The Dead Wives Club

"The Dead Wives Club"
←	L&O, Episode 15.02	→
Production number: E5307 First aired: 22 September 2004
	{{{nNthProducedInSeries}}}th of 456 produced in L&O
←	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries}}}th of 456 released in L&O	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInAll}}}th of 1271 released in all
Written By Nick Santora Directed By David Platt

Plot

Det. Fontana and Green investigate the murder of a young woman found drowned after a ferry crash. McCoy charges the romantic rival of the victim, who had lost her firefighter husband to the victim and almost her children. She also claims that she suffered post traumatic stress syndrome due to 9/11 attacks.

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

• Roma Maffia as Defense Attorney Vanessa Galiano
• Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
• Robert Hogan as Judge Hugo Bright
• J.K. Simmons as Dr. Emil Skoda
• Richard Hirschfeld as Assistant M.E. Brody

Guest cast

• Joseph Murphy as Ed McClean
• Amy Carlson as Collette Connolly
• Michele Santopietro as Lisa Turro
• Maggie Burke as Judge Georgina Franklin
• Laurence Lau as Agent Pancho Diamond
• Victor Verhaeghe as Tommy Ferro
• Stephen Peabody as Wayne Merrick
• Julia Pace Mitchell as Emergency Room Dr. Hass
• Dennis Pressey as Nzuri Addo
• John-Luke Montias as Jimmy Baca
• Abigail Lopez as C.S.U. Technician Lisa Santoro
• Billy Smith as DOT Detective Carlson
• Sarah Hyland as Kristine McLean
• Michael J. Lombardi as Uniform Cop #1
• Joseph Vincent Gay as Uniform Cop #2
• Jerry Clicquot as Jerry
• Jay Charan as Nalan
• Susan McMahon as Jen
• Jacqueline Lovell as Heather
• Carla Harting as Sloan
• Carsey Walker Jr. as Francis
• Michael Shen as Court Officer
• Patricia Marie Kelley as Foreperson
• Christopher Jon Gombos as Courtroom Gallery (uncredited)

References

• 9/11
• Donna McLean (victim)
• FBI
• Federal Maritime Commission
• Rome, Italy
• World Trade Center
• Types of forearm fractures:
  • Colles' fracture
  • Smith's fracture

Quotes

Fontana: When you were a kid, did you ever call your old man by his first name?

Green: Hmm, not unless I wanted to smell the Aqua Velva on the back of his hand.

---

Heather: The name's a joke. People expect widows to act a certain way.

Jen: And they hate us because we don't.

Sloan: Because we've got money now.

Jen: Oh. Let's face it. They hate us because we married our dead husband's friends.

Heather: I'd hate us, too, but we also lost husbands and our kids lost fathers.

Sloan: We grieve too. Every day.

Background information and notes

Episode scene cards

1	2	3
Home of Thomas Williams Red Hook, Brooklyn Wednesday, July 23	Four Star Marina St. George, Staten Island Wednesday, July 23	Home of Ed & Donna McClean Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn Friday, July 25

4	5	6
Home of Collette Connolly Breezy Point, Brooklyn Friday, July 25	Home of Collette Connolly Breezy Point, Brooklyn Saturday, July 26	The Horizon Grill Brooklyn, Heights Thursday, August 7

7	8
Supreme Court Motion Hearing Friday, August 29	Supreme Court Trial Part 73 Tuesday, September 23

Previous episode: "Paradigm"

"The Dead Wives Club" Law & Order Season 15

Next episode: "The Brotherhood"