Edwin Sherin Movies

The black CEO of a magazine publishing firm is murdered. The detectives put the pieces together and collar a rabidly racist suspect. After the D.A.'s office takes over the case, the suspect's defense attorney serves up a curve ball by arguing that racism is a "mental defect." This is the first Law & Order episode in which the terrible events of September 11, 2001 were acknowledged. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steven Hill, the sole remaining cast member from Law & Order's first season, appeared as D.A. Adam Schiff for the final time in this episode. In a case reminiscent of the theatrical feature Missing, a father obsessively seeks out the persons responsible for the torture and death of his son in Chile in 1973. When the father himself dies, A.D.A. McCoy (Sam Waterston) goes after hospitalized Chilean colonel Emilio Pantoya (Tomas Milian), intending to prosecute the ailing officer for murder. "Vaya Con Dios" originally aired in tandem with another episode, "Stiff," on May 24, 2000, bringing the tenth season of Law & Order to a close. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode of Homicide: Life on the Street is the conclusion of a two-part story introduced on its "sister" series Law & Order. Newly appointed to a district court bench, ADA Danvers (Zeljko Ivanek) brings the Baltimore homicide unit into the investigation of the death of governmental official Janine McBride, who, despite being found murdered in New York City, was actually killed in Baltimore. Al Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) is mad that his son Mike (Giancarlo Esposito) turned over confidential information about the McBride case to his FBI bosses, who, in turn, handed it over to Independent Counsel William Dell (George Hearn) -- resulting in immunity for the accused murderer. As it turns out, the ruthless Dell (who bears a startling resemblance to Kenneth Starr) is using both the Baltimore cops and Law & Order regulars Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt), Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), and Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) as unwitting stepping stones for his own political ambitions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Law & Order launched its tenth season with still another addition to the cast: former Ally McBeal regular Jesse L. Martin as detective Eddie Green, newest partner of series stalwart Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach). This episode acknowledges the devastating impact of the Columbine tragedy, opening with a Central Park shooting spree in which several female medical students are killed or injured. Once the detectives have traced the weapon, A.D.A. Sam McCoy (Sam Waterston) goes after two perpetrators: the man who pulled the trigger, and the manufacturer of the weapon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Angie Harmon joins the cast as A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael in the opening episode of Law & Order's ninth season. The focus is on the "ethics" of foreign adoptions, and the catalyst is the suspicious death of a baby girl. The detectives are puzzled by the secretive attitude of the infant's parents, who won't allow the authorities into their apartment. Once this matter is settled, the D.A.'s office sets its sights on Russian doctor Andre Kostov (Victor Steinbach), who for a price has been farming out unhealthy children for adoption in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second of Law & Order's three "crossovers" with the Baltimore-based NBC crime series Homicide: Life on the Street, a teenaged model dies on the streets of New York, apparently the victim of toxic-shock syndrome. An autopsy reveals that the girl had been raped, a crime that would have to have been committed while she was in Baltimore. Thus, detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) calls in his Baltimore counterpart, John Munch (Richard Belzer), to assist in the investigation. Meanwhile, New York assistant DA McCoy (Sam Waterston) finds himself locked in a jurisdictional battle with the Baltimore DA -- a battle complicated by the actions of the dead girl's parents. In addition to Richard Belzer, Homicide regulars Jon Seda (Falsone) and Yaphet Kotto (Giardello) also appear. The first episode of the two-part "Baby, It's You" aired as the November 11, 1997, installment of Law & Order; the conclusion was seen November 14 on Homicide: Life on the Street. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the concluding episode of a three-part story, Eddie Newman (Scott Cohen), chief suspect in the murder of a female Hollywood movie executive, may beat the rap thanks to an O.J.-like "dream team" defense. Complicating matters is the revelation of detective Rey Curtis' (Benjamin Bratt) possible extramarital fling with Tinseltown producer Lisa Lundquist (Lauren Graham). Worse still, assistant D.A. Ross' (Carey Lowell) ex-husband, defense attorney Neal Gordon (Keith Szarabajka), hopes to use the Eddie Newman case to regain custody of his daughter. Episode highlights include Assistant D.A. McCoy's (Sam Waterston) blistering indictment of "trial by media." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fans of Law & Order -- and there were many, many more than there had been in previous years -- were somewhat surprised that the series entered its eighth season with no changes in the regular cast. detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) were still upholding the "Law" at the behest of their NYPD boss Lt. Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), while ADAs McCoy (Sam Waterston) and Ross (Carey Lowell) continued to maintain "Order" on behalf of their superior, DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill). In other carryovers from past seasons, the series staged its second crossover with the NBC crime drama Homicide: Life on the Street with the episode "Baby, It's You;" as before, selected Homicide cast members appeared on Law & Order, and vice versa. Also keeping in the tradition of its past, the series took home its third Emmy award for Outstanding Cinematography. In addition, the series continued tackling issues that were very much in the news. For example, the episode "Castoff" addressed the culpability of TV violence in fomenting real-life violence. Much more so than in previous seasons, the series boasted a number of narrative throughlines that enhanced its sense of reality and continuity. McCoy's questionable tactics in prosecuting a drunk driver in "Under the Influence" came back to haunt him in the season finale. Likewise, in that same episode, Cliff Gorman was introduced as a politically ambitious judge named Gary Feldman, who hoped to win the DA's office from Schiff in the upcoming election. Feldman received unexpected support in the form of powerful (and paranoiac) millionaire Carl Anderton (Robert Vaughn), who would not forget being "betrayed" by Schiff in the episode "Burned." Both Feldman and Anderton would converge upon the DA in the aforementioned series finale, which also boasted a subplot involving ADA Jamie Ross. To accommodate the fact that actress Carey Lowell planned to leave the series, Ross decided to retire to private practice so that she could devote her spare time to her second husband -- and to an ongoing child-custody battle with husband number one. And in more glimpses of the characters' private lives, Jennifer Bill appeared in a brace of episodes as Cathy Briscoe, the troubled, estranged daughter of detective Lennie Briscoe. The brevity of Bill's contribution to Law & Order was due to a devastating plot twist which threatened to push Briscoe over the edge and back into the bottle he'd successfully abandoned years earlier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This episode of Homicide: Life on the Street is the conclusion of "Charm City," a two-part story introduced on the TV series Law & Order. Baltimore homicide detectives Pembleton (Andre Braugher) and Bayliss (Kyle Secor) have gone to New York to investigate a subway bombing which may be linked to a similar case that occurred in their own city five years earlier. It soon becomes clear that their investigation is being thwarted by a widespread official coverup. Also involved in the case are three Law & Order regulars: detectives Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) and Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), and ADA Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy). The presence of Briscoe ticks off Baltimore detective John Munch (Richard Belzer); it seems that Lennie was once intimate with John's ex-wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Law & Order entered its seventh season on a note of uncertainty: Had Assistant DA Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy) been killed by that drunk driver at the end of season six? The answer would remain vague until it was determined by the producers that actress Hennessy had no intention of returning to the series; it was at this point that the unfortunate Kincaid was sadly and reverently referred to in the past tense. Her replacement was ADA Jamie Ross (played by Carey Lowell). The idealistic Ross, who struggled to balance her career with her home life as a single mom, proved to be an excellent opposite number for the jaded, unattached Executive ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). In addition to claiming Kincaid, death took its toll on another of the series' characters. Throughout season seven, the never-seen wife of DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) lay virtually comatose in a hospital bed, tenaciously hanging on to life. The final episode of the season concluded with a grieving Schiff sitting at bedside as the monitor attached to his wife flat-lined. Nor was the brief sojourn to Hollywood taken by detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) fraught with merriment. They had gone to Tinseltown to investigate the brutal murder of a female studio executive, a plot line which necessitated the series' first (and, to this point, only) three-part story. This expanded time frame afforded ample opportunity to probe the private lives of two of the series' principals: Curtis, devoted to his ailing wife (who had earlier been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis), nonetheless briefly drifted from his marital vows with a sexy Hollywoodite, and new ADA Jamie Ross was bedeviled by her ex-husband, scheming defense attorney Neal Gordon (Keith Szarabajka), both in and out of court. After several years worth of Emmy nominations but no wins, Law & Order closed out season seven with two new statuettes, for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Law & Order launched its sixth season with the addition of yet another new character, Detective Rey Curtis, played by Benjamin Bratt. As the replacement for Mike Logan (Chris Noth), previous partner of Detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Curtis exuded enough youthful idealism and self-consciousness to counterbalance Briscoe's hard-boiled, world-weary persona. Ever so carefully, and without disturbing the plot-driven ambience of the series, the producers continued to provide quickie glimpses of the private lives of the six principal characters. The various casual affairs indulged in by Executive Assistant DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) in the years before his association with DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill) occasionally come back to haunt him, and never so dramatically as in the episode "Trophy," in which he is forced to prosecute a former lover whose false testimony in an earlier case had enabled him to advance professionally. Another episode, "Charm City," represents the first of three Law & Order crossovers with another NBC crime series, the Baltimore-based Homicide: Life in the Street. This required several Law & Order regulars to make guest appearances on Homicide, and vice versa, thereby opening old wounds between New Yorker Lennie Briscoe and his Baltimore counterpart, John Munsch (Richard Belzer). Inevitably, the 1995-1996 season of Law & Order ended with the departure of one of the regulars, in this instance Jill Hennessy as Assistant DA Claire Kincaid. Onscreen, Kincaid was seriously injured in an auto accident; in truth, Hennessy chose not to renew her contract with the series, leaving her free to pursue other roles. The question of whether Kincaid survived the accident would not be fully answered until well into season seven. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A college student is murdered at a biker bar. At first, detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Curtis (Benjamin Bratt) believe that the solution to the case hinges upon interrogating the hard-case bar patrons. Ultimately, however, the answer lies somewhere within the mysterious world of the Internet, a world in which the younger Curtis is far more "at home" than his veteran partner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide