Notorious corporate raider Marshall McFadden is found shot to death at his desk. One of the first suspects is Simon Vilanis (Eli Wallach), who lost his job of 40 years, his pension, and even his home thanks to the victim. While his gun was used, the trail leads all the way to a banker who is a friend of Schiff's.
Tropes in this episode:
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Simon Vilanis has an arrest record for getting drunk and firing his pistol at the moon.
- Alliterative Name: Marshall McFadden.
- Artistic License – Law: Stone asks Joey Palmieri questions that lead and assume facts not in evidence, to which Corcoran's lawyers do not object. They do wake a up a bit and object when he asks a leading question of Eddie Palmieri.
- Armor-Piercing Response: After Schiff has Corcoran led out the back of the courthouse so he can avoid the press.Corcoran: Thank you, Adam. Thank you. I could use a friend.
Schiff: You always did, Dwight. That was always the problem. - Asshole Victim: Marshall McFadden a corrupt Wall Street corporate raider who would buy up struggling businesses, strip them of anything that was valuable, and then sell them off. On top of that, he would make reckless speculations with employee pension and health funds and have the resulting losses written off by a bank he was in cahoots with, leaving himself and his friends wealthy and the employees with nothing. It's not really explored, but he even appears to have used a charitable cancer organization set up in the name of his dead wife as a way of funneling illicit profits and bribing people. His coworkers also imply he was more respected than liked at the office.
- Big Bad Friend: Schiff's old law school classmate and longtime political and charity fundraising ally Dwight Corcoran is the one who ordered McFadden killed. Schiff takes the discovery of this corruption (and how he donated to the fake charity Corcoran used to pay for the hit) very poorly, although Corcoran doesn't seem to resent Adam's efforts to see him convicted.
- Bothering by the Book: Cerreta accuses Eddie Palmieri's lawyer of this. When the lawyer claims he's merely complying with the subpoena, Cerreta responds, "We asked for documents relating to the union's dealing with Marshall McFadden, not the history of the world parts one and two." Cragen also points out that the subpoena was very specific about what was requested, meaning it's clearly this trope in play.
- Cool Old Guy: Simon Vilanis. It's clear that age and terminal cancer haven't done a thing to impede his wit, his passion or his charm and he is still charismatic enough to lead other union members with just his words. Logan and Ceretta both clearly enjoy hanging out with him and hearing his stories, even when they think he's the murderer. And being played by Eli Wallach is just the cherry on top.
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Played with, since the Fall Guy isn't quite Deceased at the point that the Gambit happens, but the real killer ultimately admits that the fact that Simon Vilanis was dying of cancer and only had a few months left at most was a factor in the conspiracy's decision to frame him, since it'd ultimately amount to the same thing. Interestingly, despite having not been part of the conspiracy at all, said Fall Guy is surprisingly willing to go along with it, though mainly because he views it as an opportunity to have a day in court and reveal what the Asshole Victim did to him and his colleagues.
- Disability Alibi: Vilanis being nearly bedridden from chemotherapy during the time of death is what first makes the prosecutors suspicious.
- Double-Meaning Title: It could refer to the workers burned by McFadden's business practices, or to McFadden himself, who was murdered while working at his desk.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Corcoran claims his sinister corporate work is done to leave more than a good name for his children and grandchildren to inherit.
- Evil Old Folks: According to Schiff, Corcoran is 68 years old and a textbook Morally Bankrupt Banker.
- A Fool for a Client: After his arrest, Simon Vilanis intends to represent himself and have his day in court to reveal how he and his fellow employees suffered at McFadden's hands. No one is overly thrilled about this; his appointed defense attorney doesn't seem overjoyed at the prospect of babysitting him, Robinette notes that the time it'll take to get him up to speed on court procedures will bog the whole trial down, and the judge, having clearly had prior experience of pro se defendants, isn't looking forward to all the axe-grinding that will ensue.
- Foreshadowing:
- On discovering the gun, the detectives note that it's been carefully prepared to minimise evidence as much as possible in such a way that suggests that the victim was the target of a professional hit, not an amateur. Though they get a bit sidetracked by focussing on Simon Vilanis, this is actually what turned out to be the case. Furthermore, everything we learn about Vilanis very much suggests that regardless of what else he may be, he is very clearly not an experienced hitman nor someone with the cool head to prepare his gun in such a way.
- In the first scene after the credits, Detective Logan picks up a photo in the victim's office. The victim's assistant tells him that the other subject of the photo is Dwight Corcoran, a former ambassador to England. Guess who pops up again in the episode.
- The first hint that McFadden's business dealings might not be entirely on the up-and-up is when his former assistant, on discovering the police packing up his late boss's office and business papers, angrily demands to see a warrant allowing them to do so — only to get a bit flustered when Cerreta calmly retorts that they don't actually need one, since his boss is the victim and not a suspect.
- He Knows Too Much: Corcoran had McFadden killed so he couldn't agree to testify against him and the Palmieris if he were indicted for bank fraud.
- Hero of Another Story: U.S. Attorney Cousins, his staff (who seeks to have been a good team with and insists would never be guilty of corruption, it turns out one did tip off Corcoran, but out of misplaced hero worship and trust and not for personal benefit), and Department of Labor contact have spent a while building a fraud case against McFadden, and Cousins is doing pro bono work after being downsized even though he has the skills do make a good living at corporate law.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard:
- Corcoran paid for the hit on McFadden with money from the sketchy charity McFadden set up and had him run.
