On Wednesday's CSI: NY, Sheldon Hawkes' visit to a Pennsylvania prison provides him with a jarring revelation and puts him in a fight for his life.
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In the episode, Hawkes (Hill Harper) receives word that death-row inmate Reggie Tifford (guest star Harold Perrineau) wants to speak with Hawkes before he dies. During their meeting, Tifford shares some unsettling news with Hawkes, who unfortunately doesn't have any time to process what he's just heard.
"The prison gets put on lockdown, and there's a prison riot," Harper tells TVGuide.com. "And obviously, being a police officer in a prison riot is probably one of the most dangerous positions anyone could ever be in. It's almost like a death sentence."
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Perrineau, who's familiar with prison scenes thanks to his role on HBO's Oz, says his character actually tries to protect Hawkes during the riot, but that's a tense proposition. "He wronged Hawkes," Perrineau says. "After the riot breaks out, he then tries to protect Hawkes, but Hawkes doesn't want the protection because I did him wrong. I did something really awful to him."
Harper says the revelation hits his character very close to home, and even makes him reconsider some of his choices. "It makes him take stock of and reexamine how he treated his family in the past," Harper says. "He's forced to deal with this person who is a convicted murderer, but he also has to look in the mirror and see how he did not treat people as well as they should have been treated."
Perrineau says his character does get some redemption. "That's a theme for me," he says with a laugh, referencing his return to Lost, which also aired this week. "Eventually, he really does redeem himself. He helps Hawkes through this thing as he helps him solve a case."
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Merkerson, who won an Emmy, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for her performance in the 2005 HBO film Lackawanna Blues, said she's next producing and directing a documentary.
"It's exciting for me to be able to learn new things, she said. "I'm sure it will be emotional, but right now I'm just really happy for having had the opportunity."
NBC refused to comment on Merkerson's departure.
HBO did not comment on the cause of death.
"HBO is deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our dear friend and colleague David Mills," the network said in a statement. "He was a gracious and humble man, and will be sorely missed by those who knew and loved him, as well as those who were aware of his immense talent. David has left us too soon, but his brilliant work will live on."
Mills made his television writing debut with NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street, based on Simon's book. Before working in television, Mills was a reporter for the Post, while Simon worked for the Baltimore Sun. Among Mills' stories was one on rapper Sistah Souljah in which she made statements that became an issue in the 1992 presidential campaign.
Mills, who won Emmys for his work on the miniseries The Corner, also wrote for NYPD Blue, ER, and The Wire. He also authored the brilliant pop-culture blog Undercover Black Man, where he wrote about Treme on Monday.
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