The Ledger

9.1 Cherished: Abbie Carmichael's First Episode

Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon) makes her first appearance in this dead baby episode (9.1) in which it appears an adopted sociopathic 7-year-old appears to be responsible for the death of an infant, thought to be 13 months old.

After many twists and turns, investigators learn that the infant was (a) actually 2.5 years old and malnourished and (b) dead before the 7-year-old attacked him. McCoy and especially Carmichael trace the history of the infant back to a lawyer who appears to have illegally gotten the child from Russia. The lawyer and a Russian intermediary are arrested for Murder 2, showing depraved indifference toward the baby's medical conditions.

This is the first appearance of Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon). She pursues her case doggedly ("No deals for anybody...Let's hang 'em all."), issuing arrest warrants with the slightest provocation, and bending some truths to help Briscoe and Curtis get the evidence they need. Before Carmichael and McCoy actually meet, McCoy tells Schiff he doesn't like her style. She's too independent and takes risks, he says. But these qualities are shared by McCoy himself. When they meet, they have a testy first encounter, as McCoy lambastes her for her style and a screw-up, but she fires back and mentions McCoy's run-in with the disciplinary committee, an attack she almost immediately apologizes for. Also interesting is that Carmichael takes the lead role in the prosecution of defendants instead of McCoy. Another backstory plot development gets brought up here again: Van Buren's lawsuit against the department for skipping over her for a promotion. She says her captain has been chilly towards her since her lawyer deposed him.

These dead baby episodes are hard to watch and always disturbing. This is the third one TNT has aired in the last week or so, the others being Mother's Milk and Cradle to Grave. I understand why they have all these episodes, they tend to go long in the last half, with lots of draw-out testimony about the inhumanity of it all. Generally speaking, I'd much rather watch an episode about a dead businessman or college student than a malnourished infant.

Here are screen captures of the first two shots of Abbie. Her first line is, "Your honor, I've booked time with the grand jury. I'm looking to charge the Warings with obstruction."

Posted by adm at January 29, 2004 09:32 PM

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