Tabula Rasa (20 Apr. 1999)

The prime suspect in the murder of a college professor is a domineering father who kidnapped his children and disappeared 15 years earlier.

Director:

Richard Dobbs

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Kathy McCormick,

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
Angie Harmon	...	A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael
Steven Hill	...	D.A. Adam Schiff
Jay O. Sanders	...	Nick Taska / Bill Fallon
Maggie Low	...	Eleanor Taska
Anne Bobby	...	Sylvia Fallon
Tracy Spindler	...	Alexis Fallon
Lacey Kohl	...	Susan Fallon
Joyce Gordon	...	Judge Lisa Holt
J.K. Simmons	...	Dr. Emil Skoda
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Professor Norman Rothenberg
Larry Clarke	...	Detective Morris LaMotte

Storyline

Briscoe and Curtis investigate the death of a philosophy professor on the subway tracks who some witnesses say had been in an argument with someone and then pushed. The investigation leads to a prominent man and his family from out of town who had a past connection to a friend of the victim.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 1999 (USA)

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wolf Films, Studios USA Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Fallon's credit card records include a purchase from TKTS (half-price tickets for Broadway/Off-Broadway shows), but TKTS doesn't take credit cards, only cash or traveler's checks. (TKTS started taking credit cards in 2009, 10 years after this episode aired.)

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Quotes

A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael: That was the spookiest bunch I ever saw.
Jack McCoy: The whole family's worried, about inconveniencing Dad.

User Reviews

McCoy Buffaloed

This is a good Law and Order episode in which for one of the few times Sam Waterston is totally buffaloed by the perpetrator in this case, Jay Sanders. This man pushed a woman on a subway track because she recognized him in his previous identity. What had happened was that Sanders had fled New York State after a custody hearing went against him in a dispute with his ex-wife and took their two daughters with him and started a new life with a new identity in Cincinnati. The victim was the college roommate of the ex-wife who of course knew Sanders back in the day.

Jerry Orbach and Benjamin Bratt uncover the story. And it's a scary one. The two daughters are the psychological prisoners of an anal retentive man to the extreme. If the pillows are fluffed wrong, Sanders has a conniption. They so can't imagine a world without dear old Dad that the younger daughter, Tracy Spindler, confesses to the crime in order to save him.

Hence the conundrum for Sam Waterston. He and Angie Harmon decide to stretch the statute and prosecute Sanders for kidnapping instead. It's the only time on Law and Order I ever saw them go for a lesser charge because they can't make the murder case.

The real star of this episode is Anne Bobby who plays Sanders's second wife and stepmother to the girls. It's a frightening portrait of a meek and docile woman who caters to her husband's every whim. She's called by Jack McCoy as his witness and her testimony on the witness stand is a brilliant piece of acting. She's a rebuttal witness that McCoy pulls out at the last minute. Bit by bit he shows her the kind of Stepford existence she's made for herself with this man. In the end she sinks Sanders.

McCoy may have been buffaloed, but I do love Angie Harmon's comment at the end that some cosmic justice will be meted out to someone who likes to control and now will have his every movement controlled for 24/7.

It's one of the best Law and Order episodes.