| "Born Bad" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | L&O, Episode 4.09 | → |
| Production number: 69021 First aired: 16 November 1993 | ||
 | ||
| Written By Michael S. Chernuchin & Sally Nemeth Directed By Fred Gerber | ||
The death of a young boy leads the detectives and prosecutors to a debate about genetics being responsible for violent crimes.
Plot[]
After a 14-year-old boy named Johnny Lasky is found dead on a sidewalk, Briscoe & Logan learn that the boy was a foster child and it is later revealed that he was beaten to death by his foster brother Chris Pollit.
After Chris is charged with Johnny's death, his lawyer comes up with a defense that Chris has an extra Y-chromosome that causes him to have a predisposition to violence.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe
- Chris Noth as Detective Mike Logan
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
- Michael Moriarty as Executive A.D.A. Benjamin Stone
- Jill Hennessy as A.D.A. Claire Kincaid
- Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff
- Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
Recurring cast[]
- Maria Tucci as Attorney Helen Brolin
Guest cast[]
- Wil Horneff as Chris Pollit
- Helen Gallagher as Flo Bishop
- Barbara Eda-Young as Judge Martha Kershan
- Melissa Fraser Brown as Tracy Pollit
- Lily Knight as Tori Lasky
- James Madio as Andy Costello
- Robert C. Wheeler as Zack Mohr
- Vivienne Benesch as Delia
- Ben Shenkman as Mark Ferris
- Shona Tucker as Dolores Ruffin
- Matthew Arkin as Dr. Philip Vine
- Kitty Mei-Mei Chen as Chong
- Michael Cullen as Father Jack Malone
- Anna Alvim as Lola
- Sugar Johnson as Lewis
- Lillias White as Ms. Purvis
- Rose Anna Mineo as DeLoach
- Alan Gordon as Clyde
- Laurence Mason as Roach
- Chris Mazzilli as Gibbons
References[]
- John Lasky (victim)
- The Partridge Family
- Jean Claude van Damme
- Dyckman Street
- Lower East Side, Manhattan
- Bayonne
- Brylcreem
- Captain America
- Spofford Juvenile Corrections
- XYY syndrome
- Jack Pollit
- Gary Gilmore
- Westley Allan Dodd
Quotes[]
- Ben Stone: What's next, the astrological defense? "Jupiter aligned with Mars, so I had to rob a bank"?
- Ben Stone: He murdered his friend, Helen. And you want us to send him to bed without dinner? The state tried that, it didn't work.
- Chris Pollit: (to Briscoe) Yo, Brylcreem, why don't you and Captain America go blow it out your butt?
Background information and notes[]
- This episode was later adapted into the Law & Order: UK episode "Unloved".
- The theory that violence has a genetic link has appeared in two episodes of Law & Order: SVU. These episodes are the Season 3 episode "Inheritance" and the Season 5 episode "Hate".
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
Office of |
Apartment Of |
27th Precinct |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Apartment of |
Chambers of |
Supreme Court |
| 7 | 8 |
|---|---|
|
Supreme Court |
Supreme Court |
| Previous episode: "American Dream" |
"Born Bad" Law & Order Season 4 |
Next episode: "The Pursuit of Happiness" |