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LAW & ORDER {LAW AND ORDER}: D-GIRL {PART 1 OF 3} (TV)

Summary

One in this series of dramas that deals with the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of criminals. The first half of each episode concerns the police procedure that leads to the arrest of a suspect, while the second half covers the efforts of the district attorney to prosecute the case. In the first episode of this three-part arc, a man is shot by his brother-in-law shortly after picking him up from prison, but the cops are distracted by the discovery of a second, dismembered female body. The ex-con is determined to be uninvolved, and Briscoe and Curtis use the headless body's breast implants to identify her as one Heidi Ellison, a high-powered Hollywood producer. Heidi's assistant Greta claims that her boss is out of the country, having borrowed a friend's plane, but when the missing head is found, Greta and CEO Ben Hollings confirm the ID. Greta explains that Heidi was tangentially involved in a sexual harassment suit and had recently divorced famous director Eddie Newman, and Lieutenant Stu Miller confirms that Eddie was known to be physically abusive.

Blood evidence is found in Heidi's home, and Briscoe and Curtis interview Evan Grant, Heidi's personal trainer to whom she possibly promised a movie role, and though he states that they were "friends," forensics prove that he and Heidi were intimate shortly before her death. Evan travels to L.A. before the detectives can compel a blood test, however, and as they cannot yet procure a court order, Briscoe and Curtis follow him to California to "ask nicely." Once there, they are escorted onto the film set by production VP Lisa Lundquist and surprise Evan as he works with another famous client. He refuses to take the test, maintaining that he was in New Paltz when Heidi was killed, though suspicious scratch marks on his neck seem to implicate him as the killer. Lisa flirts with Curtis as Briscoe questions Eddie, who explains that he was in L.A. with Dr. Dan Duvall, his therapist – and also Heidi's – at the time of her death. The detectives obtain the court order and arrest Evan, but his lawyer, Klein, quickly intervenes with a restraining order. Lisa tells Briscoe that Heidi rescinded her offer to Evan of a role in a big action film, possibly giving him motive to kill her, and she heads out to dinner with Curtis on the pretense of seeking technical advice on a script. At the end of the evening, she makes her romantic intentions clear, but Curtis, still in the process of separating from his wife, allows her to sleep off her inebriation alone in his hotel room while he bunks with an exasperated Briscoe.

Klein argues that the blood test is an "intrusion" of Evan's rights and the court order is denied, but Briscoe and Curtis soon find the necessary evidence in the trash. Curtis continues his flirtation with Lisa, but Evan's blood is found to be a match to the crime scene, and he and Briscoe quickly escort Evan back to NYC, where he is remanded to Rikers. Neil Gorton, Ross' ex, tells her that he has been retained by the studio and asks about Eddie, but she assures him that he is not a suspect. Evan admits to a sexual relationship with Heidi but swears that he did not kill her, explaining that a toll receipt in Heidi's car will alibi him. The car, however, turns out to actually be Eddie's, and when the detectives learn that it was thoroughly cleaned right after her death and that he may not truly have been in L.A. at the time, they begin to wonder if they have focused on the wrong person. Neil confronts Ross, furious that Eddie has now become a suspect after all. Commercials deleted.

Details

  • NETWORK: NBC
  • DATE: March 13, 1997 10:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:44:45
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: B:49449
  • GENRE: Drama, police/detective
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, police/detective; Drama, legal
  • SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1990-2010
  • COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

  • Ed Sherin … Executive Producer, Director
  • Dick Wolf … Executive Producer, Created by
  • Rene Balcer … Executive Producer, Writer
  • Ed Zuckerman … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
  • Arthur W. Forney … Supervising Producer
  • Gardner Stern … Supervising Producer, Writer
  • Billy Fox … Producer
  • Lewis H. Gould … Producer
  • Jeffrey Hayes … Producer
  • Jeremy R. Littman … Co-Producer
  • Constantine Makris … Director
  • Mike Post … Music by
  • Jerry Orbach … Cast, Detective Lennie Briscoe
  • Benjamin Bratt … Cast, Detective Reynaldo Curtis
  • S. Epatha Merkerson … Cast, Lieutenant Anita Van Burren
  • Sam Waterston … Cast, Assistant D.A. Jack McCoy
  • Carey Lowell … Cast, Assistant D.A. Jamie Ross
  • Steven Hill … Cast, District Attorney Adam Schiff
  • Keith Szarabajka … Cast, Neil Gorton
  • Lauren Graham … Cast, Lisa Lundquist
  • Scott Cohen … Cast, Eddie Newman
  • Jeffrey D. Sams … Cast, Evan Grant
  • Paul Hecht … Cast, Dr. Dan Duvall
  • Dick Latessa … Cast, Attorney Mitchell Klein
  • Michael Harney … Cast, Lt. Stu Miller
  • Michael Zaslow … Cast, Ben Hollings
  • Mark Joy … Cast, L.A. Detective
  • Janeane Garofalo … Cast, Greta Heiss
  • John Newton … Cast, Judge Eric Caffey
  • Norma Fire … Cast, Judge Pamela Jensen
  • Leslie Hendrix … Cast, Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
  • John Fiore … Cast, Detective Tony Profaci
  • Scott Rabinowitz … Cast, Dr. Levine
  • Harrison Young … Cast, Gus
  • Rainer Grant … Cast, Marlowe Powers
  • John Kudan … Cast, Jerome
  • Gary Evans … Cast, Uniform Policeman Richie
  • Don Creech … Cast, Carl Thurston
  • Marla Rubinoff … Cast, Shane Perry
  • Brian McQuillan … Cast, Luke Richmond
  • Susan Cella … Cast, Maria Rago
  • Maria Bellantoni … Cast, Carmela Rago
  • Ken Forman … Cast, Bartender
  • Renee Bluestone … Cast, Mrs. Stacy Rudman
  • Caralyn Gorel … Cast, Katie
  • Gene Ruffini … Cast, Bum
  • Jo Twiss … Cast, Neighbor
  • Robert Dolan … Cast, CSU Technician
  • Gregg Dubner … Cast, Newscaster
  • Benjamin Cain … Cast, Court Clerk
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