| "Chinoiserie" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | CI, Episode 2.05 | → |
| Production number: E3206 First aired: 27 October 2002 | ||
 | ||
| Teleplay By B. Mason Story By B. Mason & René Balcer Directed By David Platt | ||
The murder of a Chinese woman in Chinatown put detectives on the trail of a soldier from the Tiananmen square massacre, and the illegal smuggling of Chinese antiques.
Plot[]
When a woman is publicly shot in Chinatown, Goren and Eames discover that both the victim and her killer were at Tiananmen Square during the massacre in 1989. When realizing that the ex-PLA soldier would not have killed someone due to that fact, they investigate an elaborate scheme to smuggle ancient Chinese artifacts into the United States. The investigation then turns to a wealthy woman who spent much of her life in China and is now a collector of such artifacts.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Vincent D'Onofrio as Detective Robert Goren
- Kathryn Erbe as Detective Alexandra Eames
- Jamey Sheridan as Captain James Deakins
- Courtney B. Vance as A.D.A. Ron Carver
Guest cast[]
- Peter Frechette as Stuart Gaston
- Stephen Sable as Pang Ghiangji
- Frank Wood as George Weems
- Kim Chan as Mr. Hsu
- Sean Cullen as Liam Montgomery
- Harvey Atkin as Judge Alan Ridenour
- Elizabeth Wilson as Lucille Mobrey
- Jordan Lage as John Littleton
- Karen Tsen Lee as Annie Littleton
- Leo Tran as Tao Jin
- Ross Bickell as Harry Plimpton
- Michael Hobbs as Mr. Houghton
- Bruce Kirkpatrick as Richard Cauldwell
- Joe Richards as Detective McGowan
- Erin Dilly as Isabella Gradowcyz
- Selena Nelson as Joan Brwer
- Nancy Wu as Xiang Li Mei
- John Van Liew as Lawrence Mobrey
- Alexis Chang as Susan Littleton
- Jillian Stacom as Laurie Mobrey
- Evan Carrube as Frankie Mobrey
- Austin Chang as Stephen Littleton
- Les J.N. Mau as Super
- Cate Smit as Stella
- Michael Patrick McCaffrey as Fenwick
- Gerrit Vooren as Latent Tech
- Paul J.Q. Lee as Forger
References[]
Quotes[]
- Alexandra Eames: You look familiar.
- George Weems: My last gig. I was the plump and happy raisin in a snack food commercial. Am I in trouble?
- Alexandra Eames: You tell us. You checked into a hotel under an assumed name, forged papers were delivered to your room, an associate of yours is suspected of murdering a woman.
- Robert Goren: You don't look so plump and happy now, George.
- Alexandra Eames: Look what we have here. Forged documents.
- Robert Goren: Why in the world would you spend so much money for forged documents?
- Ms. Mobray: I thought it would be fun to have them.
- Alexandra Eames: We think it would be fun if you accompanied these gentlemen down to our offices.
- Robert Goren: And it never occurred to you that something illegal was afoot?
- George Weems: I'm an actor; I'm constantly broke. It was a few nights at the Saint Francis, it sounded like fun.
- Robert Goren: Fantastic.
- Robert Goren: This must be some kind of situation you've got on your hands.
- Stuart Gaston: Why do you say that?
- Robert Goren: You've loosened your tie, you've got a drink on your desk, you've got three phone lines blinking, and you're chewing the inside of your cheeks like some kind of frantic chipmunk. Are you under a lot of stress?
- Alexandra Eames, after Goren asks her to inspect the contents of an oven.: Aha. Illegal baking.
- Robert Goren: This type of calligraphy, the elongated character, the sharp brush strokes, is in the Imperial style of early Qing dynasty, 18th century. It evolved from the thin gold calligraphy developed by the Emperor Huizong.
- Alexandra Eames: He got that off his box of Wheaties this morning.
- Robert Goren: We are discreet with innocent victims. If they behave like innocent victims.
Background information and notes[]
- The episode name "Chinoiserie" is a French term that refers to a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the 17th century, which reflect Chinese artistic influences. It is characterized by the use of fanciful imagery of an imaginary China. "Chinoiserie" is also a French-Canadian expression that means "trickery" or "chicanery".
- The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square led by labor activists, students, and intellectuals in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The demonstrations centered on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, but large-scale protests also occurred in cities throughout China, including Shanghai, which stayed peaceful throughout the protests. In Beijing, the resulting military response to the protesters by the PRC government left many civilians dead or injured. The reported tolls ranged from 200–300 (PRC government figures) and to 2,000–3,000 (Chinese student associations and Chinese Red Cross). (Source: Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 at Wikipedia)
- This is actor Harvey Atkin's first appearance as Judge Alan Ridenour in an episode from Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He plays the same character in the fourth season episode "Stress Position", and as a recurring character on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
- Actor Peter Frechette previously appeared in different roles on Law & Order.
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"Chinoiserie" Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 2 |
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