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Season 17, Episode 2, Aired

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8.6
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Green and Cassady investigate after the photograph of a dead woman is found on a popular website, B-Frendz.com. Their investigation leads them to a mentally disturbed young man whom the teenage daughter of the victim claims kidnapped and raped her, but his lawyer offers up an even greater incentive -- the supposed kidnapping victim, Molly Preston.moreless
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Fan Episode Reviews (7)

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  • A fun episode and an enjoyable hour well spent.

    9.3
    "Superb"
    By bmoshier, Jan 25, 2011
    Many times I disagree with the verdict. This time, though, I was saying GUILTY to myself as the clerk asked for the verdict. So many times I find myself upset by one of McCoy's opinions or courtroom positions because I feel he isn't out for justice but for his win record. Jack McCoy is a guilty pleasure and it's one of the reasons I keep watching.

    Tonight, McCoy was saying how thoughts are private, but putting them on the Internet gives them more visibility than a billboard in Times Square. I agree with him; it is major reason I'm not a heavy blogger. Your words are here forever. The writers did miss (or maybe they'll use it in the future) one plot device. There is a group (forget the name) dedicated to capturing for history all the web pages, they can find. It would be interesting if the police/DA office used this group's work or maybe the defense.

    The dynamics of the episode were great! The writers took us in one direction only to turn us around later in a course correction.

    The chase scene reminded me of the roads in Westchester County. It wouldn't surprise me if the scene wasn't shot there. The whole car chase scene was a nice change from a city chase or simply capturing the guy at home.

    I'm happy the writers are willing to take on Internet responsibility. It would be an interesting future episode where McCoy explores some of the more unanswered legal questions about the Internet. An example is what if the evidence is on a server in another country, in a country where it isn't a crime for the evidence to exist, <b>and</b> the server owner and country are willing to fight to the U.S. Supreme Court to protect their country's laws. There could be plot twists with McCoy trying to back door the evidence, the defense not seeing it, but the server owner and country getting standing to continue fighting McCoy.moreless

  • Law and Order eulogy.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By klecm5af, Jul 24, 2010
    I can just agree with what has been already written. I've seen all the seasons from one to sixteen and I keep watching. The series seems to have an endless source of excellent plots and story lines. And the way they address the actual problems of today's world while reflecting how the law does need to keep up with the technological progress: "You can't shout fire in a crowded chat room".
    We know now that the show has been ended and the 20th season looks like the last one, nevertheless I sort of hope someone will take up this glove and give it a new chance. For this show has a lot of potential.moreless

  • Amazing story! Wow WOW

    9.6
    "Superb"
    By samtheman212, Jul 24, 2010
    I love the story of this episode so clever and so up to the minute relevant... A murder committed using "My Space" like website...wow how clever is that..They should pay these writers a lot of money..simply the best writing in TV bar none...thanks Mr. Wolf....I am surprised NBC does not promote the hell this wonderful show....People should know about these superb writing story line....Law and Order deserves to be nominated for Emmys...Key: More continuing great writing..great guest actors...and most importantly get more viewers by intensive promotion....Law and Order rocks...moreless

  • "Avatar" shows exactly why this show has been on the air forever!

    9.4
    "Superb"
    By thebestoftv, Jul 24, 2010
    This episode was definitely much better than the premier - the plot, character development, punchlines, etc. Every minute of this episode had me on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next. This is probably one of the better L&O episodes that I've seen in a while. The new characters fit in extremely well (much better than Borgia and Fontana) and they will definitely contribute a lot to this season!moreless

  • Do you know what your kids are up to online?

    10
    "Perfect"
    By lupinskitten, Jul 02, 2010
    Law & Order has used the internet before as an aspect of their criminal cases, but never with quite as much of an emotional punch. The bottom line here is a reminder that the internet is a wonderful but potentially dangerous place, and that parents have a responsibility to keep an eye on their kids. I have rarely seen such a thought-provoking presentation of how perilous blogging can be, although I have certainly witnessed minor evidence of it in real life.

