A successful businesswoman is accused of killing her stock broker and lover over insider trading issues. However, she claims she suffered a psychotic break because she was undergoing hormone... Read allA successful businesswoman is accused of killing her stock broker and lover over insider trading issues. However, she claims she suffered a psychotic break because she was undergoing hormone replacement therapy.A successful businesswoman is accused of killing her stock broker and lover over insider trading issues. However, she claims she suffered a psychotic break because she was undergoing hormone replacement therapy.
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- DA Arthur Branch
- (as Fred Dalton Thompson)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode appears to be based on the 2002 ImClone stock trading case involving Martha Stewart. The character of Jackie Scott even references this when she says "First Martha, then me".
- Quotes
Jackie Scott: [half to herself] Pick a lane.
D.A. Arthur Branch: [turns around] Hmm?
Jackie Scott: The old man used to say to me, "Jacks...life is like a street. Like a dangerous New York City street. You pick a lane. And don't you let *anybody* cut you off." You can't cut me off, Arthur. I won't let you.
D.A. Arthur Branch: I don't have to.
- ConnectionsReferences A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
While not one of the best episodes of Season 13, this is still very good and very nearly great. Like a number of episodes, one half is better, or at least more riveting, than the other. Don't get me wrong, despite how this sounds, it's compelling throughout but is even better in the second half. It also succeeds in making a character who usually does not shine that much more interesting and more involved in the action, in fact adding a lot to the tension more so than usual.
It's not perfect. It does try to cram in too much in too short a space of time towards the conclusion, not an uncommon problem in 'Law and Order' episodes.
Really don't want to sound like a broken record, but Elisabeth Rohm really fails to inject any life to Southerlyn and comes over as stiff and cold with one-note line delivery.
However, there is a lot of things that are great. The production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic. The direction is sympathetic but also alert. All the other regulars are absolutely terrific, particularly in the legal portions and in the debates. Can't fault Jerry Orbach, Jesse L Martin and Sam Waterston while Fred Dalton Thompson gives one of his better performances of the show in one of Branch's most involving appearances.
Lucie Arnez plays her character with both class and menace without resorting to any scenery chewing. Furthermore, the episode has a thoughtful script that like a lot of 'Law and Order' episodes raises interesting questions worthy of debate with somebody, the moral dilemmas of the case treated intriguingly. The story is tactful but also pulls no punches, making one feel sad and angry. Nothing is too simple or too complicated and the second half even is riveting and keeps one guessing the more complex it gets. The character writing and interaction are near-on point and the conflict, mostly as a result of Branch's intervention, has genuine tension.
Overall, very good. 8/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jun 14, 2022