Law & Order: Season 4

1993 · 22 episodes · ★ 7.7

What Season 4 of Law & Order

Season four opens with changes at the precinct. Lieutenant Anita Van Buren takes command of Logan and Briscoe, who have to get used to her leadership, and Stone gets a new colleague in the district attorney's office. The cases range from a controversial talk show to a cult that manipulates a young woman into carrying out a bombing. Other conflicts lead to a private adoption scam, a minister stirring up racial intolerance, and an ambitious lawyer who defends a racist killer. Detectives search for evidence on the street, and district attorneys present it in court. The series moves forward one case at a time and barely dwells on its protagonists' personal lives.

22episodes

Sep 15, 1993premiered

May 25, 1994latest episode

17.1 hrtotal runtime

Season 4 Episodes

4x01
4x01 Sweeps
Sep 15, 1993 · 46 min · ★ 8.1
A guest is murdered on-air on a controversial talk show. Meanwhile Logan and Briscoe have a new boss, Lt. Anita Van Buren, and Stone gets a new collague; the police and district attorney attempt to prosecute the show's abrasive host.
Directing: James Frawley · Writing: Robert Nathan, Craig McNeer · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Robert Klein, David Krumholtz, Alexandra Gersten
4x02
4x02 Volunteers
Sep 29, 1993 · 47 min · ★ 7.6
A disruptive, unbalanced homeless man is found severely beaten in an alley of the middle class neighborhood he calls home, leading Stone to try and prosecute one of the residents for premeditated murder.
Directing: James Quinn · Writing: René Balcer · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Nicolas Coster, Denis O'Hare, Stephen Mendillo
4x03
4x03 Discord
Oct 6, 1993 · 46 min · ★ 7.8
A college student charges an admittedly promiscuous rock star with rape, but he claims the act was consensual.
Directing: Edwin Sherin · Writing: Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring: Lucy Deakins, Cynthia Harris, Sebastian Roché, Avi Hoffman
4x04
4x04 Profile
Oct 13, 1993 · 45 min · ★ 8.1
Stone finds himself up against an ambitious black lawyer defending a white, racist serial killer.
Directing: E.W. Swackhamer · Writing: Ed Zuckerman, Gordon Rayfield · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Joe Seneca, James Earl Jones, Cecilia Hart
4x05
4x05 Black Tie
Oct 20, 1993 · 45 min · ★ 7.7
The police suspect a cover up when they receive an anonymous tip that a wealthy man was murdered by his wife, who refuses to allow an autopsy after a physician declares that the death occurred from natural causes.
Directing: Arthur W. Forney · Writing: Walon Green, Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring: Beverly Johnson, Malcolm Gets, John McMartin, Viveca Lindfors
4x06
4x06 Pride and Joy
Oct 27, 1993 · 47 min · ★ 7.8
A 17-year-old boy becomes the chief suspect in the murder of his father, raising questions of self-defense and abuse that the family does not want to face.
Directing: Gilbert M. Shilton · Writing: Robert Nathan, Edward Pomerantz · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Gabriel Olds, Paul Collins, Tom Everett Scott
4x07
4x07 Apocrypha
Nov 3, 1993 · 47 min · ★ 6.2
Stone and Kincaid try to prove that the young woman believed to have planted a bomb in a parking garage had been brainwashed and was acting under the direct orders of a charismatic cult leader.
Directing: Gabrielle Beaumont · Writing: Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Sam Robards, Bibi Besch, Lawrence Pressman
4x08
4x08 American Dream
Nov 9, 1993 · 47 min · ★ 8.6
A skeleton unearthed at a building site resurrects one of Stone's old cases, and brings him face to face with the tenacious, brilliant culprit, who is seeking a new trial.
Directing: Constantine Makris · Writing: Sibyl Gardner · Starring: Guy Davis, Scott Sowers, Željko Ivanek, La Donna Mabry
4x09
4x09 Born Bad
Nov 16, 1993 · 46 min · ★ 7.4
A lawyer decides to defend her teenage client charged with murder as an adult with the claim that he's violent because of a genetic predisposition due to an extra Y chromosome.
Directing: Fred Gerber · Writing: Michael S. Chernuchin, Sally Nemeth · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Helen Gallagher, Wil Horneff, Ben Shenkman
4x10
4x10 The Pursuit of Happiness
Dec 1, 1993 · 47 min · ★ 7.2
