Writer:	Diana Son, René Balcer, Diana Son
Director:	Frank Prinzi
Star:	Vincent D'Onofrio (Det. Robert Goren),  Kathryn Erbe (Det. Alexandra Eames),  Jamey Sheridan (Capt. James Deakins),  Courtney B. Vance (A.D.A. Carver)
Recurring Role:	Leslie Hendrix (Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers)
Guest Star:	Olivia d'Abo (Nicole Wallace),  Grace Hsu (Ella Miyazaki),  Richard Joseph Paul (Gavin Haynes),  Jay Patterson (Terrence Boyd),  Brian Nishii (Zach Thaler),  James Saito (Mr. Miyazaki),  Elaine Hyman (Flora),  Glenn Wein (Yossi),  Jade Wu (Mrs. Miyazaki),  Lenise Sorén (Janet),  Bethe B. Austin (Lina),  Spencer Scott Barros (Ian),  Matt Fischel (Hershel),  Robert Forrest (Boland),  Michelle Maryk (Detective DeMeo),  Greg Vaccarello (Guard),  Norm Golden (Mr. Marks)

Great Barrier was aired in Australia on 20 February 2005. Viewers across the country were shown both endings, then asked to vote for their preferred ending via sms over the next half hour. An hour later (after NCIS) the Channel 10 network aired the ending voted most popular. Whereas in the US the final online poll showed 53% of viewers decided Nicole Wallace should live, Australians showed less compassion. Viewers in all states voted to kill her, with South Australia (59%) being the toughest state. When the episode aired in the UK, there was no poll, and the episode shown had Nicole living. (edit) NBC offered alternate endings to this episode, allowing viewers to decide whether Nicole Wallace lived or died. Viewers on the East Coast saw an ending in which the character lived, and viewers on the West Coast saw one in which she died. Both endings were available for viewing on NBC's web site, where over 116,000 votes were cast, the majority of which chose to keep Nicole Wallace alive. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit did the same thing with the November 24, 2004, episode Doubt, allowing viewers to vote on whether a sexual encounter was rape or consensual. (edit)

Nicole Wallace: Who helped you concoct this theory, your mother?
Robert Goren: In her wildest delusions, she never spawned anything like you, Nicole. (edit) Alex Eames: You know the economy's tanking when investment bankers start knocking off jewelry stores. (edit) Nicole Wallace>: (reading the bulletin board) The greatest detectives in the world – you have to wonder about people who need so much positive reinforcement. (edit) Robert Goren: She kills her young. She kills her lovers. And you? You, Ella? You're both. (edit)

Goren has lightning hands. In one scene he is seen holding a gun in his left hand and a flashlight in the other. In the next shot, one second later, he has holstered his gun and his flashlight is now in his right hand. (edit) There are numerous errors in regards to Australia. First, Australian police forces are state-based, not city-based. So it would be the Queensland police, not the Brisbane police. Second, Nicole Wallace states she left her child with mid-wives at the Mater hospital in Brisbane, and pronounces it May-ter, when it would actually be pronounced Mah-ter. Third, the birth certificate for Nicole's daughter is grey with a green seal, but Queensland certificates are white with a red seal. The baby was murdered on Stradbroke Island, and the circumstances involve a swim at the beach. It is unlikely that a Brisbane resident would travel to Stradbroke when it would be much more convenient to go to the Gold or Sunshine coasts, or to Bribie. (edit)

In the opening segment, Ella Miyazaki (Grace Hsu), in a sarcastic gesture, puts both hands in front of her mouth and giggles, practising for her performance in the store. This is a direct imitation of the female characters in Gilbert & Sullivan's opera The Mikado (or The Town of Titipu). The opera, which debuted in 1885, established stereotypes about Japanese which persisted until the post-WWII era. (edit)