Smothered (14 Oct. 2001)

When a pregnant woman who was struggling to stay clean from drugs is found slain, Detectives Goren and Eames search for her ex-junkie boyfriend whose tattered life is dominated by his ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Fields

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator), Rene Balcer (developer),

Stars:

Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Jamey Sheridan

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Detective Robert Goren
Kathryn Erbe	...	Detective Alexandra Eames
Jamey Sheridan	...	Captain James Deakins
Courtney B. Vance	...	A.D.A. Ron Carver
Kathleen Chalfant	...	Priscilla Van Acker
Geoffrey Nauffts	...	Dale Van Acker
Will Lyman	...	Roger Jameson
Susan Misner	...	Becky Stark
James Hanlon	...	Larry Falls
Funda Duval	...	Lois Romney (as Funda Duyal)
Jerry Lanning	...	Holden
Stephen Beach	...	Billy Coffey
Ronald Guttman	...	Belgian Diplomat
Isiah Whitlock Jr.	...	(credit only)
Kristen Lee Kelly	...	Janice Falls

Storyline

When a pregnant woman who was struggling to stay clean from drugs is found slain, Detectives Goren and Eames search for her ex-junkie boyfriend whose tattered life is dominated by his wealthy socialite mother. While Captain Deakins (Jamey Sheridan) wants to hand off the seemingly open-and-shut case to the homicide cops, Goren protests that killing a pregnant woman deserves a more hands-on investigation -- and the detective soon finds a sticky web that extends to many dirty hands.

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Plot Keywords:

fish scale | magnifying glass | black eye | reference to george w. bush | broken toe | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 October 2001 (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:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The plot of Smothered is loosely based on the case of Pati Margello, her boyfriend Dean MacGuigan, his stepfather and his mother Lisa Dean Moseley.

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Quotes

Detective Alexandra Eames: What is that?
Detective Robert Goren: Fish scale.
Detective Alexandra Eames: Great, she was attacked by a shark.
Detective Robert Goren: Sharks don't have scales.
Detective Alexandra Eames: [rolls eyes]

User Reviews

Nasty Family Business

This was a so-so episode, one in which the main characters were all unappealing and we knew who the killer was right away, except for the question of who hired, or inspired, the killer.

In a nutshell, the girlfriend a junkie son of a well-to-do high society mother is killed and Goren and Eames try to find out to murdered this woman, who was also a junkie but trying to go clean....and she was pregnant. Suspects, of course, are headed by the boyfriend who would financially benefit from getting rid of the girlfriend, getting clean and getting back into the good graces of his wealthy mother. That mother and her husband, however, are the ones that look guilty. Are they?

Everyone knows Law and Order's Liberal bias, but it's usually not as pronounced in this spin off of the regular L&O show. However, there is cheap shot here against "George W." and it's repeated in case you didn't get it the first time. It wasn't necessary, but they just can't resist.

Still, it's always interesting to see how the good guys go about proving their case. You'll feel good when you see the murderer being led away in handcuffs.