Savior (13 Mar. 1996)

A hard-luck executive is accused of murdering his wife and son, and injuring his daughter. Dr. Olivet tells prosecutors that he fits the profile of a "family annihilator," but backs down when he refuses to confess on the stand.

Director:

David Platt

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Michael S. Chernuchin,

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
Brooke Smith	...	Margot Bell
Timothy Landfield	...	Ron Weber
Ellen Pompeo	...	Jenna Weber
Linda Emond	...	Laura Cochran
Shawn Hatosy	...	Chester Manning
Carolyn McCormick	...	Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
Linda Atkinson	...	Judge Kyle Gaines
John Driver	...	Mark Levinsohn
Nancy McDoniel	...	Sheila Gordon

Storyline

Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of Joyce Weber and her son Billy who were found shot in their beds. Her eldest daughter Jenna survived the attack but the father, Ron Weber, says he was out drinking and passed out in a local diner. Weber had been having a hard time of late. His alcoholism was getting the better of him and he had lost his job, something he had failed to tell his wife. He was worried about how he would care for his family and meet his responsibilities as the head of the family. Dr. Olivet confirms that he fits the pattern of a family annihilator and ADA McCoy proceeds with the prosecution. Part way through the trial however, Olivet begins to have doubts leading the police and the DA's office to take a second look at Jenna Weber's boyfriend Chester Manning.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 1996 (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?

Trivia

In this episode, Ellen Pompeo plays Jenna Weber, and Brooke Smith plays Margot Bell, Jenna's father's lawyer. They both have worked together in Grey's Anatomy as well.

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Connections

References The Muppet Show (1976)

User Reviews

Families Unhappy In Their Own Way.

Follows the usual -- and thoroughly respectable -- pattern of having a murder discovered, the two detectives following a false lead or two, followed by legal complications and a final resolution.

In this case, two middle-class children are found shot dead while asleep, and a third teen-aged girl is severely wounded but manages to pull through. Suspicion falls on the husband, a business failure who has become a drunk, and, as the evidence accumulates, probably a "family annihilator" too.

The police shrink, Liz, is called in and says he fits the profile of a family annihilator. He's "textbook perfect", except for one thing -- he doesn't break down under pressure and confess. I don't know where Liz gets her data from. I can only think of two famous "family annihilators" off hand. List murdered his entire family and then took off to establish a new identity elsewhere. And Jeffrey MacDonald murdered his wife and two young children at Fort Bragg and blamed it on an out-dated stereotype of hippies.

That stuff on family annihilators is interesting, though. The problem with this episode is that the resolution of a couple of complex problems all takes place in the last three or four minutes, and it comes out of nowhere.

That's made up for by the performance of Ellen Pompeo as the surviving daughter, which is quite good, though I can't describe it without giving away some of the surprises.