November 22nd is the 21st case of the sixth season of the series and is the 132nd overall.
Description[]
The team reopens a 1963 murder case of a nomadic pool hustler who was shot the same day as President Kennedy, when the long-hidden murder weapon is found during the renovation of a pool hall where the victim played days before his death.
Synopsis[]
On November 1, 1963, a group of men play pool. A player tries to hustle a man named Patrick Lennox. Patrick turns out to be an excellent player and wins the game. He goes to the other player’s girlfriend, Sharon, and gives her a hug.
On November 22, Patrick is found shot to death. His death is overshadowed by the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
In the present, the team goes to the pool hall. The detectives learn that the pool hall that Patrick used to play at is being reopened. The bartender tells the detectives that he found a gun wrapped in a newspaper from November 22, 1963, the day President Kennedy was killed. Rush sees that there is a spent casing inside the gun. They discover that the caliber matches the bullet that killed Patrick. Valens finds that Patrick was found dead with a hotel key and train ticket stubs. They see that Patrick was supposed to play at the pool hall with another player named Baltimore Red. Miller tells the team that a man named Norwood coached players at the pool hall.
Vera and Stillman meet with Norwood and tell him that they know he once bailed Patrick out of jail. Norwood says that he was watching the news about President Kennedy at the pool hall when Patrick was killed. Norwood says that he coached Patrick in 1963. He told Patrick that he had to think ahead. Norwood remembers Patrick leave the hall when he saw a man named Monkey Mack enter the building. Norwood says that Patrick and Mack used to hustle together. Vera learns that Monkey Mack had a criminal record and is currently in jail.
Rush and Vera meet with Monkey Mack. He tells the detectives that there were people who were after Patrick. He remembers that Patrick wanted to play against Baltimore Red. He remembers a girl named Hillary entered the pool hall and announced that she was Patrick’s daughter. Mack says that Patrick was surprised that he got his ex-girlfriend pregnant.
Rush meets with Hillary. She says that she waited for Patrick to meet her at a motel when he died. Hillary says that everyone was sad that JFK was shot. She says that Patrick was supposed to have a match with Baltimore Red the next day. Hillary remembers that Patrick told her that as soon as he had his match, he was going to disappear. She remembers going into the motel room and meeting his hustling accomplice, Sharon. Hillary says that Sharon yanked the former's necklace and took off.
Rush visits her father, Paul Cooper. She talks to him about this case. He says that his mom died soon after JFK was shot. Cooper gets a call from his family and Rush realizes that his family doesn’t know about her.
Miller learns that the gun that was used to kill Patrick was stolen. Vera tells the team that Rush is looking for Sharon. Jeffries tells the team that Sharon was arrested in a raid at the pool house in 1963.
Sharon is brought to police headquarters. She says that she convinced men in pool halls to ante up money for games, then let Patrick play and win. She says that Patrick was the 'top dog' when it came to playing pool. Sharon says that Patrick went through a losing streak and a couple of men beat him up when he didn’t have enough money to pay for his losses. She says that the man that beat up Patrick was named Ben Scavo. Stillman learns that Scavo became a boxer and that Monkey Mack worked for him. They figure that Monkey set Patrick up to get beat up.
Valens and Rush bring in Monkey Mack to the station. He says that Patrick found out that he set him up. Mack remembers he saw Hillary ask Patrick advice on how to play. Hillary said that her mom told her that she made a mistake when she left him. Hillary said that she was named after a horse from a derby that Patrick and her mother went to. Mack says that Patrick’s game improved in the last weeks before he died.
Stillman meets with Norwood. He says that when he coached Patrick, he told him not to be distracted. Norwood remembers that Hillary entered the pool hall. He says that Patrick told her to beat it. Rush figures out that Patrick was not really Hillary’s father. She tells Miller and Jeffries that Patrick shipped off with the Coast Guard before Hillary’s mom was pregnant. Rush figures that Hillary hustled Patrick.
The detectives bring Hillary to the station and tell her that they know that she was born 11 months after Patrick went to the Coast Guard. Hillary says that she just wanted a father. She says that Patrick confronted her about not being her biological father. Hillary told Patrick that she wanted to stay with him and that she didn’t have anywhere else to go. She remembers that Patrick got a phone call and left the motel. Hillary says that her dad was picked up by a man with a Rolls Royce. She thinks that she drove her dad away.
