As much as I like Lennie Briscoe's character, this episode had a lot of forced conflict. There was so much made about Briscoe hearing a confession from the prime suspect (Sabo) but it happened so fast and no one else heard it, so there are going to be corroboration issues. What bothers me is why did Sabo say the victim got what she deserved? There was never any evidence she knew him. When Sabo confirms his confession to McCoy at the end, there is a lot of hostility in his voice. It just doesn't make any sense. What did the victim ever do to him? Not enough time was spent on explaining the motive. I don't like calling murders like this, "a robbery gone wrong." Sabo made it sound personal. He killed her just because she wouldn't let go of her purse? Think about expectations. Why would you expect a woman to instantly let go of her purse, which she has held tight every day for decades? The title of the episode is goofy. It was only a 'marathon' because of the writers creating forced conflict every chance they got. Briscoe and Green knew who the killer was but getting enough evidence was the problem. I miss Joe Friday's approach to police work, "Just the facts, ma'am." These writers could have learned from the classics.
Review of Marathon
