Last night's (1-12) A&E rerun of Law and Order

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I don’t feel like repeating the entire plot, because I wouldn’t know where to start. It was from one of the first seasons, and a girl died in an abortion clinic bombing. If you saw it, please help me with these questions.

  1. What the hell happened?
  2. So Mary had nothing to do with the bombing?
  3. Why did the cops immediatly assume she was the bomber at first?
  4. Why did the two other women (Rose and the younger woman) let Mary “take credit” for the bombing if they wanted to be martyrs, as the phrase was overused in the episode?
  5. Did Mary’s brother know she was at the clinic to get an abortion?
2

Damn! The one time I have actually seen the program in question, and I fell asleep about 40 minutes into the show. Since I saw the beginning, I believe the answer to #3 is, the reason the cops thought she was the bomber is that she never checked in. Remember, she walked in and went directly into the rest room instead of checking in at the desk. I suppose they thought she wouldn’t check in if she had the bomb.

Sorry I can’t help with the rest.

3

  1. Not sure what you mean by this…

  2. Mary was the girl who was killed, right? As I understand it, no, she didn’t know about the bomb.

  3. Tons of forensic evidence? Parts of the bomb in her own purse? The fake ID she was carrying? Besides, while investigating who she was, they found out almost immediately that she was associated with that rabid anti-abortion group…

  4. I don’t think they wanted to be martyrs; I think that the woman in charge of the anti-abortion group wanted a martyr she could put on a poster and otherwise exploit to further her cause. So, she used her young, naive followers to that end.

  5. I believe he did; it sure seems that way when the brother and the boyfriend confront one another at the police station.

4

How did parts of the bomb get in her purse?

5

  1. An abortion clinic got bombed, one person was killed, two went to prison for it.

  2. I didn’t see it again last night, so am unclear here - she either didn’t have anything to do with it or was duped into carrying the bomb in there by Rose. I remember there was a scene described where Rose has tea with a young woman in a shop near the clinic - one leaves and makes a phone call warning about the bomb.

  3. She had signed in using a false name, was near where the bomb went off (I think), had anti abortion literature in her car, was considered ‘highly religious and conservative’ by her family.

  4. A ‘martyr’ (one who is willing to sacrifice their life for their beliefs) can be very useful in the media, and in fact they were using her that way. (as an aside, the ‘younger woman’ was a thin Camryn Manheim in the first of her - I think- three appearances on the show)

  5. I believe her brother **did ** know why - hence the fight with the boyfriend. He was willing to let her be seen as a martyr, as this was preferred by him to his parents learning that she was there to have an abortion.