The Worst Parents on L&O: CI: When Average Dysfunction Just Doesn't Cut It!

[WendyCR72]

Frank McNair from "Shibboleth" and his body-by-bad-parenting had an incredibly detrimental effect on his son Keith, so on the list he goes.

 

I'd also like to throw in a (dis)honorable mention for Joanne Dexler, the mother in "Beast." No one can make you commit murder, but after seeing what Colleen went through, I understood her a little bit more. Seriously, sabotaging one daughter's relationship because you think your other daughter is prettier and more deserving?! It's not evil...but it's certainly not nice.

 

God, "Beast". I get Colleen feeling slighted and inferior thanks to Mommie Dearest's attitude, but I'd have thought she'd kill her mom directly rather than the sister. But maybe she thought the mom losing her favorite was a better way to make her suffer.

 

Still can't get over the actor playing Frank McNair was Jackie Dooley in "Broad Channel" in S9. Only the voice was the same!

[Spartan Girl]

God, "Beast". I get Colleen feeling slighted and inferior thanks to Mommie Dearest's attitude, but I'd have thought she'd kill her mom directly rather than the sister. But maybe she thought the mom losing her favorite was a better way to make her suffer.

 

Still can't get over the actor playing Frank McNair was Jackie Dooley in "Broad Channel" in S9. Only the voice was the same!

Actually, I thought the dentist was the one that killed her sister: she just knew about it and didn't say anything. And she killed the dentist's second wife.

[Eolivet]

Yes, but to me, that's one of the eeriest lines in the ep: "He wouldn't have killed me." Morgan clearly didn't love the dentist -- she preferred the local mechanic. Colleen would've been happy in a no-commitment marriage to the dentist (who probably would've cheated on her, but again, not with Morgan). Colleen might've killed someone else eventually, but Mama keeps her precious Morgan if she'd only kept her big mouth shut.

 

Again...not one of the worst -- just a (dis)honorable mention. Mama's meddling set the whole chain of events in play.

[WendyCR72]

Actually, I thought the dentist was the one that killed her sister: she just knew about it and didn't say anything. And she killed the dentist's second wife.

 

Now that I think of it, I think you're right. Evil Cousin Balki killed Morgan. Colleen was still hung up on him and killed Lisa, the wife, and used how Balki did it. Ironic.  :-)

[Eolivet]

I know she's already been enshrined in the hall of shame, but boy, Gillian Booth is on the highest (lowest) level of bad parents in that she killed her own child for a guy.

 

I find the father in Family Values worse simply by the number and virtue of his crimes, but I do think Gillian deserves the silver medal.

[WendyCR72]

I know she's already been enshrined in the hall of shame, but boy, Gillian Booth is on the highest (lowest) level of bad parents in that she killed her own child for a guy.

 

I find the father in Family Values worse simply by the number and virtue of his crimes, but I do think Gillian deserves the silver medal.

 

Oh yeah, Mommie Dearest to a T. And yeah, she even told dear hubby at the end, "She was going to destroy you!" You know it's warped when the arrogant douche hubby had more feeling about Gillian murdering her kid than she did.

 

But then it was all about her needs: The lover and looking for a caregiver for her last days. Sort of a narcissistic bent throughout the whole thing.

[Eolivet]

Just realized I both suggested that Lance Brody of "A Murderer Among Us" should be added, and then removed. Bobby would marvel at my ability to argue with myself!

[Dahmerdoll]

"Beast"'s Joanne Drexler (played by "Alice" regular Celia Weston; that's the first thing I remember her for, anyway) is definitely one of the worst, along with Dr. Evan "I can always have more kids" Chapel, from "Grow".  He should have just left his poor wife and daughter, and gone off to his dream of living on a mountain of smack.  I especially like it when he, a longtime heroin addict, complained about his late wife's reliance on doctors and sleeping pills...the nerve!  

[WendyCR72]

On 11/29/2016 at 1:52 PM, Dahmerdoll said:

"Beast"'s Joanne Drexler (played by "Alice" regular Celia Weston; that's the first thing I remember her for, anyway) is definitely one of the worst, along with Dr. Evan "I can always have more kids" Chapel, from "Grow".  He should have just left his poor wife and daughter, and gone off to his dream of living on a mountain of smack.  I especially like it when he, a longtime heroin addict, complained about his late wife's reliance on doctors and sleeping pills...the nerve!  

@Dahmerdoll, thank you! I always wracked my pea brain trying to remember where I had seen the actress that played Joanne Drexler (and I agree, she sucked!). So thanks for clearing that up. It's so funny how both Perfect Strangers leads ended up being murderers on CI with Bronson Pinchot in "Beast" and Mark Linn-Baker in "Probability" (and nice to see MLB appear in "Endgame" 4 seasons later as that character).

As for Evan Chapel, he was so vile. Pretty damned sad when he made freaking Nicole Wallace look like a good person! Too bad that episode wasn't some '80s cop show throwback, and Bobby and/or Alex couldn't have just killed him dead.

Hmm. I wonder, speaking of "Endgame", if Mark Ford Brady qualifies? Granted, he was just a sperm donor to Bobby, but imagine someone like him as dear ol' Dad!

[Maherjunkie]

I don't know that the mother in Blasters was bad like Logan thought; money probably did slip through Skater's fingers.

[WendyCR72]

On 12/5/2016 at 10:20 PM, Maherjunkie said:

I don't know that the mother in Blasters was bad like Logan thought; money probably did slip through Skater's fingers.

I don't know. She seemed pretty eager when she mentioned the upcoming DVD release of Skater's old show (and the royalties that would come from it).

[Maherjunkie]

If she is like me, she'd be a pragmatist.

[WendyCR72]

On 12/8/2016 at 10:55 AM, Maherjunkie said:

If she is like me, she'd be a pragmatist.

I just saw her as mercenary. I guess it's one of those "choose your own characterization!" deals...

[Maherjunkie]

Well she knew her kid was a flop, so it was probably best she kept the checks.

[WendyCR72]

On 12/10/2016 at 11:43 PM, Maherjunkie said:

Well she knew her kid was a flop, so it was probably best she kept the checks.

 

But flop or not, they were his checks. Seemed like the average $tage mom to me.  :-P

[Maherjunkie]

I thought she wasn't in touch with him?  Maybe I am wrong.

[WendyCR72]

On 12/12/2016 at 11:18 AM, Maherjunkie said:

I thought she wasn't in touch with him?  Maybe I am wrong.

Later on, she didn't appear to be. But I'm assuming back when Skater acted that his mom was all too willing to get him into showbiz, etc. She definitely was salivating over possible royalties, anyway.

[Dahmerdoll]

Would Brady count, hmmm....that's an interesting question, one that I need to ponder for a bit.

This is OT, but one of my favorite portrayals of a parent on the show was by Rebecca Schull; she was A steer Gruenwald, mother of Harveyk,  in "Unrequited".   She wasn't what I'd call a kind woman, but she did have Harvey's best interests at heart.  She was a great character, but not a great parent.  That's still one of my favorite episodes; every character is played perfectly.

Do you think Priscilla Van Acker ("Smothered") qualifies as a "good parent"?  She thought she was helping her son, but she orchestrated the murder of a woman that truly lived her son.

Edited December 17, 2016 by Dahmerdoll

[Maherjunkie]

No, she and Linda Lavin can share a cell together,

[WendyCR72]

13 hours ago, Dahmerdoll said:

Do you think Priscilla Van Acker ("Smothered") qualifies as a "good parent"?  She thought she was helping her son, but she orchestrated the murder of a woman that truly lived her son.

The van Ackers seemed too attached at an extremely intense level of creepy. It almost seemed like Mommie Dearest was jealous of Lois and the baby - and not angry about drugs - and that's why Priscilla van Acker had Lois killed. That whole family was bonkers.

Funny how the actor playing Dale van Acker, Geoffrey Nauffts, would return in S6 in "Maltese Cross" as the perp/gay firefighter who killed his lover because said lover tried to leave him because the lover's wife was pregnant.

But then, there were many repeat actors on this series.

As for Rebecca Schull, I only ever knew of her as ditzy Faye from Wings besides her CI role. It was weird seeing her play a bitch. LOL!

[Maherjunkie]

She was kinda manipulative there too.

[WendyCR72]

22 hours ago, Maherjunkie said:

She was kinda manipulative there too.

Who? Rebecca Schull? And where, on Wings?

[Maherjunkie]

Yes.

[WendyCR72]

19 hours ago, Maherjunkie said:

Yes.

Glad we cleared that up.  :-P  But funny, I only remember Faye as kind of spacey!

[Maherjunkie]

I thought she was kind of a b when Joe and Brian needed new coats, which meant she couldn't get her raise.

