Tess's Corner

Episode recaps by Tess Gerritsen

Virtual Love (Season 3, Episode 13)

The boundary between fantasy and reality is shockingly ripped apart when an avid video gamer is found skewered with a Viking spear.  In the online world of "Vikings of the Realm," Greg Jensen was known as "Olaf the Boneless," a bloodthirsty warrior who slaughtered enemies, pillaged villages and wooed busty maidens. Did one of his virtual Viking foes cross from the fantasy world into the real world to spill real blood? With the help of a Scandinavian scholar, Jane and Maura learn that mysterious runes engraved on the spear tell the story of a mythical romantic rivalry – a rivalry that might point to the killer's identity.  
 
A real-life romantic rivalry is also boiling up in the Boston PD. Still smarting from her broken romance with Lt. Cavanaugh, Angela's doing some hot and heavy flirting with Detective "Lightning" Gibson, which drives Cavanaugh wild with jealousy. All this male attention has given Angela a sexy new glow, making Jane mortified that men are panting after her mother. (Seriously, Lorraine Bracco does look hotter than ever.)
 
Also stirring things up are three scruffy street kids who are touring Boston PD for career day. Are they future cops or future criminals? Jane can't be sure. When the police station fire alarm goes off, and money vanishes, she pegs the kids as the likely culprits, but things are not always what they seem.
 
Meanwhile, back in the universe of "Vikings of the Realm," bloody mayhem is erupting. Jane and Maura must unlock the secrets hidden in the Viking runes before violence once again spills into the real world.