Panic (16 Feb. 2000)

Detectives suspect that a best-selling novelist was shot because she was having an affair with a married FBI agent who was helping her with research. It turns out that they have the right motive, but the wrong suspect.

Director:

Constantine Makris

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), William N. Fordes (teleplay),

Stars:

Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, S. Epatha Merkerson

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Jerry Orbach	...	Detective Lennie Briscoe
Jesse L. Martin	...	Detective Ed Green
S. Epatha Merkerson	...	Lt. Anita Van Buren
Sam Waterston	...	Jack McCoy
Angie Harmon	...	A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael
Steven Hill	...	D.A. Adam Schiff
Tom Berenger	...	Dean Tyler
Linda Emond	...	Carolyn Tyler
Gerry Bamman	...	Stan Gillum
Jordan Charney	...	Judge Donald Karin
Richard Council	...	Claude Hays
Leonardo Cimino	...	Tommy Valducci
Ruthie Henshall	...	P.K. Todd
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom Bloom	...	Aaron James
Todd Cerveris	...	Russell Wolenski

Storyline

Detectives suspect that a best-selling novelist was shot because she was having an affair with a married FBI agent who was helping her with research. It turns out that they have the right motive, but the wrong suspect.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 February 2000 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Studios USA Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

An author named P.K. Todd is shot. P.K. Todd is the real life writer of episode 11.4 ("Standoff").

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Goofs

The standard issue pistol of the FBI is the 40 caliber Glock, not the 9 millimeter Glock as stated by Detective Green.

User Reviews

Now Is The Time To Panic!

This has all the felicities of the usual episode but is a little more interesting than some, at least to me, viewing it as a shrink.

A well-known authoress is shot and wounded on the street, and a companion killed. Brisco and Green investigate and suspicion falls on an FBI agent, Tom Berenger, who own the weapon that fired the bullet. Evidence emerges that Berenger was having an affair with the writer. But, unexpectedly, phone records reveal that it was Berenger's wife who was intimate with the woman.

The defense claims "homosexual panic" as an excuse. There is a bit of argument in court, but it emerges that Berenger actually was seen somewhere else in the city at the time of the shooting, and Berenger's wife has an alibi too. So who did the shooting? Without going into more detail, Berenger pleads guilty to murder two and gets it in the neck in order to save the shooter.

"Homosexual panic" is (or was) a recognized emotional state of extreme arousal but was defined in psychiatry as the result of a sudden discovery that the person you are with is gay and may be making advances towards you. It wouldn't have held up in court because a panic doesn't include finding that your SPOUSE is bisexual and then shooting her lover hours later, with premeditation.

Tom Berenger isn't bad as the FBI agent. He never had a major career. He's rather like Treat Williams, just another guy who gets hired from time to time, a kind of utility player. Williams has range as an actor but is hobbled by his high, thin voice, suggestive of weakness. Berenger can't seem to shake a certain kind of sullen screen presence.