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Law & Order Season 17 Episode 8

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8.3

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 11/10/06

After Hudson Moore is found bludgeoned in the back of the Babes Being Bad bus, suspicion initially turns to the company's creator, Chris Drake, until video footage leads detectives to a young woman who was with Moore the night that he died. After concentrating their investigation on the young woman, the reasons behind Moore's murder soon become apparent, and McCoy and Rubirosa struggle to prosecute a man who, while not directly responsible for the murder, may have been responsible for the incidents that led up to it.moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (5)

i just didn't buy it

5.3

By aihyah, Jan 26, 2011

the story is based on an accusation of rape with no real proof, and convicting a guy of murder when the girl goes homocidal on someone else. i just didn't buy the legal arguements. sometimes the show feeds on the moral indignation of the viewer and their desire for retribution but i think this one went too far. it doesn't really have much of a moral lesson since it basically coddles the women in the story as helpless less than adult people who aren't responsible for their actions or are expected to have a spine. i felt this is an episode that would have benifited from a more realistic "bad" ending.moreless
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great emotion despite slow pacing

8.7

By bluejayfusion, Sep 09, 2010

Law and Order episodes like this succeed because the characters are so well fleshed out that we know how they should react and they don't break character. Van Beuren- motherly concern, McCoy- righteous outrage, Branch- political sensitivity, etc. Even the new characters are beginning to develop distinct attitudes toward cases. Rubirosa is detatched and looks at everything subjectively while Cassidy showed that she hates the exploitation of women (while ironically being the only police officer wearing a low cut shirt). And to seal the deal, Jack gives one of his stirring dialogues to the villain that makes you recall Perry Mason- never-wrong, justice-personified, the reason you watch a legal drama- to see a character who is hard on evil and that the real world needs.moreless
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Not a bad episode

8.5

By angelspinknose, Sep 09, 2010

I laughed at the end when the cocky guy got hauled off to jail. He really thought he was going to get off because he was rich and well known. The law behind the verdict was interesting. Making that guy pay for raping that girl and letting his buddy have a go at her was good.
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A gritty case casts a suspicious light on college behavior.

8.9

By lupinskitten, Sep 09, 2010

Most of the sex-related crimes appear on the spin-off television show "Special Victims Unit," but this was a throwback to the early seasons of "Law & Order" where they were handled with the others in the world of criminal court. Off and on throughout the seventeen years the show has been around, they have dealt with the dirty, the diabolical, and the disgusting on the program. As far as details go, this is probably the most gritty episode yet, revolving around a multi-million dollar amateur porn filmmaker who gets girls drunk at parties, then films them in various states of undress, and often uses these images to get sex in exchange for not putting the film into his home-made videos.

Despite the detail of the crime (which involved rape, among other sexual misconduct) it's actually one of the most emotionally impacting episodes I have seen in a long time. Van Buren is rightfully disgusted. Nina Cassidy is not only revolted with the criminal, but horrified that college girls value themselves with so little self esteem that they would take their tops off for five seconds of fame. And McCoy shows something a little more than zealous prosecution. There's almost a "personal" slant to his interest in the case, as though the crime and the criminal responsible for sexually blackmailing or raping all these girls offended him on a much deeper level than a common fly-by prosecution.

At one point, Arthur Branch tosses at him that he shouldn't become emotionally involved, and Jack snaps back that he isn't. To which is boss gives him a knowing glance and remarks, "Yeah, right." Branch was right on, as Jack progressively becomes more disgusted and delivers one of his now-famous stirring "I'm going to take you down" speeches three minutes before the verdict. It's something that all parents and most women can care about, the fact that our society does in fact have men like the rich, bratty rapist who gets whatever he wants through harassment and blackmail; that there are girls with so little self-respect that they'll do just about anything for a moment of adventurous fun; and that there are thousands of parents out there unaware of what's going on at college parties. This is one of the rare times when I cared about the outcome so much that I sat there with my teeth gritted, hoping beyond hope the fiend wouldn't get away with it. And, of course, as it always does, my show delivered.

