December 26, 2003
Severance
Pretty conventional episode (2.13) in which Stone and Robinette take on a hitman, a middle man, and a capitalist who co-ordinate the assassination of a female informant. Two bystanders are killed along the way.
The episode's title "Severance," refers the the eventual splitting of the cases against the defendants, a move which allows a crucial piece of evidence to be used, which in turn forces one suspect to roll on the other two. The subplot of the episode is a rivalry between Stone and the capitalist's defense attorney Arthur Gold (George Grizzard, in an admirable performance). This is the first of several appearances Grizzard has made as Gold over the years.
Also notable, I think, is the portrayal of the relationship between Stone and Robinette. They are closer to being peers than any of the other combinations of Senior ADAs/Junior ADAs we've seen. It's revealed in this episode that they play tennis together, and at one point Robinette issues a tongue-lashing to his boss that is reminiscent of the ones McCoy has dished out to his junior associates. Although we've seen the female ADA's criticize their bosses, it's always with an undertone of moral outrage, which is contrast to the calm "You screwed up" chiding Robinette offers. Stone catches hell from his boss, too. Schiff tears into him with the same vigor he uses against McCoy, but you get the impression it has more of an emotional impact on Stone than it ever did McCoy. I think Schiff looks at Stone as a potential successor and wants to take care of him, but treats McCoy like a warrior...a man on a mission who will make mistakes but always follow his heart, whether Schiff argues with him or not. Schiff knows Stone can be similarly single-minded, but he takes more of a protective stance with him.
Posted by adm at December 26, 2003 11:23 PM