Briscoe receives an anonymous 911 call saying that a prominent millionaire has been murdered. However, the investigation is thwarted by the wife and family attorney, who claim he died from n... Read allBriscoe receives an anonymous 911 call saying that a prominent millionaire has been murdered. However, the investigation is thwarted by the wife and family attorney, who claim he died from natural causes.Briscoe receives an anonymous 911 call saying that a prominent millionaire has been murdered. However, the investigation is thwarted by the wife and family attorney, who claim he died from natural causes.
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- Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
- (credit only)
- Kathy Rogers
- (as Heidi Leick)
- Defense Attorney Professor Norman Rothenberg
- (as Jeffrey De Munn)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis episode appears to be based on several different cases/incidents:
- The 1980-1985 Martha Sunny von Bulow murder case. On December 21, 1980, Sunny slipped into a coma. Her friends and family have never known for certain if Sunny attempted suicide, or if her husband, Claus von Bülow, had tried to kill her by injecting her with insulin. Claus was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to thirty years in prison, but the conviction was reversed in 1984. Von Bulow was granted a second trial in 1985 and was acquitted. The case was also famously portrayed in the book and the film Reversal of Fortune (1990). Both the real-life case and this episode involve insulin injections and family interference with the investigation.
- The 1889 Florence Maybrick case. Maybrick was an American woman convicted in the United Kingdom of murdering her husband, cotton merchant James Maybrick.
- The 1955 Ann Woodward case. Woodward became a prominent and controversial figure in New York high society after her marriage to banking heir William Woodward Jr. Although never convicted, she was suspected of murder after she shot and killed her husband in 1955, claiming that she had mistaken him for a burglar. The circumstances surrounding her husband's death led to Woodward becoming a cause célèbre and, later, being banished from high society. Life called the event "The Shooting of the Century". In 1975, Truman Capote published excerpts from an unfinished novel Answered Prayers, which accused Woodward of murdering her husband. Just before the stories were to be published in Esquire, she killed herself by taking cyanide.
- GoofsThe insulin usage as described would lead to weight gain, not weight loss. Studies of Insulin usage in non-diabetics shows that it can suppress the appetite, leading to weight loss but using it after eating more food (cake in one example in the show) will lead to weight gain.
- Quotes
EADA Ben Stone: I don't mind when you want to make new law, Norman, but next time I wish you'd choose a more deserving client.
Prof. Norman Rothenberg: We can't always choose them, Ben.
EADA Ben Stone: So it doesn't concern you that justice won't be done?
Prof. Norman Rothenberg: My only concern is the law. I'll leave justice to a more majestic authority.
Thankfully, "Black Tie" lived up to my high expectations on first viewing, and actually although the episode was great on first watch in terms of execution it is even greater now. It does nothing to squander its premise, it is every bit as intriguing and as intricate as one can expect. 'Law and Order' and the franchise in general often excelled when it came to touching upon tough and controversial topics, which "Black Tie" very much has and it does it very, very well indeed.
"Black Tie" feels a little rushed at the end, but actually there is so little to fault.
Immediately striking about "Black Tie" is the intricacy of the plotting. The story is appropriately complex, without being too over-complicated so coherence was not an issue, and raises a lot of interesting and insightful arguments. Yet again, it is another episode to not be afraid of handling a difficult topic and do so without any holding back, anything regarding body exhumation for evidence is controversial dependent on what lengths are gone to get it done. The subject matter is not done heavy-handedly but it doesn't sugarcoat and was done with tact.
Expectedly, all the regulars are strong with Michael Moriarty really carrying the legal-related scenes with aplomb. Caroline Lagerfelt plays one heck of an ice queen and really did give me chills without being obvious. They are helped by the clever and intelligent script, that had a nice balance of wisecracking and intensity in the investigative elements, Briscoe and Logan are so well matched, and real insight in the legal-oriented parts of the case. The direction lets the case breathe on the most part while not letting it lag at the same time.
Production values are fine, have always liked the photography's intimacy and grit and the look of the show has come on a good deal over-time (and it was good to begin with). The music doesn't intrude and has a haunting quality, have not always remembered that the theme tune is easy to remember and holds up.
To summarise, terrific episode and among the better ones of the first half of Season 4. 9/10
- TheLittleSongbird
- Sep 3, 2020