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| “ | Very good, John. | „ |
| ~ Barrett to John David Myers after manipulating him into taking the fall for a murder he himself orchestrated. |
Dr. Frederick Barrett is the overarching antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Shrunk". He is an unethical psychiatrist who manipulates his patient John David Myers into killing his mistress.
He was portrayed by Robert Foxworth, who also portrayed Benjamin Hadley, Sr. in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Paul Buher in Damien: Omen II, James Leyton in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and V'Las in Star Trek: Enterprise.
Early life[]
Barrett was a psychiatrist who specialized in treating people with anger problems resulting from childhood trauma. Three years prior to the events of the episode, he began treating Broadway composer John David Myers, whose anger, paranoia, and violent tendencies stemmed from witnessing his mother kill his father when he was 13. Barrett prescribed Myers a heavy dose of Thorazine and had sessions with him every day, which eventually made Myers so dependent upon him that he was incapable of making even the smallest decisions without him.
Meanwhile, Barrett began sleeping with another patient, Carrie Gunderson, who had been undergoing court-mandated therapy with him after attacking her ex-boyfriend. He eventually found her to be domineering and emotionally unstable, however, and broke off the relationship. She retaliated by threatening to sue him for malpractice, which would have ended his career.
He came up with an idea to solve the problem, however - to manipulate Myers into killing Gunderson. He persuaded Myers that he was well enough to attend a revival of one of his musicals, and gave Gunderson's roommate, a waitress at his favorite restaurant, a ticket to the show, knowing that she would give it to Gunderson. As Barrett intended, Myers met Gunderson and took her back to his house to have sex, only to kill her in a fit of delusional rage when she spoke harshly to him afterward.
In "Shrunk"[]
After NYPD Homicide Detectives Lennie Briscoe and Ed Green arrest Myers for killing Gunderson, he refuses to say anything unless he can talk to Barrett. When the detectives promise that they will try to get Barrett for him, Myers readily confesses to the murder. When Barrett arrives at the station house, he demands to talk to Myers, but Lieutenant Anita Van Buren refuses because he is not a lawyer.
Myers' lawyer later gets his confession excluded as evidence because he was denied the opportunity to talk to Barrett, who functioned as his counsel. Barrett, meanwhile, insists that Myers is too emotionally vulnerable and heavily medicated to kill anyone. Forensic psychiatrist Emil Skoda, evaluating Myers for the prosecution, finds that Myers is competent to stand trial, but notes that he is totally dependent upon Barrett, to the point that he becomes violent when denied access to him.
During the trial, Barrett testifies that Myers had been delusional - and, thus, not legally responsible - when he killed Gunderson, whom he refers to as "an emotionally unstable woman". This makes Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy, who is prosecuting the case, suspicious, as there is no mention in the case files of Gunderson having been emotionally disturbed. McCoy and Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn investigate the case further, eventually discovering Barrett's affair with Gunderson, her lawsuit against him, and the fact that he had given her roommate a ticket to the musical.
McCoy and Southerlyn meet with Myers, his lawyer, and Barrett, and McCoy tells Myers that Barrett manipulated him into killing Gunderson. Barrett protests his innocence and tells Myers that he only wants what is best for him. McCoy offers to have Myers institutionalized in lieu of prison, but Myers refuses, taking full responsibility for the murder and calling Barrett his doctor and his friend.
When McCoy runs into Barrett at the elevator, Barrett insists that he is not responsible for what Myers did. McCoy replies that it is only a matter of time before Myers realizes the truth about what he did to him and starts talking. As a worried-looking Barrett gets into the elevator, McCoy says, "Going down."
External links[]
- Frederick Barrett on the Law & Order Wiki
