Swept Away - A Very Special Episode

Episode aired Feb 28, 2001
TV-14
44m

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

266

YOUR RATING

Jerry Orbach, Jesse L. Martin, and André Vippolis in Law & Order (1990)

Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

A reality show cast member kills one of his castmates during a heated argument. But was the confrontation staged, and who is ultimately responsible?A reality show cast member kills one of his castmates during a heated argument. But was the confrontation staged, and who is ultimately responsible?A reality show cast member kills one of his castmates during a heated argument. But was the confrontation staged, and who is ultimately responsible?

Director
- James Quinn
Writers
- Dick Wolf
- William M. Finkelstein
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.2/10

266

YOUR RATING

Director
- James Quinn
Writers
- Dick Wolf
- William M. Finkelstein
Stars

4User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
In the opener, Detective Ed Green tells Detective Lennie Briscoe that this could be his 'big chance', to which Briscoe quips "I'll wait for the musical version". Jerry Orbach had a successful stage career on Broadway before being cast in Law & Order (1990). He actually originated to role of El Gato in the off Broadway production of The Fantasticks, the longest running off Broadway play in history. YouTube has a clip of Orbach singing "Try to Remember", the signature song from the play, recorded from the Ed Sullivan Show. For fans who know Orbach only from Law and Order, it's quite a revelation. He also voiced, and sang for, Lumiere in Disney's animated Beauty and the Beast (1991), prior to portraying Lennie Briscoe in Law & Order.

Goofs
McCoy offers the defendant a sentence of 2-6 years if he pleads guilty to manslaughter in the second degree. However as a violent class C felony manslaughter two carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 1/2 years, the law would not allow a minimum sentence of two years.

Quotes
Lt. Anita Van Buren: [hearing Ed describe "Deal with It"] Never seen it, already hate it.

Connections
Referenced in Horrible Bosses (2011)

User reviews4

Review

Featured review

5/10

To Spice Up The Ratings

Detectives Briscoe and Green get called to a homicide of a young man who went off a rooftop in Manhattan. The deceased was part of the cast of a reality show and as it turns out was killed by another cast member. The deceased had a reputation as a provocateur and did deliberately create conflict situations in the show.

I might just be not the one to write a review on this particular episode since I shun reality shows. I've never understood with all the films and literature available for our entertainment some of us just choose to watch ordinary people with no discernible talent just acting like our normal stupid selves. If that passes for entertainment they can have it.

In the end when responsibility is parsed out after getting a plea from the actual doer, Sam Waterston and Angie Harmon decide to go after the network as the real responsible party. Though that was not their intent a man's life was lost and a network vice president played by Adam Trese gets put on trial.

Newton Minow called television the 'vast wasteland' many years ago. What would he think of reality TV?