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Diagnosis Murder Season 8 Episodes
Season 8 Episode Guide
22 Episodes 2000 - 2001
Episode 1
Death by Design
Thu, Oct 12, 200045 mins
Kendra Masterson commits a series of elaborately planned crimes, using her lover Jake Myers as muscle. She later kills Myers, whose corpse she ships to Egypt in a sarcophagus crate. She then frames another lover, millionaire Roger Andrews, for the murder of his wife, Lana. Before Andrews's arrest, Masterson scams half a million dollars out of him to care for her nonexistent "insane brother". The Sloanes must figure out all of this as well as investigating a staged fatal car accident which Masterson orchestrated in order to switch identities with a psychiatric patient named Beverly Scott.
Episode 2
Blind Man's Bluff
Thu, Oct 19, 200045 mins
When Dave Caine tells Laura he wants a divorce after her job paid for seven years of his medical training, she causes a car crash after which she gets declared blind, possibly forever. He agrees to stay to care for her, at least till the final diagnosis. David's thus cut-off lover Julie Warren is desperate to get him to marry her. Shortly after Laura gets a very efficient new aid, Mark finds David shot dead in the bathroom. Julie declares her gun was stolen without her realizing it and Steve books her as the only suspect. However Jesse, her friend, convinces Mark to prove Laura could have killed him, which leaves one problem: how to prove she did it, even after she 'miraculously' regains her sight just before a test she couldn't fake.
Episode 3
Sleight-of-Hand
Thu, Oct 26, 200045 mins
Mark is having a hard time preparing for a magic show for the child patients. He first misplaces the key to the chest he locked Steve in, then he learns janitor Jim Briggs, an amateur magician himself, was killed surfing; his estranged married twin brother Jeff turns up just then. Mark soon suspects from various details it might just be that Jim killed his brother to take his place, which sister-in-law Dina laughs away and suggests to Steve to take fingerprints, and then tells Jim she knew since the first day and was glad to be rid of Jeff. According to Jeff's will it would spare her from losing two thirds of the estate to his sons from his first marriage. The Sloanes push on, helped by Jeff's secretary and mistress Teri Deegan.
Episode 4
By Reason of Insanity
Thu, Nov 2, 200045 mins
A bum is brought into Community General. Mark recognizes him as his former student George Lawson, once a brilliant medical mind, now a mental mess, who raves on about what sounds like Father Seton, but his whole speech is riddled in some gibberish. Lawson is found again on the beach near the site of the murder on Richard Fielding and is arrested, but even his degree of schizophrenic paranoia and dysfunctional state do not constitute legal insanity. Jesse has a go at Lawson's slang-type associations. Ethan Foster, the widow Cynthia Fielding's lover, is told by his wife Sophie that she knows he is Richard's murderer, but she will spare their teenage son Elliot the shame of his father's trial if he signs over all his wealth and full custody in a divorce. When a prisoner starts choking while in George's cell, George correctly diagnoses the problem and instructs Steve on how to save him. Jesse figures out what George's gibberish really means, and his computer finds who fits Father Seton, starting a new chain of events...
Episode 5
The Patient Detective
Thu, Nov 9, 200045 mins
Steve is rushed to hospital; Jesse saves him, but while still partly under anesthesia he believes he sees a murder by a doctor with a knife, or rather injecting him with a lethal syringe. One patient deceased around that time, Edgar Wellers, had quarreled with his wife Ashley, who inherits his fortune and is a retired nurse with a hospital pass and has him cremated too soon for a thorough second autopsy. Jesse has invested 'a truckload' in the pharmaceutical company which develops the promising cancer drug Lexomite, on the advice of a company saleswoman he dates, but didn't realize till Mark talks to him he may be suspected of insider trading, especially as his friend Dr. Heart informs him on the trials preceding the vital FDA approval. When the company's stock takes a dive, as the trials have run out of statistically sufficient numbers of living patients, the Sloanes suspect the killer could be connected to the program- this track has more surprises in store...
