Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Directed by: Walter Grauman
Jessica tackles the mystery of a man who apparently migrated from Ireland to New York for the sole purpose of taking revenge on an old friend of hers, but is killed himself.
Tropes:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Despite
incorrectly blaming Sean Cullane for his life's woes, O'Connor's demise makes him somewhat sympathetic once it's learned what made him do it. - Birthday Episode: The episode opens with Jessica being surprised with a birthday cake while teaching in class.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The visitor's pass Michael O'Connor obtains to torment Sean Cullane at the University is an important clue.
- Jessica becomes fixated on a smudge on the dry wall at the site of Michael's apparent murder. It ultimately leads Jessica to the truth of the situation.
- The gun used for the apparent murder is also this.
- Frame-Up: Michael O'Connor stages his suicide in order for Sean to be blamed.
- Hide the Evidence: An integral part of the mystery is the missing gun from the crime scene.
- Hollywood Law: Lt. Parnell declares that Michael O'Connor's statement in his pre-death video is enough evidence to implicate Cullane. However, given the later discovery that he had a brain tumor which affected his mental and verbal faculties, O'Connor's Last Words will probably have been thrown out from evidence.
- Shout-Out: The title, and Michael O'Connor's hatred of Sean Cullane, are derived from Moby-Dick. When Jessica realizes the scope of O'Connor's contempt, she even quotes part of Captain Ahab's Dying Curse (which contain the episode title).
- The episode's plot loosely follows a Sherlock Holmes mystery, "The Problem of Thor Bridge".
- Suicide, Not Murder: The episode's mystery turns out to be this. The Victim of the Week committed suicide but set up his death to implicate another man with whom he had a life-long feud. Jessica discovered that the victim was diagnosed with a brain tumor and wanted to take his enemy down with him with his last act.
