White Lie

A chauffeur (Joseph Tudisco) was waiting downstairs for his boss when a laborer from a moving company complained about the parking space to deliver a living room set. They both went upstairs to realize the man and his wife were brutally murdered by gunshot; the man's left ear was also cut off. The victim is a Colombian national and a well- known drug dealer in the Big Apple. The investigation lead to a woman used to live above her means, whose husband is an army military officer stationed in Bogotà; she is a drug addicted (cocaine) and she was used as a mule for smuggling drugs: thanks to his husband's job, it was easy for her to take drugs from a military base in Colombia to New York City by chopper. Detectives manage to set a trap for the wannabe king of drug trafficking, but at trial all the witnesses are afraid to be killed by Mafia and refuse to point out the defendant as the killer. It's all up to the woman, does she have the strength to testify against him?

An episode involving drug: dealers are powerful and people fear their reactions over depositions at trial; without proper covering, your life would be forever at stake.

Along with the other errors mentioned, the Major is wearing the third award of the CIB (Combat Infantry Badge), which would mean at least three or more combat tours with line units. Also no unit insignia or combat unit patch, and none of his seven awards (ribbons) are for combat, but are enlisted awards for achievements. Retired Army First Sergeant.

"White Lie" has a very basic and ordinary sounding story, or at least on first glance, and it is one that is not different territory for the franchise. 'Law and Order' though proved many times before and even since (but especially the former) that it could make something special or complex out of something that doesn't sound that amazing conceptually. It is a relevant issue and is always worth addressing, but it's one that has been done better elsewhere.

Although Season 11 did better episodes, such as "Endurance", "Hubris" and "Ego", which had more emotional impact and intensity, there are also far worse episodes (mostly in the first half of the season). Where stories were not handled tactfully, thin and with cases not substantial enough to bring to trial with shoddy work on both sides of the legal argument. "White Lie" is not a great or perfect episode, but in my view it is not deserving of being one of the lower rated episodes of Season 11.

It does start off on the ordinary and familiar side, with familiar plot tropes, though it still intrigued and Briscoe and Green are a great team. The conclusion is somewhat over-crowded and rushed.

Did think too that the supporting characters could have been written with more subtlety and not as stereotyped.

However, the acting is excellent from all the regulars and despite having issues with the way the supporting characters were written, Charlotte D'Amboise particularly. The story becomes a good deal more interesting when things turn out not what they seemed at first, and the turn in the plot is not handled abruptly or jarringly. The case also becomes more intricate and more tense and disturbing. The dramatic highlight being the cross examination.

Furthermore, "White Lie" doesn't look drab or gaudy, and the editing is far from slapdash. The music avoids getting too melodramatic in the more dramatic moments while not being too low key, it has always been a good move that it is used relatively sparingly. The direction especially shines in the character interaction in the second half. The script is beautifully balanced, there is a lot of talk but taut enough to avoid it from waffling.

Good episode all in all. 7/10.

The husband-wife dynamic in the episode is maybe underdeveloped given that it's pretty engaging. The episode felt like it had unrealized potential. The murders are grisly and the criminal details and main defendant are interesting.

The murder of a Columbian drug lord and his wife with some shotgun blasts have Jerry Orbach and Jesse Martin on the case and an involved chase leads them to Charlotte D'Amboise an army wife.

Her husband Michael Gaston is an army major assigned to our embassy there and working on the never ending war on drugs and we know what that entails. She's not our killer, but a witness.

She's also a drug mule and a perfect one. As an army wife she won't be searched at an airport. The investigation shows she was a wild child before marriage into the military with some drug busts.

As things go forth at the trial witnesses are intimidated and won't testify and pretty soon it's going to boil down to D'Amboise. She tells her story on and off the witness stand and it's a sad and pathetic one. But her husband loves her.

An interesting tale, you'll have to see how it works out at trial with Louie Leonardo a cartel killer and Ruben Santiago-Hudson as the defense attorney.

Both Santiago-Hudson and Sam Waterston both earn fee and salary examining her on the stand.