Episode 6
The Cradle Will Rock
Thu, Nov 16, 200045 mins
Derek Bradshaw, husband of Community General's ER nurse (Stacy), is fatally shot while hunting, but it was no accident. Ray Santucci, a problem teenager doing community service at the hospital, is then arrested. Mark and Steve believe Ray and Stacy are lying about not knowing each other, and soon figure out they are lovers. Ray is too protective to divulge her story about being physical abuse, inciting him to commit the murder. How can they get the truth out before the diabolically misled kid is jailed for life while the murderous wife goes free? Jesse discovers she actually has an adult lover in the hospital too.
Episode 7
Hot House
Thu, Nov 30, 200045 mins
A "Survivor"-type reality show on which one of Dr. Sloan's med students (Alex Smith) hopes to win $35,000 to pay for student loans. When an obnoxious contestant named Larry dies of an overdose of antidepressant, it is assumed to be a accident or suicide. Steve doesn't accept that, and Dr. Sloan becomes a replacement contestant. Hidden diamonds found in the heel of Larry's shoe and a draft of air observed on a tape of that night provide Dr. Sloan with an insight. He carries out a reenactment, leaving freckles on the murderer's face, demonstrating how an unobserved/untaped murder had been engineered.
Episode 8
All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Die
Thu, Dec 7, 200045 mins
Where else would two fashion designers hold their wedding but on their catwalk? The groom (Stanley Bomgarden), partner at Mirage Fashions with his bride Tammy, crushes what turns out to be a bomb in a silk bag at the end of their Jewish wedding. Model Nadja Rose is brought to the same hospital, from an overdose of Ecstasy which Stanley had provided, but is saved by Jesse; her father is the reputed Russian druglord "Mike the Mechanic" Rodzinski. Stanley dies, and Steve sees Mike with an explosives expert who is then blown up on his own boat. After two confessions, Dr. Sloan uses his knowledge of psychology to discover the real killer, but must prove it!
Episode 9
Confession
Thu, Jan 4, 200145 mins
Father Dominic, the only priest on duty one night at the monastery where Amanda is on retreat, is first approached by a woman and then by Leonard Wilson, the grounds-keeper, who insists on having his confession heard immediately--a murder that night! Steve finds Father Dominic bending over the corpse of Matthew Scarborough, but he cannot reveal what he heard under the seal of confession. Monsignor D'Amico, a longtime friend of the Sloans, asks Dr. Mark to find the real killer. He goes to the monastery as a handyman and learns Father Dominic was a childhood friend of the victim, until they both dated Matthew's widow, and that Leonard is one of Father Dominic's protégés: ex-cons he gave a first job after release. Though convinced Leonard must be the killer, how can the Sloans prove it?
Episode 10
Playing God
Thu, Jan 11, 200145 mins
No whodunit here. We see Hunter Kaskov, a genius med student, playing a dangerous game with friends: "flat-lining," testing how long one can be clinically dead before revival becomes impossible. To his girlfriend Jenny Slater's horror, he decides to 'seize their only chance to see how taking a life feels' by not reviving workaholic colleague Max Ketterson, slipping the blood-drained corpse into the pathology lab. That's not enough for Hunter; he plants false clues for the police, just for the kick of nearly getting caught--or will he be fatally outwitted by Mark?
Episode 11
Less Than Zero
Thu, Jan 18, 200145 mins
When anorexic actress Thalia Roselawn (who wears a size "less than zero") faints on the TV set of "Med Squad," Amanda admits her, but Dr. Sloan is unable to save her life. Her nutritionist Hank Sheldrake's diet is blamed at first, but a Chinese herb in her teabag is found to be the cause. Steve begins to date a 'pleasingly plump' food reviewer who has recently come to accept her body type. Dr. Sheldrake is arrested, but Jesse is convinced it could be Sheldrake's wife or Thalia's younger sister. The Sloans' investigation must catch the correct culprit.