[WendyCR72]

5 hours ago, Maherjunkie said:

I thought she was kind of a b when Joe and Brian needed new coats, which meant she couldn't get her raise.

I'll take your word for it since it has been ages since I have seen an episode!

[Dahmerdoll]

Would Brady count, hmmm....that's an interesting question, one that I need to ponder for a bit.

This is OT, but one of my favorite portrayals of a parent on the show was by Rebecca Schull; she was A steer Gruenwald, mother of Harveyk,  in "Unrequited".   She wasn't what I'd call a kind woman, but she did have Harvey's bets interests at heart.  She was a great character, but not a great parent.  That's still one of my favorite episodes; every character is played perfectly.

Do you think Priscilla Van Acker ("Smothered") qualifies as a "good parent"?  She thought she was helping her son, but she orchestrated the murder of a woman that truly lived her son.

[WendyCR72]

I think the episode title "Smothered" was twofold: Poor Lois and Priscilla emotionally smothering Dale. Yes, Dale was a druggie, but this woman struck me as cold to the bone. I think it was about control for her. Not love.

As Bobby told Dale, maybe Bobby's mom also hated the women he dated, but she never tried to kill them because she wanted him to be happy. I think Priscilla just wanted Dale under her thumb and a family of his own would jeopardize that.

[Maherjunkie]

And a lousy wife too.

[WendyCR72]

On 12/31/2016 at 0:58 AM, Maherjunkie said:

And a lousy wife too.

Definitely, but hubby was such a slimeball, they deserved each other. A match made in hell, as it were!

[Xeliou66]

Priscilla Van Acker was an awful mother and total control freak, her husband was a piece of shit as well. Other completely awful parents include : 

The Christian nut job from Family Values, what an absolute freak with no bearing on reality. He deserved the death penalty 

The dad from Death Roe, I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned him. The fat piece of shit molested his daughter for years and then killed his son in law in a gruesome way and killed the innocent food critic. Hope he got the needle as well.

The dad from Phantom was an evil manipulator. 

The dad from Cherry Red who treated his son like garbage but then killed a woman to prevent his son's crimes from being found out so he could continue to freeload off his son. 

Both the parents from Magnificat, especially control freak dad.

The mom from Happy Family, what a totally evil bitch. 

The dad from Pravda, surprised no one has mentioned him. What a disgusting self righteous murdering piece of trash. 

[Spartan Girl]

Maybe the dad from "World's Fair" should be on here too. He forced his daughter into an arranged marriage. I mean, he didn't actually kill his daughter, his son did, but he sure was quick to cover for him once the cops realized that the boyfriend was innocent. He didn't waste a whole lot of time being remorseful once he realized that he shot and killed an innocent boy. He  just automatically "confessed" to his daughter's murder, which leads me to suspect that he knew his son was guilty all along. Not to mention, as someone else pointed out, he didn't seem that upset over his daughter's murder, unlike the mother.

Edited February 26, 2017 by Spartan Girl

[Xeliou66]

Absolutely, he was an awful parent. I hope he got a long prison sentence and him and his son were both disgusting religious freaks. Unfortunately stuff like that is very common in Middle Eastern countries with all Muslim populations, and more needs to be done about "honor killings" by Muslims. Unfortunately that episode was cause a ton of controversy if aired today because SJW's who love fundamentalist Islam ( even though they claim to be pro women ) would have a meltdown on social media if a show portrayed honor killings by Muslims. 

[WendyCR72]

I think it was @Maherjunkie or @GHScorpiosRule who brought up a great scene in "World's Fair", where Logan interviewed the POS "arranged fiancé", who admitted to being in a strip club as his alibi.

Logan (after hearing the guy rage about how awful the victim was for not being a virgin), asks, "But was it a pure one [strip club]?" Love how he nailed the hypocrisy. Also liked when he told the young Jewish guy in interrogation to lay his hand flat on the interrogation table and spread his finger...only for Logan to punch the table very near that hand.

Moral? Don't piss off Mike Logan. Just ask that councilman on the Mothership!

[GHScorpiosRule]

22 minutes ago, WendyCR72 said:

I think it was @Maherjunkie or @GHScorpiosRule who brought up a great scene in "World's Fair", where Logan interviewed the POS "arranged fiancé", who admitted to being in a strip club as his alibi.