    The criminal aspect started off as a belief that a woman had been stalked and murdered through her daughter's blog space, but then took a dramatic twist in the second half when the audience learned the daughter publicly offered sex in exchange for the murder on her online journal. A boy with psychotic tendencies took her up on the offer, and it became a finger-pointing game of where to place the blame... with everyone but the DA's office. The father wanted to blame the blog company. The psychotic boy wanted to blame his "girlfriend." She insisted it was all a mistake.

    Whoever you think is responsible (and I lean heavily toward McCoy's point of view -- that it's not the blogging company or the parents so much as a young woman who was old enough to know what she was doing), the fact remains that it is going to make many parents think twice about where their kids are hanging out online -- and just who they are interacting with. "It's ten o'clock," Jack said just before the fade-out. "Do you know where your kids are?"

    I must also add that I am enjoying the new faces very much. Nina has settled well in at the precinct, but it's Connie that has me the most amazed. She has a fantastic chemistry with Jack McCoy, a light banter that isn't flirtation but gives her a nice edge lacking from other recent assistant prosecutors. Bravo to Wolf for being brave and making such dramatic changes!moreless
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (1)

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    • It's never explained how they went from receiving reports about an image of a dead woman appearing on the Internet to finding the exact location of the corpse just a few moments later.

  • QUOTES (9)

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    • (Green and Cassady bring in a computer from an Internet cafe.) Tech: These poor CyberCafe computers. It's like those old horses in a community stable. After enough people ride them, they just go lame.

    • Ed Green: Never e-mail when you're screwing around with somebody that's married. (Van Buren and Cassady both look at him, amused) I'm speaking from experience.

    • Nina Cassady: I recognise the logo on this bra. 'Frisky Kitty' -- lingerie shop off Times Square. Ed Green: Really. Nina Cassady: I went there for my sister-in-law's bachelorette gift. But thanks for assuming I have crappy taste in lingerie.

    • B-Frendz.com Employee: The name and address REwind99 listed are bogus. But the email address is real ... Ed Green: Can it be traced? B-Frendz.com Employee: It's a free account. You can sign up on-line with pretty much any name you want. Ed Green: 'Barney Crotchmaggot'. Nice.

    • Arthur Branch: We don't convict people for their thoughts. Jack McCoy: Thoughts are private. Posting them on-line is more public than putting them on a billboard in Times Square.

    • Jack McCoy: You can't yell "fire!" in a crowded chatroom.

    • Nina Cassady: I kinda thought we'd ruled them out electronically. Anita van Buren: Well, computers aren't foolproof. Nina Cassady: Absolutely, we'll do it old school. Anita van Buren: Old school, you mean like doing it right?

    • Ed Green: Well if she ain't a hooker, then what is she? Nina Cassady: I don't know, but she's an internet celebrity now.

    • (Parting line, to Rubirosa.) Jack McCoy: It's 10:00 somewhere, do you know where your children are?

  • NOTES (0)

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  • ALLUSIONS (4)

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    • Jack McCoy: You can't yell fire in a crowded chat room. McCoy adapts an often misquoted phrase, "You can't yell fire in a crowded theater," popularly assumed to be an exception to the US Constitution First amendment language granting "Freedom of Speech. The entire quote (in the majority opinion of Schenk v. US, 1919, by Oliver Wendell Holmes) has a specific, important difference: "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic."

    • Jack McCoy: It's ten o'clock somewhere, do you know where your children are? This is a reference to a popular PSA (Public Service Announcement) from many years ago, often heard before the 10:00 pm news, 'It's ten o'clock, do you know where your children are?'

    • The title of this episode, Avatar, is a reference to a graphical image used on many websites, messageboards and blogs to represent the user. Most websites offer a selection of generic avatars, although some users also upload their own.

    • This episode appears to be ripped from the headlines of the Rachelle Waterman case in Alaska. Rachelle convinced two of her friends to murder her mother, and her Livejournal blog was later used against her in court.

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