Fico di Capo

Infobox Television episode
Title=Fico di Capo
Series=
Season=3
Episode=19 (#64 overall)
Airdate=May 9 2004
Production=E4518
Writer=Dick Wolf (creator)
René Balcer (developer and story)
Stephanie Sengupta (story and teleplay)
Director=Alex Zakrzewski
Guests=Mark Margolis
Leo Fitzpatrick
Fulvio Cecere
Prev=Ill-Bred
Next=D.A.W. "Fico di Capo" is a episode of the television series "."

Plot summary

When a witness under police protection is murdered, Goren and Eames first concentrate on the officers who were assigned to protect him. They soon uncover evidence suggesting that one of them was in the pay of the Damiano crime family, but further investigation reveals that he has been set up to look dirty. However, the district attorney who had been prosecuting the original case still wants to make an example of the officer and get a murder indictment against the Damianos. His wife, an undercover officer, is outed in a newspaper column and then brutally stabbed in her apartment. The nature of the wounds leads Goren to believe that the assailant's goal was not to kill her, but rather to start a war between the police and the D.A.'s office.

In the meantime, family boss Mario Damiano is in a hospice, dying of lung cancer, and receiving visits from a stranger who brings him his favorite black figs. His youngest son Mikey, the only other family member who is not dead or in prison, has shown his incompetence in looking after the family's estate and criminal operations. The stranger is Ricky Chops Cozza, who had staked out both the witness and the undercover officer. His uncle had helped him kill the witness, while his associate Louis Versini took part in the officer's stabbing.

Goren and Eames learn of Ricky's identity and contrive to run across him in order to see how he reacts to pressure. They visit his birth mother, who gave up her parental rights shortly after his birth. He had been born with a full set of teeth in his mouth (natal teeth); when she tried to breast-feed him, he bit her. (Chops is his middle name, as listed on his birth certificate.) Ricky was raised by his uncle, who is soon found in his own basement, stabbed to death in order to keep him quiet about the murder of the witness. Goren deduces that Ricky's behavior and use of intimidation to get what he wants are the result of his mother's abandonment of him. He is now trying to work his way into the family he looked up to as a child, even if he has to oust its leader in the process.

Amid the growing chaos, Ricky persuades Mario to approve his son's killing, saying that this is the only chance for the Damiano family to ever regain its greatness. Goren and Eames pay one last visit to the hospice, where they learn that Mario has known about these events all along and has set Ricky up to take control as his final act of vengeance: "As I leave this world, I unleash him on yours."

Ricky and Louis lure Mikey to Ricky's mother's house, but are interrupted by the arrival of the detectives and other officers. Goren reveals Ricky's plan to kill Mikey, notes a hidden gun discovered by Eames, and suggests that Mikey has made his own plan to kill Ricky--leaving Louis at the mercy of both of them. While frisking Louis for weapons, Goren "finds" bits of fig residue in a pocket (he had planted them there during an earlier pat-down) and Ricky snaps, thinking that Louis has gone to Mario behind his back. This enraged outburst scares Louis so badly that he asks for witness protection in exchange for testifying against Ricky, and all three are taken into custody.

Cast

Memorable quote

" [Talking about the killer's lack of emotion] "
Goren: He felt anger, he just knew better than to show it. Instead he went blank, like he was flipping through an emotional Rolodex, searching for the socially appropriate response. But anger – that is his only true emotional response.

Fact

*The episode title, "Fico di Capo", refers to (1) a variety of Sicilian medium-to-large black figs with dark-red pulp, and (2) the dying Mafia don and his particular addiction for this juicy fruit.

External links

* [http://former.imdb.com/title/tt0275140/episodes#season-3 IMDb entry]
* [http://www.nbc.com/Law_&_Order:_Criminal_Intent/episode_guide/index.html Official Website] ----