This is a fantastic episode that deals, as many great L&O episodes do, with race relations. Viewers who watch this episode focusing exclusively on Jack McCoy's arguments - which mostly correlate with the kind of conservative personal responsibility doctrine preached by his predecessor in the role, Ben Stone - are not paying attention to the multiple perspectives voiced by the other characters.
The script by Michael Chernuchin is fantastic and gives voice to pretty much all sides of the central plot, which involves a black stockbroker accused of killing his white superior at a powerful NY investment bank. It does, in fact, address the issue of institutional racism, and the final 30 seconds leave almost no doubt about the fact that the show wants you to keep asking questions; you're not meant to just take what Jack McCoy is selling hook, line, and sinker.
With all that said, the guest performances are all great: Courtney B. Vance rules as the complex Bud Greer, who is at the center of the story; he's represented at different points by Richard Libertini and then Wendell Pierce as a civil rights attorney who McCoy knows from his "equal protection arguments in front of the Supreme Court" which he notes as being "classic."
This episode shows how good L&O could be in its early years. It's one I'll happily rewatch in the future.
The script by Michael Chernuchin is fantastic and gives voice to pretty much all sides of the central plot, which involves a black stockbroker accused of killing his white superior at a powerful NY investment bank. It does, in fact, address the issue of institutional racism, and the final 30 seconds leave almost no doubt about the fact that the show wants you to keep asking questions; you're not meant to just take what Jack McCoy is selling hook, line, and sinker.
With all that said, the guest performances are all great: Courtney B. Vance rules as the complex Bud Greer, who is at the center of the story; he's represented at different points by Richard Libertini and then Wendell Pierce as a civil rights attorney who McCoy knows from his "equal protection arguments in front of the Supreme Court" which he notes as being "classic."
This episode shows how good L&O could be in its early years. It's one I'll happily rewatch in the future.