Lover's Lane is the 23rd and final case of the first season of the series and is the 23rd overall.
Description[]
When DNA evidence reveals that a man was wrongly convicted for raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in 1986, the team re-opens her case in an attempt to find the real killer.
Synopsis[]
In the present, Sam Tarrance has been released from prison after DNA exonerates him from a wrongful rape-murder conviction of Eve Kendall. He tells the team that the boyfriend ID'd him because he was at the location the same time they were, picking cans from the trash for recycling money. The team reopens the 1986 murder of Eve, a 15-year-old girl who was raped and killed during a date with her boyfriend, 16-year-old Mark Adams, who was also assaulted but survived, at a popular Lover's Lane.
Everyone, including Mark, in the present thinks Rush looks "just like" Eve. The first person interviewed by Rush and Valens is Mark, who's never truly gotten over his first love. He tells them that Eve was popular and got a lot of attention from men, but it didn't bother him because he considered himself lucky to be her guy.
Vera and Jefferies visit a friend of Eve's, Wayne Larkin, who still lives in an apartment with his father, Jim. Wayne worked at the movie theater in the mall. When questioned, Wayne states that he last saw Eve at the bus stop; that Mark dropped her off at work sometimes, but Eve usually took the bus home. He tells the detectives that Mark was more serious about Eve than she was about him because she was still "looking" on the side.
Flashback shows Eve, Wayne, and Carrie at a store in the mall. Eve is trying on lipstick, Carrie is looking at clothes, and Wayne was hanging around, telling the girls he can get them in for free at the movies. An older man who noticed Eve is at the same store as them, and Eve approaches him. The guy's name is Max Tanner.
Through flashbacks, interviews, and interrogations, the team discovers that Max Tanner has a thing for young teenage girls, whom he tries to cajole with pickup schemes like being in a music video. However, Max states that Eve never went with him to the Atlantic City studio. The team also learns that Carrie was raped by Jim. Wayne would procure young teenage girls to his home, where his father would then rape them in his bedroom.
In 1986, Wayne notices Eve waiting at a bus stop and stops to talk to her. She wonders if she should tell Mark about the offer to make a video or hide her stupid actions. She then asks for a ride. Wayne tries to dissuade her by saying it's his dad's medication time soon, then offers to drive away with her to California.
In the present, Wayne remarks that after Carrie, his dad wanted a good one. Wayne could usually only get girls from the theater that he let in for free, who were 'homely'. Jim was excited when he saw Eve, but Eve called him names, ran out and threatened to call the police. Jim was furious according to Wayne, but he refuses to say more, stating his father would kill him.
Rush and the cops theorise that Wayne and Jim went out and attacked Eve and Mark at Lover's Lane. Mark shows up to talk to Lilly, feeling like he's made a mess of his marriage and her relationship when he showed up at her place the other night.
Lilly goes to meet with Kite to talk things over. They break up because Kite doesn't want to live a life with a partner that is saving people at 3am, even though he finds it admirable.
Meanwhile, Scotty, Vera and Jefferies go to talk with Jim. He protests that he has nothing to do with Eve's murder and calls Wayne a liar. He insists anything to do with the girls was voluntary and calls them cows. When the cops reveal they got his DNA sample, Jim throws a bottle and claims Mark and Eve should have both died.
In 1986, Jim and Wayne are sitting waiting in their Green Datsun, where Sam spots them as he goes through garbage cans. Jim orders his son to kill Mark and with much reluctance, Wayne hits Mark with a bottle. Jim captures Eve, who is screaming for Mark, and rapes her before stabbing her to death.
Both father and son are arrested in the present day as Carrie watches. Mark goes back to make peace with the falsely accused Sam and then returns to Lover's Lane. He "sees" Eve near the water's edge, giving him a wave, which he returns. The case box is filed away by Scotty and Lilly. Scotty then listens to Elisa while checking on her. He has decided to leave her and gives her a dispassionate goodbye kiss on the forehead. Elisa gets sad when he leaves. Lilly lies in bed at night with Olivia curled up by her side, otherwise alone.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
- Kathryn Morris as Lilly Rush
- Danny Pino as Scotty Valens
- John Finn as John Stillman
- Jeremy Ratchford as Nick Vera
- Thom Barry as Will Jeffries
Guest Cast[]
- Josh Hopkins as ADA Jason Kite
- Marisol Nichols as Elisa
- Robin Weigert as Anna Mayes
- Luke Eberl as Wayne Larkin (1986)
- Ronald Hunter as Jim Larkin
- Larry Joshua as Wayne Larkin (2004)
- Rob Moran as Max Tanner (2004)
- Benjamin Parrillo as Mark Adams (2004)
- Anson Scoville as Max Tanner (1986)
And[]
Co-Starring[]
- Carrie Armstrong as Carrie Plummer (2004)
- Michael Bierman as Mark Adams (1986)
- Blue Deckert as Sam Tarrance (2004)
- Amy Halloran as Carrie Plummer (1986)
- Patricia Sill as Wendy
- Timothy Slaske as Sam Tarrance (1986)
- Ronne Troup as Rita Kendall
Notes[]
- This episode was loosely based on the 2000 murder of Krystal Dawn Steadman by Thomas Soria, Sr. and Jr. There are also elements drawn from the earliest attacks of the Zodiac Killer.
- The episode was remade as the tenth episode of No Statute of Limitations.
Music[]
- The Hooters "And We Danced"
- Belinda Carlisle "Mad About You"
- Rick Springfield "Love Somebody"
- Michael Sembello "Maniac"
- Men Without Hats "Safety Dance"
- The Psychedelic Furs "Pretty in Pink"
- The Psychedelic Furs "Ghost in You"
- Closing Song: Stevie Nicks & Don Henley "Leather and Lace"