Logan (after hearing the guy rage about how awful the victim was for not being a virgin), asks, "But was it a pure one [strip club]?" Love how he nailed the hypocrisy. Also liked when he told the young Jewish guy in interrogation to lay his hand flat on the interrogation table and spread his finger...only for Logan to punch the table very near that hand.

Moral? Don't piss off Mike Logan. Just ask that councilman on the Mothership!

It was me! It was me! Cuz Mike was just sooo ??HAWT?? when he asked about the strip club: "Was it a pure one?" because so called fiancé said Meena was no longer pure and he didn't want to marry her anymore. Also when he asked that racist Jewish boy to put his hand on the table and spread his fingers, and Mike SLAMMED his ? down and would have squelched his fingers if the twit hadn't pulled his hand away. 

SIIIIIGH...

[Xeliou66]

That was one of Mike Logan's best CI episodes. It's been a while since I've seen it but I remember Logan being passionate and pissed off, one of his best episodes on CI, all too often it seemed as though Logan was relegated to the B case and story while Goren and Eames were the real stars, especially in the Warren Leight years when there was a lot of soapy drivel anyway. 

[WendyCR72]

On 2/26/2017 at 3:38 PM, GHScorpiosRule said:

It was me! It was me! Cuz Mike was just sooo ??HAWT?? when he asked about the strip club: "Was it a pure one?" because so called fiancé said Meena was no longer pure and he didn't want to marry her anymore. Also when he asked that racist Jewish boy to put his hand on the table and spread his fingers, and Mike SLAMMED his ? down and would have squelched his fingers if the twit hadn't pulled his hand away. 

SIIIIIGH...

They all deserved his wrath. Said before, but everyone on that episode - maybe minus Meena's mother - was despicable. (As an aside, I love how Wheeler hardly even blinked as Logan went to smash that guy's hand, too.)

[Spartan Girl]

Ah Chris Noth. He's played his fair share of scumbags, but when he gets to play someone morally righteous...ME-OW!

[Xeliou66]

I didn't find the uncle of the guy that got shot by the Muslim dad to be despicable, and I cheered when be broke into the shore and smashed it up with the bat, I was wishing he had used the bat on the dad and brother. 

Other bad parents would be

Both the dad and grandpa in Homo Homini Lupus, the dad for denying his family had been kidnapped and hindering the investigation and his dad for being a bully who treated his son like crap. 

The dad in Bedfellows who only loved one of his 2 sons, what a dick. 

The mom in Wrongful Life, what a huge bitch. I hope the daughter got away from her.

The bizarre psychiatrist parents in Shrink Wrapped, they were so egocentric and manipulative they forgot they had a daughter. 

[WendyCR72]

On 2/28/2017 at 5:51 AM, Xeliou66 said:

The mom in Wrongful Life

AKA Mrs. George Clooney the First, Talia Balsam. She really made me feel sorry for Lisa. I hope she decided to go to a group home and away from Mommie Dearest.

[Dahmerdoll]

Yes, the dad from "Bedfellows" (Rip Torn) was awful; that ep was based on the Kissel family, I believe.

VDO will always be my #1, but I love me some Chris Noth, too...yummm.?

Edited March 29, 2017 by Dahmerdoll

[WendyCR72]

14 hours ago, Dahmerdoll said:

Yes, the dad from "Bedfellows" (Rip Torn) was awful; that ep was based on the Kissel family, I believe.

VDO will always be my #1, but I love me some Chris Noth, too...yummm.?

Wow, thanks for the info about the basis for "Bedfellows", @Dahmerdoll! Knowing it is based on real life seems to make that episode all the sadder. As for the episode, I hope someone else took care of actually raising the two grandsons.

[Dahmerdoll]

You're welcome, Wendy!  I'm glad my many, MANY hours of watching reruns is actually good for something, lol.  

Like many L&O "ripped from the headlines" eps, it's loosely based, but that just makes it more fun, sometimes; I imagine what it would have been like if the IRL stories happened the way they played out on L&O.  

Edited March 30, 2017 by Dahmerdoll

[WendyCR72]

On 3/30/2017 at 10:32 AM, Dahmerdoll said:

Like many L&O "ripped from the headlines" eps, it's loosely based, but that just makes it more fun, sometimes; I imagine what it would have been like if the IRL stories happened the way they played out on L&O.  

Well, my guess is the stories were altered to avoid lawsuits.  :-)  But if some did ever follow the real trajectory, well...for some, I'd bet the old saying of "truth is stranger than fiction!" would spring to mind.