Rush meets with her father and tells him that she doesn’t want to see him again. Cooper says that he can’t tell his family about her yet. Rush says that she is upset that he left her when she was a kid and Cooper tells Rush that he doesn’t want to bring up things that happened 30 years ago.
Jeffries learns that one of the only men that drove a Rolls Royce is a man named Al Soddenhein—he is Baltimore Red. The detectives visit Al at his house. Al says that he sent his man to pick up Patrick so they could play a game of pool. Al says that he and Patrick played pool all night at his house. Al says that Patrick beat him all night. He says that Patrick quit early. He says that Patrick said that he wanted to return to Hillary. He says that Patrick left his pool cue. Al says that the game was set up after he received a letter that said that there is a new 'top dog' in town. The police realize that Sharon sent the letter to Al.
They bring Sharon to the station. Valens tells Sharon that they know that she stole the gun that was used to kill Patrick. Sharon says that she met up with Patrick on the street. She learned that Patrick beat Al and he told her that he was done playing pool. Patrick told her that he wanted to be a father to Hillary. Sharon told Patrick that she put up the money for the match with Baltimore Red. Sharon says that she told Patrick to finish the game with Red, but he said that he didn’t want to play. She shot Patrick when he turned to walk away. As Sharon walks away, another woman gets out of her car crying, "I can't believe he's been shot!" Sharon flees, not knowing the woman was listening to her car radio and the news about President Kennedy's assassination.
Present day: Sharon is arrested. Rush brings Patrick’s pool cue to Hillary, who "sees" his spirit. The pool hall reopens after it receives its liquor license.
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
- Tracie Thoms as Kat Miller
Guest Cast[]
- Tess Harper as Sharon Lertola (2009)
- Madeline Carroll as Hillary Rhodes (1963)
- Kay Lenz as Hillary Rhodes (2009)
- Valerie Azlynn as Sharon Lertola (1963)
- Bill Bolender as Mike "Monkey" Mack (2009)
- John Bennett Perry as Al "Baltimore Red" Soddenheim (2009)
- Channon Roe as John "The Doctor" Norwood (1963)
- Muse Watson as John "The Doctor" Norwood (2009)
- P.J. Marino as Tom Puckett
- Lucas Caleb Rooney as The Duke
With[]
- Eion Bailey as Patrick "The Rifle" Lennox
And[]
Co-Starring[]
- Brian Elerding as Mike "Monkey" Mack (1963)
- Nick Hoffa as Opponent
- Billy Jayne as Al "Baltimore Red" Soddenheim (1963)
- Kevin Makely as Ben Scavo
- Michael McKiddy as Bartender
- Lora Witty as Woman
- Jeffrey Mowery as Lenny
Notes[]
- Madeline Carroll (Hillary Rhodes) previously played Gwen Deamer in "Gleen". Along with Alicia Ziegler and Ed Bernard, she's one of only three guest actors to appear on the show in two different roles.
- The episode was dedicated "In memory of our friend and colleague Duane Sirna (1962-2009)".
- This episode has many similarities with the fourth season episode "Static", especially with the victims.
- Both victims were killed by a woman whom they were involved with sentimentally using a gun that did not belong to the murderer.
- Both victims have an unexpected meeting with their daughters/daughter-figures which motivated them to start new lives with the girls, leading to their deaths.
- Both victims were known by a nickname.
- Both victims were having a problem with money, which was not the reason for their murders.
- At the end, the daughters "see" the ghosts of the victims.
- The killer's motivations are the same as in "Schadenfreude". They both prostituted themselves to help a friend (unbeknownst to the latter), only to kill that friend because they thought their sacrifice was not appreciated.
- One of the suspects ends up in an old age home with no one to visit him. The same thing happened to Curtis Collins from "Best Friends" and Archie Randall "Boy Crazy".
- The same shots of pool game are used repeatedly throughout the episode.
Music[]
- Booker T & The MG's "Green Onion"
- Oscar Peterson "Moten Swing"
- John Coltrane "Alabama"
- John Coltrane (saxophone) & Johnny Hartman "My One and Only Love"