A "green-card" bride from Russia is suspected of murdering her rich, but cold husband, who was threatening to divorce her just weeks before she would qualify to remain in this country.
Directing: Dann Florek · Writing: Robert Nathan, Morgan Gendel · Starring: Bruce Altman, Peter Van Wagner, Natalya Negoda, Faith Prince
4x11
4x11 Golden Years
Jan 5, 1994 · 47 min · ★ 7.6
An emaciated elderly woman is found dead of an apparent heart attack and her granddaughter is charged with neglect and grave indifference to human life.
Directing: Helaine Head · Writing: Ed Zuckerman, Doug Palau · Starring: Daniel Dae Kim, Jan Miner, Tovah Feldshuh, Julie Dretzin
4x12
4x12 Snatched
Jan 12, 1994 · 47 min · ★ 7.8
A millionaire friend of Schiff's won't cooperate with the police following his son's kidnapping.
Directing: Constantine Makris · Writing: Walon Green, René Balcer · Starring: Leo Burmester, Theodore Bikel, Reg Rogers, Vyto Ruginis
4x13
4x13 Breeder
Jan 19, 1994 · 47 min · ★ 7.8
While investigating a woman's claim that she passed out in a taxi and awoke to find her newborn missing, Briscoe and Logan uncover a scam involving private adoptions.
Directing: Arthur W. Forney · Writing: René Balcer, Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Ann Dowd, Deirdre O'Connell, Matthew Lewis
4x14
4x14 Censure
Feb 2, 1994 · 47 min · ★ 7.9
A phone call threatening a woman's young daughter leads to a case that causes Kincaid to resign from Schiff's office because of an affair in her past.
Directing: Edwin Sherin · Writing: William N. Fordes · Starring: Roberta Wallach, George Grizzard, David Groh, Kip Niven
4x15
4x15 Kids
Feb 9, 1994 · 47 min · ★ 7.5
A 14-year-old's shooting death involves the son of a former police detective, who's also an old friend of Briscoe's.
Directing: Don Scardino · Writing: Robert Nathan, Michael Harbert · Starring: Robert Hogan, Guillermo Díaz, Tresa Hughes, Christine Farrell
4x16
4x16 Big Bang
Mar 2, 1994 · 47 min · ★ 7.9
A scientist becomes the chief suspect when his estranged wife, who's been delaying divorce proceedings, is the victim of a letter bomb.
Directing: Dann Florek · Writing: Ed Zuckerman · Starring: Brenda Denmark, Rochelle Oliver, Randle Mell, Jennifer Van Dyck
4x17
4x17 Mayhem
Mar 9, 1994 · 47 min · ★ 8.1
During a 24-hour period, Briscoe and Logan have a heavy caseload that includes 5 unrelated murders and a domestic quarrel, which results in the maiming of the husband.
Directing: James Quinn · Writing: Michael S. Chernuchin, René Balcer · Starring: Robin Tunney, Alice Drummond, Victor Colicchio, Tom Riis Farrell
4x18
4x18 Wager
Mar 30, 1994 · 46 min · ★ 7.3
Briscoe and Logan bet that the killing of a star athlete's father is linked to gambling debts and threats to the baseball player's family.
Directing: Edwin Sherin · Writing: Kevin Arkadie, Harvey Solomon · Starring: Richard Libertini, Malik Yoba, Karen Williams, Ray Aranha
4x19
4x19 Sanctuary
Apr 13, 1994 · 47 min · ★ 7.8
A black minister fans the flames of racial intolerance after a hit-and-run in Harlem claims the life of a 12-year-old and the Jewish driver isn't indicted.
Directing: Arthur W. Forney · Writing: Michael S. Chernuchin, William N. Fordes · Starring: Lorraine Toussaint, Tony Todd, Michael Constantine, Beatrice Winde
4x20
4x20 Nurture
May 4, 1994 · 46 min · ★ 7.5
Briscoe and Logan investigate the disappearance of a child from her abusive foster home and find her being held by a loving but disturbed woman who insists she has acted only for the child's own good.
Directing: Jace Alexander · Writing: Ed Zuckerman, Paris Qualles · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Scotty Bloch, Christine Baranski, Stephi Lineburg
4x21
4x21 Doubles
May 18, 1994 · 46 min · ★ 6.9
An assailant breaks the wrist of a tennis player prior to a tournament, and a competitor is among the suspects.
Directing: Edwin Sherin · Writing: René Balcer, Michael S. Chernuchin · Starring: Carolyn McCormick, John Heard, Stacey Moseley, Allison Dunbar
4x22
4x22 Old Friends Season Finale
May 25, 1994 · 46 min · ★ 8.3
A truck hits a pedestrian and the investigation reveals the victim's link to a baby-food company in which a new partner has connections to the Russian mob.
Directing: James Quinn · Writing: Joshua Stern · Starring: Allison Janney, Doris Belack, Victor Slezak, Geoff Pierson