Episode 12
Sins of the Father: Part 1
Fri, Feb 2, 200145 mins
When a sniper kills a patient during her consultation with Mark Sloane, isn't he a more likely target? Her sister Carrie identifies her as Julie Langford Adams, whose grandfather Joseph Langford was the last case for Mark's dad Det. Jimmy Sloan, who walked out on his family when Mark was 10, and was never heard from again. Julie was convinced that Joseph was wrongly executed for the murder of his wife. Richard Aikins, the sniper rushed to the ER, is diagnosed by Jesse with terminal meningitis and recognized by a nurse as the "doctor" who burst through the lab heading to the roof to shoot Julie, knocking over a virus-laden bottle. Photos in his room indicate Julie was the target; the FBI ID's him as a top-notch assassin. Mark digs up his dad's LAPD notes and begins to relive the case. Steve uses the GPS memory of Aikins' rental car to meet the one paying for the hit, but is foiled when the driver throws money out and crowds block the police. The car is traced to Premium Security, founded by Jimmy Sloan's former LAPD partner Danny McNamara, who produced a witness negating Joseph's alibi (helping a woman with her car). Mark interviews Ted Barkley who owns the paper Julie's grandmother Catherine worked for; Carrie gets an anonymous death threat unless Mark stops investigating. Next day Barkley asks long-time acquaintance Mark to oversee the Barkley charity foundation, starting in Paris immediately. Danny McNamara, who is still alive, tells Mark about some tragic error he's supposed to finally be putting right. Steve is beaten up badly enough to come to Jesse's operation table...
Episode 13
Sins of the Father: Part 2
Fri, Feb 9, 200145 mins
Surviving sister Carrie Langford Adams nurses beaten-up Steve at Mark's place. Mark believes Joseph was framed, that his alibi Sally Perry was bribed and then killed. Carrie learns Julie had an appointment at a tennis club although she couldn't play; Mark follows up, sees hospital board member Ted Barkley and son Elliot who are club members. A valet remembers she wasn't admitted but had a scuffle with Elliott; he claims she was unrecognizably disguised and is unknown to him. Steve's LAPD partner Detective Cheryl Brooks arrests a Premium Security (PS) "cop" after finding his shield where Steve was beaten up; Carl Agajanian confessed to be paid for the beating. Johnny McNamara suddenly agrees to sell PS to Ted Barkley, but is arrested in Julie's murder; Mark tells him to believe his Alzheimer-stricken father Danny McNamara, who (believing Mark to be his father) practically confessed to Mark about the murder of Sally Perry. The Sloanes believe Julie was murdered because she was about to prove her DNA made her a Barkley heir to millions. Danny dies and Mark's father's body is found in the tomb; Johnny apologizes to Mark and agrees to wear a wire to catch the real killer.
Episode 14
You Bet Your Life
Fri, Feb 16, 200145 mins
Compulsive gambler, Dr. Simon Hodiak the cardiologist, is addicted to gambling and out of friends to borrow from. When his loan-shark bookie Bennie Borashevesky threatens major violence, he sells his sports car, gets Alex to invite him to big stakes poker, wins $70,000, but loses it in a bar. Unable to pay up, Hodiak stabs his bookie to death. Steve investigates the poker players. Hodiak is found dead shortly afterward, apparently shooting himself; Mark doesn't buy that; Alex gets barred from the game and counseled by Dr. Sloan. Mark uses police seed money to buy into the poker game; he connects one of the players to a motive for murder and helps Steve get a confession.
Episode 15
Bachelor Fathers
Fri, Feb 23, 200145 mins
Grace Boyd is approached by two sinister men who threaten her and her baby Casey unless she helps them get money back from her sister Maureen. She pushes Casey into Jesse's arms, claiming it's his child; she needs him to take care of it for a while. He's sure it isn't his, but still takes care of it at the Sloanes' place. Maureen confesses she stole $106,000 from drug-dealers and sends Grace to deliver it. They aren't pleased as she actually stole $460,000; they come for it, accidentally killing Maureen. Grace and her baby are threatened again to get the money. Steve finds one of the thugs killed. Jesse's paternal instinct kicks in for Casey, and they hide him in the hospital; Grace stays with Jesse. Threatened by the other goon, Grace plans to sacrifice her $500,000 inheritance; Jesse follows her and calls Steve to stop the exchange which would probably result in her being eliminated as a witness; she angrily denies his paternity. The baby is stolen from under the police and staff's noses in hospital. A new exchange is arranged and the goon is arrested, but things are not what they seem. One last piece of the puzzle is missing.
