The Torrents of Greed

Law & Order
The Torrents of Greed—Part 1
Episode No.	15-16
Airdate	February 12 & 19, 1991
Writer(s)	Michael Duggan (story) and Michael S. Chernuchin
Director	E.W. Swackhamer
Season 1 September 1990 - June 1991
001.	Prescription for Death
002.	Subterranean Homeboy Blues
003.	The Reaper's Helper
004.	Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die
005.	Happily Ever After
006.	Everybody's Favorite Bagman
007.	By Hooker, By Crook
008.	Poison Ivy
009.	Indifference
010.	Prisoner of Love
011.	Out of the Half-Light
012.	Life Choice
013.	A Death in the Family
014.	The Violence of Summer
015.	The Torrents of Greed—Part 1
016.	The Torrents of Greed—Part 2
017.	Mushrooms
018.	The Secret Sharers
019.	The Serpent's Tooth
020.	The Troubles
021.	Sonata For a Solo Organ
022.	The Blue Wall

"The Torrents of Greed" is a two-part episode of NBC's legal drama Law & Order. It was the first two-part episode of the Law & Order franchise, and aired as the fifteenth and sixteenth episodes of the show's first season. The episode was directed by E.W. Swackhamer and written by Michael Duggan (story) and Michael S. Chernuchin (story and teleplay).

The episode's title is taken from Chapter 18, verse 251 of the Buddhist scripture The Dhammapada: "There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed."

Plot

Part 1

Detectives arrest three members of the Masucci crime family involved in an assault, which leads to Stone attempting to use the arrest as a means to take down the entire Masucci crime syndicate via charging Mafia chieftain Frank Masucci. However, the plan backfires when Stone discovers that his chief witness (one of the three charged in the assault) recants his testimony at trial, leading to Masucci's acquittal.

Part 2

In the wake of Masucci's acquittal, ADAs Stone and Robinette intensify their investigation with the mob boss. Their investigation leads them to bust Masucci's brother-in-law, who the mob boss promptly has murdered. The murder leads to the discovery of the dumping ground for victims of Masucci's crime syndicate. As they re-arrest the mob boss, his grieving sister supports her brother in court by putting up the money for his bail. However, within hours of leaving the courtroom, Frank Masucci is killed by an unknown hitman. Robinette and Stone speculate that Masucci's sister as the one who ordered the hit, but are unable to prove it. The two men, along with Adam Schiff, take comfort in the fact that in spite of their failure to bring Masucci to justice through the legal system, that his death will severely cripple the crime family.

Cast

Law

• George Dzundza - Sgt. Max Greevey
• Chris Noth - Det. Mike Logan
• Dann Florek - Capt. Don Cragen

Order

• Michael Moriarty - Exec. A.D.A. Benjamin Stone
• Richard Brooks – A.D.A. Paul Robinette
• Steven Hill - D.A. Adam Schiff

Guest Stars

• Bruce Altman - Harv Beigal
• Christine Baranski - Katherine Masucci Beigel
• Charles Cioffi - Frank Masucci
• Robert Fields - Mario Zalta
• Steven Keats - George Zuckert
• Stephen McHattie - Joe Pilefsky
• Lee Richardson - Mike Le Claire
• Ronald Hunter
• Phillip R. Allen (as Philip R. Allen)
• Hy Anzell - Mr. Spivak
• Anna Katarina - Elena Skolnick
• Doris Belack - Judge Margaret Barry
• Lynnie Greene - Meg Hennessy (as Lyn Greene)
• Jacques Sandulescu - Isaac Skolnick
• Christopher McCann - Edgar Hoover
• Janis Dardaris - Mrs. Florence Mackey
• Rick Zieff - Dr. Cohen
• Joe Lisi - Mahoney
• Dean Iandoli - Finkle
• Eric Payne - Boswell
• Luis Ramos - Valdez
• James Noah - Arraignment Judge Barry J. Marton
• Nancy Addison - Reporter #1
• Jim Gillis - Reporter #2
• Coco Barat - Hotel Manager
• Maria Ottavia - Reporter (uncredited)

External links

• "The Torrents of Greed: Part 1" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Torrents of Greed: Part 2" at the Internet Movie Database