Reality Kills

Horatio’s team investigates the murder of Courtney Alderman, star of a reality TV series, who has fallen to her death from a balcony in front of thousands of adoring fans. It’s first thought she’s been the victim of a gunman in the crowd but the autopsy reveals she’s been stabbed through the ear with a sharp instrument that penetrated her brain, killing her instantly.

Courtney had been in the green room with her cast mates, Shea, Gabe and Zach. All three have potential murder weapons and each clashed with Courtney on screen. As they exit the station, Gabe is suddenly floored by an attacker. Dan Wilson explains the star sold bad drugs to his younger brother, Tyler, who is now in hospital fighting for his life. The doctors can’t treat him as they don’t know what drugs he’s taken.

Meanwhile, after watching footage of the show, Ryan realises Courtney was pregnant. They assume Zach was the father but he’s training to be a priest and is a virgin. Then it’s discovered Courtney had received calls from a James Reed who was staying in the star’s hotel. He’s Courtney’s husband, though they’d been contracted to keep this a secret, and he explains that Courtney was about to leave the show.

Walter and Natalia return to the green room and realise a spike has been broken off an ice sculpture. It must have been the murder weapon! Closer analysis of the ice reveals chemical from spray tan in the melted water. Shea is launching her own spray tan range! The star finally admits her guilt. She felt Courtney’s leaving would lead to the show’s cancellation and, fearing her new-found popularity would be lost, she’d stabbed her in a fit of rage.

Later, Horatio discovers the source of the Gabe’s bad drugs and is able to get a sample to the hospital with seconds to spare, thereby saving Tyler Wilson’s life…