Punk

This is a gripping story, but Cara Buono made this episode. Her performance is a standout! Why is she listed below the men? I had a difficult time finding out who she is. I just rewatched the episode for about the 4th time, always taken by her portrayal.

Two black boys were playing american football in a playground, when one of them noticed a white middle aged man on the ground, shot dead. He begged before being killed on his knees. The victim, a correction officer, lived Upstate and he came to the Big Apple to pay a visit to his child, a football player. Detectives tried to collect information about the inmates who got parole in the last few months. Anyway the officer was not so clean: working in a women's prison, he used to blackmail prisoners (raping them from time to time); the only chance prosecutors had to reach the truth was to persuade a single mother (Cara Buono), currently in the prison hole, to speak. The gun used in the murder belonged to a scarred portorican, connected to her thanks to prison brotherhood. When prosecutors realized she had a miscarriage because of the rape, things got worse....

It's hard to have sympathy for the murdered guy as the episode moves on. Who is the real victim after all? Other guards are involved in the case, so all become very difficult, because they considered inmates like "cage animals". Eventually we learn some "shocking" personal information about Carmichael.

At first, in this episode the story seems contrived. A corrections officer is murdered in the community and a female inmate is accused of arranging the murder from inside a prison. The inmate claims that the corrections officer was raping her But the murder is not the main element that drives the story. The assistant DA, Harmon, who is female, is hostile toward the defendant and does not conceal her hostility. The question is: why is this assistant DA so hostile toward this one defendant? No one understands it. Out of all the cases this assistant DA has handled, why is the so focused on this one defendant? This mystery transform a rather unoriginal plot into something that creates interest. Soon, attention shifts away from the defendant to the assistant DA as she continues to fume over what she claims is one of the lowest human beings on the planet. Although the defendant has a checkered past, her rap sheet does not seem to suggest a record that is especially egregious. That means nothing to the assistant DA who is absolutely determined to get a murder conviction, even though the defendant was allegedly being raped. To find out why the assistant DA was so hostile, watch the episode. It contains one of Angie Harmpn's stronger performances.

I remember seeing her in a Law & Order Criminal Intent episode and Vincent D'Nofrio and Katherine Erbe were heading the cast. I didn't catch her name then, but when I saw this Law & Order episode I recognized her, even though it was a totally different type of role. I think her acting in this episode was very convincing and moving. This was an episode that caused me to think and care about this character. When an actor or actress makes me want to care about them, no matter how flawed the character is, that, to me, is one of the main ingredients I look for in considering great acting! Cara Buono's portrayal in this role was,for me great acting! I'd go so far as to say she should have at least won an Emmy nomination for her role in this.

I've never warmed to Abby Carmichael as assistant DA, but she's utterly unbearable here. Her smug self-certainty and complete lack of empathy come to a head in this story of a woman, previously convicted by Carmichael of drug offenses, who has been a victim of repeated rape by prison guards. There's a revelation at the end of the episode that is supposed to put a new spin on Carmichael's attitude, but it's too brief and superficial. The overall feeling is one of frustration and anger, despite the terrific performance by Cara Buono.