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| “ | I knew if Hoffman found the gene in the baby, with Lori and her parents, that kid had no chance! | „ |
| ~ Dean's confession |
Dean Emerson is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Misbegotten". Dean is a gay man who bombs a university to stop a study on "gay genes" that would outrage and endanger the gay community. The bomb unintentionally puts his brother Ryan's wife Lori into a coma, as she worked security there; her unborn child lives, but Dean becomes involved in the fight for the baby's life.
He was portrayed by Kevin Rankin.
Biography[]
Dean was openly gay throughout his life, Ryan protecting him from biases from their family and their neighborhood, as well as from the kids who would beat Dean up. Dean was strongly supportive of Ryan's marriage to Lori and was delighted to be an uncle, but Lori's parents were also homophobic and believed Ryan wasn't a deserving husband of Lori. Lori worked security at Genotech, a research lab in the same office building where Dean went for therapy. Lori was paid by Dr. Sheldon Hoffman to have her baby testified for what he was calling "gay genes", genetic marks to identify sexual orientation in gay people. When Dean found out Dr. Hoffman was claiming Lori's baby had the genes, Dean was terrified Lori's parents would abort the boy. In addition, the release of any success in the studies would marginalize the gay community further as "diseased" or "unable to help" their genes, so Dean set out to stop Hoffman. He stole some of his father Floyd's nitroglycerin pills for Floyd's heart problems and constructed a bomb he mailed to Genotech in the hopes of killing Hoffman. Lori was personally carrying the box to the office when she drop it, and when the bomb went off, Lori went into a coma. Her son miraculously lived, and her family and the hospital put in all their efforts to keep her and her son alive.
Ryan was originally suspected as having ordered Dean to kill Lori and their baby, and he was confirmed to be the bomber when Floyd showed detectives his pills, resulting in Dena's arrest. But Dr. Hoffman was found out and eventually subpoenaed by the defense for trial, where he revealed Lori's son had the "gay gene". Lori's parents suddenly came up with a false alibi for Dean. It was revealed Ryan agreed to abort his and Lori's son if her parents helped Dean get acquitted. Dean was horrified by the measure being exactly what he was avoiding, so he was convinced by the prosecution to confess to everything. Dean successfully convinced Ryan to stop the abortion, even with everyone being afraid it wouldn't last forever. Dean pleaded down to attempted murder, his sentenced being reduced for his cooperation with the law.
External links[]
- Dean Emerson on the Law & Order Wiki
