Under God

"Under God"
←	L&O, Episode 13.12	→
Production number: E3313 First aired: 5 February 2003
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Written By Marc Guggenheim & Noah Baylin Directed By Gloria Muzio

Plot

A drug dealer turns up dead, leading detectives to members of a neighborhood watch group whose lives were poisoned by the victim. The priest who leads the group confesses to the crime, claiming that God told him to do it.

Cast

Main cast

• Jerry Orbach as Detective Lennie Briscoe
• 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

• Dick Latessa as Bishop Durning
• Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
• Maggie Burke as Judge Elayne Link
• Andrea Navedo as Detective Ana Cordova
• Joe Gonzalez as Sergeant Martinez

Guest cast

• Denis O'Hare as Father Richard Hogan
• Bruce MacVittie as Bill Parker
• Peter Frechette as Defense Attorney Jim Wheeler
• Antoinette LaVecchia as Linda Parker
• Ruth Maleczech as Old Woman
• Jessica Pimentel as Hooker
• Antonique Smith as Gina
• Jose Edwin Soto as Juan
• John Douglas Thompson as Lloyd Jackson
• Keith Davis as John Jefferson
• Andrew Polk as Jared Sterling
• Peter Lewis as Sergeant Dreisner
• Brian McQuillan as John
• Kesed Ragin as Sean
• Brent Meyer as Robert
• Pietro González as Super
• DeVone Lawson, Jr. as Dwayne (uncredited)

References

• David Parker
• Cathy Briscoe
• Fischer Locksmith
• Scott Giddins
• Pupchek's Bar

Quotes

(about Father Hogan)

Arthur Branch: Justification?

Serena Southerlyn: "Yes, I killed, but God told me to."

Arthur Branch: You gotta admit, it's a lot more creative than "the Devil made me do it".

Jack McCoy: Next stop, virgin sacrifices.

Jack McCoy: Smile, Serena. This is our Inherit the Wind. This is where we get to prove in a court of law that there is no big guy up there with the white beard pulling invisible strings.

Serena Southerlyn: So what exactly did those nuns do to you?

Arthur Branch: This country could use a double dose of whatever God's got on special today.

Jack McCoy: Perhaps, but not in the courtroom.

Background information and notes

• Lennie Briscoe mentions the death of his daughter, Cathy Briscoe, which happened in "Damaged".
• This episode aired February 5, 2003. However, the episode scene cards correspond to the 2001 and 2002 calendars.

Episode scene cards

1	2	3
St. Cassandra's Hospital 1779 Third Street Thursday, December 6	Apartment of Bill Parker 61 Ridge Street Friday, December 7	Pupcheck's Bar 18 Avenue A Friday, December 7

4	5	6
Fischer Locksmith 193 East Broadway Monday, December 10	Port Authority Bus Terminal Police Department Monday, December 10	27th Precinct Tuesday, December 11

7	8	9
Supreme Court Motion Hearing Tuesday, December 18	Supreme Court Trial Part 89 Tuesday, January 22	Supreme Court Trial Part 89 Thursday, January 24

Previous episode: "Chosen"

"Under God" Law & Order Season 13

Next episode: "Absentia"