NYPD Blue, Season 1, Episode 13, "Abandando Abandoned" Story by David Milch & Steven Bochco Teleplay by Ted Mann & Gardner Stern Directed by Gregory Hoblit PLOT ONE: OLD FRIENDS AND DEAD LOVERS There's a new detective assigned to the 15: Sharon LaSalle, an old friend of Kelly's (they went to the Academy together). John and Fancy welcome her aboard, and Sharon mentions to Fancy that she's going to have lunch with her husband, an ex-cop who once worked with Sipowicz. While Sharon and her husband are eating and discussing his new job as Head of Security for Columbia University, they spot a robbery in progress across the street. While Sharon calls for backup, her husband (who still packs heat in his new job) runs out to break it up and is gunned down while Sharon watches. She runs out to him while the gunmen (except one who was killed by the owner of the store they were robbing) escape. After telling Sharon the first few numbers of the getaway car license plate, he dies in her arms. The detectives at the 15 quickly scramble to try to catch the killers. Kelly and Sharon talk in an interrogation room about everything - she seems fairly rational, and they decide to go tell her children before they see it on the news. At Sharon's home, Kelly watches as she tells her two sons (6 & 8 years old) that their father is dead. While she takes a moment to compose herself, Kelly tells the boys about what it was like when *his* dad was shot on duty when Kelly was a kid. He tells them to feel proud of their father, both as a hero, and as a great dad. He also tells them to take care of their mother, then gets a call from Sipowicz saying that they have an address on the dead gunman. John, Andy, and the SWAT team raid the address and come across another suspect - he tries to flee, and Sipowicz wounds him with a few shots. Rather than letting the SWAT team take him to the hospital, the detectives bundle the bleeding perp into their car, pull into an alley, and threaten to "operate" right there if he doesn't give up the name of the other robbers. Needless to say, he gives them a name. John and Andy bring in the wheelman and take him to interrogation, while ADA Costas watches from outside. The suspect continually asks for his lawyer. They tell him that because he was the driver and couldn't have shot Sharon's husband, they can give him a deal, but won't do it if he gets a lawyer. He agrees, but when they ask Sylvia to cut the deal, she says that because he asked for a lawyer, she can't do anything (there's a statute that says once you request counsel, you can't rescind the request until you've at least talked to a lawyer), and that any evidence from such a confession would be tainted, enabling the shooter to walk. Sipowicz grudgingly goes to fetch an attorney from Legal Aid. Fortunately, Sylvia manages to convince the lawyer to agree to the deal, and the driver gives up the shooter. Sharon returns to the stationhouse and tells Kelly that she won't be able to get her husband's full pension benefits because he withdrew from the fund early. He has to leave to join Andy and the SWAT team in a raid on the shooter's house. The shooter's not there, but his mother is. Sipowicz tells her that her son had better surrender himself, because he's not safe on the street with all these cops looking for him. Norman Gardners, a local sleazy TV reporter, comes to see Fancy and tells him that the shooter contacted him and is willing to surrender himself, but only if Gardners is allowed to film it so that his safety is ensured. After some finagling, Fancy allows Gardners to bring his cameras into the stationhouse, but only the ground floor. Kelly and Sipowicz arrest the shooter on camera in the lobby, then rush him upstairs quickly while Gardners asks them loaded questions. Sipowicz comes back downstairs for a moment and threatens Gardners. Sharon shows up (Kelly called her to let her know they were about to make the arrest), and Fancy asks her if she's planning to "take out" the shooter. She says she can't even think about it with two kids to look after. However, she does pick up a family photo and storms into interrogation to shove it into the shooter's face. PLOT TWO: BETTER OFF UNWED At the beginning of the day, Kelly receives a visit from Mrs. Forbes, a middle-aged alcoholic housewife who's trapped in an abusive marriage. It seems she comes to see Kelly all the time to file charges against her husband, only to drop them a day or so later. John kicks her out when he discovers that she doesn't even want to file charges this time - she just wants him to threaten her husband. Mrs. Forbes comes to see Kelly again later in the day; her husband beat her even worse, and she wants him arrested this time, no matter what. Kelly sends some patrolman over to pick up Mr. Forbes. A few hours later, Mr. Forbes stops at John's desk, telling him that his wife dropped the charges again. He also has some videotapes with him that he claims shows that it was Mrs. Forbes assaulting *him*. Kelly refuses to listen and kicks him out. At the end of the shift, John talks to Sharon and is ready to take her home and look in on the kids when Mrs. Forbes shows up again. While Sharon sits and waits, Kelly listens to Mrs. Forbes tell him that after her husband beat her again, she (in a drunken stupor) stabbed him to death. Kelly leads her away as she begins screaming at an oblivious Sharon. PLOT THREE: THE EIGHT-YEAR ITCH Greg goes to see Donna at her apartment, where she's watching a Ranger game in her bathrobe. He tells her that he left his wife and children, partly because he wasn't happy with his wife, and partly because of his feelings towards Donna. Donna drops the robe, Medavoy stammers "Oh, boy," and they make love. The next day, while the other detectives are working on the LaSalle case, Medavoy receives a call from his wife Marie, who wants him back. He doesn't want to go back. Later, one of his daughters calls him and tries to get him to come home - he says he needs some time away. When he asks to talk to his other daughter, he's told that she "hates" him and won't speak to him. At the end of the day, Greg stops to talk to Donna. She already can tell that he's going back to his wife. He assures her that he didn't lie to her about leaving so that he could sleep with her. She understands but says that she can't see him romantically if he's with his wife -- she dated a married NY Ranger once, and it was a disaster. Medavoy understands, and he leaves. MISCELLANEOUS THREADS: Andy and Sylvia's argument about the LaSalle case causes only a minor bump in their relationship; at the end of the day, they make up and go to dinner.