sentence, but his lawyer Conners is not interested. He says Delgado's brains are so "scrambled" he wouldn't understand anyway. Remembering that Mr. Montoya used the same phrase to describe Delgado, Southerlyn realizes Tina charmed Conners into getting her out of the charges. Under questioning, Tina is so blatantly manipulative that Conners becomes disgusted with her and tells the truth. Delgado is assigned a new lawyer who will negotiate a more appropriate sentence for him, and Tina is due to be charged with murder. Southerlyn reflects that they'll have to be very careful when selecting the male jurors.
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11	!!!This episode contains examples of:
12	* AbusiveParents: Tina's father was very verbally abusive towards her.
13	* BerserkButton: Delgado does ''not'' like being called stupid.
14	* BlandNameProduct: The "Sorkin" (Hermes Birkin) bag.
15	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: Delgado and Tina, who have been together since middle school.
16	* ConsummateLiar: Tina
17	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Conners is a bastard of an incompetent defense attorney, but the moment Tina plays her hand too hard and shows just how much she'd been manipulating him, he turns the case over to [=McCoy=] in full and washes his hands of the mess.
18	* ExactWords: Conners using the exact same phrase as Tina's father tips off Southerlyn that Tina has been manipulating him to get her out of jail time.
19	* FreudianExcuse: Olivet theorizes Tina went into fashion design so she could earn her father's approval by looking pretty.
20	* KickTheDog: Conners doesn't really treat Delgado with much grace, even calling a man with a learning disability as having "scrambled brains", and would've gotten him convicted for full murder despite being his attorney. Not helped by Tina pushing him to do it.
21	* PunchClockVillain: Conners does the bare minimum to defend his clients. In fact, he hasn't been to a trial in years since he usually avoids it by asking for a plea deal. [=McCoy=] claims his nickname is "What Are You Offering?"
22	* RichBitch: Tina seems to be one. Subverted when it turns out she's been lying the whole time about being from a wealthy family.

Context Recap / LawAndOrderS13E14StarCrossed