Cracker: Mind Over Murder

- Season 1

(1997)

Gerry "Fitz" Fitzgerald is an alcoholic, self-hating psychologist and compulsive gambler who lectures at local community colleges and hosts a radio-call in show, while assisting the Los Angeles police department in various crimes. Fitz is asked to help track down a female serial killer of men who writes him love notes, claiming to be in love with Fitz. With the clock ticking and minimal evidence to move the investigation along, Fitz must find a way to locate the killer before she strikes again. On a personal front, Fitz is also having problems at home: Judith, his ...

Fitz' son, Michael, becomes the next target for attack by the serial killer, Janice, who claims to be in love with Fitz and he must race against the clock to find the killer before Michael becomes Janice's latest victim.

When an amnesia victim, covered in blood, is found near the scene of a brutal murder aboard a moving train, the police are convinced they have their killer and bring Fitz in to get a confession. Fitz, however, is less convinced of the suspect's guilt, and takes it upon himself to help the man, the 'John Doe' recover his memory while he searches for the real killer. Meanwhile, at Judith's insistence, Fitz attends a Gambler's Anonymous meeting, which culminates in Fitz leading the members in a betting frenzy.

When a teacher is suspected of killing a young male student, Fitz' mesmerizing interrogation leads to a startling conclusion that the teacher, Mr. Quint, is gay and was trying to seduce the student being a pedophile. Meanwhile, Fitz considers a getaway proposition from Detective Hannah Tyler after discovering that Judith is dating their marriage counselor Garson Shepherd.

When a newborn baby goes missing from a local hospital, Fitz becomes convinced that the kidnapper is a woman, regardless of the eye witnesses and videotape evidence. But the truth ends up being more surprising than any wild suspicions following the apprehension of a suspect, whom is a maternity nurse, the real abductor is her transvestite brother. Meanwhile, Fitz and Michael are in bitter disagreement over Michael's ex-girlfriend and her re-appearance into their lives. Also, Fitz also attempts to communicate with his wife Judith, which ends up being a mistake.

Fitz joins forces with the Los Angeles police department as they track a severely disturbed young couple, a junkie named Tina, and a stuttering mentally disturbed man named Sean, who have fallen in love with each other while on a murderous rampage. Meanwhile, Judith rejects Fitz' latest plea to move back home after discovering that he continues to suffer from his gambling addiction and refuses to seek professional help.

When a teenage boy is accused of murdering his promiscuous mother, Fitz retraces the victim's final hours, determined to find another explanation for the vicious crime despite opposition from his grumpy boss, Lt. Fry, who thinks the teenager is guilty. Meanwhile, Fitz's family bonding efforts at Sunday dinner blow up in his face due to his jealousy over Judith and his lackluster efforts to bond with his son Michael and daughter Hope, and Judith's overprotective mother.

When Colleen McBeal, a controversial radio personality, is being stalked by one of her listeners, Fitz's investigation yields shocking and deadly results when it's revealed that Colleen and her manager Jeffrey have faked the stalking for publicity ratings, and then Jeffrey is murdered by a real stalker/listener. Meanwhile, Fitz discovers that Judith has plans to spend a romantic evening with their marriage counselor, Garson Shepherd, so he retaliates by taking Tyler out to the same restaurant just to make Judith angry and jealous.

Fitz assists the police in tracking down a serial sniper whose killings of four African-American women have all the ear markings of being revenge killings.

Fitz and the police are startled to discover that the next target for the sniper is someone they all have a relationship with: Watlington's ex-wife Tisha who's boyfriend, Ronnie Brooks, was involved in the incident that put John Ramon's wife in a coma during the 1992 race riots. Things get even more under pressure when Ramos takes Tisha hostage at the hospital, leading to a standoff between him and Fitz in Ramos' wife's room. Meanwhile, Judith's admission of her betrayal somehow brings both herself and Fitz together again over their newborn son.

When a famous porn star/stripper, named Dee Dee Wilder, is found murdered in her house, Fitz and the police investigate. At first, the evidence seems to indicate that her possessive manager is involved, until circumstances soon point to the young lady's estranged father. Meanwhile, Fitz has a heart attack, which brings Judith back for a temporary reconciliation, while his daughter Hope tries to persuade him to change his lifestyle.

When a wealthy teenage girl is found murdered at a local rave, Fitz investigates and discovers that her friends are a clique of wealthy and spoiled teens who have formed a sex club, and the list of suspects soon narrows down to the murdered girl's boyfriend, Spencer, who's older brother died from AIDS years earlier. Meanwhile, Fitz and Judith deal with Hope who has gotten into trouble at school over her own activities with carousing for boys.

Fitz and the police investigate the brutal murder of a nosy landlady and a social worker in which evidence points to a troubled juvenile delinquent and his factory worker boss.

Fitz is hired by David Roberge, a famous child actor-turned-Hollywood studio mogul, to help clear his name when a teenage model is found murdered on the grounds of Roberge's Hollywood mansion, leading to conflicts with Fitz's former employer Lt. Macy and the other detectives on the police force, all of whom are still reeling from the shock of Hannah Tyler's murder. On the home front, Fitz doesn't welcome a visit from his estranged father Emory, while Judith, Michael and Hope have mixed feelings of Mr. Fitzgerald's presence in their household.

Fitz assists the police and the new commanding officer, Lt. Monroe Macey (Lt. Fry's replacement), in tracking a serial killer of three women when a police officer becomes victim.

When Detective Hannah Tyler is abducted by the killer, whom is Officer Palmer's deranged wife Linda who's jealous over Pete Renauldi's attraction to Tyler, Fitz, Lt. Macy, Parker, and Watlington interrogate Officer Renauldi's connection to the murders. When red tape prevents them from making headway, Fitz takes it upon himself to interrogate Renauldi himself to know the identity of the killer he's protecting by divulging into the dirty officer's past and of his connection with Linda Palmer, unaware that she has by this time shot and killed Tyler after she makes a ...