A Cop, a Mountie and a Baby is the ninth episode of Due South's first season.
Storyline: Fraser and Ray discover a baby left in the back of Ray's car. Investigating further, they meet the baby's mother and discover that the father has put the baby up for black-market adoption.
Original Air Date: December 1, 1994
Written by Peter Colley
Directed by Steve DiMarco
Synopsis[]
A young couple, Vinnie and Louise, have a heated argument over supplies for their infant son just before three tough guys arrive and rough up Vinnie, seeking his $10,000 gambling debt. The head hood, Claude, discovers that Vinnie intends to raise the money by using his son, Jamie (although at this point it is not specified how exactly). Overhearing this, Louise panics and flees the apartment with Jamie, searching the neighbourhood for Fraser.
Spotting him and Ray in a coffee shop nearby, Louise is unable to attract their attention and hides Jamie in the back of Ray's car before disappearing. Upon discovering him, Ray suggests taking Jamie to a child holding centre until they can consult a social worker. Fraser, on the other hand, believes that Jamie's mother wants him back and is looking for their help. At the holding centre, Ray has an abrupt change of mind - and heart - when he has a vision of a homeless boy straight out of a Charles Dickens novel. Immediately he and Fraser set off on a quest to track down Jamie's mother.
They have no luck until Jamie suddenly vomits on Ray's shoulder, revealing that he has ingested an unusual formula which leads them to a dairy mart and then to Vinnie and Louise's apartment. They find Vinnie at home, and he explains that he and Louise have fallen on hard times with not only themselves but Jamie to worry about. Diefenbaker is suspicious, however, and raises Fraser's suspicion as well. He and Ray return to the apartment just as Vinnie roars away with Jamie in his car. Louise returns, and in the midst of a crying fit blurts out that Vinnie is on his way to sell Jamie for black-market adoption.
Louise tells Fraser and Ray her side of the story, that Vinnie's gambling problem has gotten him into serious trouble and the only solution he has reached is to sell Jamie. She points them to a family lawyer named Morisot; on a visit to the office, they find Vinnie already there conferring with Morisot and Jamie's prospective adopters, a pair of loaded corporate executives. Morisot drops the bomb that Louise was completely aware of the adoption plans, compensation included. Over Louise's protests, Vinnie takes off with Jamie; Fraser and Ray follow him to a motel near the airport where they stake out his room for the night.
The following morning, Claude and his thugs arrive to give Vinnie a ride to the airport, with Fraser and Ray following. The adoptive parents are waiting with their private jet and a suitcase full of cash. Louise shows up to bid Jamie farewell, but at the last moment, Vinnie has his own change of heart and clobbers Claude with the suitcase before making a run for it with Jamie in his arms. Fraser and Ray take down Claude's goons, while Diefenbaker knocks out Claude himself before he can kill Vinnie.
Jamie is reunited with his parents, though it seems unlikely that Vinnie and Louise will themselves remain united in the aftermath.
Cast[]
- Natalie Radford as Louise
- Mark Ruffalo as Vinnie
- Diego Chambers as Claude
- Elizabeth Lennie as Morisot
- Andrew & Joel Meloff as Jamie
Soundtrack[]
- "L'Estrella" by Dave Wall [album: Lozenge] (neighbourhood canvassing scene)
- "Fear" by Sarah McLachlan [album: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy] (tracking down Vinnie)
- "Worlds Away" by Jay Semko and the Northern Pikes [album: Neptune] (airport scene)