Mac Battles NYPD Corruption On 'The Mollen Commission'

See Also: 'The Fall' Episode Guide

Mac Taylor will find himself in a political minefield when an investigator into police corruption is shot - and the killer may come from the ranks of the NYPD itself.

According to CSI Files sources, "The Mollen Commission" opens in the famous Rainbow Room nightclub. Located on the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Center's NBC building - a name that's not ever mentioned on the show, presumably for competitive reasons - the Rainbow Room's main attraction is a stunning panoramic view of Manhattan provided by the glass walls on three sides of the room. At the moment, the nightclub plays host to a party by the Mollen Commission, an independent commission set up to investigate corruption inside the NYPD and the Internal Affairs Bureau. Tomorrow, they're scheduled to publish their official report - tonight, they're just here to enjoy themselves.

While a small news crew films members of the commission toasting each other, lead commissioner Dan Stanwyk heads to the art deco dance floor. His eyes lock with a Kentucky blonde, and soon they're dancing close together. Stanwyk's fellow commission members look on with amusement at his quick conquest - but then their amusement turns into horror, when with a boom one of the glass walls next to the dance floor shatters to pieces. Shots ring out, people scream and hit the ground, and bullets and shards of glass fly across the room. The commission members raise their guns, trying to make out where the shots are coming from - but they're too late, and before their eyes they see two bullets slice through lead commissioner Stanwyk and his dance partner.

By the time Mac and Stella arrive, the partygoers have recovered enough to provide a serious nuisance for the CSIs. The news crew has decided that since they're present anyway, this is a great opportunity to get exclusive footage of the investigation, and Det. Flack has to manhandle them a little to get them to leave. Meanwhile, the commission members gather around Mac. They're convinced this hit proves the accuracy of their findings, and want Mac to find the cop who shot Stanwyk. But Mac counters he has no proof yet the killer was a cop - he's first going to collect the evidence.

This proves to be a little harder than expected. All bullets ended up stuck in the floor or the wall, so there's little left of them but badly damaged fragments. And the murder weapon seems to have vanished into thin air. Flack is forced to pay a visit to the TV station that had sent out the news crew to the event, but after the way he ejected them from the Rainbow Room, they say the only way he's going to see footage from the event is if he tunes in for their exclusive newscast.

Finally, the CSIs get a lucky break: they manage two recover two reasonably intact bullets. But the ballistics report only adds to the confusion: it seems the bullets were fired from two distinct weapons, and came from outside. But how is that possible? There is no building nearby that's high enough to allow a shot into the Rainbow Room, even for the most eagle-eyed sniper. When the CSIs find shell casings on the rooftop of a building at the foot of the Rockefeller Center, they get their answer: the bullets were fired by a remote-controlled and highly armed mini-helicopter. Of the kind only used by the NYPD's own Tactical Assistance Response Unit...

While Mac and Stella are battling police corruption, Danny and Aiden take on the more ordinary case of a gypsy cab driver found dead in his car. He's heavily bruised and has blood under his fingernails, while his cash box is empty, leading the CSIs to suspect the man became the victim of robbery. But when they go to Queens to inform the cab driver's son, a 19-year old named Lenny, it seems Danny has a different theory: he immediately wants to know if Lenny's father had a girlfriend, or if he was abusive towards Lenny's mother. Lenny gets angry and nearly attacks Danny, but finally restrains himself and walks away. Aiden finds herself sympathising with the kid - what the hell is wrong with Danny that he's asking a grieving son if his father was a wife beater?

Please note that the above plot details have not been confirmed by CBS, Alliance Atlantis or Bruckheimer Films, and until such time you should treat this information as you would any other rumour. The above information comes from early script drafts and the details and the airing order of the episodes are liable to change before the episodes are shown.

"The Mollen Commission" was written by CSI: New York creator Anthony E. Zuiker and staff writer Zachary Reiter. It will likely air in April, 2005.

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