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"Silence"
L&O, Episode 2.21
Production number: 67427
First aired: 28 April 1992
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Logan Cerreta Silence
Teleplay By
René Balcer & Michael S. Chernuchin

Story By
René Balcer & Michael Duggan

Directed By
Ed Sherin

Plot[]

A politician would rather risk his son's murderer going free than go to trial, where it would be revealed that the deceased was gay.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Recurring cast[]

Guest cast[]

References[]

Quotes[]

Peter Colson: Why the hell else would he pay me?
Mike Logan: I don’t know. Blackmail comes to mind.
Peter Colson: You obviously don't have enough evidence to arrest me. Which means you don’t have enough to insult me, either.

Ms. Bowman: Closed courtroom? You gotta be kidding, Paul. I just got my hair done.

Stone: A real person's life is in jeopardy, Your Honor. Surely that outweighs any intangible benefits to a general public which is in no way affected by this case.
Murphy: So we re-write the First Amendment, freedom of the press, but only when it affects the majority?
Stone: Your Honor...
Murphy: We are not asking that the 11 o'clock news be allowed to wheel in a camera crew, Your Honor.
Barsky: Why the hell not? I empathize with your witness, Mr. Stone, but there's a heavy burden you must meet to deprive the voyeuristic public of their God-given right to peek in on the woes of others.

Stone: Your client will be convicted of several counts of larceny by extortion, and it won't take a major leap of faith to construct a convincing argument for murder two.
Ms. Bowman: You're dreaming.
Stone: Well, if you want something badly enough, dreams have a way of coming true. You want to take that chance, Counselor?

Stone: You knew all along. With your testimony, we could have gone to trial three weeks ago.
Vogel: Watch your tone, sir. I pick up the phone, and your license to be holier than everybody else on this planet can be used to wallpaper the sewer.

Vogel: Fine. I favor, then, for a friend. Call off the dogs...You know, I keep this picture of Jim on my desk. Graduation day, Columbia. He's standing there with his arms around his mother. Damn it, Adam, he looks just like everybody else. I spent my life protecting him.
Schiff: From what? Your shame put the knife into Dwyer’s hand, and there's no way I'm going to let that keep him out of jail. I've known you for 25 years, Ed, and I'm telling you now, you don’t testify tomorrow, you’re going to go to jail for contempt.

Stone: My father wanted me to be a doctor. I went so far as to study organic chemistry.
Schiff: What happened?
Stone: I grew up.

Background information and notes[]

  • The episode title "Silence" is a reference to the attempts made by Edward Vogel to keep his son's homosexuality hidden.

Episode scene cards[]

1 2 3

Office of James Vogel
266 Flatbush Avenue
Monday, February 17

Apartment of
James Vogel
419 Garfield Place
Friday, February 21

Apartment of
Harold Dwyer
144 East 48th Street
Wednesday, February 26

4 5 6

Office of Peter Colson
332 West 45th Street
Tuesday, March 3

Office of Captain
Donald Cragen
Friday, March 6

Ares Sporting Goods
1713 Broadway
Thursday, April 9

7 8 9

Chambers of Judge
Steven Strelzik
Wednesday, April 29

Supreme Court
Civil Term
Thursday, May 14

Executive Assistant
District Attorney
Benjamin Stone
Tuesday, June 2

10 11

Supreme Court
Trial Part 49
Monday, June 15

Supreme Court
Trial Part 49
Wednesday, June 17

Previous episode:
"Intolerance"
"Silence"
Law & Order
Season 2
Next episode:
"The Working Stiff"
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