Anti-Thesis

Infobox Television episode
Title=Anti-Thesis
Series=
Season=2
Episode=3 (#25 overall)
Airdate=October 13 2002
Production=E3203
Writer=Dick Wolf (creator)
René Balcer (developer and story)
Eric Overmyer (story and teleplay)
Stephanie Sengupta (story editor)
Director=Adam Bernstein
Guests=Olivia d'Abo
Linda Emond
Peter Gerety
Daniel London
Reg E. Cathey
Philip Bosco
Craig Chester
Prev=Bright Boy
Next=

"Anti-Thesis" is a episode of the television series "." For the first time, character Nicole Wallace/Elizabeth Hitchens appears in the series.

Plot summary

In this episode, Detectives Goren and Eames investigate the murders of a university president and his assistant.

During the investigation, Goren and Eames focus their attention on a controversial African-American professor who wants a promotion for a department chairmanship. At first, the professor seems the most likely suspect because he had accused the victim of being a racist. But the team soon become suspicious of an underachieving grad student, who has had working for a long time on his grade thesis, which also benefits him if that professor gets the promotion. The short list of suspects include the student's girlfriend, a visiting professor with a shady element in her past.

As the campus investigation continues, Goren and Eames suspect that at least two of the possible culprits might be romantically entangled which results in a third murder. After that, they discover that the main culprit is a highly shrewd adversary who has more than these crimes to hide. This episode introduces ongoing character Nicole Wallace.

Cast

Facts

*Harvard University's undergraduate student newspaper, "The Harvard Crimson", suggested in October 2002 that the episode's premise was lifted from the nationally-publicized, real-life squabble between HU president Lawrence Summers and African-American Studies Professor Cornel West. [http://www.thecrimson.com/printerfriendly.aspx?ref=254638] In real life, West wears an afro haircut and goatee, teaches American Studies, and was criticized by HU president for releasing a rap music album. Like West, the fictional Professor Sanders of the history wears an afro haircut and goatee, teaches American Studies, and is criticized by fictional President Winthrop for releasing a rap album.
*Sanders is the name of the largest lecture hall on Harvard's campus, while Winthrop is a traditional Boston family name with long ties to the Harvard campus. In the episode, Winthrop quotes a line of dialogue almost identical to a sentence attributed to Summers. According to the professor, the sentence reflects the charges of racism against criticism of the spoken word.

External links

* [http://former.imdb.com/title/tt0275140/episodes#season-2 IMDb entry]
*Official|http://www.nbc.com/Law_&_Order:_Criminal_Intent/episode_guide/index.html