Disciple (L&O)

"Disciple"
←	L&O, Episode 9.15	→
Production number: E0220 First aired: 24 February 1999
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Written By Lynne E. Litt & Kathy McCormick Directed By Martha Mitchell

Plot

After a teenage girl is found dead in the emergency room, the investigation leads to a case involving a religious ritual and a defendant who claims that the action taken was dictated by a saint's voice.

Cast

Main cast

• Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe
• Benjamin Bratt as Detective Rey Curtis
• S. Epatha Merkerson as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
• Sam Waterston as Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy
• Angie Harmon as A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael
• Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff

Guest cast

• Peter Bartlett as Judge Thomas Orlin
• Stephen Beach as Father O'Donnell
• Susan Blackwell as Erica Castle
• Michael Bolus as CSU Technician Jones
• Bill Camp as Barney Rade
• Frances Conroy as Rosa Halasy
• Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
• Sylva Kelegian as Margo Grayson
• Bruce Kronenberg as Ron Balducci
• Chuck Lewkowicz as Carl Starblenz
• Leighton Meester as Alyssa Turner
• Georgienne Millen as Judy Turner
• John Nacco as Stan Oblinger
• John Ottavino as Manny Turner
• Wendell Pierce as Mr. Wade
• Frank Raiter as Damien Ribot
• Marisa Redanty as Shirley Paxton
• Mel Rodriguez as Bill Crawford
• Gene Ruffini as Owen Forbes
• J.K. Simmons as Dr. Emil Skoda
• Stewart Steinberg as Louie Dantone
• Frank Vlastnik as Dr. Phil Sugarman
• Marcell Rosenblatt as Jury Foreman
• Barbara Caruso as Mother Superior Agnes
• Reathel Bean as unknown
• Steven Randazzo as unknown

References

• Crusades
• Islamic Jihad
• Joan of Arc
• Saint Michael
• David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam"

Quotes

Woman: I'm sorry, three kids with the flu home all week.

Rey Curtis: I know how it is.

Woman: No, you don't. You get to go to work.

Abbie Carmichael: Did they teach you how to perform exorcisms, Jack?

Jack McCoy: They taught us to have a healthy respect the devil.

Carmichael: The only devil in this case is the woman we're trying for murder.

McCoy: No guilt, no remorse. Said voices told her to wage war against Satan.

Schiff: Son of Sam again.

McCoy: No. Berkowitz was a psychopathic loser who said he received directions to kill from a Labrador retriever. Rosa's voices tells her to save the world.

Schiff: A voice is a voice. Nobody's that naive.

McCoy: To believe in the devil.

Schiff: People see the devil as an allegory.

McCoy: I'm not so sure I do.

Abbie Carmichael: Horns and a pitchfork, Jack?

“	She may hear God, but she may not play God.	”
–Jack McCoy during closing arguments

Background information and notes

• This episode appears to be ripped from the headlines of the Charity Miranda case. Charity's mother, Vivian, and a classmate, Serena Martin, engaged her in a two-hour exorcism because her mother believed that Charity had a demon inside of her. Charity died during the exorcism process, and to cover her death, her mother placed her in a plastic bag, leaving her at the bottom of the stairs.
• McCoy has been prosecuting cases for nearly 25 years.

1	2	3
St. Ive's Shelter 311 East Ludlow Street Monday, January 26	Fremont Recreation Center 115 Suffolk Street Thursday, January 29	Supreme Court Arraignment Wednesday, February 11

4	5
Supreme Court Trial Part 61 Monday, March 9	Supreme Court Trial Part 61 Thursday, March 12

Previous episode: "Sideshow"

"Disciple" Law & Order Season 9

Next episode: "Harm"