| "Disappeared" | ||
|---|---|---|
| ← | L&O, Episode 8.19 | → |
| Production number: K2528 First aired: 22 April 1998 | ||
| Written By Richard Sweren & William N. Fordes Directed By David Platt | ||
Plot[]
It begins with a boy entering his apartment in Chelsea with a family friend. His parents are missing, and the apartment looks like it was prepared for a dinner party that never happened. Briscoe and Curtis find evidence of foul play.
They learn that the couple had a bit of a falling out with their landlord, who had promised to put an art gallery on the first floor of their building, but had instead opened a coffee shop which he himself owned. The grievance had evolved into litigation, but when Briscoe and Curtis track down the landlord to question him, they find only his abandoned van. He's been kidnapped, too. And the kidnappings might have something to do with the gentrification that's been going on in the neighborhood.
The detectives believe that Ben O'Dell is the kidnapper, but he insists that someone else is. Ben eventually relents, and reveals the identity of the man he thinks is the kidnapper: his brother Matt O'Dell. Ben hopes to secure medical treatment for Matt, who Ben says is mentally ill.
Ben gets Ross to promise that Matt won't get the death penalty. The detectives are led to a warehouse in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn, where they find the bodies of the couple and the landlord. Danielle Melnick becomes Matt's attorney. Melnick earns a major victory when she gets all the evidence from the warehouse suppressed. And there is evidence that Matt was institutionalized in the 1970s and 1980s.
Schiff and McCoy want the death penalty for Matt, but Ross is willing to tank her own career to do what she believes is the ethical thing.
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
- Carey Lowell as A.D.A. Jamie Ross
- Steven Hill as D.A. Adam Schiff
Recurring cast[]
- Tovah Feldshuh as Defense Attorney Danielle Melnick
- Donna Hanover as Judge Deborah Bourke
- J.K. Simmons as Dr. Emil Skoda
Guest cast[]
- Kenneth Welsh as Ben O'Dell
- Michael Medeiros as Matthew O'Dell
- Steve Mellor as Mr. Fetzer
- Maggie Burke as Ms. Ridley
- Lee R. Sellars as Nathan Faber
- Liam Aiken as Jack Ericson
- Seth Barrish as Defense Attorney Ralph Staggs
- Adam Heller as Theodore Spiros
- Tony DiBenedetto as Bud Murphy
- Hazel Medina as Janine Clayton
- Priscilla Shanks as Theresa Stanhouse
- John Nathan as Bob Stanhouse
- Chuck Low as Hyram Jenkins
- Elliot Cuker as Al Schmidt
- Barbara Gulan as Anne Lewis
- Roger DeWitt as Overton
- Todd Gearhart as Kellog
- Christine Caleo as Reporter
- Barbara Myers as Jury Foreperson
References[]
Quotes[]
- Matthew O'Dell: Who sent you? The property mongers?
- Briscoe: Yeah, the property mongers. They said to be sure to tell you you're under arrest.
- Dr. Skoda (reading the manifesto): "Our strength is as the strength of ten . . ." He's overcompensating.
- Schiff (to McCoy and Ross about soliciting Benjamin O'Dell's testimony about Matthew's medical background): You two take a lot of liberties.
Background information and notes[]
Episode scene cards[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
|
Home of |
Department of |
Jenkins Shoe Repair |
| 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|
|
Rikers Island |
Supreme Court |
Metropolitan Musseum |
| 7 | 8 |
|---|---|
|
Supreme Court |
Supreme Court |
| Previous episode: "Stalker" |
"Disappeared" Law & Order Season 8 |
Next episode: "Burden" |