- Framing a dying man for murder may have seemed like a way to ensure the case would die once he did and he would look like a good suspect with nothing to loose. Fortunately, the framers never thought to consider how a dying man is more likely to have a Disability Alibi.
- Honest Corporate Executive: Downplayed with the original owners of the company Vilanis worked at. Workers got lung cancer that may or may not have been from the plant (although a lawyer Simon hired was doubtful about that) and the bosses got a golden parachute in the disastrous buyout, with at least one showing no regret for how the workers suffered. At the same time, Vilanis notes that they gave the employees a health plan and very generous rent lease for company-owned apartments, they never expected McFadden to close down the plant (even the Union supported his buyout), and even the one guy openly happy with everything McFadden did was no office drone and worked ten hours a day at the plant.Simon: The old owners, they got their ounce of flesh, definitely. But they also offered us a 99-year lease at 150 per month.
- Hypocritical Humor: Towards the end of The Teaser, the victim's second-in-command, flanked by grave-faced employees, remarks on how his death is a very dark and tragic moment for the company... mere seconds before the bell rings for the opening of market trading, prompting everyone present to start scurrying around to frantically answer calls, make trades, and basically act as if the murder never happened in the pursuit of wealth, while Ceretta and Logan can only watch with a mixture of cynicism and bemusement.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Simon Vilanis has one.
- It's All About Me: One of the executives McFadden bought out and then fired insists McFadden was Too Good for This Sinful Earth just because he got a golden parachute from the murdered banker and is openly dismissive of all the blue-collar workers who lost their jobs, health and pension plans, and houses.
- Loose Lips: The U.S. Attorney who tipped Corcoran off about the investigation seems like a well-meaning and honest guy who broke the rules because he believed Villain with Good Publicity and family friend Corcoran was innocent and deserved a chance to distance himself from the bank being investigated. The very, very guilty Corcoran instead used this warning to murder the main witness against him.
- The Man Behind the Man: Discussed; Adam Schiff was the campaign manager for Dwight Corcoran's successful gubernatorial campaign in their past. Apparently, they parted ways afterwards to Corcoran's detriment, since Corcoran somewhat ruefully notes that had Schiff been running his second campaign he might not have ended up a one-termer.
- Morally Bankrupt Banker: Corcoran was apparently an honest politician, but has become one of these since leaving office, ordering hits and exploiting workers with the takeovers he finances.
- Oh, Crap!: This is the look on Schiff's face when he hears that the Bank of the Five Boroughs is under investigation and realizes that it's the one his friend Corcoran works at.
- Prisoner's Dilemma: Schiff knows that he could get Corcoran to testify against his partners for leniency but says to remind them of that while offering them the deal first, as he feels Corcoran is more deserving of the hard time for betraying Schiff’s trust and/or being more deeply involved in the corruption and murder.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Based on the "Keating Five
" and the savings and loans crisis. - Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Corcoran implicitly got the U.S. Attorneys about to indict his partners fired by officials who used budget cuts to excuse the obstruction and also seems to hope that Schiff the D.A. will remember their friendship while investigating him (although he is a Graceful Loser when Schiff doesn’t).
- Self-Made Man: McFadden is described as the son of a Yorkshire coal miner who made it big on Wall Street... by being a corporate raider who would buy up struggling businesses, strip them of anything valuable, and dump them, leaving the people who used to work for them with nothing. Logan at one point expresses surprise that, given his own working class background, McFadden didn't have more sympathy for the ordinary working man.
- Spanner in the Works: The Frame-Up was working perfectly until Robinette recalls his experiences caring for his grandfather after chemo and doubts that Vilanis would have recovered from his own chemo treatment fast enough to be able to go across town, break into a strange office, and kill the victim.
- Stranger Behind the Mask: The hitman for the conspiracy is never seen or mentioned until barely a minute before his arrest.
- Sympathetic Murderer: Subverted. Simon Vilanis is set up as this; he's a likeable and charismatic old union man whose health was ruined by his decades of work in a factory which was subsequently taken over and stripped to the bone by the victim, leaving him with no home, no insurance, no savings and no prospect of anything but a painful death in a few months. The detectives clearly enjoy his company (Logan can be seen laughing in the background at one of his stories while Ceretta and Cragen converse about the case in the observation room) and, as working stiffs themselves, are clearly more sympathetic to his side of the argument than the corporate raider's. Robinette also clearly views him with a certain amount of protective fondness. So he's a perfectly decent man who murdered an Asshole Victim for entirely justifiable and sympathetic motives... except it turns out that he actually didn't do it, and was being set up by very unsympathetic people precisely because he's an old union firebrand who's dying of cancer.
- Title Drop: After seeing that the executives at the most recent company McFadden took over made out like bandits, Cerreta says, "Let's go see what happened to the working stiffs." Spoiler: they didn't do so well.
- The Topic of Cancer: Simon Vilanis is dying of lung cancer, which could have been caused by his cigarette habit, by breathing chemicals used at his workplace, or, as his lawyer told him, "just by breathing the air in Brooklyn."
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Corcoran and McFadden would have ended up in jail without anyone dead if not for one of U.S Attorney Cousins' assistants feeling Corcoran must be an innocent dupe after his decades of honest public service and was safe to tell about the investigation.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Dwight Corcoran, the mastermind of the conspiracy, is a former governor and secretary of state of New York and ambassador to the United Kingdom.Kevin Morehead: I grew up believing that Dwight Corcoran was a good man, and I wanted to let him know that he was being investigated so he could disassociate himself from the bank. I never thought...
- Workaholic: McFadden started work at 4 o'clock in the morning, so he could monitor the opening of the German stock exchange.
