Vacancy (16 Apr. 2006)

The murder of a bridesmaid after a wedding leads Goren and Eames to the men she and a fellow bridesmaid had drinks with, and the cab driver who brought the women to a cheap hotel.

Director:

Jean de Segonzac

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Rene Balcer (developer),

Stars:

Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Jamey Sheridan

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Detective Robert Goren
Kathryn Erbe	...	Detective Alexandra Eames
Jamey Sheridan	...	Captain James Deakins
Courtney B. Vance	...	A.D.A. Ron Carver
Desmond Harrington	...	Tim Rainey
Scott Decker	...	Pete
Jonathan Walker	...	Agent Fred Welken
Emily Bergl	...	Alice
Kristin Vogelsong	...	Megan Cole
Gustave Johnson	...	Judge Desmond Evans
Michael Marisi Ornstein	...	Philip (as Michael Ornstein)
Marla Schaffel	...	Ellen Rainey
Chris McKinney	...	Det. Carrera
Charity Henson	...	Stella
Zoe Perry	...	Wendy

Storyline

Goren and Eames investigate after a bridesmaid, Megan, is found dead in the cheap motel room she had been sharing with Alice, another bridesmaid at their friend Tory's wedding. The two detectives start with investigating Pete and Jayson, the two guys the women had met at Brasserie Nylorac, but soon realize that Alice's story has a lot of holes in it, and the presence of cigar smoke around Megan, a young woman who hated smoking, leads Goren and Eames to suspect that the killer had a personal connection to Megan. Their investigation soon leads them to a cab driver named Tim Rainey, whom they soon realize is an actor preparing for the ultimate role.

---

Plot Keywords:

bridesmaid | cigar smoke | vintage toy shop | confession | false confession | 

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 April 2006 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, NBC Universal Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Detective Robert Goren: [about Lester Summerhill's photo gallery] Half-naked women and animal carnage. It suggests violence against women without actually showing it.

---

Connections

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

User Reviews

Goren Gets To Play More Mind Games

This was another cerebral episode in which the mind is analyzed, and nobody likes to do that more than "Detective Robert Goren" (Vincent D'Onofrio) of "Criminal Intent." Here, Goren gets to analyze a troubled man (aren't they all on this show?) who is an actor and a big favorite of method acting.

Two single women are seen at the bar and one of them is hammered. They are with two guys they just met. The drunk girl is flirting and wants to stay while the other wants them to catch their flights out of town. They get a taxi to the airport but en route the driver informs them that the snowstorm has just down the airport. They wind up in a sleazy Brooklyn hotel and later in the night, the sober woman is killed.

What happened? It's messy crime scene with a bloody corpse in bed. The drunken female friend acts like an idiot and is annoying "Eames" (Kathryn Erbe), but strong suspects don't include her. They include one or either of those two "dates," a wacko or two at the hotel or even the cab driver

Emily Bergl as "Alice," is the big star among the guest actors in this episode. Emily is a blond Midwest girl who reminds me a lot of Naomi Watts.

You can see Goren has a good time trying to solve this case as it involves a lot of psychological material, trying to analyze the killer and why he did it.