Buried Secrets (Body of Proof)

"Buried Secrets" is the eighth episode of the

Detective Joe Salerno (Derek Russo), a very dear friend of Samantha Baker (Sonja Sohn), is found dead, after being run over by Sara Gonzales (Diane Guerrero). When Megan Hunt (Dana Delany) arrives on scene, she concludes that he was dead before the car hit him, having been thrown off the bridge above the road. A distraught Samantha and Megan visit Joe's wife Helen (Kathryn Meisle) and their daughter Becky (Fátima Ptacek). Helen says that Joe had been distant before he died, after he was under review for assaulting Chuck Foster (John Magaro). Bud Morris (John Carroll Lynch) discovers Joe was doing freelance work on a cold case involving Lizzy Adler (Rebecca Blumhagen), a student athlete who was murdered, with Chuck being the prime suspect. Megan, Bud, Samantha and Peter Dunlop (Nicholas Bishop) talk to Lizzy's lacrosse coach, Hal Davis, who states that Joe had been visiting the team recently. Megan exhumes Lizzy's body, without her boss, Kate Murphy's (Jeri Ryan), permission. Megan gets her judge mother, Joan (Joanna Cassidy) to sign the request, who tells Megan that Lizzy is buried in the same graveyard as Megan's father David, who committed suicide when Megan was twelve. Megan and Peter later visit David's grave.

Megan receives backlash from Kate for not following procedure, but clay found in both Lizzy and Joe's pockets match. Samantha realizes that Joe found the crime scene of Lizzy's murder; the tennis courts at her school. Kate and Megan study her body and find a hand impression on her back, which matches one of her friends Heather Clayton (Meg Chambers Steedle). Heather killed Lizzy after she broke her finger during a lacrosse game. Lizzy's body was found elsewhere, meaning Heather had help moving the body, so Megan finds out that Lou helped Heather. Lou also admits killing Joe, as he was getting too close to the truth. After they arrest them, Megan revisits her mother Joan, asking to exhume her father's body. Joan declines the request, telling Megan to leave him be. Megan and Samantha revisit Helen and Becky, revealing that Joe had an undiagnosed brain disorder, causing the emotional distance from the two, telling them that Joe helped solve the Lizzy Adler case.^[1]

Production

"Buried Secrets" was written by Sunil Nayar and series creator

This episode received positive reviews. Christine Orlando from TV Fanatic said of the episode: "Buried Secrets" left me wondering if there was even more to Megan's father's death than a simple suicide. There must be a story there and I hope we get to hear more of it. It would be nice to see Megan get her answers, no matter what they may be".[14] Orlando called Joan "a real piece of work" saying that she could not understand why Joan would not allow Megan to exhume her father's body.^[14] She added that Joan was "cold" saying this adding, "I suddenly understood why Megan avoids Mom like the plague".^[14] Of the conversation between Samantha and Ethan Gross (Geoffrey Arend) she said, "Ethan's story about losing his guinea pig as a child was sad and sweet. In his own strange way he was trying to relate to Samantha and the death of her friend. Plus, it painted a heart-breaking picture of a sad, lonely boy".^[14] She added that the death of the episode "caused a ripple effect, touching everyone who came near it", including Kate, who she said that she admired Megan for exhuming the body, as "she's not allowed to flaunt [sic] the rules the way Megan is prone to do.^[14]

Notes

References