Episode 16
Being of Sound Mind
Fri, Mar 2, 200145 mins
Mr. Oscar Hemmings, an elderly eccentric misanthrope, dies in Community General, leaving his sizable fortune to six people, including Jesse and Amanda. His will took the form of a 'tontine' legacy; the last survivor will be the only recipient, obviously a recipe for murder, which pleased Hemmings. After a parade of loony secretary applicants, Mark hires college-graduate Ingrid Thurston at Steve's enthusiastic insistence. An explosion in the bio-lab kills med student Jerry Royce, a tontine member; Jesse's dinner date dies from a Bordeaux, found to be injected with an anti-depressant, poisonous in red wine. After Dr. Phillip Zachary is killed by a weight in the gym and Mr. Leonard Drexel (whose wife Mary needed an expensive eye operation) dies, Mark deduces there must be an unknown seventh person with an unknown motive. Hemmings' tontine would be invalid if the survivor were charged with murder, so Mark looks for a distant relative--who happens to be close at hand. As Mark interviews her, Jesse has a serious car accident, fortunately faked to catch a killer. But that's not who she targets.
Episode 17
Dance of Danger
Fri, Mar 30, 200145 mins
While small time actor Phil Gwen dances with his unidentified blond girl he's stabbed in the back - she runs after the perpetrator. At Community General he mumbles something like Chylendra, then dies. LAPD Captain Woodruff wants Steve to take the wacky 'National Scoop' Magazine's anonymous 'first hand witness account' blaming the Earthonomy sect seriously. He brings in conspiracy theorist, Ellen Sharp, who claims to be too scared to talk and is released by the captain after retracting her claim to have seen the murder. Steve correctly suspects Gwen tipped her about the sect. When he goes see her there's a fake/dirty cop hanging around, so he agrees to protect her at the Sloan beach-house. He kills one of the attacking armed men in masks and with night-vision goggles, chases the rest. Mark, whom Steve told to stay away, went to the movies and discovers Shylandra is the Hindu character played in his latest movie by Hollywood star and Earthonomy 'celebrity spokesman' Gene Trent. However, Gene tells Steve he knows nothing, but calls sect leader Robert B. Stafford, who sends the burly stabber 'Bob' to urgently deal with Ellen. To investigate the sect from the inside, Mark takes the wacky entrance test. Trent mysteriously leaves the production set he was working on, in fact just to prepare a high-profile star wedding, undoing rumors that he's gay. Ellen sneaks off to snoop at Earthonomy HQ after Steve showed her a fishing yacht picture, proving Trent knew Gwen.
Episode 18
The Red's Shoes
Fri, Apr 20, 200145 mins
When Amanda visits the studio where she learned ballet before med school, an extremely talented Chinese dancer drops dead on the dance floor; he was poisoned by acupuncture needles tampered with blowfish toxin, possibly meant for his colleague Changteh who was about to defect. Company leader Martin Peterson asks Amanda to join to investigate undercover. Steve hears from the acupuncturist each dancer has his own box of needles, kept by the party-appointed 'translator' Lee Moy. At the rehearsal for a benefit in the hospital, an exploding prop chest functions as distraction for the disappearance of Changteh and Amanda, who hide in her office- he says the killed dancer planned to defect with him, but they didn't know who overheard them; Mark discovers them and suggests a better hiding place. The Sloanes find an almost empty vial of blowfish toxin in Lee Muiys room; about to be returned to China under diplomatic immunity, he confesses to Steve, according to Mark only to avoid a worse fate in the PRC. Martin assures Mark the killed dancer was too patriotic even to condone defection. The State Department refuses to let Changteh stay in the US; Amanda offers him to marry her and stay, despite Marks warning she may be manipulated by a murderer...