Did they convict him because of his actions, or his disgust-factor? Well, as Jack so eloquently puts it, "Who cares."moreless
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While I usually enjoy law and order and other criminal case files series on television, this one stretched the verdict strongly on hearsay and persecuting Chris Drake for not only rape, but the murder of his friend.moreless

3.5

By stereohead_02, Sep 09, 2010

I was bothered by the conviction in this episode. While I usually enjoy law and order and other criminal case files series on television, this one stretched the verdict strongly on hearsay and persecuting Chris Drake for not only rape, but the murder of his friend. If the verdict had let Chris Drake off on the murder (which I believe Nichol should have been persecuted for). The way they presented the evidence is strongly pointed towards hear say evidence-which allow a fabrication to manifest itself to pursue an unjust charge. She had signed a concept release, went to that buss with the intention. If she had changed her mind or not, she had agreed on sex in return of the tape not being released. –There is no proof that she had ever changed her mind-including that of her stepping off the bus or even fighting with Chris… Instead she says she took a bottle and hit his friend in the head-killing him after being told to wait on the bus. She could have step off, could have done a lot of things. But instead she stayed on that bus knowing that "she wasn't done…" or that "chris wasn't finished with her yet." The same goes with adding that story about the young girl who committed suicide. That is taking another womens actions into account on an alleged belief that Chris ruined her life. In all honesty, she had ruined her life by participating in the video and didn't help matters by agreeing to have sex and signing a release. I'm not saying that rapest should be let off. But in this case, you are trying to make me believe that an educated college student, like Nichol, wouldn't be aware of the dangers of signing a release form and consenting to sex while agreeing to get on a bus to have it? That video of her and Chris outside the bus doesn't show her stepping away or trying to talk about it…instead she agreeably got on that bus knowing what was coming. She shouldn't have gotten off of her charges. Chris had nothing to do with that murder. That was an attempt by the prosecution to use his own hatred and distaste for the defendant in a vindictive light-manipulating the evidence for his own reward… Nichol killed a man. Plain and simple that was the purpose of arresting her. Twisting the facts to put away a supposed rapist (who had gotten off on chargers beforehand, and I could understand needing the consent for his profession)- but in no way to I believe that he should have been charged for those crimes. There was no evidence of a supposed rape. Everything points to the opposite. She didn't have to kill a man to say no. She should have been convicted and put in jail for life for her own crimes. Or at least 15 on good behavior because of her ignorance and crimes. In my personal and professional opinion, Chris shouldn't have been charged- despite the attempts of the show trying to portray that character as the bad guy. In this case, I feel that our judicial system is unfair and unjust in its convictions and only showing how a women would be capable of twisting the evidence to her benefit (even to avoid jail for murder).moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Alana De La Garza	A.D.A. Connie Rubirosa
Fred Dalton Thompson	D.A. Arthur Branch
Jesse L. Martin	Det. Ed Green
Milena Govich	Det. Nina Cassady
S. Epatha Merkerson	Lt. Anita Van Buren
Sam Waterston	Exec. A.D.A. Jack McCoy

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Kim Shaw	Nicole Flynn	Guest Star
Adam Kaufman	Attorney Swain	Guest Star
Rob Devaney	Attorney Sugarman	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (4)
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- Nina Cassady: Don't they get it? Video is forever.
  Ed Green: So is anonymity and boredom if you're a teenager.
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- Jack McCoy: (to Drake) You've had quite a run for someone so young. Exploiting unsuspecting college kids. Taking advantage of their youth, their innocence, their vulnerability. And if they change their minds, to hell with them. A release is a release. Like it or not, the world is going to see you naked. Unless you pay me. Or screw me. That's a lot of heartache. A lot of ruined lives. And no one can touch you. But now, you are directly responsible for a death. And I intend to make you pay for that.
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- Jack McCoy: I've been doing this too long to get emotional about the facts.
  Arthur Branch: Yeah, right.
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- Anita van Buren: I'm so glad I didn't have daughters.
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NOTES (1)
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- Special billing was given to Tim Peper (and) in this episode.
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ALLUSIONS (4)
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- When talking with the police, one rich suspect states that he is a member of a elite historical society called the Sons of the Civil War. This is a parody reference to another (real life) women's club, the Daughters of the American Revolution. DAR is a society for linear descendents of US patriots of the American Revolution.
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- There is an allusion to the 2003 documentary Born Rich, a portrait of the lives of the children of the ultra rich, which was shot by Jamie Johnson, himself the heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune. One of the characters tells Green that a member of their social circle stepped on a lot of toes while making a documentary film, violating one of the unwritten rules of the elite which is that 'you never discuss money'. This happened to the real Jamie Johnson as he had various troubles getting rich heirs to talk to him on camera.
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- Bryce Moore: His first film is called Idle Hands.
  
  The film mentioned in this episode is a documentary, but Idle Hands is also the title of a 1999 horror movie about a boy whose hand becomes possessed and starts killing people.
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- This episode appears to be ripped from the headlines of the numerous controversies surrounding the Girls Gone Wild series and the executive producer, Joe Francis. Even the name of the videos that they make is similar (Babes Being Bad).
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