#063 1099-911
PREMISE: Meet the cop who stops crime on her own time. Molly Marsh was the top detective in the NYPD, but she left it all behind and started freelancing with different law enforcement agencies because she wanted a more flexible schedule, less red tape, and to “be [her] own police chief.” As a self-employed detective, she doesn’t need a boss, benefits, or a pension; she’s working for herself and criminals better beware. CHARACTERS: On balance, Detective Marsh prefers freelancing to being tied down to one department. While she sometimes misses precinct culture and having a partner to call for backup, she’s happy to have the freedom to pick cases that she's really passionate about, such as those dealing with the environment, sustainable energy practices, and breaking and entering. However, as the series wore on Marsh was able to spend less and less time actually solving crimes, and the show increasingly focused on her struggles with the minutia of law enforcement freelancing: trying not to procrastinate while working from her home crime lab, building a website to attract new clients, and figuring out whether buying bullets and badge polish counts as a business expense. NOTABLE EPISODE: Marsh is scheduled to investigate a counterfeiting ring from 9AM-1PM, and a robbery homicide from 2PM-6PM. She cracks the first case, but it takes longer than she expected and she gets fired from her afternoon job, which makes her realizes it doesn’t make sense for her to do half days or get paid by the hour (S04.E12 -- “Hourly Prey”). Later in the season, she comes to regret her decision to start charging a day rate when she misses out on a bunch of overtime during a 72-hour manhunt for an escaped convict (S04.E20 -- “Crime and a Half”). CATCHPHRASE: “I’ve got an invoice for you, punk.” / “What is estimated tax?” TRIVIA/MISCELLANY: Fans calculated that by the end of the show, Marsh had a total of $645 in unpaid invoices.
See also: #063-01 Prop Invoice