Body of Proof: Hard Knocks

Hello Body of Proof fans!

My name is Nettie and I am excited to be your new Body of Proof editor here at WormholeRiders. You can find me on Twitter at nettie_b where I will be live tweeting each episode at 10 eastern Tuesdays.

We begin “Hard Knocks” with a brief 911 call from our victim, then cut to Dr. Megan Hunt (Dana Delany) putting on lipstick and dithering over the shade. The cause? Derek Ames (Cliff Curtis), FBI. Their coffee date is thwarted by the victim who called in- Jake Brady.

Found at the scene of a “rave”, Samantha and a cynical Bud (John Carrol Lynch) notify a set of parents in heavy denial. Back at the morgue, Megan volunteers to get the “designer drugs” in Jake’s pocket identified, as they aren’t “in our system”. Whose system are they in, then?

We find ourselves in the office of Derek Ames. Megan was “just in the neighborhood, thought I’d drop by. Mistake?” Returning to the morgue, Megan examines Jake’s bruises and declares that when he called 911, he had been dead for at least three hours. Whoops.

Checking the clever pseudonym for Facebook, ArentISocial.com, the detectives discover a Jinx who holds the raves and pull her out of an airplane line for interrogation. Derek comes by with the tox results- an ADHD drug- and adorably recites Latin with Megan. But when Megan and Bud tell Mr. Brady this news, he denies Jake would have taken this drug. He was a hard worker, had tutors, was headed for the Honor Society just like him. Reluctantly, Mr. Brady IDs Jake’s friend Patrick as the voice on the 911 call.

Patrick fesses up to the call, but proclaims innocence to the sign- the “You are Dead” hung around Jake’s neck and hacked onto the school paper site. The drugs and alcohol couldn’t have killed Jake, but the position of the sign could. It’s back to the rave to find the evidence.

Meanwhile, Todd’s (Jeffrey Nordling) long dream of teaching has come true. He has been offered a position- in California. And he wants Lacey to “have a say” in the imminent decision.

As the detectives search for a match to the DNA found on the cable, Bud again waxes cynical. “In my day, rehabilitation meant the back of your daddy’s hand.” Suddenly, a hit- but to a sample placed in case a child was kidnapped. If only we knew an FBI agent who worked missing persons….

But Megan is not allowed to ask for favors, unless she and Derek are dating. Megan has not dated since the divorce, so here we see Dana Delany at her finest- seducing a man, and doing it well. BUT- Lacey interrupts!

Megan learns of the California plans and asserts that this is Lacey’s home, but she counters that since the divorce, she hasn’t had a home. Bud and Sam talk to the school paper editor, Maxine. She doesn’t know Jake, personally- her computer was hacked. The DNA shows that the perpetrator has Klinefelter syndrome- a boy with feminine syndrome, likely someone Jake picked on.  Megan picks out a likely candidate, David. Sam tells David the sign killed him, but David took the sign with him. Another dead end.

Reexamining the  body, Megan finds bruising in the lips but not the eyes- a peculiar sign. Todd comes to talk, and Megan’s fury is unleashed. He mentions that his career always came last when they were married, but that Megan has now come a long way with Lacey. Megan asks Todd not to leave, and asks when he is going to tell Kate (Jeri L. Ryan). When he decides- but then Kate walks in on them.

Talking to Peter about the possibility of losing Lacey, Megan says, “It’s like somebody just punches you right in the heart, and then…you die!” She has found the cause of death.

If someone- especially a teenager with an undeveloped chest plate- is punched while the heart is at rest, it is fatal. Dissecting the chest bruise, we find the imprint of an Honor Society ring. “There’s no anger like a father’s anger…”

Mr. Brady asks the detectives if they have kids. Bud answers “No, well, not for another seven months.” Sam is upset that Bud told her in front of a suspect, but believes he can be a good father. Kate urges Megan to call Derek, observing that she lights up in his presence. She also observes that before graduation, you wear the Honor Society with the letter facing you. After graduation you turn it around. The bruise doesn’t match. Looking through the Honor Society for athletes with the strength to punch Jake….

Maxine comes in to pick up her computer. She was Jake’s tutor, and they kissed. She went to the rave to save him, but Jake didn’t remember their connection. In her anger, she punched him, inadvertently killing him.

Back in Megan’s apartment, she is drinking wine with Derek. She tells him if Lacey stays, she has to focus all her attention on her. Todd bursts in looking for Lacey who again, interrupts. She rants at her father, putting his career decision on her shoulders, and her mother, leaving the first guy she’s dated since the divorce. They ask what she wants. What would make her happy?

This episode featured spectacular acting by Dana Delany and Mary Mouser in particular. Dana shined in the romantic scenes with Cliff Curtis, flirting with words and her body. Mary was dramatic and believable in her agony towards her parents leaning too much on her.

The case was only so-so- flitting from one suspect/cause of death to another. It seems inevitable that Lacey and Todd will decide to stay, but I am intrigued to see how that will be resolved.

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xoxo,

Nettie