Bitter Fruit (20 Sep. 1995)

Briscoe and his new partner, Rey Curtis, track down the man accused of kidnapping and killing a young girl. But before the suspect is arraigned, the girl's mother shoots and kills him in the courtroom.

Director:

Constantine Makris

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Rene Balcer,

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Benjamin Bratt, S. Epatha Merkerson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Lennie Briscoe
Benjamin Bratt	...	Detective Rey Curtis
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lt. Anita Van Buren
Sam Waterston	...	Jack McCoy
Jill Hennessy	...	A.D.A. Claire Kincaid
Steven Hill	...	D.A. Adam Schiff
Richard Venture	...	Douglas Greer
Tom Tammi	...	Mr. Gaines
John Ventimiglia	...	Nick Capetti
Marilyn Chris	...	Mrs. Capetti
Tanya Berezin	...	Judge Rosalyn Lenz
Ellen Greene	...	Karen Gaines
Steven Stahl	...	Frank Sullivan
Joe Paparone	...	Charles Fleming
Leslie Hendrix	...	Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers

Storyline

Det. Lenny Briscoe and his new partner Det. Ray Curtis investigate the abduction and murder of12 year-old Jodie Gaines. She was dropped off by her school bus less than a block from her after school piano lesson. She never showed up. They get a lead from an ATM camera where they find a white van parked on the street where walked by. It leads to the arrest of Nick Capetti who is charged with murder. At his arraignment however the dead girl's mother, Karen Gaines, shoots him dead. She gets a sympathetic judge and a lenient sentence leading DA McCoy to have the case re-investigated. The new suspect in the case is Karen Gaines herself.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 1995 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Universal TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Detective Lennie Briscoe: The last original thought Capetti had, he left swirling in the bowl.

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Connections

Remade as Law & Order: UK: Hidden (2009)

User Reviews

Lots of twists... including to L&O itself

Season 6 of L&O was a shot in the arm for the series - a new detective (Curtis) and even though he was a sometimes obnoxiously conservative addition, the show itself took a lot of welcome risks during his tenure. There was more action and more plot twists, and the franchise's biggest departure from its basic format in the season finale. I'm not sure what it was, but something lit a fire under the producers and writers starting with this season.

The season debut sets up some half baked conflict between seasoned, imperfect Lenny and inexperienced, holier-than-thou Curtis which is alright. The episode itself is about the abduction and murder of a girl who was locked in a caught despite between her parents, and features the kinds of plot twists and brief bursts of chaotic action that really made these seasons exciting for me.

This episode isn't the best example of the renaissance, for one thing it lacks the kind of character depth for such an emotional story, but it's still pretty good.