Episode 19
No Good Deed
Fri, Apr 27, 200145 mins
Successful black defense attorney Roger Calender is brought in ER stabbed badly, and confesses having killed a man. After confirming a dog bit him badly days ago, he says it was just the drugs and perhaps a Vietnam memory. Rogers wife tells Mark he wanted a divorce without an affair, but suggests neither will find out what he wants to keep hidden for them; to him she tells she knows who he killed but will shut up is he calls off the divorce, which also allows her not to testify against him. After speaking with the physician who treated Rogers dog bite and finding snow traces on his car indicate he was in Big Bear, Steve and Mark even find a dangerous suspect dog Wolfie. Right there the body is found of Wolfie's owner, Rogers's acquitted former client Scott Wilkins, and Caleb McKay who was arrested for the attempt on Roger and still suspected Wilkins of killing his sister was seen there and is accused of the murder. Once informed, Roger signs himself out against doctors advice...
Episode 20
Deja Vous
Fri, May 4, 200145 mins
The Sloane's are none too happy to hear the DA had to cut a deal (life instead of the death penalty), with a female murderer to ensure conviction for Frederick Wilson (she's now the prime witness against him in exchange for the deal). She's murdered on her way into the Courthouse by a female shooter in a wheelchair, who hid the gun in the arm of the chair, and then fled the scene. Meanwhile, Steve - who's convinced he's been seeing Lily, the woman who died in is arms on their second date (S.7 Ep.18), ends up meeting and dating her doppelganger Abby; it turns out she's Lilys' twin sister, separated by adoption in childhood (or is she?). The pace revs up when the "tangled web" (metaphorically and literally - the stamp on Fredericks' heroin is a spider) between the Sloanes', Steve's partner Detective Banks, Joan (the wheelchair assassin), Frederick and Abby collide. With some helpful information from Fredericks' former cell-block mate 'Tick Tock' Rice, and the insurance agent that has been hounding Jesse at the hospital, the twists and turns are unwoven into an unexpected ending..
Episode 21
On the Beach
Fri, May 4, 200145 mins
[This episode is actually titled "On the Beach"] Another ride on his mini-scooter in the hospital gets Mark- in hospital, as patient with a broken leg, but after suffering some of the boundless incompetence of nurse Sudie there, who is fired after she even completely deleted his record, he quickly moves out to his beach-house. To his horror she turns up uninvited, and Steve tells he had to hire her as private nurse to spare the hospital a lawsuit for 'agist' dismissal. She forces him to go vent his complaints about the excessively loud new neighbors; in-living girlfriend Geraldine Baxter was ready to turn the stereo volume down, but exercise video presenter Calvin Laird won't have a bar of neighborliness and starts a fight with her; at night Mark witnesses him with a boat, apparently dumping a body-bag in the ocean- Geraldine and the noise are now apparently gone. Steve's unofficial talk to Calvin -he is just re-painting himself, noting like him- and a fake interior design interview by Jesse and Amanda show nothing about Calvin; Geraldines stuff washes up in the bag he dumped, but who can disprove his claim she just walked off? Amanda infiltrates his home studio as exercise model (Jesse is refused as perfect body but too cute) but is thrown out the moment he enters. Even on crutches, Mark can't resist snooping in Lairds house...
Episode 22
The Blair Nurse Project
Fri, May 11, 200145 mins
A group of film school students convince med student Alex Smith, a friend of director Craig Wilson, to give them access to Community General's old basement for a movie about a local ghost story in time for its 25th anniversary, the disappearance of nurse Blair Lawson, who had left a child behind. To their own surprise, the psychotronic 'ghost detector' and the Luminol they brought for a self-planted blood splat find an apparently real one. When they return there another day, they experience something unexpected, and one of them gets a mild electrical shock. When Dr. Don Matthews hears about it, he insists Mark put an end to the unauthorized filming. A weird seance medium suggests Blair got a fatal blow on the head. Craig subsequently gets knocked down on the head from behind, and remembers an unusual smell there. After the film team bails on Craig, he tells Mark his real connection with Blair, the reason why he is trying to solve her alleged murder, inspiring Mark to come up with an original corpse theory...
