Paradigm

"Paradigm"
←	L&O, Episode 15.01	→
Production number: E5301 First aired: 22 September 2004
	th of 456 produced in L&O
←	th of 456 released in L&O	→
	th of 1271 released in all
Teleplay By Richard Sweren Story By Dick Wolf Directed By Matthew Penn

Plot

Green and his new partner, Joe Fontana, investigate the murder of an Iraq War veteran who has more incriminating Abu Ghraib prison photos. An Iraqi woman who is an American citizen is charged, but she claims to be a prisoner of war.

Cast

Main cast

• Dennis Farina as Detective Joe Fontana
• Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green
• S. Epatha Merkerson as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
• Sam Waterston as Executive A.D.A. Jack McCoy
• Elisabeth Röhm as A.D.A. Serena Southerlyn
• Fred Dalton Thompson as D.A. Arthur Branch

Recurring cast

• Leslie Hendrix as M.E. Elizabeth Rodgers
• Peter McRobbie as Judge Walter Bradley
• Helmar Augustus Cooper as Judge Lawrence McNeil
• Ron Silver as Defense Attorney Bernie Adler
• Michael Bloomberg as Himself

Guest cast

• Robert John Burke as Lieutenant Colonel Milton Danbury
• Sarita Choudhury as Nadira Harrington
• Randall Newsome as Jeff Harrington
• Marisa Redanty as Emily Marino
• Kathy Lichter as Mrs. Starr
• Alfred Karl as Mr. Starr
• Amir Arison as Adil Salim
• Don Sparks as C.S.U. Technician Dill
• Michael Garfield as Sergeant Garvin
• Michael Lucas as Tim
• Mary Catherine as Susy
• Andrew Rein as Bank Officer
• Dane Elcar as Donnie
• Joel Fabiani as Faber
• Rock Kohli as Aziz
• Don Clark Williams as Daniels
• Gregory Weinberg as Arraignment Court Clerk
• Donna Marrazzo as Jury Forewoman
• Patrick Melville as Reporter Steve
• Nancy Cashman as Reporter Katherine
• Mary McIlvaine as Reporter Alex
• Mike Ennis as Reporter (uncredited)
• Christopher Jon Gombos as Newspaper Reporter (uncredited)
• Denis McKeown as General (uncredited)

References

• Afghanistan
• Spiro Agnew
• Abu Ghraib prison
• Nick Berg
• Bosnia
• Chicago
• The Crusades
• Frederick II
• Saddam Hussein
• Iraq War
• Kosovo
• Kuwait
• José Padilla
• Daniel Pearl
• Rwanda
• Lindsay Starr (victim)
• Sudan
• Torture
• United States Army
• Vietnam

Quotes

Lt. Van Buren: Can I help you?

Fontana: I'm Fontana.

Lt. Van Buren: Oh, hey, Anita Van Buren. This is your new partner.

Green: Hey, man. Ed Green.

Fontana: It's about time they gave me a partner with a little smooth.

---

“	Any Iraqi would rather be in a jail run by the Americans than a jail run by Saddam. The only mistake you made was not burning Abu Ghraib to the ground.	”
–Aziz, a Saddam-era Abu Ghraib survivor

---

“	Close your eyes and imagine this picture. Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard controls the streets of New York. They break into your house. They grab your son or your husband or your brother. They take him to Riker's Island, where they accuse him of opposing the occupation of his own country. And then, after months of systematically humiliating, abusing and torturing him, they shove a broomstick up his rectum. Your religious leaders tell you to resist the occupation, to kill the invaders if you have the chance. And then... and then you find out that one of the guards who mistreated your loved one is living right around the corner and is gonna go back and do it again and again and again. Shouldn't you do whatever you can to stop him?	”
–The defense's closing argument

---

“	Lindsay Starr didn't deserve to die. She was no longer a soldier. She worked in a supermarket. She was lured into a deserted office and ambushed. And while Nadira Harrington's misfortunes might explain her actions, they can't excuse cold-blood retribution for the abuse of her brother. If Corporal Starr's conduct at Abu Ghraib exceeded military or international standards, we have, in our civil society, procedures to redress those wrongs, if wrongs they be. Yes, the processes are slow, messy, uneven, but Nadira Harrington had choices to vote, to sue, to advocate for justice. Instead, she opted for blood feud, and the end product of blood feud is chaos. Our history books are rife with examples of religious zealots of all stripes --Christians, Muslims, Jews -- twisting their faith's fundamental morality to accommodate a personal or political agenda. Neither rationale justifies killing. The highest moral law in our culture is "Thou shalt not kill." And where we live, killing in the name of God, country, or brother is still called murder.	”
–The prosecution's closing arguments

Background information and notes

• This episode marks the first appearance of Dennis Farina as Detective Joe Fontana.

Episode scene cards

1	2	3
713th Army Reserve Center Long Island City, Queens Wednesday, July 9	Top Shelf Market Rego Park, Queens Wednesday, July 9	Gowanus Auto Center Flatbush, Brooklyn Friday, July 11

4	5	6
Home of Jeff & Nadira Harrington Syosset, New York Friday, July 11	Chambers of Judge Walter Bradley Monday, August 25	Supreme Court Trial Part 43 Tuesday, September 9

7	8
Supreme Court Trial Part 43 Wednesday, September 10	Supreme Court Trial Part 43 Friday, September 12

Previous episode: "C.O.D."

"Paradigm" Law & Order Season 15

Next episode: "The Dead Wives Club"